A. Pornography has significant negative impact:

1. Pornography facilitates child molestation.

* It is used to instruct the child victims, reduce their natural inhibitions, and it is used to prepare and arouse the perpetrator.

* 87% of convicted molesters of girls, and 77% of convicted molesters of boys, admit to the use of pornography, most often in the commission of their crimes.

* One in three American girls and 1 in 5-7 American boys will be sexually molested by the age of 18.

* An average serial child molester has between 360-380 victims in his lifetime.

* One of the most popular pornographic video series in America, entitled "Taboo," is based upon incest.

* More and more media reports tell of the tragic exploitation of innocent children. Even more tragic is the rise of not only child victims, but of child perpetrators. Pornography is their instruction manual.

2. Pornography shapes attitudes, behaviors and values.

* Individuals who view pornography are more likely to think of women in stereotype, as socially non-discriminating and eager to accommodate any and every sexual request.

* Individuals who view pornography are more likely to have sexually callous attitudes and accept rape myths (that when a woman says "no," she means "yes.")

* Individuals who use pornography have increasingly hostile and aggressive sexual fantasies.

* Individuals who use pornography are less likely to convict for a rape, and less likely to give a harsh sentence to a rapist if in fact convicted. Conversely, individuals who do not use pornography are more likely to convict an accused rapist.

* Areas with pornography outlets and sexually oriented businesses experience significantly higher sexual offenses and property crimes than areas without such businesses.

* Pornography has a direct role in the transmission and encouragement of sexually transmitted diseases. Many "adult" bookstores derive 75% of their income from peep show booths, with "glory holes" to provide anonymous sexual encounters.

* Clinical research shows that pornographic images create chemically encoded messages on the brain that can remain through adulthood. Human memory is formed in part by the release of the chemical epinephrine which, upon emotional arousal, leaves behind an imprint on the brain.**

* Advertisers know how compelling images are, especially to children, and pornographers do, too. Advertisers don’t spend billions of dollars each year for nothing. In Superbowls 29 and 30, companies paid 1.3 million dollars for a 30-second shot at your attention on the way to the kitchen or bathroom.**

* Images affect attitudes and thinking, and images affect behavior and choices.

3. Pornography has a compulsive or addictive nature. Four stages of viewing pornography following initial exposure are:

* Addiction - The desire and need to keep coming back for pornographic images.

* Escalation - The need for more explicit, rougher, and more deviant images for the same sexual effect.

* Desensitization - Materiel once viewed as shocking or taboo is seen as acceptable or commonplace.

* Acting out - The tendency to perform the behaviors viewed, including exhibitionism, sadistic/masochistic sex, group sex, rape, or sex with minor children.

* Dr. Victor Cline, clinical psychologist at the University of Utah, said that pornography is the gateway drug to sexual addiction."

* In a study of 932 sex addicts, 90% of the men and 77% of the women indicated that pornography played a significant role in their addiction.

B. Internet pornography is both prevalent and easily accessible by children.

* Teens use the Internet an average of 8.5 hours per week for chatting and e-mailing, compared to 1.8 hours spent using it for school work.

* An estimated 18.8 million kids under 18-years-old have access to home computers.

* "Adult" entertainment on the Internet is the third largest sector of sales, surpassed only by computer products and travel.

* Playboy’s web site, which offers free teaser shots of its Playmates, averages 5 million hits per day.

* After the Supreme Court overturned the indecency provisions of the Communications Decency Act, Penthouse posted the following statement on its web site: "With these words, the Supreme Court struck a blow for Liberty, and cleared the way for Penthouse to build the Ultimate Empire of Sex on the Internet...The Supreme Court has defended your right to Freedom of Sexual Expression on the Internet...Now we at Penthouse will do our part to deliver it!"

* In August, 1997, there were 72,000 sexually explicit sites on the Internet, and an estimated 266 new porn sites every day.

* The vast majority of Americans (94%) believe a ban on Internet pornography should be legal.

* UNICEF estimates that one million children are forced into prostitution or used to produce pornography each year. Many are handed over (or sold) by their families driven by the extremes of poverty....The Internet also has given dealers in child pornography a far bigger audience--and anonymity.

* We now have no legal means to protect children from sexually explicit material on the Internet. The door has been flung open wide for pornographers and sexual predators.