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WASHINGTON (CNN) =97 Another major American industry is asking for
assistance as the global financial crisis continues: Hustler publisher
Larry Flynt and Girls Gone Wild CEO Joe Francis said Wednesday they
will request that Congress allocate $5 billion for a bailout of the
adult entertainment industry.

"The take here is that everyone and their mother want to be bailed out
from the banks to the big three," said Owen Moogan, spokesman for
Larry Flynt. "The porn industry has been hurt by the downturn like
everyone else and they are going to ask for the $5 billion. Is it the
most serious thing in the world? Is it going to make the lives of
Americans better if it happens? It is not for them to determine."

Francis said in a statement that "the US government should actively
support the adult industry's survival and growth, just as it feels the
need to support any other industry cherished by the American people."

"We should be delivering [the request] by the end of today to our
congressmen and [Secretary of the Treasury Henry] Paulson asking for
this $5 billion dollar bailout," he told CNN Wednesday.

Flynt and Francis concede the industry itself is in no financial
danger =97 DVD sales have slipped over the past year, but Web traffic
has continued to grow.

But the industry leaders said the issue is a nation in need. "People
are too depressed to be sexually active," Flynt said in the statement.
"This is very unhealthy as a nation. Americans can do without cars and
such but they cannot do without sex."

"With all this economic misery and people losing all that money, sex
is the farthest thing from their mind. It's time for congress to
rejuvenate the sexual appetite of America. The only way they can do
this is by supporting the adult industry and doing it quickly."

So far, there has been no congressional reaction to the request.

=96CNN's Chloe Melas contributed to this report