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.

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.\"

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.\"

Ron Jeremy could not be reached for comment.