Dennis Hoff uses the only weapon he brought — his mouth

As promised, the unedited response from the brothel industry to Harry Reid’s call to outlaw it (posted below). In this audio file, you will hear several voices, including those of brothel owner Dennis Hoff, who attended the Senator’s speech in the Assembly Chambers yesterday.

Hoff told the Reasonable Reporter he was frisked and searched by both the Secret Service and the legislature’s own police force. Hoff says these authorities — unclear which ones — asked him whether he’d brought a weapon. He pointed to his mouth, he said, and he told them yes.  He brought it and he intended to use it.

Other voices you’ll hear: industry lobbyist George Flint, Nevada Brothel Association president Jeff Arnold, professional prostitutes Bunny Love and Brooke Taylor, and various members of the Nevada press corps.

Highlights:  They discuss the unlicensed sex for sale in Las Vegas, and the legal precedent they say would allow them to fight any attempt to close brothels. (The brothel license is property, and shutting them down is a taking, they say.  Combined value of the licenses is in the hundreds of millions.)  The women describe life in the cathouse as better than life on the street, and express their outrage at the suggestion that children are looking out the school bus window at sexually untoward activity. (He wants sex offenders to have more rights than we do.)  The potential job loss and impact to the counties is also covered.

Hear the full half-hour response of legal prostitution to Senator Reid’s speech. This was an informal press conference in the hallway outside the Assembly Chambers.  Hear the file by clicking on the flash player below.

If you do not have a flash player you may download the file directly by clicking here. The file is about a half-hour long.

Harry Reid: Brothels keep business out of Nevada

Senate Majority Harry Leader Reid defended the effectiveness of the federal stimulus package today during a visit to the Nevada legislature. He also boosted GM,  Chrysler, and green energy, criticized term limits, and suggested that businesses are reluctant to relocate to Nevada because of legal prostitution.

“If we want to attract business to Nevada that puts people back to work, the time has come to outlaw prostitution,” the senator told a joint session of Nevada Legislators.

The industry launched an immediate and spirited counter-attack in the hallway outside the chambers.  Brothel owner Dennis Hoff and long-time industry lobbyist George Flint lashed out, saying hundreds of jobs would be lost in the brothel counties. Fifteen hundred women would be deprived of their small businesses they said, and in one county, the only doctor would have no reason to stay.

Flint said he found out from a friend who overheard someone close to Reid on Saturday night telling State Senator Sheila Leslie that the majority leader would call upon state lawmakers to end legal prostitution.

Hoff, who was accompanied by several of the potentially affected women, angrily accused Reid of using prostitution to distract from his own performance in the United States Senate.

More to follow, with audio.  Meanwhile, in the photo below George Flint holds the press and a small number of his clients rapt, as he rails against Reid (whom he said is a long-time and beloved friend), and Las Vegas, where he says AIDS and other problems are rampant because of street-walking prostitutes.