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On today’s program: Darin Lahood, U.S. Representative for the 16th District of Illinois, praises the success of the U.S. strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities and talks about the troubling relationship between China and the ayatollah’s regime.
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From the heart of our nation’s capital in Washington, D.C., bringing compelling interviews, insightful analysis, taking you beyond the headlines and soundbites into conversations with our nation’s leaders and newsmakers, all from a biblical worldview. Washington Watch with Tony Perkins starts now.
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The reality is you want to call it destroyed, you want to call it defeated, you want to call it obliterated. Choose your word. This was an historically successful attack, and we should celebrate it as Americans. And it gives us a chance to have peace, a chance to have a deal, and an opportunity to prevent a nuclear Iran.
SPEAKER 09 :
That was Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth earlier today discussing the U.S. bombing of Iran’s nuclear facilities and taking the media to task. Welcome to this June 26th edition of Washington Watch. I’m your host, Tony Perkins. Thanks so much for tuning in. Well, coming up, we’ll take a closer look at what’s ahead for Iran and the Middle East and the role China may be playing with Illinois Congressman Darren LaHood, a member of the House Intelligence Committee. And as June draws to a close, so does Pride Month. And without the government and corporations force-feeding the American public, it’s becoming clear the public has little appetite for all of that. That’s raising new questions on the left, including about the future of court-imposed same-sex marriage. Today marks the 10th anniversary since the Obergefell decision, which opened a cultural Pandora’s box. Men and women’s sports, men and women’s restrooms, and the sexual indoctrination of elementary school children. just to name a few. Dr. Ben Carson will join me to unpack the cultural consequences of this ruling and how we might respond. And Planned Parenthood’s president, Alexis McGill Johnson, responded earlier today to a major Supreme Court decision.
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This case, just like the current congressional effort to defund Planned Parenthood, is about lawmakers who want to impose their personal beliefs on everyone else. This time, it’s about the court determining patients’ rights.
SPEAKER 09 :
McGill-Johnson was responding to a court-issued ruling this morning that said South Carolina can exclude Planned Parenthood from its Medicaid program. Planned Parenthood obviously worried that the ruling will embolden other pro-life states to cut off taxpayer funding to the nation’s largest abortion provider. Well, let’s pray that’s exactly what happens. We’ll talk about it later on this edition of Washington Watch. Also joining me today, FRC’s Travis Weber and Suzanne Bowdy, editorial director and senior writer at The Washington Stand, will discuss the one big beautiful bill. The Senate’s giving the bill somewhat of a makeover. Will the House recognize it when it comes back? We’ll talk about that as well. All of that and a bit more coming up on this edition of Washington Watch. But before we begin, as the week and our fiscal year draws to a close, there’s still time to double your support for Washington Watch and the Family Research Council. For over 40 years, Family Research Council has stood firm in our nation’s capital, defending faith, family and freedom from a biblical perspective. And thanks to a generous matching challenge, every gift that is given this week will be doubled. So to make your gift, we have folks standing by to take your call, 800-225-4008. That’s 800-225-4008 to talk to one of our team members. Stand with us, and together, let’s be a voice for truth. Well, as I mentioned during a press conference this morning, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth further defended America’s targeted strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities. He and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Dan Kaine presented new information on the extent of the damage. The secretary also torched legacy media for hoping the strikes, quote, maybe weren’t effective and trying to play them against President Trump. Here to discuss this, Congressman Darren LaHood, who serves on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. He represents the 16th Congressional District of Illinois. Congressman LaHood, welcome back to Washington Watch. Always good to see you. Good to be with you, Tony. So I know the House is scheduled for its own briefing tomorrow from the White House on the extent of the damage done. But what are you hearing so far? And would you call this a success?
SPEAKER 06 :
I would absolutely call it a success. The Intelligence Committee on the House side has been meeting throughout this week in our classified briefings in the SCIF and going over that. I can’t get into the details on that. But as CIA Director Ratcliffe said yesterday, what President Trump did severely damaged the Iranian nuclear program. That was also put forth today at the press conference that you referenced with General Kane and also with Defense Secretary Hessek. This was a successful mission. But let’s back up a little bit. President Trump gave the Iranians an opportunity to come to the table. Over a 60-day window, his envoy, Steve Witkoff, met with the Iranians, told them they need to come forth with a plan on how they get rid of their nuclear program. That didn’t happen. And on day 61, of course, the Israelis moved in and did what they did in a very successful way. And that was followed by the bunker bombs that, again, severely damaged and decommissioned the nuclear program in Iran, which was a calculated risk. There’s no doubt about it. But I’m glad President Trump made that decision after careful thought with a lot of smart, bright people in his office. in his cabinet. And ultimately, this is going to make the Middle East safer, America safer and the world.
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There’s been some question about the enriched uranium that was at about 60 percent. They got to go to 90 to be weaponized to use for nuclear grade weapons that some of that was removed and hidden prior to the strikes. What do we know about that?
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, I don’t think we know the full extent of that. I’m skeptical that that was done appropriately, but I don’t think we’ll know for a little bit of time here. Again, the strategic and tactical mission of what we did with these bombs hit their targets. As you know, these bunker bombs go down 20 or 30 stories. Tony, we’re the only ones in the world that have this capability. And again, they severely damaged, using the words of the CIA director, the nuclear program. And I think it’s a success.
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The attack, combined with what the Israelis did, has also set back Iran in their conventional warfare as well with their missiles.
SPEAKER 06 :
No doubt about it. Iran is in a very weakened position because of what the U.S. and the Israelis have been able to do. But you just think about what the Trump administration has done since they came in, Tony. Iran had all these proxies throughout the Middle East, the Houthis in Yemen, Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, the Shia proxies in Iraq. Assad was also one of their backers of terrorism. In many ways, those have all been eliminated. We’re still dealing with the Houthis, but it has been a concerted effort, both the Israelis and the United States, to weaken Iran, and that’s the position they’re in. In the end, the religious zealots and the mullahs in Iran, they made a decision they’d rather have a bomb than peace, and this is the result of what happened over the last 12 days here.
SPEAKER 09 :
I think it would be difficult to find another period in time and history where we’ve seen so much transformation in the Middle East. Now, the dust hasn’t settled. We don’t know what the future looks like, but certainly the landscape, the geopolitical landscape has shifted in the Middle East. The key is going forward. Can peace be sustained with a Islamic regime that you just made reference to still in place?
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, if you look at their track record over 49 years that the Iranian mullahs have been running the theocracy in Iran, state sponsor of terrorism, everything they’ve been involved with, I’m skeptical and I’m dubious. I wish this would deter them from continuing to go down the path that they’ve already gone down. But as you know, Tony, they continue to not abide by any international norms or be compliant with – anything that’s been put forth before. We’ll see. This should send the ultimate deterrence. I hope this causes them to come to the table and want to negotiate and denuclearize. We can only hope. But I think we couldn’t have sent a stronger message than we did over the last several days.
SPEAKER 09 :
Congressman LaHood, I would certainly agree to that. I want to kind of shift a bit, still related. You’re a member of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party. Now, many would say, all right, so what does that have to do with Iran? It has a lot to do with Iran because China has been holding up Iran and supplying it with funds to be able to move forward with what it’s been doing.
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, you’re exactly right, Tony. And I don’t think we focused on this enough. And I don’t say this to scare people, but China has a plan to replace the United States, and they’re working at it every single day from a national security standpoint, a diplomatic standpoint, an economic standpoint, technological standpoint. And them supporting countries like Iran, buying much of their energy, has helped fuel and fund Iran and the mullahs there. And, you know, that, again, has not been covered enough, but that’s the reality. And on the Intelligence Committee and also on the Select Committee on China, we’ve been focused on this, but I think it’s got to be raised to a whole other level. And I know the Secretary of Defense talked a little bit about it today, and President Trump is aware of this, but we can’t let China off the hook on this. We’ve got to continue to press them to stop supporting Iran the way that they have.
SPEAKER 09 :
I mean, my sources in Israel, their intel suggests that Iran was able to rebuild the missile fuel sites, the solid missile fuel sites that they destroyed back in October of last year, in large part because of Chinese money that was flooding in to support Iran.
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, you need resources and you need money. And I mean, that’s the one thing they have is energy sources there, natural gas and oil. And the Chinese continue to buy it along with other rogue nations. And that needs to be, again, prioritized and put at the top of our list. We can’t allow Iran to continue to have that funding source moving forward. And I think as we think about the trade negotiations that are ongoing with China, This has to be a part of those. And I think it will be highlighted from a national security standpoint. The last point that I will make on this, Tony, is I think the national security team that President Trump has put in place is definitely much more focused on China and the Indo-Pacific region, whether that’s Secretary Rubio, whether that’s Vice President Vance, whether that’s Director Ratcliffe, whether that’s Director Patel. and others focused on China as a threat. And hopefully that will sink in as we continue the negotiations with China.
SPEAKER 09 :
Well, I do want to bring up one more point on China and they’re the largest purchaser of Iranian oil. And the president earlier this week suggesting that sanctions might be loosened to allow China to continue to buy oil from Iran. How would you see sanctions continuing to be a tool to keep Iran in line?
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, I would not be of that opinion of allowing that we should loosen sanctions. Again, Iran has shown no track record of being compliant, of working in a way, has been trustworthy. Now, if Iran came forward and said, we want to negotiate, we want to recognize Israel, we want to be good actors in the Middle East, then I think that’s a different story. We’ve heard none of that and seen none of that. We’ve seen just the opposite. Tony, I don’t know if you saw this this past week, but, you know, the level of propaganda and misinformation that the Iranian state television has put up, they have a parade saying that they had won the war.
SPEAKER 09 :
Right. Right. And they’re executing people openly to send fear among those who would challenge the regime. I do what you said, something that I think is really, really important. That could be a acid test, if you will, of whether or not they truly are going to give up their nuclear plan and want to be a part of the broader global community. And that is recognizing the right of Israel to exist. They have not done that. I would be hard pressed to see them do it.
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, we’ll see. Again, there’s a number of things that they can do to show that they are good actors. That has not been a way that anybody would describe them moving forward. But there is a pathway for them to move forward. And we’ll see if those negotiations continue. And we can hope for that.
SPEAKER 09 :
But I think we have to be skeptical and dubious. Trust but verify. Congressman LaHood, great to see you. Thanks so much for taking time to join us today. Appreciate your insight. Good to be with you, Tony. Thanks. All right. Stay with us, folks. On the other side of the break, Dr. Ben Carson joins me. So don’t go anywhere.
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Hi, everyone. This is Pastor Jay Johnston, National Prayer Director with the Family Research Council. I want to invite you to join our 21-day Family Bible Challenge as we read through the book of Matthew. This is an opportunity for you and for your family to come together for 15 minutes a day to read God’s Word together. Deuteronomy 6 says, These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts, Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Seek the Word of God, obey the Word of God, share the Word of God so that you and others might know the joy of walking with God now and for all eternity. As your family gathers to read the Bible, invite the Holy Spirit to work in your life to spiritually transform each one of you. Ask the Lord to show you creative ways for you to connect with your family, to read God’s Word together. I pray that however God uses this challenge in your life and those that you join together with will be a blessing to you and strengthen you as you read the Gospel of Matthew together. Visit frc.org slash familybiblechallenge for more information.
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In a time when Washington seems clouded by compromise, a bold group of lawmakers are standing firm in defense of the values which our nation was built upon. At FRC Actions 100% Awards, 171 members of Congress were honored for voting 100% in line with policies that promote faith, family, and freedom.
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The values that make America, faith, family, hard work, personal responsibility. I mean, that to me is the heart of FRC and grateful for everything that they do.
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It’s very important for us to have organizations such as FRC. First of all, I think it keeps us grounded, in addition to which the issues that you champion are issues that we should all be championing.
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FRC is very, very good at honing in on those things that really affect Christians’ lives. Also, working with members of Congress, too, to make sure that those values are instilled in the legislation that we create.
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Having the Family Research Council to guide us is critically important to being able to do the right thing consistently.
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These lawmakers have drawn the line, not just in policy, but in principle. This is more than politics. This is conviction in action. Visit FRCAction.org for more information on how you too can make a difference.
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Welcome back. Thanks so much for tuning in and making Washington Watch part of your day. By the way, we have team members standing by to take your call. If you would like to support and be a partner of Washington Watch and the Family Research Council for this week, just this week, so we’ve just got two days left, if you make a gift, it’ll be doubled. That’s right. We’ve got a generous match that’s out there from some generous donors. So if you give us a call, 800-225-4008, that’s 800-225-4008, your gift will be doubled. So double your impact and stand with us. For years now, LGBT activists have tried to claim June as Pride Month and force everyone to bend a knee to their radical and, frankly, immoral ideology. But a grassroots movement that began in 2023 aims to change that by making June a month of recommitment. to God, our spouses and family, our communities and country. This initiative, appropriately named Fidelity Month, comes as recent polls show an actual decline for same-sex marriage, especially among Republicans. So are more Americans beginning to connect the dots between the redefinition of marriage and the cultural Pandora’s box that the court opened? Joining me now to discuss this, Dr. Ben Carson, the founder and chairman of the American Cornerstone Institute. He is also a world-renowned neurosurgeon who served as the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development under the first Trump administration. Dr. Carson has been a strong voice, a very strong voice for Christians and conservatives for many years, especially on the topic of marriage, family, and religious freedom. Dr. Carson, welcome back to Washington Watch. Always great to see you, my friend.
SPEAKER 08 :
Always good to be with you. I appreciate your steadfast, patriotic views on things.
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Well, we were together recently, I guess about two weeks ago, up on Capitol Hill for a Fidelity Month event that Dr. Robbie George of Princeton University has spearheaded and started. Why are you joining this effort?
SPEAKER 08 :
Because, you know, our country… was founded on Judeo-Christian principles and values. And that means a lot of our values came from the Word of God. And God tells us the kinds of things that we need to be faithful for. That includes our families, our spouses, our communities, and our nation. And we have entities going around proclaiming pride and other things, like Pride Month. Why shouldn’t we talk about the pride we have in fidelity and being faithful to the commitments that we’ve made over the course of a lifetime and the very things that allowed this country to arise from obscurity and rise to the pinnacle of the world? It wasn’t by coincidence. It was because of fidelity to various principles. And one of those principles is our families. which are the building blocks of our communities. When we have strong families, we have strong communities and therefore strong nations. It’s so important for us to be proud of that and not to allow someone else to always take the banner and the attention.
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Well, and the further we move away from those founding principles, the more questionable our future becomes as a nation.
SPEAKER 08 :
No question about it. And all you have to do is ask yourself, are we a better nation as we abandon the principles that guided us from obscurity to the pinnacle of the world? Or are we moving in a downward spiral? And I don’t think you have to be too objective to understand that we’re moving in a downward spiral. But we can change that. I think I’m seeing… a lot of encouraging signs, particularly among young men in this country.
SPEAKER 09 :
We are. In fact, there’s a resurgence of connection with Orthodox Christianity among young men. They’ve been given all this other ideology that’s out there that is empty and does not give life its meaning and purpose, and they’re returning back to that source that we find deeply rooted in America’s history.
SPEAKER 08 :
Absolutely. They’re actually observing what’s going on and making decisions based on that. Not so much for the young women. We need to work on them. But it’s something that we need to talk about. We need to talk about the reason that God instituted families as a place for children to be raised. There’s been studies that have shown that children who are raised in traditional nuclear families do much better on all levels.
SPEAKER 09 :
But there is great cultural pressure not to talk about these Christian principles. In fact, when we were up together up on the hill together a couple of weeks ago in your comments, you made reference to this. Even when you came to your position at HUD during the first Trump administration, there were these government entities, forces, if you will, saying, hey, don’t talk about that kind of stuff.
SPEAKER 08 :
Absolutely. And they still do it today. And I think we have to be bold. We have to be brave and be willing to talk about those things that we believe in. You know, the left succeeds, even though I don’t think they are the majority. They succeed because they talk about what’s important to them. Right. They use megaphone very effectively.
SPEAKER 09 :
But isn’t that also why we see President Trump being successful, is that he’s willing to stand up and speak and encourage, breeds courage?
SPEAKER 08 :
I am thrilled to see the way he gets up there. Sometimes he says things that are pretty amusing, but I’m so glad that he’s willing to get up and talk and Tell the truth. You never have to really wonder about what he’s thinking. It comes right out immediately. Yeah, that’s true.
SPEAKER 09 :
The filter’s not there very often. We just have about a minute left, Dr. Carson. But do you think Americans are starting to connect the dots with this redefinition of marriage when you look at this whole transgender ideology where their kids are being told you can choose your own gender and we’re seeing these surgeries, experimental drugs given to adolescents? I mean, are people starting to see where this Pandora’s box is leading?
SPEAKER 08 :
I think so. And you see last week the Supreme Court upheld Tennessee prohibitions against some of the manipulation and mutilation that we’re doing to children. That’s child abuse. Yeah. And I think people are starting to recognize that more people are recognizing that having men and women’s sport makes no sense. You know, just starting to use our brains again. Common sense. That’s what we’re looking for. Common.
SPEAKER 09 :
But it requires people speaking up. It’s one of the things I appreciated so much about you at HUD. You wouldn’t allow men into women’s shelters. And you took a lot of heat for that before congressional committees. But if we stand up and speak, common sense does have an opportunity to live. All right, Dr. Carson, we’re up against a break. We’ll be back with more folks. Stay right there. We’re coming right back.
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The Center for Biblical Worldview’s all-day workshops delves into the formation of a worldview, what it is, how it’s formed, when it’s formed, what that means to them personally and their churches and communities.
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My hope for people when they come to these worldview workshops is that they will come away better equipped to engage the people and the ideas that they’re living with and around. And our goal is to give people more confidence in the gospel, in the fact that what God said to us actually is true, actually is the path to happiness and human flourishing for all of us, but also more confidence in their ability to have these conversations and help lead other people to the truth.
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for Bible-believing Christians to know what God’s Word says on these issues and to learn how they can apply it to their lives. And we believe that the more Christians that we equip, that’s how we’ll change the nation.
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Hey, fam, listen, Pastor Sammy here at Lighthouse Church, and I cannot tell you how equipping, how empowering, how… incredibly educating this conference has been. And so I just want to encourage anybody that either has not been part of or is thinking about hosting this event, certainly to pastors, leaders, even CEOs for that matter, this conference is lights out. Stand behind it myself. I can’t commend it enough. We’re going to be talking about this for some time to come.
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The culture is kind of squeezing in on us as God’s people, forcing those of us with biblical views to change those views or to suppress those views. It’s forcing us to engage with issues that we’ve never had to engage with. And so what this teaches us is what those issues are, what the Bible says about those issues, and then how we can critically engage our culture on these things in a way that is committed to biblical principles.
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Visit frc.org slash worldview for more information.
SPEAKER 09 :
Welcome back to Washington Watch. Again, we’ve got team members standing by to take your phone call. If you would like to partner with Family Research Council to ensure that Washington Watch continues on the airwaves, your gift today and tomorrow will be doubled. Just give a call 800-225-4008. That’s 800-225-4008 to talk to one of our team members. All right, here with me to continue our conversation on the cultural direction of America is Dr. Ben Carson, the founder and chairman of the American Cornerstone Institute. Dr. Carson, thanks again for sticking with us. Very quickly, before I get to my next question, how can people find out more about the Cornerstone Institute?
SPEAKER 08 :
Americancornerstone.org. And there’s all kinds of things on that website, including our Little Patriots program for children, Executive branch for America, which teaches you how the government works.
SPEAKER 09 :
It’s great stuff. Great stuff. Great for homeschool families and others, because we’ve got to reach children at a young age when that worldview is being formulated. And you’ve got some great material for that.
SPEAKER 08 :
It’s all free of charge, by the way.
SPEAKER 09 :
Yeah, that’s what I like about it. It’s right there for you folks, so check it out, America Cornerstone Institute. Speaking of children, Dr. Carson, this week not only is the 10th anniversary of the Burgerfeld decision, it’s the third anniversary of the Dobbs decision, which before the program started, you and I were talking, reminded me that we were together when that decision was handed down by the Supreme Court. We were speaking on a panel together. Good things happen when you and I get together. We just need to be because there was actually another Supreme Court decision today handed down by the court saying that South Carolina has the right to defund Planned Parenthood. And that fits into what I want to ask you about, because since stops, most people aren’t aware of this. But abortion rates have increased by about 12 percent in this country, in large part because now 63 percent of abortions at least are being conducted by the abortion pill, which under Biden era policy is being mailed into these pro-life states. Forty one states have some form of protection for the unborn. Those laws are being circumvented by the abortion pill.
SPEAKER 08 :
And there’s not very good surveillance of what happens when those pills are distributed. And it can be very dangerous for a woman’s health. But it’s also very dangerous for their mental health because a lot of times they’re sitting on the toilet and they deliver a formed baby that has arms and legs and a head. And that can have an emotional impact. devastating effect for the rest of a person’s life. They don’t even think about things like that. And we have 40 tons of human waste In terms of fetal bodies per year in this country, think about that, 40 tons.
SPEAKER 09 :
Wow. And that’s going actually into our sewage system and then making its way back into our water system. We talked about that earlier in this week, a new study that’s out that shows our filtration systems are not able to filter out all of these chemicals like the portions of mifeprestone that is a part of the regimen for the abortion pill. This could have long-term complications for American health beyond the mother and the child.
SPEAKER 08 :
It can impact fertility. And we don’t really know all the things that it will affect. You know, the Republicans were putting forth an effort to study the side effects of Mifepristone, and the Democrats tried to block it. They don’t want to know the side effects. Why would they not want to know the side effects unless they realize that maybe there’s something there that would discourage people from using it for abortions?
SPEAKER 09 :
Well, as long as we this is one of the things that the Trump administration really needs to do is to to eliminate this Biden policy and go back to the preexisting protocols that require in-person medical consultation before this pill is issued. I mean, obviously, I’d like to see the pill done away with, but at least we should have these minimal requirements. And that would respect the pro-life laws of these states, because right now those laws aren’t being respected.
SPEAKER 08 :
Now, when you make it so easy, people who really shouldn’t be doing it are doing it. And more importantly, and it’s something that we don’t talk about very much in our society anymore, but there’s a very good way to make sure that you don’t have to have an abortion. That is abstinence. What about waiting until you’re married and really taking the family seriously again? Why don’t we do that? Why don’t we talk about that anymore? And I’m aiming this at a lot of ministers and churches who just sort of have abandoned some of God’s principles.
SPEAKER 09 :
That’s such a good point, Dr. Carson. Whatever happened to self-control and restraint and actually doing things according to God’s design, which actually the social sciences and all of the research says that if you wait until marriage or you finish school, you get married, and then you have babies, the chances are you’re going to avoid poverty. It’s unlikely that you’ll be in poverty if you do those things in that order.
SPEAKER 08 :
Well, you know, we used to know that, didn’t we? That used to be part of the common knowledge. Now it’s a study that shocks people.
SPEAKER 09 :
Right. But in part because the government has been subsidizing bad behavior. And what you pay for, you get more of. And as long as we have these government programs that reward bad behavior, we’re going to get more of it. Dr. Carson, we’re out of time, but it’s always great to have you on the program. I so appreciate you speaking out with clarity. And you could just enjoy life and be retired on the beach, but you’re engaged, and I appreciate it.
SPEAKER 08 :
Well, thank you for providing a great forum to talk about things that bring us closer to our Savior.
SPEAKER 09 :
All right. Dr. Ben Carson, check out the American Cornerstone Institute. All right. When we come back, going to be joined by Travis Weber and Suzanne Bowdy as we look at the status of the one big, beautiful bill. It’s getting a makeover in the Senate. Don’t go away.
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Family Research Council is committed to advancing faith, family, and freedom from the East Coast to the West. So FRC is going to Southern California for this year’s Pray, Vote, Stand Summit, October 17th and 18th at Calvary Chapel Chino Hills. Join us for this powerful gathering of Christians desiring cultural renewal and spiritual revival. The Pray, Vote, Stand Summit brings together Christian leaders, issue experts, and government officials for a time of prayer, inspiration, and action. Together, we will seek God’s guidance for our nation and engage in meaningful discussions on the intersection of faith, government, and culture. If the spiritual foundations and the cultural walls of our nation are to be rebuilt, we all have a role to play. may we each find our place on the wall as we build for biblical truth register now at prayvotestand.org that’s prayvotestand.org jennifer it’s so exciting to be here with you today talking about our new book embracing god’s design who is actually going to benefit from reading this book in your view
SPEAKER 22 :
There are so many different audiences that can benefit. The first one are counselors themselves, because we have some material in there where we really address the gender dysphoria diagnosis and what is wrong with it. We have information for people who are wanting to go back to embracing God’s design for their life.
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How should Christians think about the thorny issues shaping our culture? How should Christians address deceitful ideas like transgenderism, critical theory, or assisted suicide? How can Christians navigate raising children in a broken culture, the war on gender roles, or rebuilding our once great nation? Outstanding is a podcast from The Washington Stand dedicated to these critical conversations. Outstanding seeks to tear down what our corrupt culture lifts up with an aim to take every thought and every idea captive to the obedience of Christ. Whether policies or partisan politics, whether conflict in America or conflict abroad, join us and our guests as we examine the headlines through the lens of Scripture and explore how Christians can faithfully exalt Christ in all of life. Follow Outstanding on your favorite podcast app and look for new episodes each week.
SPEAKER 09 :
Welcome back to Washington Watch. All right, one last time, I’m gonna remind you, we’ve got team members that are standing by to take your phone call. If you’d like to partner with Family Research Council to ensure that Washington Watch continues on the airwaves, we receive no government funding. Everything comes from supporters like you, patriots who care about America’s future, that want to defend faith, family, and freedom. So in the next two days, we have a generous match that was put forth by some donors that everything that you give will be doubled. So give us a call, 800-225-4008, and we’ve got team members ready to talk to you. That’s 800-225-4008. Our word for today comes from Matthew 24, where Jesus speaks with his disciples about the future. Verse 3, now as he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately saying, tell us when will these things be and what will be the sign of your coming and the end of the age? So the disciples asked three questions. When will these things happen? What will be the sign of your coming and what will be the sign of the end of the age? And Jesus responds with a warning, not a timeline. Verse 4, take heed that no one deceives you. In fact, he warns of deceptions three times in this chapter. Why? Because deception will be rampant. Look at verse 24. For false Christ and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. Satan is working overtime to deceive and distract, keeping people from the peace, truth, and freedom necessary found in Christ. So what’s the antidote? Stay grounded in God’s Word. To find out more about our journey through the Bible, text BIBLE to 67742. That’s BIBLE to 67742. Well, the month of June is winding down. And as we were talking about earlier, that means Pride Month’s over. And it was not so much as what the LGBT community was hoping for without the government and corporate America forcing it down the throats of Americans. But there’s… Something else, as June is winding down, that means most of the decisions from this term of the U.S. Supreme Court are being released. And it usually goes into the first part of July. Well, earlier today, the court handed down a pretty significant ruling, a 6-3 decision in Medina v. Planned Parenthood. South Atlantic. The court’s decision allows states like South Carolina to redirect taxpayer dollars, in this case Medicaid dollars, away from abortion facilities like Planned Parenthood. So what does this ruling mean? What does this ruling mean for states all across the nation? Well, here to discuss this is… Suzanne Bowdy, Editorial Director and Senior Writer at the Washington Stand, and Travis Weber, Vice President for Policy and Government Affairs here at the Family Research Council. Travis, Suzanne, thanks for joining me today. Thanks, Tony. So, Travis, let me start with you. You’re an attorney. So what are the implications of today’s decision by the Supreme Court regarding South Carolina and Planned Parenthood?
SPEAKER 21 :
Yeah. So, Tony, as you noted, this will give states the freedom to determine how the dollars flowing through their state are spent with regard to whether they want to side on the side of death or the side of life. This question of abortion and the most well-known abortion mill, Planned Parenthood. And so it’s really a matter of state policies and state governments, as the people voice their support for life in those states, being able to say, we want these funds to go to not go to Planned Parenthood or any other similar abortion providers with regard to the interpretation of federal statute here that the Supreme Court is dealing with. So I think this is a win, certainly for the rule of law. It’s a win for the voice of the people in the states, and it gives light and life to the This allows the people to voice their support for life in the states and allows the states to be a laboratory for democracy as our country should provide for and allow them to continue to support life. So I think we’re very encouraged by this in terms of the pro-life policy outcome, Tony, but also for the people in the states to say, we want our state to protect life as well.
SPEAKER 09 :
Suzanne, Planned Parenthood in their most recent annual report said, SHOWS THAT THEY PERFORMED OVER 400,000 ABORTIONS, A RECORD FOR THEM IN TERMS OF THE NUMBER OF ABORTIONS, AND THEY RECEIVED NEARLY $800 MILLION FROM TAXPAYERS. THAT’S REALLY JUST KIND OF A, THEY PUT FORWARD THIS IDEA THAT THEY ARE A HEALTH CARE PROVIDER, BREAST EXAMINATIONS, contraceptive counsel and consultation. They’re really an abortion provider. That’s all they do. And that is not health care.
SPEAKER 18 :
I would say they’re not a provider. I would say they’re a business in a multimillion dollar business. Those those procedures that you talked about abortion and now that they’ve branched out into gender trans transition procedures are cash cows for them. They make millions of dollars off of these things and they do not need the government’s money, taxpayers money in the states or federally financing them. They’re doing pretty well on their own, and it’s not, as you point out rightly, they’re not providing the services that they claim to in abundance, which is, you know, STD testing, adoption referrals, other things.
SPEAKER 09 :
And that’s what they were basing their claim, that they should be treated like any other provider. Well, every other provider doesn’t perform 400,000 abortions, and they’re an abortion business. They are not a health care provider. provider. But this, Suzanne, this also ties into what’s happening on Capitol Hill right now with reconciliation.
SPEAKER 18 :
It does, Tony. You know, it’s been really interesting to watch this process. I think a lot of Americans are probably confused about what’s going on in the Hill right now. They see the headlines about a birdbath. What is that? They see the headlines about a Senate parliamentarian. And right now what’s happening is that the Senate is going through, combing through the bill that’s just come out of the Senate Finance Committee, which is sort of a hodgepodge of both the House and Senate bills. And they’re looking at various items and seeing if they qualify under the process of reconciliation. So under reconciliation, it’s just a simple majority that you need to pass this bill, but the items have to be related to budgetary things or tax issues. And one of the big provisions in that bill that FRC has been very instrumental in lobbying for is to defund big abortion. And right now, as the Senate’s looking at that, that provision has been preserved, excuse me, largely because people are weighing in and saying they want their senators to defund abortion. As we’ve just seen, the federal government also needs to do that. It’s not just states, but the federal government also needs to defund big abortion. There’s a role for the federal government as well.
SPEAKER 09 :
So, Suzanne, just a little context, a little history on the birdbath. You know, people are thinking, what is this, some kind of like concrete pedestal up there with the birds fluttering around? That is named after Robert Byrd, the late Robert Byrd, who was a longtime member of the Senate and the finance overseeing the appropriations. Explain what that is. It is a process by determining whether or not something fits within the very narrow parameters of the the 1973 Budget Reconciliation Act.
SPEAKER 18 :
Right. So it’s BYRD, not BIRD for Robert Byrd, as you said. And the Senate is governed by very complicated procedures and rules. And as I mentioned, reconciliation is one of those very complicated processes. And so Robert Byrd was very concerned that if people wanted to pass something with a simple majority through the reconciliation process, they might take advantage of that and try to pass things that aren’t related to the budget or taxes. So what he said was, OK, we need a rule in place where everything has to be looked at in terms of the budget and taxes. For instance, you can’t have some pet project of a Democrat or a Republican hitching a ride on this bill to be passed just because it’s A simple majority. So the Senate parliamentarian sits down, combs through the bill, sees what which elements of that bill are budgetary and tax in nature. So that’s called a birdbath. Now, if she strikes something right now, that Senate parliamentarian is Elizabeth McDonough. She’s been in the job for about 12 years. If she strikes something, it’s called a bird dropping, hilariously. And the senators have to go back to the drawing board to see if they can tweak that language or if there’s something they can do to make it qualify. But it’s very important because you don’t want people to take advantage of the process just to pass something with a simple majority. So right now, that’s what’s happening in the Senate, and we’ll see what comes out of it. We’ve already seen a number of provisions stripped. One of them that we’re keeping an eye on is gender transition funding for minors. which which came out of the House unscathed, but may or may not be a casualty of the Senate side. I know we’ll be working to convince people that, yes, this is a very important part of the budget and one that we want to see upheld as a ban and protect minors from those procedures.
SPEAKER 09 :
So, Suzanne, does Big Bird factor in here?
SPEAKER 18 :
I don’t know, but it might ruffle some feathers.
SPEAKER 09 :
Very good. Travis, Suzanne mentioned one of these other provisions that’s in the bill, and that is the gender transition procedures that are being funded by taxpayers through various means. One, Medicaid. That was taken out of the House, that funding. It’s kind of caught up in the birdbath. We don’t know what’s going to happen. We might have to change the water there. But this is relevant this week. Actually, today is the 10th anniversary of the Burgerfeld decision. I was just talking with Dr. Ben Carson about this a few moments ago, that people don’t realize that the court, when they redefined this institution of marriage, which God created and history has recognized through the millennia, that that has opened a cultural Pandora’s box that I think the American people are beginning to see.
SPEAKER 21 :
Tony, absolutely. Right. Because if you look just in recent 10, 15 years. Right. So we can see a massive shift in terms of the public’s awareness of the implications of of going down this road of approval, public approval of really, you know, I would say a taxer. degradation of God’s design of the family, marriage, of us being created in his image, right? Because we’re marking the 10-year anniversary of that unconstitutional decision, reading a desired policy outcome into the law in the Obergefell case, because our leaders, and those sometimes, unfortunately, those in the judiciary do not have the moral clarity, objectivity, or a spine to stand up for what is right and under the rule of law as opposed to their desired outcome. So the implications, the casualties of that are really the American people, but the public. And so now people think it’s okay because the court said it, right? But Tony, as you’re noting, the transgender issue emerging in recent years popping its head above ground, people seeing the ugly reality of what that is doing to our families, to parental rights, to parental authority, to children, to the teaching of children, all of the issues we’ve seen the last two or three years. People are rightly reacting to that, but the connection that you’re noting that they need to make is the connection between that and what the court did in Obergefell and any approval of the idea that somehow marriage can be between two people of the same biological sex. That’s just not true. And so this is a very important picture understanding arc of truth, we could call it, right? To use, you know, sometimes our opponents refer to the arc of history, but God is the author of truth and reality. And this is something we must call attention to and help people see when unfortunately our country has missed it in something like this. like this.
SPEAKER 09 :
And to make these things fit, you have to force them. You have to use the force of government to make people accept it. And that’s what we’ve seen over the last 10 years, especially under the previous administration that targeted any dissent. Now, Suzanne, under this administration that has brought common sense back into the process, protecting religious freedom, there’s a freer, even before this administration, I mean, there were Americans that said, look, truth is truth. I’m not going to abandon it. We just finished Pride Month. I was talking about this earlier in the program. Corporate America even, I’m not sure that their heart is in it, but they are dialing it back because they see where the American public is. This is so important that we speak up because as we speak up and as we take a stand, as I like to say, courage breeds courage. And we’ll see more Americans standing against these lies, this deception, which is destructive and dangerous.
SPEAKER 18 :
And I think one thing that’s important to remember is this was six justices’ opinions. Until 2022, I mean, this was not done legislatively. So we were substituting the country’s opinion for six justices who believed that you could redefine what marriage is. And I think that the public… never really went along with that idea. In fact, in 2022, when this was debated in Congress, people were really frustrated by the fact that we would continue down this path after we saw almost immediately the effect of Obergefell. Justice Kennedy, when he wrote that opinion, said he thought there were good people on both sides of the debate. And he cautioned people to take religious freedom seriously and protect it. And almost immediately, what did we see? We saw the religious freedom of bakers and florists, of county clerks. It opened up the door to attacks on education, conscience rights. So, yes, I mean, the American people have seen the effects, and they’re horrified by it. So I think that’s why, as you were talking about with Dr. Carson, you know, Republicans in particular have really pulled back on this idea that it’s a good idea for the country. The support has dropped precipitously, about 14 percent on the GOP side. So I think we’re going to continue to see people reevaluate this as a policy idea.
SPEAKER 09 :
Well, in order to get to these cultural You have to go back to the source. And I know that this is this will drive the left crazy. In fact, there was an article out today from Axios speaking about this because I think the left is fearful because the American people, now that they feel free to speak out or saying, hey, this is this is not right. I don’t want my kids indoctrinated. I don’t want to have to share a bathroom with someone of the opposite sex. And so people are starting to push back. I found it interesting that Axios. in making their argument for same-sex marriage is very similar to what we’ve seen in the past making an economic argument. Nearly 600,000 same-sex couples in the U.S. have married since the Obergefell decision, boosting state and local economies by roughly $6 billion and generating an estimate $432 million in state sales tax revenue. You know, this is where the world is. It measures everything by dollars, but not by right and wrong.
SPEAKER 21 :
And Tony, I would even say, just hearing that headline, I would disagree with it. They’re not married. They’re claiming to be married. The civil government has given them a piece of paper that says they’re married, but calling something doesn’t make it so. They’re in denial of reality. The author of creation, the Lord God himself, has determined what marriage is, and they’re in violation of that. Therefore, they’re not married. They’re not in line with the truth. They can run around thinking that’s not a marriage. And we have to correct the language of our country when it’s going off the rails. And in this case, it is just like we see on the transgender issue.
SPEAKER 09 :
We have to uphold truth. Suzanne Bowdy, Travis Weber, thanks so much for joining me today.
SPEAKER 18 :
Thanks, Tony.
SPEAKER 09 :
And folks, thank you for joining us as well. Check out the website, TonyPerkins.com. Better yet, download the Stand Firm app. Until next time, keep standing.
SPEAKER 20 :
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