Cpt. (Ret.) Brent Sadler, Andy Harris, Katy Faust, Ron Johnson, Travis Weber

From the heart of our nation’s capital in Washington, DC., 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.
I think we should eliminate the filibuster for Roe and get us to the point where 51 votes would be what we need to actually put back in law the protections for reproductive freedom and for the ability of every person and every woman to make decisions about their own body and not have their government tell them what to do.
That was Vice President Kamala Harris earlier today. Now, the Republicans may want to make the protection of the unborn estate issue, but it is clear the Democrats want to force their abortion until birth on the entire nation. We will talk with Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson a little bit later.
Thanks for tuning in to this edition of Washington Watch. I’m your host, Tony Perkins. Hezbollah, which Israeli forces have pounded in the last few days, is pleading for Iran to enter the fray.
Over the past 24 hours, Israeli Air Force hit 1,600 Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon and the Beqa Valley. Israel is now fighting on five fronts. How long can they sustain this level of military activity?
And what is the likelihood? Iran will come to the aid of their primary proxy in the region. We’re going to talk with retired Navy Captain Brent Sadler, Senior Research Fellow at the Heritage Foundation.
And continuing in international news, the House approved the reauthorization of the US. Commission on International Religious Freedom, but not before pointing out an effort being made by the left to turn what was created to be a shield for faith into a sword against it.
USERF will continue to enjoy bipartisan support so long as they focus on their core mandate, the protection of religious liberty around the world. Attempts to distort definitions of religious freedom to cover unrelated or bipartisan issues will quickly squander that support.
That was Congresswoman Amada Coleman Redenwagen on the House floor last night. We’re going to talk with Maryland Congressman Andy Harris, a member of the House Appropriations Committee and the newly elected chair of the House Freedom Caucus. Prevot Stand is just around the corner, and I’m going to be joined by one of the great speakers on our lineup, Katy Faust, author of Them Before Us, Why We Need a Global Children’s Rights Movement.
She’s going to join us, gives a little preview of what she’s going to share at the Prevot Stand Summit. And by the way, I’m issuing an urgent call for folks to come to December, October 3rd through the 6th to pray for our nation, as we’ll be just one month from the election. Prevot Stand, will you join me?
Text urgent to 67742. That’s urgent to 67742 to find out more. Israel continued its strikes on Hezbollah targets in Lebanon today, hitting 1,600 targets over the last 24 hours.
The current military campaign represents what Israeli officials call a new phase of their war against Hezbollah, leading many military analysts to ask if the increased hostilities have the Middle East approaching a full scale war between Israel and up to five regional enemies led by Iran. How could a potential five front war between Israel and Iran’s Axis of Resistance play out? Joining me now to discuss this is retired Navy Captain Brent Sadler.
He’s a 26 year veteran of the Navy, former staff member at the Pentagon and is now a Senior Research Fellow for Naval Warfare and Advanced Technology at the Heritage Foundation. Captain Sadler, welcome to Washington Watch.
Thank you very much for having me on tonight.
So let’s lay out the players in Iran’s Axis of Resistance that are currently engaged with Israel.
Well, certainly. So, I mean, first and foremost was Hamas proxy based in Gaza, which launched the barbarous attacks of October 7th, which triggered this current cycle of violence. Then there’s the Houthis that followed up not much later with a series of cruise and drone and ballistic missile attacks directly against Israel, but most importantly, an enduring attack against international shipping in the Red Sea.
And then I guess most timely is the Hezbollah terrorist organization based out of Lebanon that’s been launching cross border attacks for many months now, starting from the day after that October 7th attack last year by Hamas. Of course, all of them get support through money as well as munitions and training from Iran.
Now, reports in the last few days has been that Hezbollah, which is considered to be the kind of the jewel and the crown of Iran, Iran’s Axis of Resistance, is pleading for Iran to enter the fray. What do we know about that?
Well, the first thing that’s most, I guess, illustrative of the dynamic that’s playing out right now is that after the scene, the leader of Hamas was assassinated in Tehran recently, there was no massed Iranian retaliation like there was for the killing of several IRGC senior leaders in Damascus that occurred back in April. And so, Hezbollah has been agitating ever since for a more forceful Iranian response and that has not come. And I don’t think it’s going to be in the cards in the near future either.
And so, you know, right now, there was a statement from the Iranian president in behest of his UN General Assembly appearance that Hezbollah is largely on its own. And he used that word several times that Hezbollah has to be prepared to be on their own. And I thought that was very telling.
So Captain, is that a fear of drawing the United States into the conflict that is keeping Iran kind of out of this? Or is it more because of their relationship with Russia? And I think Russia is dependent upon some of their arms right now for their conflict with Ukraine.
Well, I’d add in to the mixed China. But it’s not as it, you know, it’s very telling that after the assassination of Hanaya in Tehran, that very soon, within the next 48 hours, 72 hours, you had Shoigu fly in from Moscow on behest of President Putin. This is the former defense minister to assure Tehran that delivery of S-400 missile systems, air defense, were forthcoming.
But also Russia relies on Iranian drones and ballistic missiles to continue its war in Ukraine to also argue for, I guess, restraint. It seems to have played out to their benefit, to their mutual benefit. But China too wants to see at least a limit geographically on the scope of this war because they rely on oil from the Arabian Gulf.
And Iran getting embroiled into a regional war with Israel and the United States potentially would put in jeopardy a lot of their interest in the region, mostly oil and energy imports.
Oil always factors in to these international conflicts. Hezbollah, although certainly well equipped and armed, still no match for Israel. If Iran does not come to their aid as Hezbollah continues to be their proxy, this could be, I don’t see Israel pulling back at this point until the threat has been eliminated.
Do you?
No, there’s nothing that would indicate that Israel is going to be able to adjust its trajectory for an incursion into southern Lebanon, unless of course Hezbollah changes its posture and its position. And again, that’s probably unlikely, but for Hezbollah, they’re not widely liked by the wider Lebanese population, and they have their own support base, of course, but without Iran’s continued money and facilitation of arms transfers, their ability to coerce and to intimidate the other power bases in Lebanon starts to evaporate, and we could see the end of days for Hezbollah, God willing, hopefully.
What is Israel’s greatest vulnerability at this point?
Israel’s greatest vulnerability, and this is where Hezbollah becomes not necessarily an existential threat, but a very deadly one. They have well over 150,000 ballistic missiles. That would overwhelm their missile and air defense systems.
So simply just launching wave after wave after wave, eventually Israel runs out of defenses and those rockets start to hit home. And so that is its biggest vulnerability, and it’s really the card, the trump card that Hezbollah has. But as long as Israel continues to degrade their launching systems and their command and control, it becomes less and less likely that Hezbollah can actually deliver on that threat.
That appears exactly what Israel is doing in these first few days. First going after command and control with the pagers and the walkie-talkies, eliminating them. Then coming in, going after these primary launching sites to eliminate a lot of that and spread fear, by the way.
I think that last week’s, well, of course, Israel has not denied or acknowledged any responsibility there, but the terrorists have been terrorized by that event.
No, one shouldn’t underestimate the psychological impact of having, you know, what you would thought would have been a benign, tiny electronic device turning into a deadly one that’s right next to you on your nightstand. And then immediately after that, what you thought was a secure means of backup communication, walkie-talkies exploding in even larger blasts. And there are reports of other appliances and other things occurring.
Again, some of those are unconfirmed. Certainly, the psychological impact on Hezbollah shouldn’t be diminished.
Yeah, they’re probably afraid to use the toaster for the Pop-Tarts. I mean, this is, it’s all around them. They’re in total disarray, I would imagine.
How are they communicating at this point?
Well, looking at what they’re able to still do, they were able to launch a fairly sizable missile barrage into Israel just recently, in the last 24 hours. So they’re able to still mount attacks. I think they’re fairly limited in scale and scope of where they’re attacking from and to, but they’re still able to operate.
But again, they still have the will to fight, they still seem to have some tactical operational control. But whether or not they’re able to sustain that, and certainly if Israel decides to move into southern Lebanon and push them back by force, it’s an open question as to how long they’ll be able to sustain, the Hezbollah will be able to sustain a resistance.
Captain Sadler, I want to ask you your take on the United States at this point. We’ve seen or we’ve heard very little in the last couple of weeks from the Biden administration that had been repeatedly kind of throttling back the Israeli response in Gaza, we’ve not heard much. What might the United States be doing?
I know we’ve sent more troops into the region. What do you see on the horizon there in terms of the United States involvement?
Well, at this point, with this administration, I’m not so sure having this White House silent is a bad thing. I think that’s probably a better thing than what we’ve seen in the last few months when they weren’t so silent. And diplomacy that’s been attempted by this White House has been lopsided to say the least and has been ineffective, I think, demonstratively.
What needs to happen next is much more direct pressure applied on the Iranian regime. And I think that’s antithetical to this White House for a host of reasons. And so we’re really only going to see a change in tact until a new administration comes into place.
In the meantime, it remains a very volatile and dangerous world.
Absolutely.
Captain, great to see you. Thanks so much for joining us today.
Thank you for having me. Have a good night.
You too. Captain Brent Sadler at the Heritage Foundation. Well, all the more reason we need to be praying.
Pray, vote, stand. As he mentioned, this administration, the silence is probably good. I’m not overly optimistic they’re going to come to the aid of Israel.
In an aggressive manner, we did see when Iran launched the missiles and the drones that the United States did step in. I think if their back is to the wall, the United States will. I think in most administrations, at least we pray and hope so.
But this needs to be an issue when you consider your vote coming up in just a little over a month. In fact, the issue of Israel is going to be one of the topics we discuss at the Pray, Vote, Stand Summit. We’re going to be taking a look at what is happening in Israel, what the future looks like.
We’re also going to be having a panel discussion. Pastor Jack Hibbs is going to be joining me and others talking about understanding the times. How are we to understand what is unfolding right before our eyes?
All right, after the break, there’s an effort underway to undermine the mission of the US. Commission on International Religious Freedom. As you, some of our long time listeners know, I served on that commission during the Trump administration, both as the chairman and the vice chairman.
And I saw this back then. There’s an effort to derail its mission and replace it with something else. We’re going to talk about that next with Congressman Andy Harris.
Don’t go away.
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Hello, I’m Jody Heiss, President of FRC Action. Here in America, we thank God for the right to vote, and we can all agree on the importance of this upcoming election. Many of us want to support candidates who share our values, but we’re not comfortable supporting the big national political organizations.
Well, we have a solution for supporting candidates through FRC Action’s Faith, Family and Freedom Fund. Being a super PAC, it allows for unlimited individual and corporate donations, so we can endorse and fund campaigns for people who share our values. By giving to this fund, we’re able to pull all of our contributions together and support and endorse like-minded candidates.
That’s how we move the needle. So let’s be the best stewards possible and get the most out of our political contributions by uniting our efforts. For more information or to contribute, visit paithfamilyfreedomfund.org.
Thank you so much and God bless you.
All of us are born with the desire to find truth and meaning.
While our answers to these questions may divide us, we are united in our need for the freedom to answer life’s biggest questions and make life’s biggest decisions for ourselves. That’s why religious freedom matters for everyone. Religious freedom matters because the powerful have long wanted to control those who are less powerful.
Religious freedom matters because the freedom of those who are different is often threatened by those who believe different is dangerous. At the Center for Religious Liberty at Family Research Council, we promote religious freedom for everyone because the only alternative is religious freedom for no one. We encourage Americans and the American government to engage and advocate for the persecuted.
And they do. We work every day to bring good news to the afflicted, to proclaim liberty to captives and freedom to prisoners. We do it because that’s what Jesus does.
We work to give freedom to others because we ourselves have been set free.
Welcome back to Washington Watch. I’m Tony Perkins, your host. The website is tonyperkins.com.
Lots of resources there for you. Be sure and check it out. Also, if you do not yet have the Stand Firm app, you can actually watch Washington Watch.
You can also get my daily devotional stand on the word by downloading the Stand Firm app. Go to the app store, download the Stand Firm app. Earlier this month, the Senate unanimously passed the US.
Commission on International Religious Freedom Act of 2024. This is the reauthorization of the entity that has been around for about 25 years. The reauthorization extends it for two years.
In the commission, again, for frequent listeners, it provides and promotes religious freedom, promotes religious freedom around the world. But there’s been an effort in the last few years, I saw it when I was leading the reauthorization a few years ago, they tucked in to the appropriations bill, funding restrictions on USURF, that really flips the commission’s mission on its head. The new language asks USURF to focus on human rights violations on the basis of religion, turning USURF from a shield for religious freedom into a sword to suppress those freedoms.
Joining me now to discuss this and more is Congressman Andy Harris. He’s joining us from the House floor. The House is having votes right now.
He serves on the House Appropriations Committee as a member of the GOP Doctors Caucus and co-chair of the House Pro-Life Caucus. He is also the new chair of the House Freedom Caucus. He represents the first congressional district of Maryland.
Dr. Harris, welcome back to Washington Watch.
Good to be with you, Tony.
And by the way, congratulations on your selection by your peers to be the new chairman of the House Freedom Caucus.
Thank you. I follow in, you know, in some incredible footsteps. So, but I look forward to serving.
Well, I think being that you have served on appropriations, you understand the power of the person, where the money flows, you’re going to be in a good position to help direct the Freedom Caucus to be even more effective. And that’s what I want to talk about. Last night, the House approved, not unanimously, there was some opposition to a renewal, reauthorization of the US.
Commission on International Religious Freedom. The bad language I just mentioned is not in that bill, it’s in the appropriations bill coming over from the Senate. Tell us about it.
That’s right. So the House position in funding the commission was to keep its mission as it is, which is a religious freedom mission. And Chuck Schumer wants to add in provisions that do exactly what you say it turns it into a, turns it from a religious freedom commission to a commission that polices whether or not, you know, woke policy is followed in other nations.
And that’s not the purpose of it. But this is what we see in Washington all the time, this co-opting of the agencies and bureaus and various federal entities to advance a woke agenda that, you know, in this case, again, runs counter to the purpose of the original entity.
And you have to be so discerning because it’s very, very subtle. I’m going to read the language that was inserted into this authorization bill in the Senate. The commission shall regularly monitor, report on and advocate against laws and policies of foreign countries that permit or condone violations of human rights of minority groups or other vulnerable communities on the basis of religion.
Is it that that flips its mission on the head? It’s supposed to protect religious freedom. Now they’re wanting to track entities.
And this is primarily driven by the LGBTQ agenda because many orthodox religions do not embrace the idea of the redefinition of human sexuality.
That’s absolutely right. So again, it turns the purpose on its head and it uses as yet another government agency as the vanguard of this agenda that is against biblical principles. There’s no doubt about it.
You know, to them, it’s almost as if the Bible wasn’t a religious item.
Yeah. And this commission has done so much good over the quarter of a century that it’s been there. To see it co-opted this way would be devastating.
In fact, I would rather see the plug pulled on it than it to be used against religion because we have enough entities that are doing that already. Congressman Andy Harris, I want to switch gears for just a moment. We’ve got just a few minutes left.
You were just recently, as I mentioned, elected as chair of the House Freedom Caucus. Talk a little bit about your priorities for the remainder of this year.
Well, for the remainder of the year, we have to focus on getting some fiscal sanity back in Washington. We are tens, if not over, $100 billion separate from the Senate position on spending for next year and the discretionary budget. We have passed appropriations bills that roll back a lot of the, again, the woke policies that we’ve been talking about, about this administration.
Obviously, we’re going to have to do battle with the Senate, which is Democrat-controlled and which wants to continue to advance these woke policies in the federal agencies and bureaus. So we’re going to, you know, this is going to be an ongoing fight. And you know, the Freedom Caucus again will be, you know, the tip of the spear here, because we’re the conservatives in Washington who want to fight for American values and freedoms.
So how do you see this playing out? Because we’ve, you’ve been around long enough. I’ve talked about this multiple times on the program.
We know the play that Chuck Schumer is going to run. And he’s already done that in terms of setting up a December 20th continuing resolution, putting the Congresses back to toward Christmas and pushing either an omnibus or a CR filled with toys and goodies for the left. This will be after the election.
What do you see Republicans in the House doing at that point?
Well, you know, the Speaker has told us and confirmed today that he is not going to support an omnibus bill. I want to push the date back to December 31st, which, you know, God willing, we have a Republican House or Republican Senate and President Trump will be in the White House in the end of January. I wanted to push it back to the end of December, where if the Democrats don’t agree, again, to roll back some of these woke policies to a reasonable spending figure, that we just, again, have either another continuing resolution or shut the government down for three days.
We take over January 3rd and it’s a whole new situation. So, I think that our leverage against Chuck Schumer is that we have the potential for a new administration and a new Senate majority, and if we come back with those in place, I think, you know, Speaker Johnson will be in a very good negotiating position.
Well, let’s pray that that is the case, because you’re absolutely right, Dr. Harris. We’ve got to get our fiscal house in order. Dr. Andy Harris, thanks so much for taking time to join us today.
Thank you, Tony.
All right, Dr. Andy Harris of Maryland, stepping off the house floor to talk to us. Look, I can give you a multitude of reasons to pray. This is another one of them.
We have got to get this $35 trillion of debt under control. All right, speaking of prayer, after the break, we’re going to talk about the Pray Vote Sand Summit coming up in just days. So don’t go away, more Washington Watch straight ahead.
Everything we do begins as an idea. Before there can be acts of courage, there must be the belief that some things are worth sacrificing for. Before there can be marriage, there is the idea that man should not be alone.
Before there was freedom, there was the idea that individuals are created equal. It’s true that all ideas have consequences, but we are less aware that all consequences are the fruit of ideas. Before there was murder, there was hate.
Before there was a holocaust, there was the belief by some people that other people are undesirable. Our beliefs determine our behavior, and our beliefs about life’s biggest questions determine our world view. Where did I come from?
Who decides what is right and wrong? What happens when I die? Our answers to these questions explain why people see the world so differently.
Debates about abortion are really disagreements about where life gets its value. Debates over sexuality and gender and marriage are really disagreements about whether the rules are made by us or for us. What we think of as political debates are often much more than that.
They are disagreements about the purpose of our lives and the source of truth. As Christians, our goal must be to think biblically about everything. Our goal is to help you see beyond red and blue, left and right, to see the battle of ideas at the root of it all.
Our goal is to equip Christians with a biblical worldview and help them advance and defend the faith in their families, communities and the public square. Cultural renewal doesn’t begin with campaigns and elections. It begins with individuals turning from lies to truth.
But that won’t happen if people can’t recognize a lie and don’t believe truth exists. We want to help you see the spiritual war behind the political war, the truth claims behind the press release and the forest in the trees.
This is Washington Watch, I’m Tony Perkins. Good to have you with us on this Tuesday, the website tonyperkins.com. Well, by the end of next week, we’ll be just a month out from election day.
And if you’re not registered to vote, guess what? Now is the time. You need to be registered.
You need to register to vote, you need to vote. But given the state of our nation, we have to do more than vote, because an election will not solve what ails this nation. It might make it worse, but it’s not going to solve it.
We need to pray, because American needs a spiritual renewal that only God can provide. And that’s just one of the themes that we’re going to address next week at the Pray Vote Stand Summit in Washington, DC. And I hope you’ll join us, because this is the time we need to come together to pray for our nation, to understand what is at stake and what we need to do.
Joining me now to discuss this is Katy Faust, one of the speakers at the next Pray Vote Stand Summit. She is the founder of Them Before Us and the author of Them Before Us, Why We Need a Global Children’s Rights Movement. Katy, welcome back to Washington Watch.
Great to see you.
Always good to be with you, Tony. And I’m always so grateful that you take an unflinching stand on behalf of biblical truth and biblical values in the public square. And that intersects well with our work at Them Before Us, because the biblical world view, especially when you take it into areas of politics and voting, is always going to be pro-child.
And that is what we focus on at Them Before Us, is child defense. So I’m very grateful that you are always on the right side of children.
Well, thank you. And I would say the same for you. There was just a few of our voices out there recently talking about the life issue.
You were one. Lila Rose was another one unflinching in your stand, because when you’re standing on Biblical truth, you don’t question where you are, regardless of where others may be.
That’s right. We’re not putting our finger in the wind and seeing what’s politically popular. We’re not trying to even determine whether or not we’re going to win on the issue.
And then that will determine our stance or that will determine our words. No, we stand on behalf of the most vulnerable because that is what Christians are biblically charged with. We are charged to especially defend the fatherless and put practices in place that guard their life, guard their family, guard their minds, guard their bodies.
And that’s what I’m going to be talking about at Pray Vote Stand. Why is it that we as Christians need to take a child protective stance and look at all of these political issues through the lens of upholding the least of these? It is absolutely fundamentally un-Christian if we fail to do so.
Katy, these issues are being wrestled with in the political square, if you will, the public square, but they’re not political at their core, they’re spiritual. And as I said in the open here, while I encourage everyone to vote, I would never ever discourage people from voting. I’m going to tell them the truth, but I want to encourage them to vote.
But the truth is an election is not going to save us. We need a spiritual awakening, a renewal in this country.
Yeah, because politics, as you recognize and speak of so often, is a symptom of what’s really going on in our world today. We are seeing the manifestation of the bad ideas, as you just highlighted in your video, ideas that get the nature of humans wrong. The world doesn’t know how to properly answer the question, what does it mean to be human?
And you cannot answer the question, how do we approach children, protect children, defend children, if you can’t even get humanity right? And honestly, those of us that adhere to a biblical worldview are the only ones that can properly answer the question, what does it mean to be human? If you can’t answer those questions correctly, you can’t get the beginning of life right, or the end of life right.
You won’t get male right or female right. You won’t get marriage right. You won’t get gender right.
So it is us, Christians, that need to take our biblically informed opinion and then apply it to issues that look political, but ultimately, like you said, are spiritual.
Right. Share with our viewers and our listeners how you’ve benefited from previous summits. You’ve been there multiple times.
How have you personally benefited from being there?
Well, I think all of us understand what it feels like to have the leftist tactic of isolation leveraged on us. It is very hard to feel like you can stand strong if you feel like you’re standing alone. The nice thing about Prevot Stand is it’s very clear that you’re not alone.
Not only are you standing shoulder to shoulder with other people, but you’re standing shoulder to shoulder with such good people. People that are in whatever sphere of influence they have, maybe it’s just their family, or maybe it’s their church, or maybe it’s a platform, or maybe it’s an organization, are fighting to advance these critical ideals, regardless of whether or not they are hated or loved for it. And for me, that is encouraging.
It gives me courage as it puts courage into me. And then also, of course, hearing from all of the speakers who are creating the resistance to the decline of our culture, but then also creating what some have called the parallel policy, the alternative structures, right? Maybe we can’t retake these institutions that have been captured, but we can create new institutions.
And we can fortify existing institutions that have not yet fallen. So I just find that both the people and the content is so incredibly encouraging. And I would really encourage you, if you haven’t registered, to get on in.
It’s like a huddle. It’s like a group hug. You do leave encouraged, but you leave with instructions and understanding of better how to live out your faith in a world that has become hostile, to truth and to faith.
And of course, Katy, you’re always a great part of that. You’ve always had a great message. And I look forward to hearing what you have to say this year as well.
Thanks so much for joining us today.
Really good to be with you. And I will see you next month.
All right. Keep standing. All right.
Katy Faust, she’s really a warrior and so grateful for her voice as she is out there. So, you know, it’s amazing. The Lord is raising up more and more.
And I’m thankful for the women, the young women in particular that the Lord is raising up to stand for truth. Time for more men to stand up as well. All right.
When we come back, there was a hearing in the Senate today. Well, we’ll talk about it with Senator Ron Johnson after the break. Don’t go away.
Join us October 3rd through the 6th, as we gather with spiritually active, governance-engaged conservatives from across America at the Pray Vote Stand Summit in Washington, DC. We’ll pray for our nation, engage in government and culture, and stand for biblical truth alongside Christian leaders, worldview experts and government officials. We’ll discuss important issues like the sanctity of life, religious freedom, protecting students, strengthening families, praying for our nation, and how you can impact America’s future from a biblical worldview.
Our nation stands at a critical juncture, and we must ensure that the issues impacting faith, family, and freedom are understood and advanced. Register now at prayvotestand.org. That’s prayvotestand.org.
Jesus said in John 15, These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full. In 2024, in these divided and uncertain times, how can this be possible? By abiding in Him through His Word.
At Family Research Council, we want to help you do that, which is the reason for the stand on the Word Bible reading plan. In just 10 to 15 minutes each day, you will have read the entire Bible in just two years. But more importantly, you will be abiding in Him daily.
Find our Bible reading plan at frc.org/bible. And join Tony Perkins each weekday for a 10-minute devotional, inspired by the daily reading and designed to encourage you on this journey through the Bible. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and YouTube.
And remember, the grass withers and the flower fades, but the Word of our God will stand forever.
Research has found that there are 59 million American adults who are a lot like you. There are millions of people around the country who are born again, deeply committed to practicing their faith, and believe the Bible is the reliable word of God. But that’s not all.
They’re also engaged in our government. They’re voters. They’re more likely to be involved in their community, and they’re making a difference in elections.
The problem is that a lot of them feel alone, too. We want to change that. FRC wants to connect these 59 million Americans to speak the truth together, no matter the cost.
If you want to learn more about this group and what it means to be a spiritually active, governance-engaged conservative, or if you want to find out if you are one of these sage-cons yourself, join us. Go to frc.org/s-a-g-e-c-o-n, SageCon, to learn more. That’s S-A-G-E-C-O-N, SageCon, to learn more.
To find out more about registering for this year’s Pray Vote Stand Summit, you can text URGENT to 67742, that’s URGENT to 67742, you can go to prayvotestand.org, and I do hope that you will join us as we cry out to God to rend the heavens and come down. America needs a move of God. Our word for today comes from 1 Kings chapter 3.
Then the king said, bring me a sword. So they brought a sword before the king, and the king said, divide the living child in two and give half to one and half to the other. Now, this well-known account of Solomon’s wisdom in determining which mother was telling the truth is the first recorded display of the wisdom God gave the new king to do justice and to govern the people.
The first application of this wisdom wasn’t for pressing foreign policy or economic issues, but for a child’s life. And not the child of privilege, but a child born to a prostitute, one of little value in the eyes of a watching world in that day. Why would Solomon even spend time on such a matter when it could have been left to a lower magistrate?
Because if a nation is to be great, it must first be good. This story reveals the best evidence of a nation’s goodness is found in how the least among us and most vulnerable are treated under the law with justice. To find out more about our journey through the Bible, text Bible to 67742.
Earlier today, Democrats on the Senate Finance Committee organized a hearing titled Chaos and Control, How Trump Criminalized Women’s Health Care.
Women are miscarrying, suffering life-threatening blood loss, losing their ability to bear future children, or dying because they were denied the emergency medical care that they needed.
Now, that was Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon opening. He’s the chairman of the committee, and he opened the hearing. Part of that clip got cut off.
This is the first time that there has actually been a hearing in the Senate, in this committee, in which the name of a former president was the subject of the hearing. Chaos and control, how Trump criminalized women’s health care. This political stunt mainly allowed Democrats on the committee to continue their years-long meltdown over the Dobbs decision that overturned Roe v.
Wade. But it also revealed how the last messaging on abortion has been harmful to mothers. Now, there are, again, those that are saying this is a state’s issue, many Republicans saying, we’re just going to leave it to the states.
We heard at the top of the program, Kamala Harris today saying, they want to codify Roe into law at the federal level. That would mean most pro-life laws across the country, doesn’t matter what state you’re in, would be eliminated. Printed notification, informed consent, all of that gone if Democrats are successful in pushing through a codification of Roe v.
Wade. We’re going to be joined here just a moment by Senator Ron Johnson from Wisconsin, but I want to go first to Travis Weber, Vice President of Policy and Government Affairs here at the Family Research Council. Travis, welcome to the program.
Thank you, Tony.
So the Republicans, many, not all, are saying this is a state’s issue that clearly is not what Democrats are saying.
Yeah, I mean, Tony, you see today they’re going full bore with aggressively pushing the issue, lying about it and pushing exaggerated, misleading information about what’s happening. They’re not proclaiming the truth objectively. You know, as Tony, you referenced the passage where King Solomon was presented with a situation with two women disputing over the baby.
It showed wisdom and through that situation, Solomon was granted by God the wisdom to draw out the truth for all to see publicly. So as believers now, we need to perceive what’s happening and approach things in this way and observe that what we see the Senate Democrats doing today and others on this issue is obfuscating, confusing, obscuring the truth. They’re not proclaiming the truth.
They’re hiding the truth. They are lying about what’s happening. You see this happening in the tragic Georgia situation as well as the hearing today in a number of ways, in addition to trying to kind of, you know, stick the issue onto Donald Trump’s campaign in some way and misinforming the public about what is actually happening to these unborn vulnerable children who need our protection.
And Tony, we can just ask the Lord for that the truth to be uncorked and exposed and for all to see the revelation of what is actually happening in this horror, the horror of what’s happening in this situation.
That is something we should be praying about, that the truth would come forth and people would see it, that it would be exposed. We’re waiting on Senator Johnson to come back from a hearing, so I may switch over to him very quickly. But this is one of the elements of what I call the Unholy Trinity.
You’ve got this, the LGBTQ agenda and of course climate. We were talking earlier with Andy Harris, how the US Commission on International Religious Freedom is being infiltrated. There’s an attempt to infiltrate that religious freedom entity created by Congress with the LGBT priorities.
Yeah, Tony, Tony, you guys did a great job over viewing that issue there. And this is one instance, the report language you referenced is coming over from the Senate, is one instance in which some are attempting to subvert and hollow out and totally gut the mission and mandate of USIRF instead of protecting religious freedom, be monitoring religiously driven laws and policies to suppress them, suppress religious believers’ voices. You know, this is happening in the context of LGBT, in the context of abortion.
And Tony, it’s happening on the global stage. We see the Trinity you referenced being pushed globally by global powers, the World Health Organization, the UN, which is meeting right now in New York, and those aligned with them, nations like the current under the Biden administration in the United States, sadly, pushing policies opposed to God’s principles in negotiations, discussions and policy consultations with other countries and directly and in these global fora like the UN, the World Health Organization, where we were there and monitoring that in Geneva this past May. And so this is something believers need to observe, discern and pray about and devise strategies the Lord gives us to navigate these things both domestically and abroad.
These, just like I actually referenced the language in the appropriations, but it’s very subtle. I mean, it’s not, they’re doing it very subtly to, it’s kind of like the nose of the camel under the tent. And this is, I mean, your team, the government affairs team tracking this, this is, you know, not to toot the horn of the Family Research Council, but entities like ours that are actually looking for these things, where there is this collision between truth, biblical truth and the agenda of the left, we’re exposing it before it takes root.
Right. And this is a rather obscure one, because it’s not in the Clean Reauthorization Bill as we discussed. It’s in report language, which is attached on to a Senate Appropriations Bill, that even, you know, many who track these issues are not aware of how that might be negatively affecting USURF, as we’ve discussed.
And as you noted, if USURF is poisoned by things like this, we have to ask whether it’s worth continuing in light of whether it’s complying with its original mandate of protection of religious freedom, because if it’s not going to do that, then Christians and those observing whether the policy is a good one will have to reevaluate. So we have to be watching what’s happening in Washington here, in DC, with Congress, with the federal, the executive branch and all the rulemaking in the agencies, and helping believers see what’s happening, allowing them to have a voice in it and calling them to action and calling them to pray and take their stand, position themselves on these things, Tony, with regard to how the church should be positioning itself as we hear from the Lord in the United States today.
You know, this again, an illustration, it’s a small one, but I think significant when you look at this is one of just two entities that is commissioned to look at religious freedom around the globe and promote that fundamental human right, that these can be turned with very little understanding, even those in the process don’t see this, and just through engagement. If, for instance, again, the Family Research Council or another group were not here, these things, our government would be so much worse. So this is how, you know, believers, as you said, need to be engaged.
We need to be in the process. We need to have members of Congress that will respond. We were able to have conversations all the way to the top of the leadership on this, raising the awareness.
And so it requires us to get off the sofa and be involved to varying degrees. And this is the same principle as true at a school board meeting. Because oftentimes you’ll see policy that will be put in that may appear to be innocuous, but in fact, it is a Trojan horse.
And so you have to be involved. You have to be engaged.
No, that’s right, Tony. And people may think, well, there’s so much happening. I’m kind of overwhelmed.
Well, we want to be helpful to the church around America to help them understand digestibly what is happening and what they can do about it. And so as you know, there’s an opportunity to engage. What we’ll do is we’ll track what’s happening and then let constituents know through grassroots alerts.
They can contact Congress, make their voice heard, contact the administration. Tony, when it’s important that people know, when we do that, it’s selectively chosen at the right time, at the right moment, on the right issue. So it’s not random.
We’re doing that because their voice really does matter. And we’re told this by people we work with. It matters that Congress hears from people around America on these key issues, because if we don’t make our voices heard on protection of life and family, other issues are going to drown those out.
And the congressman will just think, well, did anyone really care about that? Because we’re not hearing from that many people. So every single person who clicks send makes a call to their member of Congress office to say, even to say, look, we support that bill.
Very simple. We support that issue. Thank you for engaging on this, supporting that bill.
It really matters whether to help them take the right stand on a vote or just thank them for taking the right stand. The thank you really goes a long way because it lets them know we’re following up. In addition to helping remind them, we want them to take the right stand when it’s a tough vote.
All right, Travis, thank you. Stand by there, Travis. Senator Johnson is joining us now.
Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin today was in the hearing in the Appropriations Senate Appropriations Committee, where the issue, the Senate Finance Committee, where this issue brought up of President Trump being invoked as creating a crisis in America because of pro-life policies that came forth. Senator, thanks so much for joining us.
Thanks for having me. No, it was a grotesque title of a hearing, first of all, and I say just a grotesque hearing. It was like two separate realities.
And obviously the Democrats have no problem in lying about what the true reality is. But I mean, I think it’s something chaos and something else because Donald Trump criminalized women’s health. Nothing could be further from the truth.
But they get away with telling those lies. It literally was grotesque. I asked one of the Democrat witnesses, is there any point in a pregnancy you think society has a responsibility to protect life?
And she just gives me a tap dance. You know, one answer to the question, because the fact of the matter is the extreme position on abortion is held by Democrats who will not protect life even up to the moment of birth. It’s grotesque.
I want to play a very short clip of Senator Wyden when he opened the hearing. Play clip number five.
Women are miscarrying, suffering life-threatening blood loss, losing their ability to bear future children, or dying because they were denied the emergency medical care that they needed.
They’re making these, they’re saying people are dying. Where is the evidence?
Yeah, one of their witnesses said, you know, it’s pandemonium that women were bleeding out in parking lots. And the fact of the matter is, there’s not one state who has a law that denies care for miscarriages, for ectopic pregnancies. I mean, this isn’t happening.
The women who are dying, a lot of them are dying because they’re taking the after, you know, the after-mortem pill. And again, we’ve released all restrictions on that. They don’t need to get a prescription from a doctor anymore.
They don’t see a doctor. I mean, that’s the real danger to women. No, just going the extent to which they lie.
James Langford, I think, did the best job of questioning. He just went question by question by question to the Republican witness who was telling the truth. Again, the states aren’t denying this.
And again, if any health care provider, any doctor is concerned, it’s because the Democrats are scaring them with hearings like this, saying that if they protect a woman’s health in a miscarriage situation, that they’re going to be brought to trial and they’re going to be put in jail. It’s just a complete lie. It’s disgusting.
They are the ones that are endangering women’s health.
Senator Johnson, I would listen to the hearing. And in these, there is no basis for many of the allegations and claims that were made. It’s clearly this was an election year stunt.
There’s an election coming up. That’s what this was about. But this undermines the credibility of Congress, especially the Senate.
I think so. In the cloakroom earlier, I want to identify the senator, but it was the Democrat senator who said, we’re going to make the Republicans eat this. It’s a completely political move here.
And again, they’re lying to women. They’re lying to doctors. They are fear-mongering.
And that fear-mongering could have the exact dangerous consequences as what the falsely accusing Republicans of.
Well, Senator, I want to say thank you for calling them out in that committee and challenging them with the truth. The media certainly is not going to do it, and I appreciate you doing it, and I appreciate you coming on the program today as well. Thanks so much for joining us.
Always great to see you.
Have a great day. God bless.
All right, Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin. Again, we see men and women who are on these committees, who are in Congress trying to do the right thing. This is why you’ve got to vote, all right?
Too many people get focused just on the top of the ticket, the presidential. There are members of Congress on the ballot, every member of Congress on the ballot. You’ve got senators on the ballot.
You’ve got state legislators. You’ve got governors. You’ve got attorneys general, school board, city council.
You’ve got to vote. Pray. Vote.
Stand. And join us October 3rd through the 6th for the Pray Vote Stand Summit in Washington, DC. To find out more, go to prayvotestand.org.
That’s all we have time for today. Thanks for joining us. Until next time, I leave you with the encouraging words of the Apostle Paul, found in Ephesians 6, where he says, when you’ve done everything you can do, when you’ve prayed, when you’ve prepared, and when you’ve taken your stand, by all means, keep standing.
Washington Watch with Tony Perkins is brought to you by Family Research Council and is entirely listener supported. Portions of the show discussing candidates are brought to you by Family Research Council Action. For more information on anything you heard today, or to find out how you can partner with us in our ongoing efforts to promote faith, family, and freedom, visit tonyperkins.com.