Explore the nuances of the recent education executive orders and their effects on school discipline practices. Discover the reasons behind the establishment of the Veterans Affairs Anti-Christian Bias Task Force straight from Secretary Doug Collins. Throughout the episode, Jody Heiss leads compelling conversations with experts dedicated to safeguarding religious freedoms and enhancing educational and economic policies from a biblical perspective.
SPEAKER 13 :
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. Sitting in for Tony is today’s host, Jody Heiss.
SPEAKER 05 :
Good afternoon. Hope you’re having a fantastic day. Welcome to this Thursday edition of Washington Watch. I am Jody Heiss, Senior Vice President here at the Family Research Council and President of FRC Action. Deeply honored to be filling in today for Tony and thrilled likewise to have you on board with us. We’ve got a lot coming your way. Here are some of the headlines. The Trump administration continues to do what it can to try to bring an end to the Russia-Ukraine war, while at the same time the two sides continue blaming one another for the lack of progress.
SPEAKER 15 :
It’s not our war we didn’t start, as you know, but we’re trying to end the dying, we’re trying to end the destruction, and we’ve shown the path forward. We can see the finish line, but both of them have to get there. We’re going to do everything we can to help them get there, but they have to ultimately say yes.
SPEAKER 05 :
That was Secretary of State Marco Rubio during a press gaggle today at the White House in the Oval Office. I’ll be discussing the latest on these peace talks when I’m joined here in just a few moments by Arizona Congressman Andy Biggs. And as President Trump approaches his 100th day back in office, unbelievable how fast time is flying, but he continues churning out executive orders, including several that he did yesterday related to education. And among those EOs that he signed was one that reinstates common sense school discipline policies. That comes as an opposition to the discriminatory policies Policies that once existed dealing with racial characteristics rather than the objective behavior alone.
SPEAKER 17 :
It gives teachers the authority now to have discipline in their classroom and discipline the person who is being disruptive.
SPEAKER 05 :
We took that away. That was Education Secretary Linda McMahon commenting on the executive order during yesterday’s signing event with President Trump. So why was this EO an important one for our schools? Well, Ryan Petty of the Florida State Board of Education will be joining me in a few moments to discuss this. And as promised, the Trump administration’s effort to eradicate anti-Christian bias in the federal government is getting an all-hands-on-deck response now. The Department of Veterans Affairs has now started its own task force, and VA Secretary Doug Collins will be joining me later in the program to talk about that. And then we’ll close out the program today by looking into proposals that the White House is fielding to help give a boost to the U.S. birth rate. Among some of the ideas that are being floated is a $5,000 bonus, if you will, to mothers who are having children. And as you can imagine, those on the abortion-loving left are having a fit about it.
SPEAKER 11 :
Isn’t something better than nothing, I guess?
SPEAKER 05 :
No, not in this case.
SPEAKER 11 :
I feel like if Biden proposed this, we would all be saying it’s groundbreaking and a great idea.
SPEAKER 03 :
No, no, I’m sorry. I don’t like the idea that somebody is saying, I’m going to pay you to have more kids.
SPEAKER 05 :
Wow. That was Whoopi Goldberg yesterday on The View. I don’t know if you heard that, but they literally are saying, is nothing really better than something? Unbelievable. Well, we’ll be discussing all of this a little bit later in the program when I’m joined by Mary Zock, who is FRC’s director here at the Center for Human Dignity. So as usual, we’ve got a lot, lot, lot coming your way today. You don’t want to miss any of it. But if you do… You can always catch up at TonyPerkins.com. All right, I want to begin by at least introducing this. We’re trying right now to get Andy Biggs. He’s not quite ready yet, but we’re going to be talking to him. You probably woke up seeing this morning that Russia struck Kiev, and this is the deadliest attack that Russia has had on the capital city since July of 2024. And of course, this has made a lot of people, including President Trump, upset. There were at least eight civilian deaths in all of that. And who knows what this is going to do for the negotiation efforts. And hopefully we’ll be talking with Congressman Andy Biggs here in just a few moments when we’re able to get him. Until he comes, I want to swap over and bring on Joshua Arnold. Joshua is a Washington Stan senior writer. Joshua, thank you for joining us. Thanks for coming on Washington Watch.
SPEAKER 14 :
Hi, Jerry. Happy to be here.
SPEAKER 05 :
Well, listen, I’m glad you were able to come on because I’ve got a couple of things that I want to ask you that I wasn’t sure if we were going to be able to get to. But we’ve got at least 12 Democratic attorney generals from various states who have sued. They’re suing the Trump administration. What do you think about all of this? Just kind of give us the 30,000-foot view of what’s going on.
SPEAKER 14 :
That’s right, 12 Democratic state attorneys general have challenged the Trump administration’s tariff policies in a special federal court dealing with trade issues. It’s based in Manhattan and basically their argument is that the Constitution gives the power to collect duties to Congress. Congress has delegated some of those powers to the President, but they argue that the conditions and prerequisites placed on those powers have not been met here. And they specifically argue that the law the Trump administration invoked to implement this particular tariff regime that deals with emergency situations, that it does not allow tariffs at all, does not authorize tariffs at all, and that even if it did, the way that Trump has done it does not constitute an emergency.
SPEAKER 05 :
Very interesting. This whole Trump tariff issue is making waves all across the board. One question I had, Josh, with all of this is the standing. It seems like we have had so many lawsuits in recent years where people that you would think obviously had standing in a case, it was declared they had no standing, so the case couldn’t go forward. What about these AGs? Do they… Or will they have standing do you think as this thing goes forward?
SPEAKER 14 :
That is a good question. The argument that they made in their lawsuit was essentially that certain entities of the state government such as universities had to make some overseas purchases and pay more for those purchases because of the tariffs. and they also argued that their cost of doing business, just cost of administration in general, would go up because of these tariffs making the price of everything go up domestically. I guess it’s a similar argument to what the states made a couple years ago when they challenged the Biden administration over its cancellation of federal student loans with the state of Missouri arguing that they had a state entity that held a lot of those loans, which ultimately was the argument that established Missouri’s standing in court. I don’t know if this is sufficient to grant them standing, especially in this other specialty trade court. So we’ll have to see what the court does here. I’m not really sure whether they’ll have standing or not.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah, I think that’s a really interesting question, likewise, and one that I’ve been thinking about because that has become a major issue, it seems, on so many different pretty important legal trials and cases that we’ve watched here recently. So let me ask you this. The U.S. Treasury Secretary, Scott, continues to— announced things that I think are pretty significant economically, globally. And one of those pertains to the global economy and the pushback, if you will, of the Trump administration on everything from climate to transgender stuff. What is happening from the White House on the global stage as it relates to the economy right now?
SPEAKER 14 :
That’s right. Secretary Scott Besson, the Treasury Secretary, gave a speech yesterday to an international trade association just based here in D.C., a few blocks from his office, in which he said that the Trump administration would work to essentially have more leverage over these international institutions We pay the most money to these institutions, we have the most voting power, but oftentimes we take a back seat and let others drive them. And he said that we would specifically try to move them away from work on climate change, gender, and social issues. He was talking specifically about the IMF, the International Monetary Fund, and then the World Bank there. When those were established, Congress assigned the Treasury Department to be kind of America’s point of contact with those organizations, which is why Besant is the one taking the lead on addressing those institutions in particular.
SPEAKER 05 :
You know, what’s fascinating about this is not only the global impact that this is going to have, which I think is pretty stunning in itself, but the marked difference that this is from the previous administration, the Biden administration. Are you hearing much talk about this really a reversal in the direction on the global market?
SPEAKER 14 :
It really is reversal. In fact, President Biden was the one who nominated the current president of the World Bank in 2023. It was the former MasterCard CEO, A.J. Banga, who’s an Indian American. And President Biden nominated him specifically to work on on addressing climate change at the World Bank. So this is a 180-degree reversal. We see it in other ways as well. The Biden administration was trying to push progressive policies through the World Health Organization’s pandemic treaty and other things like that. When they got stymied by the checks and balances in Congress, they turned to international organizations to push their progressive agenda. And the Trump administration has said enough.
SPEAKER 05 :
Are we hearing anything yet in terms of what kind of impact or how this is being received from other nations, or are we in kind of a wait-and-see mode, or what’s happening from a response perspective?
SPEAKER 14 :
I think this was just the first initial shot across the bow, if you will. We can probably imagine that some of the more conservative countries, say in sub-Saharan Africa, will welcome the news, whereas some of the more progressive countries in Europe might still be on board with continuing the push. You know, there’s a lot of countries. They all have a little bit of say. The U.S. has the most say, but our voting share is, in most of these institutions, somewhere between 15 and 20 percent. So we have, you know, it’s easiest for us to collect a coalition of the willing. We have a head start, but we still have to do the diplomatic legwork to find out which other countries are on board.
SPEAKER 05 :
Were you surprised at all that the Treasury Secretary delivered this message?
SPEAKER 14 :
It is interesting that he is the front man because if you look at his basic biography, you wouldn’t suspect him of being a social conservative in any way. He’s had a long career working on Wall Street as an investor, as a hedge fund manager. He is openly gay. He worked actually for George Soros for over a decade managing his money. You know, so this is a guy who’s probably more comfortable, you know, on Wall Street than in a Moms for Liberty event. But yet even he feels unfettered by Trump’s electoral victory to push back against progressive ideological dogma and say, you know, let’s have international financial institutions focus on finance, not focus on this social agenda that is divisive and destructive.
SPEAKER 05 :
It’s amazing. Joshua Arnold with Washington Stand. Thank you for joining us on Washington Watch. All right, friends, coming up, we’ve got a lot of news regarding education. You don’t want to miss what’s coming your way, and we’ll bring it to you right after the break. Stay tuned.
SPEAKER 10 :
At Family Research Council, we believe religious freedom is a fundamental human right that all governments must protect. That’s why FRC President Tony Perkins went to Capitol Hill to testify on behalf of persecuted Christians in Nigeria. Islamist terror groups target Christians and other religious minorities in Nigeria with brutal violence. Representative Chris Smith, who chaired the hearing, said 55,000 people have been killed and 21,000 abducted in the last five years alone. The congressman also stressed that 89% of Christians in the world who are martyred are from Nigeria.
SPEAKER 02 :
Yet the government of Nigeria has failed to make progress against religiously motivated persecution of Christians despite religious freedom being enshrined as an essential human right in their constitution.
SPEAKER 10 :
Tony Perkins called for the United States to send an unmistakable message.
SPEAKER 04 :
This is systematic religious violence. Nigeria must be redesignated a country of particular concern. The Biden administration’s removal of this designation was a reckless mistake that emboldened the very terrorists who are slaughtering Christians.
SPEAKER 10 :
Redesignating Nigeria will enable the U.S. government to pressure Nigerian leaders to protect vulnerable Christians.
SPEAKER 04 :
These are not just numbers. These are fathers, their mothers, their children, their families.
SPEAKER 10 :
Bishop Wilfred Anagabe risked his life to speak out, sharing firsthand accounts of the danger faced in his church district in central Nigeria.
SPEAKER 01 :
We live in fear because at any point it can be our turn to be killed. But to remain silent is to die twice. So I have chosen to speak.
SPEAKER 10 :
FRC is calling on President Trump to act now to promote religious freedom around the globe and speak up on behalf of Christians in Nigeria.
SPEAKER 18 :
Looking for a trusted source of news that shares your Christian values? Turn to The Washington Stand, your ultimate destination for informed, faith-centered reporting. Our dedicated team goes beyond the headlines, delivering stories that matter most to believers. From breaking events to cultural insights, we provide clear, compassionate coverage through a biblical lens. Discover news you can trust at The Washington Stand, where faith and facts meet every day.
SPEAKER 12 :
Download the new Stand Firm app for Apple and Android phones today and join a wonderful community of fellow believers. We’ve created a special place for you to access news from a biblical perspective, read and listen to daily devotionals, pray for current events and more. Share the Stand Firm app with your friends, family and church members and stand firm everywhere you go.
SPEAKER 1 :
Thank you.
SPEAKER 05 :
Good afternoon. Welcome back to Washington Watch. I’m Jody Heist, sitting in today for Tony. Glad to have you with us as well. Before I introduce my next guest, let me just make a personal comment. Andy Biggs, I don’t know what happened, why he was not able to join us in the last segment, but Andy is a dear, dear friend of mine, one of my closest friends while I was in Congress. And there’s heartbreaking news. They lost their daughter. last week to cancer and of course he and i were in communication and so forth but i would just encourage each of you to remember the biggs family as they are walking through this difficult time in their life it is from my perspective from sincere heartfelt love and respect for him and their family that i would encourage you to pray for them All right, yesterday, President Trump signed more executive orders related specifically to education. And among those was one addressing the Obama-Biden administration’s troubling policy requiring schools to discriminate on the basis of race by imposing discipline based on racial characteristics rather than on objective behavior alone. How can you even do that? But what negative impact could such a flawed policy like that have? And what will this new executive order do? Well, here now to discuss this is Ryan Petty. He’s vice chair of the Florida State Board of Education. Ryan, welcome to Washington Watch. Great to have you.
SPEAKER 17 :
Great to be here with you today. Thank you.
SPEAKER 05 :
All right. So for those who may not be aware, share with us just personally some of the tragic circumstances, really, that brought you to the State Board of Education.
SPEAKER 17 :
Yes, well, I’m sitting here today with you because of some failed federal education policy implemented by the Obama administration. It certainly contributed to the murder of my daughter and 16 others at the Parkland High School tragedy in 2018. What we learned as we investigated that tragedy is that there were discriminatory discipline policies put in place at the behest, it was a little bit more than the behest of the Obama administration, there were some strong-arm tactics there used by the DOJ and the Department of Education to push school districts across the country to quote-unquote stop you know, discriminating in their discipline policies. The practical fact is that the push by the Obama administration actually caused racial discrimination to be implemented in several districts. And the reaction in the school district in Broward County, where Parkland is, was to create something called the Promise Program. And The Promise Program ultimately was nothing more than really a community relations effort to try to convince the public in Broward County that the school district took disparate outcomes and took discipline equity seriously. Really what it was was just an agreement between the school district and the sheriff at the time to stop arresting juveniles and to overlook or dismiss disciplinary behavior by certain students. And it created chaos. It contributed to the Parkland tragedy. And right after the Parkland tragedy, 59% of the teachers in Broward County, their own union polled them and found that 59% felt unsafe in their classrooms. So that’s the practical reality of these Obama policies.
SPEAKER 05 :
Unbelievable. Chaos is the word, underscored. So how do you grade, if you will, the president’s executive order that he signed yesterday on school discipline?
SPEAKER 17 :
Well, I give them an A+. Now, there’s a lot of homework to do. I’ll be honest. There’s more that needs to be done. But getting that executive order in place and starting the process with DOJ and the Department of Education to unwind the damage that’s been decaying our school districts across the country, it’s a great first start. I applaud the president for taking this step. But now it’s really going to be up to the DOJ to clean house. It’s going to be up to the Department of Ed to rescind the disciplinary policies that are discriminatory. And let’s get back to schools where teachers can teach and students can learn.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah, and discipline is a part of it. You really ultimately can’t have education without some degree of discipline, as it is in itself a discipline. I don’t know if you saw this, but earlier today, a judge at least has temporarily halted the White House’s push to end diversity, equity, and inclusion in K-12 public schools. Do you have a reaction to that at this point?
SPEAKER 17 :
You know, the Democrats and, you know, progressives who have had the education establishment captured from K through 12 through our universities and, you know, the school, the colleges of education that teach our teachers have been captured for decades. They don’t like what the president is doing right now because they like to be in control of it and they like to fight. well, they like to run public education in the United States. And so I applaud the president. My reaction is, you know, lawfare will only get them so far. But the people of the United States, we’ve elected President Trump to do a job. Part of that job was fixing what’s wrong with public education. And President Trump is trying to do everything in his power as the executive in the United States to clean that up. And we need to get behind him. And these activist judges need to keep their politics at home.
SPEAKER 05 :
So we do need to get behind him. I totally agree. We’ve got less than a minute. How can state officials across the country partner with the White House and get behind him on this issue?
SPEAKER 17 :
Absolutely. As the executive order said, there’s more to come. The attorney general and the Department of Education is going to reach out to states. But I applaud, you know, what we’ve done here in Florida is in anticipation of this. We’ve been cleaning house for the last couple of years under the leadership of Ron DeSantis as our governor. It’s been fantastic at our commissioner of education. But. I would tell my fellow state board members across the country, start removing these policies immediately. There are folks out there that can help you find them and eradicate them. And that’s what we need to get to as soon as possible, because it’s in the best interest of all students that they are treated equally. And to your point, discipline is a part of that. We have to have discipline in our schools.
SPEAKER 05 :
Thank you, Ryan Petty, Vice Chair of the Florida State Board of Education. Grateful for your insights today. Thank you for joining us on Washington Watch. Thank you. All right, friends, don’t go anywhere. Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins is going to be joining me on the other side of the break to highlight the launch of the VA’s Anti-Christian Bias Task Force that they have now started. So stay tuned. We’ll bring it your way right after the break.
SPEAKER 16 :
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’re 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 worldview. 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’re 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 from the trees.
SPEAKER 05 :
Hope you’re having a great day. Welcome back to Washington Watch. I’m your host Jody Heiss filling in today for Tony. Thank you so much for joining us. All right. President Trump’s executive order to eradicate anti-Christian bias is beginning to take on departmental form. I mean, really, right off the heels of the DOJ’s task force announcement, now we have the Department of Veterans Affairs doing the same things. So how deep does all this anti-Christian bias go within the federal government? And what do these task forces hope to find? Well, here to discuss this is the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, Doug Collins. He previously served as a U.S. House of Representatives for Georgia’s 9th Congressional District, while I served as Georgia’s 10th Congressional District, and it was an incredible honor to be able to serve alongside of him, and now Secretary of Veterans Affairs. Secretary Collins, welcome back to Washington Watch. Great to see you, my friend.
SPEAKER 20 :
Joe, it’s good to see you, too.
SPEAKER 05 :
Well, listen, let me just first formally, officially, yet again congratulate you on this incredible position. I cannot think of anyone I’d rather see as a Secretary of Veterans Affairs. What’s your experience been so far in this new role?
SPEAKER 20 :
Well, it’s been a lot, Joe. You and I have been in, you know, was up here in Congress. We know that in our congressional offices, we had a lot of attention paid to the VA by our constituents. And a lot of our constituent calls you and I had both had to deal with was, you know, how do we get care? How do we get benefits? How do we get our appointments? Well, now we’re at the, you know, I’m at the tip of the spear of making sure our veterans are put first at the VA. And that’s been my first overall goal. is to make sure that we’re a service organization designed to service our veterans who’ve earned the benefits of health care, their disability benefits, education benefits, loan benefits. But I’ll tell you, it’s been quite an eye-opening experience. The employee base is larger than the active duty army. And for years, it’s been focused on itself more than it has the veterans. So we’re taking some time. We’ve got great folks who want to do what is right. I think it’s just leadership to put them in the right direction. And the president has been very forceful behind us, supporting us. So we’re looking forward to it. But it has been a lot, I’ll say that.
SPEAKER 05 :
Well, your personal history just totally equips you for this role in every way, and we’re very proud of you. Let’s talk, if we can, a few moments, Mr. Secretary, about this task force against anti-Christian bias. What goals do you have in mind for this task force, and what are you hoping to accomplish?
SPEAKER 20 :
Well, I think the one thing is to go back to what you and I have seen so much in our time, both in our pastures, me as a chaplain for over 23 years in the Air Force and also in the Navy, is that it seems to be okay. We have sort of an unwritten rule, especially in Washington, D.C., among governmental agencies. Yes, we prescribe to religious freedom if— you’re not a christian and and i think this has sometimes been the bias now it’s not everywhere but it is in places that we and i have seen it where we saw it under the previous administration you know going after those who are uh you know going to school board meetings praying them at uh abortion clinics these kind of things uh that have been over the top whereas other things are ignored you know in our own facilities we you know i had there was one that was dealt with last year and i put an end to it making sure this year won’t happen again where A chaplain was called on the carpet, so to speak, for preaching out of Romans 1, and some people didn’t like it. Well, he was just preaching the truth of, frankly, of what the word says. But as you well know, a chaplain has the protected privilege of speaking as their faith group dictates and then actually working in the space as a chaplain, whether it be in the VA or in the military itself. So we made sure that that’s not going to happen again. There’s no pre-reading of sermons. There’s no approval of what can be or not said going forward. So we’re with that. Those are the kind of things. But you’ve also seen it in other areas. So we just want people to know that there are rights that you have and we’re not going to be infringed on that. We want everybody to express their religious belief or lack thereof, but it be all equal, not some more equal than others.
SPEAKER 05 :
So how deep, now you have a whole different perspective, just how deep does this anti-Christian bias go? And is it going to be a huge undertaking to eradicate it?
SPEAKER 20 :
Well, sitting in the meeting the other day, especially with other agencies, it was really interesting to hear not only a little bit of what we had going on, and as you well know, going back to the vaccine mandate kind of stuff and the lack of a true religious accommodation there, but you’re also seeing it in other ways, especially at State Department, the way they had uh handled you know issues of homeschooling issues of other uh you know things that would have kept a a diplomat off the field or in the department of justice how they went after some of these organizations uh you know simply because they were out of favor with the the mainstream frankly left and the issues of abortion and homeschool and what parents have the right to know about their kids the transgender and the in the the issues, DEI kind of issues, you know, being forced to agree to something that, you know, you may have a deep religious belief that is just wrong. So, look, I think it’s coming out. I think we’re going to see more people come forward to talk about it. We’re going to make sure that, again, the playing field is level. The president wants to make sure that religious freedom, religious liberty is found for everyone. And again, it’s applied equally across the board.
SPEAKER 05 :
We’ve only got less than a minute or so left. I know you’ve got a whole list of things that you’re looking to address in Veterans Affairs. Real quickly, what are some of the top ones that are of deep concern to you?
SPEAKER 20 :
Thanks, Joe. Let me just say the first and foremost I’m having to do is fight off rumor and innuendo by, you know, even members of Congress, unions, some of our veterans groups that we’re making all these changes that are hurting veterans health care. Let me just make it very clear. We’re not cutting health care benefits. We’re not cutting disability benefits. We’re trying to make sure that we have a workforce that matches veterans. what we need to be doing in the most efficient way to get even better care to our veterans. You saw this when you’re on the Hill. They put a lot of money into this department over the last few years, a lot of people, but we’re still having the metrics not do as well as they should be. So my first and foremost goal is to make sure the veteran gets what they have earned, putting the veteran first at the VA. and making sure that we’re doing that in the most efficient possible way, because I wouldn’t expect anybody to not be treating our tax dollars in the way they should. So for us, it’s a big project. Look forward to talking with you more about it as we move forward.
SPEAKER 05 :
Secretary of Veterans Affairs Doug Collins, thank you so much for joining us today. God bless you. All right, friends, much more coming your way. Stay tuned right here on Washington Watch. We’ll be back in just a moment.
SPEAKER 09 :
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SPEAKER 19 :
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SPEAKER 08 :
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 05 :
Good afternoon. Welcome back to Washington Watch. Always great to have you. I’m your host, Jody Heiss, sitting in today for Tony. All right, before I dive into this next section, I want to again encourage you to sign our petition urging the U.S. Department of Justice to take action against the discredited Southern Poverty Law Center. We always just refer to it as the SPLC. But we’re calling on all ties with the SPLC to be severed. And we’re also calling for there to be an investigation into their role in influencing federal agencies under previous administrations, including their coordination with government entities to silence political opponents. Folks, this stuff just has to stop. And so we’re encouraging you to come on board, sign the petition, help us put a little momentum behind all of this. You can do so by simply texting SPLC, SPLC to 67742. And we also, by the way, have a link to that petition on TonyPerkins.com under the resources for today. So be sure to check that out. Okay, yesterday President Trump was answering questions from reporters, and one of them asked whether or not his administration was considering bonuses for moms whenever they have a child.
SPEAKER 07 :
There are reports that you’re considering doing something for moms across the country, giving them some kind of bonus when they have a child. Are you considering that? Sounds like a good idea to me.
SPEAKER 05 :
I know that question was a little hard to understand, but that was basically the question. Are you considering some sort of bonus for moms whenever they have a child? And of course, the president said, sounds like a good idea to me. And of course, this question came from a report that indeed the administration is considering a proposal that could mean as much as $5,000 in extra cash for moms after giving birth. So is this a good idea? especially considering where our nation’s fertility rate stands right now. Well, here to discuss this and more is Mary Zock. Mary’s the director of the Center for Human Dignity here at the Family Research Council. Mary, always great to have you. Welcome back to Washington Watch.
SPEAKER 06 :
Thanks so much for having me on, Jody.
SPEAKER 05 :
All right, so let’s just kind of give a 30,000 foot view of all of this. And I guess, at least to me, the beginning place is the whole question of the fertility rate in the first place. Where right now does our nation’s fertility rate stand?
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, it actually did improve slightly in the last year, so that’s a plus. But even with the improvement, the rate is about 1.6 children per woman over the course of her lifetime. So that means we are below replacement level, replacement level being about 2.1 children across the course of a lifetime. And this has catastrophic consequences for our country. We know that our economy relies on future children growing up and working here in the United States. We know, you know, so much in our healthcare system relies upon the future of America, of children being born, of families working together. And so we really are in dire straits here, and we really do need to figure out how are we going to solve this problem.
SPEAKER 05 :
Well, there’s no question that the abortion rate has to enter into all of this equation. But before we get there, what is the difference, say, between the fertility rate and the birth rate? Explain that for us.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah, so it’s sort of a nuanced definition, but the birth rate is the number of babies who are born among all women. And then the fertility rate is sort of that average of what we see expected of women of reproductive age. So right now we’re looking at a fertility rate of about 1.6 babies per woman over the course of her lifetime.
SPEAKER 05 :
And I probably, there’s no way to actually tell, but the chemical abortion drugs and all the abortion stuff, to what extent does that interfere? Do we know? Do we have any idea? Is there any evidence on that?
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, we know that babies are being killed every day through the use of the abortion drug. And then we even have evidence that that abortion drug is making its way into the water systems, and it is making it is perhaps making it difficult for women to carry pregnancies to term. We know that there’s a huge crisis of infertility in our country where couples who desperately want to have a child find themselves unable to conceive. And the use of the mifepristone drug has to be part of that. It has to be impacting because it totally changes what should happen in a woman’s reproductive system when she is going to carry a child.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah, I mean, it has to have an impact. I would love for someone to do a study to try to get a little more specific into that, because it seems to me, Mary, that that type of information could have enormous ramifications on this whole issue. But nonetheless, let’s get back to the what’s referred to as the baby bonuses. There’s a whole lot of different proposals that are floating around out there regarding the bumping up our birth rate. What are some of the proposals that you’re hearing? What all is being put out there?
SPEAKER 06 :
So I’ve heard several different, the $5,000 cash bonus for a mom after she gives birth to her child. I’ve heard of 30% of Fulbright scholarships being offered to couples who have children. I’ve heard of efforts to push government funding into teaching couples about a woman’s cycle. There’s only a brief period of time each month when a woman is actually fertile. And a lot of people are unaware of that. And so there’s often a struggle to get pregnant that really could be solved through more knowledge about a woman’s cycle. I have heard of the possibility of adjusting someone’s income tax based on the number of children they have. So there are a lot of creative ideas here of government policies that are directly tied to attempts to increase family sizes.
SPEAKER 05 :
You know, for a long time, we have had so many policies that appear to be just the opposite. They discouraged family. They hurt families. And it’s refreshing to hear that at least there’s talk and some proposals floating around that encourage family growth and encourage family units as a whole. Do you think that’s really what’s behind all of this is driving a lot of this conversation?
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, I think for it to work, that has to be what’s driving it. We can’t just say, oh, we need more people here in the United States. That’s not going to solve the crisis of there not being enough children raised in families. What we need are children raised in a loving environment, in a family where they’re nurtured and loved and where they can grow up to be productive members of society. That doesn’t just happen when people just… have children and then neglect them as their parents. You know, that’s part of what is necessary. We need a loving environment between a husband and a wife where the family is at the center. That has to be at the foundation of the proposals here.
SPEAKER 05 :
Absolutely. I mean, that is the centerpiece, if you will, of any healthy society. And so it’s refreshing to me that we’re seeing this type of conversation at least come to the table. Now, we talked briefly about abortion and how the chemical abortion drugs and some others may be impacting all of this. Is there anything beyond that that’s causing the low birth rates?
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah, so when we think about the other time in American history, or the time in American history when we had a baby boom, it was obviously following World War II. My grandfathers both served in World War II. One was stationed in the Pacific. I have his letters, the letters between he and my grandmother, and they were all about how much they loved each other, all about their family, all about the little girl that they already had and that he couldn’t wait to see while he was stationed in the Pacific. And then he came home, and they had five more children. They miscarried one, but went on to raise four additional boys and then the one little girl that they had prior to him leaving for war. But my grandfather and grandmother had grown up in the Great Depression. They grew up with nothing. And then my grandfather went and fought during World War II. And what they recognized because of those challenges was that what matters in this life is not the possessions that you have. It’s not the status of your job. It’s not the vacations you can take. It’s the people who you love who are there. It’s your family. It’s your devotion to God. And so who wouldn’t want to have a large family when your husband has that idea, when his whole life is about sacrifice for the family, when the wife has that idea, when it’s all about sacrifice for her husband and her children? Who wouldn’t want to have that? And that’s what we’re missing today. We have a culture that is so incredibly selfish. Pornography usage is through the roof. We have social media use that causes people to become depressed and anxious and just to communicate over the internet instead of communicating in person with others and building relationships. It’s rampant. We see that… people are becoming more and more selfish instead of becoming more and more selfless. And in order to foster a culture where we’re willing to accept the gift of children and to recognize the great gift that it is, we need to go back to what my grandparents learned through the Great Depression and through World War II. And we need to become selfless.
SPEAKER 05 :
Extremely well said, Mary. So this proposal, and you’ve mentioned there are several of them out there, but it seems to me that this one, the proposal for $5,000 per baby, is kind of getting at least a lot of attention, if not some significant traction. Is this the right way, do you think, to address the low birth rate?
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, you know, I am currently pregnant, Jody, so I am hoping that they pass this and they pass it fast so that I can collect that $5,000. But, you know, I think long-term, this isn’t going to solve our problem, right? That we might see an initial increase in the number of people who are having babies because of this, but long-term, it’s not going to solve the issues of… You know, the number of women who are hoping to get married but haven’t met someone because the men that they have met are not interested in marriage. It’s not going to solve the problem of couples who would rather go on vacation than have kids. And it’s not going to solve the problem of infertility that is a major cross that many couples are carrying. What it is, though, is it’s… So wonderful to see that our government is actually focusing on family here and is actually acknowledging that a family is a benefit to our society and one that should be acknowledged by the government itself.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah, I agree. It’s so refreshing to see family come back in the focus. But not everyone agrees with that. Let me play this clip real quickly. Whoopi Goldberg yesterday. Play clip two. I’d like to get your reaction to this.
SPEAKER 11 :
Isn’t something better than nothing, I guess?
SPEAKER 03 :
No, not in this case.
SPEAKER 11 :
I feel like if Biden proposed this, we would all be saying it’s groundbreaking.
SPEAKER 03 :
No, no, I’m sorry. I don’t like the idea that somebody is saying you need to I’m going to pay you to have more kids.
SPEAKER 05 :
Ah, so others are seeing this as just simply saying, I’m going to pay you to have more kids. Your reaction?
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah, Whoopi Goldberg, we all know, is an ardent supporter of abortion. She would rather that the government pay for women to actually kill their unborn children than that the government recognize the beautiful gift that every baby is to our country, the potential that that child has to grow up and impact our nation positively, to… to be a force for good in this world so you know nothing that whoopi’s whoopi goldberg says uh should be taken seriously by anyone uh she she doesn’t think that thou shalt not kill that’s in the ten commandments applies to an unborn child um she she should not be someone that we look to for for her views on frankly any policy
SPEAKER 05 :
And I would just extend that to say the view as a whole. You wonder what their view is that they’re looking at. It’s certainly not a biblical worldview as a whole. All right, so there are policy changes. I feel confident we are going to see some changes. What are some of the policy changes that the Trump administration should implement maybe beyond this one?
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, this is certainly a starting point. And, you know, there are a number of other things that could be done, though. School choice is something that people might not directly connect to this, but being able to choose a school environment for your children where they’re raised in your faith and in your own faith and their values are strengthened and they meet others with like minds and and where you too have a community because of that of people who who share similar values to you i think that that is one thing that that could certainly serve to increase the fertility rate in the united states um i think working on legislation to prevent for the pornography industry from attacking targeting and attacking our young children that is something that is something we have to do not only for this but but for our entire country pornography makes a person unable to love others in the way that they’re supposed to and so anything that we can do to take away the pornography industry will be a benefit to this country.
SPEAKER 05 :
Absolutely. Thank you so much, Mary Zock, Director of the Center for Human Dignity here at the Family Research Council. Always great to have you on the program. Thanks so much for your insight on this. One of the issues that for many people probably is going under the radar, but thank you for bringing it to light and keeping us informed. All right, friends, that wraps up this edition of Washington Watch. I want to thank you so much for joining us today. It’s always our honor to keep you informed as to what’s happening in our country and to do so from a biblical perspective. Have a great day. We’ll see you tomorrow here on Washington Watch.
SPEAKER 13 :
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