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In this episode of Washington Watch, Jody Heiss fills in for Tony Perkins and dives into pressing topics affecting the nation and beyond. We begin with President Trump’s commitment to addressing crime in Washington, D.C., including his controversial suggestion of reinstating the death penalty for capital crimes. Congressman Pete Sessions joins to expand on these initiatives and their potential national implications. Later, Julie Hartman from the Department of Education discusses the administration’s crackdown on radical gender ideologies within schools, emphasizing the importance of upholding federal law to protect parental rights. Shifting globally, the episode tackles the ongoing tension between
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from the heart of our nation’s capital in Washington, D.C., bringing compelling interviews, insightful analysis, taking you beyond the headlines and soundbites into conversations with our nation’s leaders and newsmakers, all from a biblical worldview. Sitting in for Tony is today’s host, Jody Heiss.
SPEAKER 15 :
Well, good afternoon. Welcome to this Tuesday edition of Washington Watch. I’m Jody Heiss, senior fellow here at the Family Research Council and an honor indeed to be sitting in today for Tony. We’ve got a lot to bring your way today. Here are some of the highlights. President Trump continues to make headlines for his crackdown on crime here in our nation’s capital. And today he actually floated the idea of bringing back the death penalty to D.C.
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Anybody murders something in the capital, capital punishment, capital, capital punishment. If somebody kills somebody in the Capitol, Washington, D.C., we’re going to be seeking the death penalty. And that’s a very strong preventative.
SPEAKER 15 :
Wow, that was President Trump, of course, speaking with reporters during his cabinet meeting earlier today. And I’ll discuss this and more when I’m joined here in just a little bit by Texas Congressman Pete Sessions. And it’s not just crime that the Trump administration is cracking down on. They’re also cracking down on radical gender indoctrination that’s happening in schools all across the nation. And I’ll discuss this a little bit later in the program when I’m joined by Julie Hartman. She’s a senior advisor at the Department of Education’s Office of Communications and Outreach. And in international news, Qatar said today that Israel has yet to respond to a proposed ceasefire and hostage release deal that would give Israel 10 living hostages in exchange for two months ceasefire and hundreds of prisoners, including some 150 convicted terrorists. Well, while pressure has certainly been building on the Israeli government, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ruled out any further deals in which hostages are released in phases. Instead, he’s demanding an agreement in which all the hostages are freed at once.
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Israel will keep enabling aid for civilians while destroying Hamas’s terror machine. Now, journalists would do well to encourage the world to put more pressure on Hamas, on Qatar, on Turkey for the release of all of our hostages and, of course, to get the truth out there.
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Well, that was Israeli government spokesman David Mincer earlier today, and I’ll be discussing the latest news coming out of Israel with Texas Congressman Michael Cloud, who was recently there in the Jewish nation. And then lastly, as the U.S. continues its efforts to broker an end to the Russia-Ukraine war, there’s one angle of this entire conflict that, frankly, is just not getting the attention that it deserves, and that’s the mass abduction. of Ukrainian children. I’ll discuss this later with Chelsea Sobolik of World Relief. So as always, we’ve got a lot to bring your way here in the next hour, and you want to be sure not to miss any of it. But if by chance you do, you can always go back to TonyPerkins.com, our website. Lots of information there available for you. But better yet, we want to encourage you to download the Stand Firm app. There we have not only this program, but the Washington Stand is there so much more. Tons of information. Simply text APP, A-P-P, text APP to 67742 if you don’t already have the Stand Firm app. I also want to encourage you, it’s coming right around the corner, PrayVote Stand. That summit is taking place October 17th and 18th in Chino Hills, California. You can get more information. You can even register by going to PrayVoteStand.org for details. All right, let’s go ahead and jump into our first item for today. With Washington, D.C. having gone now 12 days without a homicide, 12 days. Well, President Trump is continuing to explore not only what more he can do here in the nation’s capital, but he’s looking at other crime-ridden cities across the nation. And during his cabinet meeting today, President Trump said Chicago is probably next in line for a federal crackdown. He also said that his administration will pursue the death penalty for anyone who kills another person in D.C. Well, would would be criminals be getting the message well joining me now to discuss this and more is congressman pete sessions he serves on the house financial services committee as well as the committee for oversight and reform he represents the 17th congressional district of texas congressman sessions welcome back to washington watch always good to see you my friend
SPEAKER 18 :
Jody, thank you very much. By the way, Jody, I’m going to take a second of personal privilege. As you know, Karen’s parents live in Reynolds, Georgia, and there isn’t a trip I make where either my father-in-law or mother-in-law talk about or someone else talk about that great young congressman, Jody Heiss, who they love and loved so much.
SPEAKER 15 :
Well, they don’t live too terribly far from us. I need to go give them both a big hug and say thank you. And we’ll pass your love as well, yours and Karen’s. Congressman, thank you for joining us. Let me get your overall assessment of what President Trump has been doing in the nation’s capital as it relates to crime.
SPEAKER 18 :
Congressman, the bottom line to it is, is that the city of Washington, D.C. has, for all the years I have been there, had a crime problem. And the Congress encouraged and had extended the boundary. around Capitol Hill to keep those safe who came and went every weekend, hopefully to try and support our workers who were there. With the knowledge that Washington, D.C. established rules that would not hold people accountable, they established rules and regulations that would allow openly for you to smoke dope, marijuana, use drugs, and to do these things. And they were literally, as you’ve heard, soft on crime. Then several years ago, we had the D.C. Council decided they were going to even extend these boundaries and make it easier for people to not even have bail, to be arrested, come in, fingerprinted, released. This drove a wave of not just criminal behavior, but took the responsibility off of those who needed to make sure that we had a system that could keep criminals and dangerous people off the street. So what the president’s doing, it comes as a result of the recent wave, not recent, but the wave of deaths and harm. And they have in the Navy Yard area hundreds of people who gather, young people who gather every weekend, Friday and Saturday night, and literally have their way with not only people who live there, but also the neighborhoods of businesses that come there. So the president, after hearing from members of Congress talk about the safety of our families, of our employees, the president did the right thing. And he said, look, this is a federal city. We’ve got to fix this. We can fix it. And so what we’re hopeful is that this will allow the opportunity with the National Guard being there for police to be able to do their job. It is their mainline job to do this. And the guardsmen are there to keep order. As you suggested, no homicides allowed. No homicides in Washington, D.C. for 12 days. That may be a record, but what it is is an indication that criminals have understood it. Lastly, the crime problem has also been caused as a result of the sanctuary city policies that Washington, D.C. has and continues to have. Last I saw, some 300 illegals had been arrested, many with weapons. And so I think this is a positive thing. Jody, if you still had your family there, if you still had employees there, and I know when you were there, you did much to try and draw the attention to this, but we had Joe Biden. So there’s a lot to be said for crime control and what our great young president is doing.
SPEAKER 15 :
Yeah, it really is amazing, and as you referenced as well, 12 days without a homicide. That’s significant in a city as crime-infested as Washington, D.C. So what’s your thoughts, Congressman Pete Sessions, about the president’s intentions now to take what he has done here in D.C. to other cities across America, like Chicago and New York and other places?
SPEAKER 18 :
Well, taking this roadshow on the road would be seen by the American people, at least who live in these cities like Chicago or other cities, I think in a positive way. It’s to really be seen by me how he will offer that justification, whether he would do it. with National Guard members like Chicago. I don’t know the law related to bringing others in from outside of Illinois to serve, but I will tell you that there are plenty of law-abiding citizens who not only respect and appreciate what the president’s doing, but we’ve got to get a handle on it and turn the tide. And I think that it’s the right thing to look at have a national debate about and expect that we have had enough of this crime, lawlessness and the deaths that come from this.
SPEAKER 15 :
Well, while we have just a couple of minutes left, let me kind of shift gears on you. There’s so much in the news, it seems like it just keeps coming and coming and coming. But President Trump has moved to fire a member of the Federal Reserve Board over allegations of mortgage fraud. And he actually made the comment along the lines that we need people who are 100 percent above board and that it doesn’t appear as though she was. What’s your thoughts on this development? You think this is a good step in the right direction or you have question marks?
SPEAKER 18 :
Well, Jody, first of all, a lot of the jurisdiction resides directly in our financial services committee. And I’m sure that there will be a lot of debate. As you know, we’re divided, not just Republican, Democrat, but what I would say socialist against those of us who are for making America great again. And so the distinction that happens here is that even the major newspapers have admitted that that there is evidence that this woman did, within a matter of days, create a circumstance where she signed a document that she did not have any other property that she was claiming as a homestead. She did two of them within a short period of time. This is commonly known as a violation of the law, but it is in particular particularly bad when you serve in the federal government on the board of governors for the Fed. And so I think the president’s rightfully looking at this issue. It’s a background investigation. that evidently the prima facie case would say the records indicate this unless they find something different. But this is the same kind of, I think, taking advantage of the law that we’ve seen several members of Congress and perhaps senators have who claim a residence in both places where they might live. And that is not what it’s designed for. It’s designed for one person to have one location where they claim their residence. And I well understand members of Congress are probably required to have two places, but only one of them could be claimed as a homestead.
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Well, it’s a shot across the bow, I think, across the board that the rule of law is going to stand. And that needs to take place. There can’t be a double standard for federal workers. And I know you know that and fight for that as well. Congressman Pete Sessions, always an honor to see you. Thank you, as always, for joining us again on Washington Watch. Blessings to you and your family.
SPEAKER 18 :
My brother, thank you so very much. You look very fit and very happy, Jody. May you be Lord this afternoon. Thank you.
SPEAKER 15 :
Thank you. All right, friends, coming up, the Department of Education is hard at work to ensure that school districts are following the law rather than following radical gender ideology. And so we’re going to discuss some of those efforts when we come back. I’ll be joined by Julie Hartman from the Department of Education. So stay tuned. We’ll be back.
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Three years ago, the Supreme Court issued its historic Dobbs decision, a ruling that overturned Roe versus Wade, which for nearly 50 years imposed abortion on demand, silencing voters and bypassing the democratic process across the country. The Dobbs decision was a huge step forward against abortion, but it didn’t outright ban it. It returned the power to the people. Now, 29 states have laws on the books protecting life. However, there’s a catch. Abortion numbers since Dobbs have actually gone up with an increase of 12% since 2020, climbing from 930,000 to over 1 million in each of the most recent years. So how can this be? The answer is simple. The abortion drug. Today, over 60% of U.S. abortions involve abortion drugs, many of these without medical oversight. In 2021, the Biden administration quietly removed bare minimum longstanding safety protocols for the abortion drug that have existed for 20 years to protect women from life-threatening risks and ensuring informed consent. The Biden DOJ then declared that they would not enforce the Comstock Act, which prevents the mailing of anything that causes an abortion. This is not only illegal, but also dangerous. A study shows nearly 11% of women who take the abortion drug end up in the emergency room with serious complications. Unless the Trump administration reverses these reckless Biden-era policies, pro-life laws will remain largely symbolic. Without a full review and repeal of Mifepristone, unborn lives will remain in grave danger, and pregnant mothers will remain at risk. Let’s stand for life and end this mail-order abortion drug pipeline. Sign the petition urging the Trump administration to take action at frc.org slash stop chemical abortion.
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In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God, and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory. Family Research Council invites you to join our Stand on the Word Bible reading plan as we reflect upon the life of Jesus, the Word who dwelt among us. Come with us and discover the glory of the Word. Read the Gospels and witness the life-changing story of Jesus, His life, death, and resurrection. Come read how Jesus transformed the lives of common people and how those same people transformed the known world through the power of the Holy Spirit. Come with us for 10 to 15 minutes a day and read the entire New Testament before the new year. Find our Bible reading plan in daily devotionals from Tony Perkins at frc.org slash Bible. Join us and stand on the word.
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Welcome back to Washington Watch. Thank you so much for joining us. Hope you’re having a fantastic day. I am Jody Heiss, an honor to be filling in today for Tony and deeply honored to have you joining us as well. All right. Last week, we highlighted on this program cases of several school districts, specifically in the states of Virginia and Kansas, that were reportedly choosing to abide by woke gender ideology rather than federal law. Well, later in the week, President Trump called out school districts in California, stating that any of those school districts that do not adhere to his administration’s policies on transgenderism in schools will lose federal funding. So the question now is, will schools in California comply? Or perhaps they’ll be willing to give up federal funding in order to continue to embrace their ideological policies. Policies, by the way, that are harmful to students as well as being unlawful. Well, joining me now to discuss this and more is Julie Hartman. She’s a senior advisor at the Department of Education’s Office of Communications and Outreach. Julie, thank you so much for joining us. Welcome to Washington Watch. Oh, thank you so much for having me, Jody. Well, it’s our honor. Let’s begin with this, Julie. If you can kind of make clear for us the specific policies, the type of policies, at least, that President Trump is referring to here. What changes is he wanting to see take place?
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Well, President Trump here is referring to really two main federal laws, and that’s Title IX and FERPA. Title IX, of course, was passed in 1972. And it protects students on the basis of sex. And what we have seen all across the country, and California has been one of the greatest offenders, is that schools or school districts are allowing students to occupy intimate facilities and participate in sports based on their gender identity. Now, one’s gender identity is very different from one’s sex. And this is not only unlawful, but it is immoral and totally contrary to common sense. I mean, minor students should not have to go into a bathroom and see members of the opposite sex within those same intimate facilities. women who have trained and worked hard for so much of their sports careers should not have to lose their titles and their awards because men are competing in female categories. So under the great leadership of President Trump and Secretary McMahon, The Department of Education has taken a firm stance on this. And just to highlight some victories, our Office for Civil Rights secured a resolution agreement with both Wagner College and the University of Pennsylvania. And those schools have agreed to follow Title IX to separate sports and intimate facilities based on sex. and to apologize to the female athletes and to restore their records that were lost. So that’s the first one, Title IX. FERPA just quickly is a parental rights law, and it gives parents the right to inspect their child’s education records. But what we’ve seen is that all across the country, there are many schools which have these policies which say that school personnel cannot disclose a child’s transgender identity to that child’s parents without that child’s consent. So again, as I said earlier, this is not only unlawful, it’s completely immoral. Parents must be the primary decision makers when it comes to their child’s education, and they should know about this sensitive information. So Secretary McMahon and the president have made this a top priority, and you’re seeing how vigorously this department is enforcing those two.
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Well, we have been following those victories that you referenced a moment ago. And first of all, let me just say congratulations. Those are huge victories. And secondly, let me say a huge heartfelt thank you for standing in the gap and fighting for so many Americans across this whole country. Well done. And I’m glad you were able to highlight those here on the program. If you would, Julie, let’s go a little bit further into FERPA. You brought that up. I think this is one of those areas. I think probably the majority of our viewers and listeners are pretty familiar now with Title IX. But as you mentioned FERPA, that’s another big deal where we’re seeing a lot of violations. Would you mind just continue, just kind of unfold that a little bit more of what you mentioned what FERPA is, but just how a little bit more explanation of what you were talking about.
SPEAKER 07 :
Absolutely. So again, FERPA gives parents the right to inspect their child’s education records. And these are records that are maintained by the school and that are directly related to the child. So, of course, parents should be able to see those kinds of things. And Here at the department, we have open investigations into the state of Washington, the state of California, the state of Maine, and then most recently, as you indicated, into Kansas, where there are several school districts which are directing school personnel to not disclose to parents a child’s gender identity or so-called gender identity without that child’s consent. And this department believes that that is a violation of FERPA. That’s a violation of parental rights and their ability under law to inspect their child’s education records. If a school is maintaining a spreadsheet with new names and new pronouns, or if they have something called gender plans, which we’re seeing a lot of schools across the country have parents should absolutely have access to those gender plans or to those spreadsheets, because those are records that relate to their child. But what we have seen is that a gender radical gender ideology has taken a precedent here and many school personnel are, are, choosing to follow that gender ideology instead of protecting these young impressionable children. I’ll tell you quickly, one of the most incredible experiences here at the department was seeing Secretary McMahon host a group of detransitioners. These were individuals who underwent the medical transition in the attempt to become the opposite sex. And then, thank God, they realized that this was a dangerous path to go down. And these individuals sat around with the secretary and said how much they wished that their parents knew what was happening at these schools and that they had an adult in the room to protect them. So Secretary McMahon is that adult. President Trump is that adult. And these these rancid policies will not be allowed to continue under this administration.
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Julie, thank you so much for expounding on that. I think that’s an area that parents need to be aware of because this is a huge area of attack. And we’re not just talking about a president who is trying to push his personal beliefs. We’re talking about taxpayer dollars that have been used to push an ideology and a radical one. at that. So this is a critical issue. Again, I want to say thank you, Julie Hartman, Senior Advisor at the Department of Education’s Office of Communications and Outreach. We deeply appreciate the great work that you are doing over there and for taking time out of your schedule to join us today on Washington Watch.
SPEAKER 07 :
Well, all the credit goes to Secretary McMahon, but thank you very much for having me on. I look forward to next time.
SPEAKER 15 :
Keep up the good work. We’ll be back. All right, friends, coming up, we’ll be joined by Congressman Michael Cloud from Texas. He was recently on a trip to Israel, and he’s got some latest information about the developments, which there are many, that are taking place in the Middle East. So stick around. We’ll be back on the other side of this break.
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Here at Family Research Council, we face many threats to the family, threats that have been with us for some time. Abortion, the gender ideology threat, the attacks on marriage, the attacks on parental authority, and the attacks on religious freedom. We have to promote, support, strengthen, and incentivize family growth so families take their place in society in a place of honor.
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I’m defending the family by working in the Center for Biblical Worldview to provide cutting-edge research and resources for pastors, ministry leaders, and Christian parents.
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Through my work at the Washington Stand, I passionately defend what God has defined for marriage and family. I don’t see the Washington stand as just a place to talk about cultural events. It’s a place to share biblical truth. It’s a perfect outlet to advance and defend what God has defined as good, true, and beautiful.
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Good afternoon. Welcome back to Washington Watch. I’m Jody Heiss filling in today for Tony. Thank you for tuning in. All right. Literally just hours ago, there were massive demonstrations that reportedly drew some 350,000 people to Tel Aviv’s hostage square in Israel. And this is coming on the heels of two separate days of mass protests where people were calling on the Israeli government to agree to a deal to release some of the hostages that are held in Gaza. But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has publicly ruled out any further deals in which hostages are released in phases. Instead, he’s demanding an agreement in which all the hostages are freed at once. Well, you add that to the way Israel now is edging into Hamas and the stronghold in Gaza City. Will there soon be an end to this war, one way or the other? With me now to discuss this and more by phone is Congressman Michael Cloud. He’s a member of the House Appropriations Committee as well as the Oversight and Government Reform Committee. He represents the 27th Congressional District of the great state of Texas. Congressman Clout, thank you for joining us. Welcome back to Washington Watch.
SPEAKER 19 :
Well, thank you. Good to be with you today.
SPEAKER 15 :
Great to be with you, and thank you. All right, Michael, first of all, you were recently in Israel as part of a House GOP delegation that was led, in fact, by Speaker Mike Johnson. Share with us a little bit about what you saw and what you heard during that trip.
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Yeah, it was a phenomenal trip. Actually, there were four members and the speaker that was on that trip with us. You know, a lot of times you go on these trips and you’re trying to glean information so you have a better perspective. Of course, anytime I go, I’m thinking about American interests because I represent the folks here in Texas. But we have a tremendous partnership with Israel as a nation, from intelligence to defense to, you know, even things like desalination and some of the stuff that’s going in agriculture that we learned with that. But, you know, it was amazing, of course, you know, as a person of faith for me to be in the Holy Land, but then to not only glean the information that often helps us make better decisions, but to we were in meetings where we were actually working to advance the cause of peace and really at times felt we were on the sphere of history going forward in the region. And it was really, you know, from that standpoint, just a pretty… phenomenal experience. We also had the opportunity to go down to the border of Gaza, visit one of the kibbutz that was completely devastated by Hamas, and just hear firsthand some of the things that happened and, of course, what the people in that region are having to deal with on a day-to-day basis.
SPEAKER 15 :
Yeah, you know, it’s hard to believe we’re literally coming up on the two-year anniversary of that. October 7th will be here before you know it. I think clearly the Israelis do not want a forever war. But on the other hand, it seems as though Hamas is doing everything they can to drag this whole thing out. Would you agree with that?
SPEAKER 19 :
Very much so, which is the reason they don’t want to give the hostages back. Hamas cannot stay in power in Gaza. That is a non-starter of a conversation. They have demonstrated how evil they are and cannot have lost any sort of moral authority to be able to regain power. And they know that the only thing that’s holding them in power is the fact that they continue to have hostages, which is why they are not willing to return them. and they want to continue to drag this out and do this in sort of a peaceful effort as they try to hold on to power. They are not good for the region. They’re not good for, certainly, as they demonstrated, for the people doing their best to live in peace in Israel, and they do no favors to the people in Gaza as well. Billions have gone into their economy, and what they decided to do with it Instead of build an oasis, they dug tunnels. They turned hospitals into the ammo depots, and then we all saw the atrocities on October 7th and what they did there, and it’s just inhumane.
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Well, there’s been, you know, there’s so much to say about all of this. There’s been actually some good positive developments in all of this. For example, I think of Syria and Iran. And now we’re watching some developments with Lebanon. So there’s so much to cover. And Congressman Michael Cloud, I want to thank you for discussing that. Before I let you go, though, I want to switch gears and bring it much more closely to home to where you live. I wanted to get your take on all the developments across the various states regarding redistricting. And, of course, your home state of Texas is right in all the heart of that. We’ve only got about a minute left, but just give us a 30,000 perspective.
SPEAKER 19 :
Yeah, well, here in Texas, redistricting has passed the maps that passed the House and Senate and just are awaiting the governor’s signature. Of course, for those representing the area, you kind of have mixed feelings about it because appreciated working with and representing the people we’ve had the pleasure of representing. But also what we’ve seen over the last years is the left have completely weaponized redistricting in a sense. And for us to kind of right the scales in this in order to be able to do what we need to do for our national priorities is, you know, We understand what needs to happen here. But the big arguments you see coming from the left only reveal their hypocrisy. You could go down the list of state after state after state after state, and you wouldn’t see circulating X now, formerly Twitter.
SPEAKER 15 :
Got to land it there.
SPEAKER 19 :
State after state, yeah. They’ve done this so many times.
SPEAKER 15 :
Congressman Michael Cloud of Texas, thank you so much for joining us. We appreciate it. All right, friends, coming up next, the Russia-Ukraine war. There’s an area of this whole thing that deserves much more attention than what it’s getting, and we’ll bring that your way right after this.
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Family Research Council is committed to advancing faith, family, and freedom from the East Coast to the West. So FRC is going to Southern California for this year’s Pray, Vote, Stand Summit, October 17th and 18th at Calvary Chapel, Chino Hills. Join us for this powerful gathering of Christians desiring cultural renewal and spiritual revival. The Pray, Vote, Stand Summit brings together Christian leaders, issue experts, and government officials for a time of prayer, inspiration, and action. Together, we will seek God’s guidance for our nation and engage in meaningful discussions on the intersection of faith, government, and culture. If the spiritual foundations and the cultural walls of our nation are to be rebuilt, we all have a role to play. May we each find our place on the wall as we build for biblical truth. Register now at PrayVoteStand.org. That’s PrayVoteStand.org.
SPEAKER 14 :
Jennifer, it’s so exciting to be here with you today talking about our new book, Embracing God’s Design. Who is actually going to benefit from reading this book in your view?
SPEAKER 08 :
There are so many different audiences that can benefit. The first one are counselors themselves, because we have some material in there where we really address the gender dysphoria diagnosis and what is wrong with it. We have information for people who are wanting to go back to embracing God’s design for their life.
SPEAKER 14 :
This is really magical to have the therapist and the individual who suffered come together and write about why this is happening and why we’re seeing this.
SPEAKER 08 :
And we brought all of that experience to the table. We want to see people walking in the fullness of who God has called them to be and not a false identity.
SPEAKER 14 :
Order today at embracethedesign.com.
SPEAKER 11 :
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 15 :
Welcome back to Washington Watch. Great to have you joining us today. I’m Jody Heiss, an honor to be filling in today for Tony. Before I get to my next guest, just a real quick reminder. You don’t want to miss this if you can at all help at our PrayVote Stand Summit. We’ll be taking place October 17th and 18th in Chino Hills, California. We want you to not miss this life-transforming event. And we’d love for you to go learn more and register at PrayVoteStand.org. Go check that out as soon as the program concludes today. PrayVoteStand.org. All right. With all the talks that are taking place between Presidents Trump, Putin, Zelensky, European leaders, there is a story right in the middle of all of this regarding Ukrainian children that has been, for the most part, totally overlooked historically. at least by most of the mainstream media outlets. Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine three and a half years ago, thousands, thousands of Ukrainian children have reportedly been abducted by Kremlin forces and taken into Russia, where many of them have been given new identities and new families. Ukraine is saying that their reports are somewhere in the neighborhood of 20,000 missing children. Well, at the same time, a Yale University humanitarian research group is estimating those numbers could be as many as 35,000 missing. children from Ukraine may be being held in Russia and Russian occupied territories. So as the U.S. continues its efforts to broker an end to the Russia-Ukraine war, where will these children fit in? Well, with me now to discuss this is Chelsea Sobolik. She’s the Director of Government Relations at World Relief. Chelsea, thank you so much for joining us. Welcome to Washington Watch.
SPEAKER 05 :
Thanks for having me, Congressman.
SPEAKER 15 :
Okay. When I first heard this, I was just devastated to think of it, but thousands of children abducted. How in the world did this happen?
SPEAKER 05 :
It’s a great question. And I’m so grateful for you guys shining a light on this story. And Family Research Council has been at the forefront of helping lead out on bringing awareness to this incredibly important issue. So I’m very grateful for that. So a number of things. Russia is claiming that they’re the humanitarians, that they’re the ones coming and helping these vulnerable children find new homes and they are taking care of them. They’re sending them to summer camps. What is actually happening could not be further from what Russia is saying. Russia is illegally abducting thousands. You said 20,000. It could be upwards 30,000, 35,000. Thousands of vulnerable Ukrainian children, they’re subjecting them to military training, political re-education, and illegal forced adoption. All of this is highly illegal according to international law. All of this should matter to Americans and should matter to Christians because we believe in the importance and value of family. So there have been a number of efforts over the years since the war broke out to bring this front and center. And last week during the Alaska summit, President Trump delivered a letter from the first lady, Melania Trump, on behalf of the vulnerable children. So we were incredibly grateful for his willingness to raise it with President Putin and then for Melania’s willingness also to send that letter. But it’s truly bone chilling. I’m a mom of a little boy. I can’t begin to fathom what I would be feeling and thinking if my child was illegally abducted during a time of conflict.
SPEAKER 15 :
Yeah, exactly. So a twofold question here. Do we have any idea? I guess there’s got to be some indication of the age of these children. What are we looking at? The age ranges here. And how, secondly, how in the world can Russia say they are the humanitarian ones here? when they are abducting children, taking them from their families, and putting them, giving them new identities, indoctrinating, I mean, this whole thing is mind-boggling. So, sorry, two-fold question. The age group and how in the world is Russia trying to get away with their excuse for their…
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah, well, Russia is lying through their teeth about this. And the global community, the international community has confirmed that. There have been statement after statement after statement. There’s a bipartisan resolution in Congress right now led by Chuck Grassley and Don Bacon in the House calling what is happening to the children an atrocity. It’s illegal, it’s wrong, Russia’s lying through its teeth. And the global community is watching and paying attention and calling out what they’re doing to the vulnerable children. As far as ages, as young as just a couple of months old, all the way up to 18, I’ve actually chatted with a young man who’s now a legal adult, but he was 15, 16 and was subjected to military training. in Russia. And I’ve chatted with his mom and got to hear what it was like for her. So very, very young to teenage boys being subjected to military training.
SPEAKER 15 :
Is there concern, I know there’s concern, but is there legitimate concern with evidence backing it up that some of these children are being marketed for adoption for sex trafficking, for example, or something else nefarious, or is this just coerced adoption? I actually heard there’s even an online catalog of these children. What are these children facing?
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah, it’s a great, great question. And I’ll just make this point. It is always the most vulnerable that pay the heaviest price during war and conflict. And who is the most vulnerable among us? It’s children, children who their voices are not heard in Washington, D.C. And so that’s why I’m so grateful to get to do this work to bring awareness. their stories and their voices into the halls of power. And you’re right. There is an online catalog where you can people can select. I want a child with blue eyes, which is, again, very, very bone chilling. You know, there are a number of international laws like the Geneva Convention on the Rights of the Child Act. that govern how children are to be handled during times of war and conflict, and for Russia to illegally abduct across a border a child, much less subject them to a forced adoption. They’re changing their paperwork, changing their names. It’s all highly, highly illegal. These are children, some of which do have families in Ukraine, some of which don’t have families. They were living in institutionalized care outside the care of the family. What’s important to know is those children belong in their homeland, which is Ukraine. They don’t belong in Russia. which has attacked Ukraine. They belong in their homeland and they belong, even if they don’t have family, even if they are a very vulnerable child, they belong in their homeland where members of their community can step in and help care for them.
SPEAKER 15 :
Chelsea, you mentioned the identity. Okay, so identity changes, all sorts of things. I mean, these kids are evidently just being made to become Russian, for lack of a better expression of it all. Is there now any possibility of tracking these children down?
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah, it’s a great question, and it’s a really important question. So that Yale University humanitarian lab that you mentioned has been actively engaged since the outbreak of the war for years, systematically documenting and tracing the children. It’s very complex. It’s not my particular skill set, but there are people who are trained in this, who are documenting and tracking what’s happening to the children. And there are groups who are doing rescue efforts. It’s it’s small scale. It’s a couple of children here, a couple dozen children here. It’s very small scale. It’s not at the scale that we’ve been asking for, which is full return of all the children in a peace negotiation, which is what we will are asking for and continuing to ask for. But the Yale University is is actively tracking and documenting to the best of their ability. And that’s why it’s so, so important that the whole of government pays attention to this because they are changing names and identities. They’re not just physically moving a child across a border. They’re not just subjecting a child to political reeducation. They’re erasing their identity and giving them a new one.
SPEAKER 15 :
Unbelievable. All right, Chelsea, two more real quick questions, and then I want to switch over to my other guests real quickly. But this past spring, your organization led a letter to prominent faith leaders, to President Trump, as well as Secretary of State Rubio, about this situation and these Ukrainian children who are being abducted. What kind of developments have there been since you sent that letter?
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah, so we sent the letter and within less than a week, we actually met with some senior officials at the State Department. FRC was well represented at that meeting. So I was very grateful for the quick, quick response to that. And the administration is aware of this issue. They’ve been aware of this issue for months. But the most recent development is in the recent summit at Alaska that President Trump did hand deliver a letter from the first lady saying, of the United States, raising this issue of vulnerable, missing children. And we are so grateful. We actually sent her and the president a letter today from a number of the same faith leaders who signed that letter thanking them. It’s so important that they know that we’re grateful that people of faith care about vulnerable children because scripture cares and God, the heartbeat of God cares about vulnerable children. So we met with senior officials at the State Department, so grateful that the president did raise this at the highest level in his meeting with President Putin. And I think next steps, we’re continuing to encourage this administration, encourage the global community to not forget about the kids, that in a peace negotiation, in a peace deal, that the children’s quick and safe return is one of the top priorities. So again, so grateful for the president and the first lady for being willing to raise this issue.
SPEAKER 15 :
And thank you for taking that role. Real quickly, final question. How can our viewers and listeners engage in this process and bring further attention to it real quickly?
SPEAKER 05 :
What a great question. First and foremost, I would encourage everyone to pray for the children, pray for wisdom for those engaging in these important peace conversations. Thank the president and the first lady for raising this issue. And then congressional engagement. There’s bicameral, bipartisan resolutions calling what’s happening to the children out. And so grateful for Chuck Grassley, Senator Chuck Grassley’s leadership, Representative Don Bacon’s leadership. So if you want to call your member of Congress, call them and encourage them to co-sponsor that resolution.
SPEAKER 15 :
Thank you so much, Chelsea Sobolik, Director of Government Relations at World Relief. Thanks for taking the lead in this, and thank you for joining us today on Washington Watch.
SPEAKER 05 :
Thanks for having me.
SPEAKER 15 :
All right, I want to continue this discussion about the plight of Ukraine’s abducted children. I want to bring in now Travis Weber. He’s FRC’s Vice President for Policy and Government Affairs. Travis, thank you for joining me. Thank you, Jody. Wow. Yeah. Unbelievable what’s taking place here. Give me real quickly your thoughts. Where do we stand on this whole issue? And are there other places that we’re seeing similar things take place besides just Russia?
SPEAKER 13 :
Yeah. It’s interesting hearing Chelsea speak. What struck me is the gravity of the situation, the heaviness. You can feel, as she said, God’s heart for these children. And so, you know, it’s really significant for us to be understanding this through the lens of how God has instructed us in Scripture. We have to remember the family is a governing unit. Parents are given by God the governing authority for their children. And I think sometimes we slip into viewing the family as just a way that civil government can look at it, As a social ordering element, as another piece of society, that’s not how God views it. As you know, we often grapple with issues of parental rights here, other questions around the family and marriage. And this issue shows us the importance of the family as a governing unit instituted by God. everywhere around the world. In this case, Ukraine, you see the tearing of that fabric. So it just it helps us understand the importance of it and what we’re defending. As Chelsea mentioned, you know, our follow up, you know, is to continue to engage the administration on this and Congress where we can and highlight the opportunity that the president has to defend family in this case, along with faith and freedom around the world as he engages with other government leaders and bilateral discussions.
SPEAKER 15 :
Well, it’s just stunning to me how massive of an issue this is. It’s just going under the radar. And virtually no media outlets are dealing with it. So this is, at minimum, a huge issue. to pray about.
SPEAKER 13 :
It is. There’s so much news out there, right? Sometimes we can go on Google or just go to our place where we take in the news and we’re overwhelmed by the number of stories, the number of things that we feel we might have to grapple with. But this is where I feel it’s so important for people of God to pray and say, Lord, what do you want me focused on? What do you want me engaged on? And as the Lord leads, we engage because this is ultimately God’s work. He will defend He has eye rose the earth to search out injustice, and we know he will bring an ultimate accounting. So we’re just helping shed light on these things from his perspective.
SPEAKER 15 :
Travis, just about a minute left. All right, so give us your 30,000-foot perspective. What else is happening around the world in terms of family issues?
SPEAKER 13 :
So this is important, I believe, because if we zoom out, you know, we have the president here dealing with a conflict, really a regional, almost global conflict. This is a family issue in the midst of that conflict. So I think we have to be cognizant of what are their opportunities to defend family, faith and freedom are happening in other instances, right? So you look at the deal with DRC Congo and Rwanda. There you have, in that region, there are attacks by Islamist groups against Christians. We need to defend religious freedom in the midst of that discussion. There are shifts in Bolivia recently, a new election bringing in a conservative administration might be opportunities to defend faith, family, freedom down there. in china in the asia region human rights religious freedom issues in north korea in china there’s a lot of turmoil with south korea right now questions about religious freedom even in south korea so i think in these are just some examples of faith family and freedom around the world as things shift as there’s a new order coming in globally we need to watch and to pray wow so much to deal with thank you so much travis weber uh frc’s vice president for policy and government affairs
SPEAKER 15 :
Friends, there’s so much to pray about, so much to be engaged with, and I want to thank you personally for being a part of it all here and what we’re doing at FRC. Thank you for joining us on Washington Watch. We look forward to being with you again tomorrow, same time. Have a great evening.
SPEAKER 16 :
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.
