In this episode of Washington Watch, host Jody Heiss covers a range of pressing topics from recent trade policies and their implications to the ongoing legal battles surrounding Title IX and gender rights. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s defense of the President’s tariff plan is explored in detail, providing listeners with insights into the complexities of international trade and economic strategy. Conversations with key political figures bring light to the administration’s efforts to readjust the global order of trade for America’s benefit. The episode also takes a deep dive into the conflict in Maine, where state laws regarding
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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 sound bites into conversations with our nation’s leaders and newsmakers, all from a biblical worldview. Sitting in for Tony is today’s host, Jody Heiss.
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Well, good afternoon and happy Friday. Hope you’ve had a great week. Welcome to this edition of Washington Watch. I am Jody Heiss, Senior Vice President here at the Family Research Council and President of FRC Action. An honor to have you joining us. All right, we’ve got a lot coming your way. We’ll begin with some of the highlights. And it’s all about tariffs, tariffs, tariffs. That’s been the buzzword this week for sure. And all of that in the midst of while the legacy media would like for you to believe that the sky is falling. The Trump administration maintains that the president’s reciprocal tariffs plan move America out of a bad situation.
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I don’t think it’s fair to say economies are crashing. Markets are crashing because markets are based on the stock value of companies who today are embedded in modes of production that are bad for the United States. We have to be a country that think we’re the largest consumer market in the world. And yet the only thing we export is services. And we need to stop that. We need to get back to a time where we’re a country that can make things. And to do that, we have to reset the global order of trade.
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That was U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio earlier today following a NATO foreign ministers meeting in Brussels. And I’ll be discussing this later when I’m joined in just a moment by Texas Congressman Randy Weber. He’s a member of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. Meanwhile, the Trump administration continues to take on the governor of Maine and her administration. They are refusing to comply with Title IX protections of female student-athletes.
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Right now we are in a hostage situation. The governor and her administration is holding Maine schools and Maine education under hostage. And this standoff is not going to end well for the state of Maine and its education funding.
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That was Maine’s House Minority Leader, Billy Bob Falkingham. He was speaking at a press conference earlier this week, and he is also urging his governor, Janet Mills, to stop her misguided battle against the federal government. Well, now the USDA announced that it has frozen federal funding for certain Maine educational programs over the Title IX issue. And Maine State Representative Laurel Libby will be joining me a little bit later in the program to discuss all of that. Meanwhile, in Missouri, there is yet another important battle taking place. This is an effort to protect children from harmful material online. And Missouri State Representative Sherry Gallick will join me for that discussion a little bit later. And then in international news. if you saw this or not, but it’s stunning. A pro-lifer in the UK was convicted today for simply holding a sign near an abortion center, and here’s what the sign simply said. Here to talk if you want.
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This is a dark day for Great Britain. I was not protesting, nor did I harass, intimidate, or obstruct anyone. All I did was offering consensual conversation in a public space, as in my basic right. Wow.
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That was Livia Tassisi-Bolt speaking to the press earlier today. An amazing case, and I’ll be talking about it a little bit later in the program when I’m joined by David Claussen for our weekly Biblical Worldview segment. So as always, we’ve got a lot coming your way. If you happen to miss any portion of it, be sure to check it out at TonyPerkins.com where you can certainly find this edition of Washington Watch as well as past editions as well, and tons and tons of resources there for you. including a link to our FACE Act petition. Now, folks, this is coming to you from FRC Action. You have heard about the FACE Act. As many of you are aware, the enforcement of this law has been overwhelmingly one-sided. In fact, about 97% of prosecutions under the FACE Act have been against pro-life Americans. So we are encouraging you to sign our petition. It will be going to Congressional Leadership, and you can simply text the word FACE, F-A-C-E, FACE, to 67742. All right, now let’s jump into our first item for today, and that is all around tariffs. President Trump is staying on the course. of his reciprocal tariff plan, despite the fact that the stocks have dropped sharply for a second day in a row and retaliation is now coming from China. Earlier today, Secretary of State Marco Rubio defended the president’s plan. He noted that it was the right thing to do, given how the current status of global trade puts America at a disadvantage. He expressed confidence that the markets are going to adjust after all the dust settles. And so we’re going to watch and see about that. So as we enter into all this, are we watching birth pains or is there a deeper problem? We’re here to discuss all of this with me now is Congressman Randy Weber. He serves on the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, as well as the Committee on Science, Space and Technology. He represents the 14th Congressional District of Texas. Congressman Weber, always great to see you, my friend. Welcome back to Washington Watch.
SPEAKER 16 :
Thank you, Jody. Good to be here. Let me break in real quick and tell you this is a great day for the Weber family. Our second great-granddaughter was born about an hour ago.
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Wow. Congratulations, great-grandpa Randy Weber. What do the grandkids call you?
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Well, they call me Grandpa, but I always thought I was a great grandpa. Absolutely.
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Well, I guess that would make you a great, great grandpa now then, huh?
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Absolutely. But listen, this is about, and appreciate what y’all do, because this is about the future of this nation.
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It is. And listen, first of all, congratulations to you and your dear family. Please send our love. All right, let’s talk about some of these tariffs. You have been very vocal all about this, that when trade is both fair and free, America is very much competitive. You believe that. You’ve been on board with that for a long, long time. How would you describe the status quo that President Trump has moved away from and where he’s trying to go?
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Well, thanks for the question. He called that the Declaration of Economic Independence. But I want to take us back to history, Jody, the founding of what I believe this country God gave us. Remember the Boston Tea Party? Of course we do. Well, there’s a tea in this, too. It’s the awesome tea as in tariffs party. So I would say this tea is important because tea is also for Trump. We are trying to get back in the saddle, back in control again of our economy. And you know this, that for generations, countries have taken advantage of the United States raising their tariff rates. Never mind, and we have a chart, he put out a chart. Never mind how much their tariffs are on the United States. People who hate Trump, they hate Trump. They want to make the most of anything that they can to try to make him look bad. But he is on the street to make an America great again when it comes to trade. And that’s been so evident in history. And I’ll give you some stats, if you can bear with me for a minute. Right now, we, the United States, impose a 2.5% tariff on passenger vehicle imports with internal combustion engines. The European Union and India impose 10% and 70%, respectively, higher imports duties on the same product. Let that sink in. 2.5% for us, 10% for the European Union, 70% for India. The trade imbalance has been going on for way too long.
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All right, so what do we say now with just China, for example? They’re coming back. They’re going to impose a 34% tariff on U.S. products starting April 10th. What do you make of that?
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Well, of course they are. They’re watching what’s going on over here in the country where all the people who hate Trump want to make him out to be a bad guy. It’s going to take some time for us to reshore some of our stuff. Marco Rubio, Secretary of State, you played a clip of him earlier, was exactly correct. We want to have fair trade, and the fair trade has not gone on for a long time. I’m going to read something to you, believe it or not, from Wikipedia, of all things, and the research that we’ve been doing. This is… Tariffs have historically played a key role in the trade policy of the U.S. Big shot, right? Their purposes include to generate revenue for the federal government and to allow for import substitution or industrialization of a nation by replacing imports with domestic products. That’s from Wikipedia, not necessarily known as your bastion of conservative thinkism. President Trump’s on the right roll. path, China is going to do everything they can to try to discourage us. Americans have got to hang on. The market went down. You heard the Secretary of State talk about it. Got that. But you know what? We’re going to come back up. You know this, Jody, and I’m telling Noah about the flood here. From the art of the deal, which I didn’t read, but I understand Trump pushes as hard as he can that he can always back off and negotiate. I think that’s his tack dealing with his country. So he’s on the right path. We should be 110% behind him.
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Absolutely. And, you know, it’s interesting to me, of course, you mentioned the Democrats are all there screaming, the sky is falling in, all this sort of stuff. In fact, they’re against anything, quite frankly, that the president does, even if it involves things that they used to be in favor of. I want to play this clip of Nancy Pelosi and get your reaction to this. Play clip three, please.
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Today, members of Congress will be asked to set down a marker. How far does China have to go? How much more repression? How big a trade deficit and loss of jobs for the American worker? And how much more dangerous proliferation has to exist before members of this House of Representatives will say, I will not endorse the status quo?
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Wow. Long time ago. That was 1996. But those were strong words. Your thoughts on it?
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What’s that, 29 years ago, give or take? It’s funny how people change. Their hatred for Trump is unbelievable. They won’t vote for things. Well, you also talked about protecting women, for example, against men in bathrooms, men and athletes, and you go right down the list. Our country has gotten so far off track, what I believe God gave us is the best country in the history of the planet. Our country has gotten so off track, and thank God on November the 5th, and last year enough people had enough citizens to vote Trump back in because he’s going to put us back on that path God intended for us to be on. Yes, it’s going to take some time. Yes, there’s going to be manufacturers that don’t like it. But you know what? This is about the American people. In the long run, this is about getting our trade balance back on track. This is about onshoring manufacturing once again right here, supply chains here. We should have learned through COVID that we need everything we can in supply chains, not just medicine, but also in rare earth minerals as well. Trump’s on track. Nancy may not like it. Trump’s on track.
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All right, we’ve got less than a minute, probably 30 seconds here real quickly. You come back, the budget’s making big news. Senate, it’s advancing. Your thoughts real quickly, what expectations do you have for next week?
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Well, they’re going to be voting. It’s going to be fun to watch the Senate. Of course, as you know, reconciliation, we get to go. We only need 51 votes. So we’ll see. I think we’re going to see some tacking to the left or the right, but hopefully to the right, where the House will come back and put together things. Energy and Commerce Committee that I’m on has been tasked with $880 billion worth of cost savings if we can find them. So we’re working on it. We’ll see what the Senate comes up with it.
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Congressman Randy Weber of Texas, always great to see you. Thank you so much. Hope you have a fantastic weekend. Thank you, Joey. We appreciate y’all. Congratulations again. Great grandpa. You bet. All right, coming up, a big battle taking place in Maine over Title IX and protection of female students. We’ll talk to Representative Laurel Libby right after the break. Stay tuned.
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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.
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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.
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Tony Perkins called for the United States to send an unmistakable message.
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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.
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Redesignating Nigeria will enable the U.S. government to pressure Nigerian leaders to protect vulnerable Christians.
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These are not just numbers. These are fathers, their mothers, their children, their families.
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Bishop Wilfred Anagabe risked his life to speak out, sharing firsthand accounts of the danger faced in his church district in central Nigeria.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Good afternoon. Welcome back to Washington Watch. I am your Friday host, Jody Heiss. So glad to have you with us today. All right. This week, the USDA announced that it has frozen federal funding for certain Maine, the state of Maine, educational programs over that state’s refusal to comply with Title IX protection of female student-athletes. The governor of Maine is Janet Mills, and she has been adamant about keeping gender-confused males in girls’ sports. But at the same time, the Trump administration is just as determined to uphold the lawful nature of protecting female student-athletes under Title IX. So, will these frozen funds impact Maine’s decisions on all this situation? And what do the people of Maine, in fact, what do they have to say about the whole situation? Well, here to discuss this is State Representative of Maine, Laurel Libby. In fact, she’s got her own battle taking place over the transgender athlete issue herself. Representative Libby, welcome back to Washington Watch. Always great to have you.
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Thank you so much for having me.
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All right. First of all, let’s start with the latest on your case against the Speaker of the House here. Can you give us some details, first of all, on what your case is all about and where it currently stands?
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Five weeks ago, I was censured for speaking the truth and highlighting that there are biological males participating in girls’ sports here in Maine. And what that meant is that I am no longer allowed to speak or vote here. represent my constituents on the House floor. And so we’re five weeks in, I filed a lawsuit on behalf of myself and my constituents. And today we had our hearing in federal district court. So now we’re waiting on the ruling from that judge. And we’re hoping given the harm being perpetrated on my constituents, that this will be a timely resolution and the courts will see fit to ensure that I get my voice and my vote back.
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Yeah, that just, I think it’s important for our viewers and listeners to hear that again. Some of them may not have heard this last time you were on, but it still is a head scratcher to me how this could possibly be happening in the United States. And again, hats off to you. Thank you so much for standing for truth and for pushing now, pushing back against this unconstitutional policy a censoring of your representation of your constituents. So thank you for that brief update. All right, if we can, let’s talk now about the USDA and the announcement that they have basically saying that Maine, the state of Maine, must demonstrate compliance with Title IX or they’re going to have a lot of funds frozen. And the only way to reverse the frozen funds is to make corrective actions. So is there any… indication whatsoever that Governor Mills might be swayed by this?
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I would love to tell you that common sense is going to prevail in Maine and that Governor Mills is going to follow federal law and ensure that Title IX is upheld. But that would require a level of humility I don’t think we’re going to see here. So I think this will go to the courts. And There’s so much at stake. The USDA has frozen funds. Secretary Rollins was very clear in her letter to Governor Mills in saying, this is the start and there’s more to come. And at the same time, tempering that with, this is in your hands. As soon as you stop discriminating against Maine women and girls, your federal funds will be reinstated.
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Your House minority leader has described the situation as the governor literally holding the schools in Maine and the whole educational system as hostage. What is your assessment of the overall situation? Would you describe it that way?
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I would say that’s accurate. You know, we’ve got a very activist small percentage, including Governor Mills and the Democrat majority who are so extreme and have this stance that the majority of Mainers don’t agree with. And that’s really where we’re at. They, along with the Maine Principals Association and several school districts in Maine, really are holding the entire rest of the state hostage with this extreme stance that insists on allowing biological males to participate in girls’ sports, regardless of the consequences. And these are severe pending consequences to lose potentially hundreds of millions of dollars for Maine students.
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Yeah, and it seems to me that the pressure continues to mount. I mean, now we have the Departments of Education as well as Health and Human Services. They’re also now accusing Maine of Title IX violations. So what do you make of all the pressure that’s being applied? Is it going to make an impact?
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It certainly is going to make an impact. I’m hopeful that at some point we will get enough pressure from the federal government and from the people of Maine, whether it’s through the courts, through the electoral process next year, to make real change and ensure that common sense prevails for the long term here on behalf of both girls and our students. I don’t see resolution coming through Governor Mills and the Democrat majority, unfortunately.
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It’s stunning. You mentioned the majority of the citizens here in Maine are opposing the governor on this. In fact, a University of New Hampshire survey that I saw said 64 percent of Mainers don’t think that the transgender athletes should be allowed to compete in girls sports. Do the Democrats there just simply not care?
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The Democrats in power, and I want to be really careful to distinguish there because I’ve heard from many Democrats across the state of Maine who don’t agree with what Augusta Democrats, you know, the folks in power in our capital, with what they’re doing. They don’t agree with this stance. And so two-thirds of Mainers, that includes a vast number of Democrats who think that this agenda is crazy. They don’t agree with this agenda. denial of basic biology, and they want to see common sense restored. And the folks in Augusta simply are not listening to the two-thirds of Mainers that agree.
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Well, and good point, making that distinction between the two. It’s fair for you to make that distinction. We’ve got just less than a minute, but Republicans there are trying to remove gender identity as a protected class. Do you think that’ll be successful?
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You know, I’m a little bit of a pessimist on this one. I don’t think it’s political reality that we will see that pass. It should. Maine people would like to see that removed. And that’s the mechanism that we would need to see pass in order to change this policy at the state level. I still think resolution is going to have to come through the courts at the federal level. And unfortunately, Mainers are probably going to feel some pain before we can change who is in the majority in Augusta and resolve this issue for the long term.
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Well, pain is sometimes necessary to get to the right conclusion. Thank you so much, Maine State Representative Laurel Libby. You’re a hero. We are grateful for you taking the stand. Thank you for joining us on Washington Watch.
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Thank you so much for having me.
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All right, friends, coming up next, we will go to the state of Missouri. State Representative Sherry Gallick will be joining me regarding her bill that protects children from online sexual content. Those details coming your way right after the break.
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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 world view. Where did I come from? Who decides what is right and wrong? What happens when I die? Our answers to these questions explain why people see the world so differently. Debates about abortion are really disagreements about where life gets its value. Debates over sexuality and gender and marriage are really disagreements about whether the rules are made by us or for us. What we think of as political debates are often much more than that. They’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 and the trees.
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You’re tuned in to Washington Watch. I am your Friday host, Jody Heist. Thank you so much for being a part of the program today. All right. Protecting our kids in this digital age is absolutely growing more and more difficult as the access to all the harmful material online becomes more and more easily and readily available. And while there are certain steps that parents can take, absolutely, there are also some protections that lawmakers can put in place to shield the eyes and the minds of our most vulnerable citizens, which would be our children. In fact, there’s about 20 states now that have stepped up and have enacted age verification laws that pornography companies must abide by. And now the state of Missouri is looking to join that list. And here now to share more about it is Missouri State Representative Sherry Gallick, who’s the sponsor of what she hopes will be Missouri’s age verification mandate, which is House Bill 236. House Bill 236. She represents the 62nd District in the Missouri State House. Representative, welcome to Washington Watch. It’s an honor to have you.
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Well, thank you. I’m happy to be here.
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All right. Well, let’s start with how did this get started for you? What inspired you to draft this piece of legislation?
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Well, a couple of reasons. First, I am very active with child advocacy organizations, a group called CASA, the Court Appointed Specialist. One of the cases that I was given opportunity to help. I honestly didn’t take it because it was out of the area that I serve, but it did involve this and it was very alarming. So, and also Congresswoman Vicki Hartzler also is very passionate about this and she brought some things to my attention and I decided to start investigating.
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Well, it was an honor for me personally to serve with Vicki Harsler. We are very close in Congress together and so thrilled to know that she’s continuing to keep the torch ablaze. So if we can, let’s talk about House Bill 236. Give us an overview of it. If this were to pass, what would it do?
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It is just a gatekeeper. It is like in the old days when you couldn’t go into a store or a room. I mean, everything was under lock and key. And if you were a minor, you could not view that. That’s all this does. Today, online pornography is rampant in digital age. I mean, everybody has tablets and phones, even children. And parents can put parental, you know, things on there. However, you’re not with your children 24 hours a day in many cases. I did have one gentleman that came up to me and told me that he had an addiction when he was younger, and it wasn’t from his parents. His parents had parental restrictions on the items and the content in their home. But he went to his friend’s home, and that’s where he discovered it. So… To me, this is a huge issue. I just believe that as adults, the most important thing anyone will ever do is to raise a child. And there is significant research that says how harmful this is. And I believe we have a moral obligation to protect minors.
SPEAKER 10 :
I couldn’t agree with you more. So what would prevent a, what would happen if a child tries to lie about their age? How does this work?
SPEAKER 15 :
Well, right now a child can lie. All they have to do in Missouri is say, yes, I’m 18. Click a button. Um, age verification. One of the reasons in the bill, I put a reasonable commercial entity that does age verification because technology is changing so fast. Um, You can simply do a digital ID. Right now, there are age verification providers that will use a telephone number just for the mere purpose because they can look at the financial transactions on a phone. Even if you have a family plan, they said that they can actually tell who is the adult and who isn’t. But there’s other processes and algorithms, you know, face recognition, but they’re Technology is advancing faster than I can keep up with. So there are a variety of ways to do it. And again, all you would be is a gatekeeper. It also says in my bill that you cannot, it says, shall not retain any identifying information, whether you are given access or denied. So you cannot retain the information. And if you think about it, the age verification provider That is their business. If anyone is going to be very driven to make sure that they have no fraud or no data breach, it would be somebody that has a company in age verification.
SPEAKER 10 :
Good point. Okay, so Washington Watch has, we’re aired over 50 different radio stations in Missouri, a pretty large footprint. So what can our audience there in Missouri do to try to help HB 236 pass?
SPEAKER 15 :
Well, HB 236 was heard on the floor. It hasn’t been third read and passed. That’s the next step. So if you are very passionate about this, as I am, please call your state representatives and your state senators. It is still on the formal calendar, so it is not dead. There is still a path to get this passed. I had it last year. If for some reason it doesn’t pass this year, I will have it again next year. I believe that this is an extremely important issue. And again, we are the gatekeepers and we are the people that are raising the children that will be leaders tomorrow. And I want to make sure that, you know, we protect minors.
SPEAKER 10 :
Thank you so, so much, Missouri State Representative Sherry Gallick. Thank you for introducing this bill and thank you for coming on Washington Watch. We’ll be keeping a pulse on it. All right, friends, on the other side of the break, David Claussen will be joining me for our weekly worldview discussion, and we’ve got a lot to talk with him about. So don’t go anywhere. Much more coming your way right after the break here on Washington Watch.
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What is God’s role in government? What does the separation of church and state really mean? And how does morality shape a nation? President John Adams said our Constitution was made only for moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other. Join Family Research Council for God and Government, a powerful 13-part series that equips you with biblical truth to engage in today’s most pressing debates, from the Ten Commandments in classrooms to the immigration crisis of America. We’ll uncover the foundations of our nation’s history and why it’s relevant for today. Defend God’s plan for government because faith and freedom were never meant to be separate. New episodes available each Monday. To view the series on the Stand Firm app, text COURSE to 67742.
SPEAKER 08 :
The world is hurting, streets are filled with crime, families are broken, sin is celebrated, and God is mocked. Everywhere we look, the wages of our sin are on full display. As Christians, we know that surrender to God’s will is the solution to our biggest problems, but not everyone agrees. Even in church, we hear people say the most important thing is to be tolerant, that we shouldn’t impose a morality on other people, and that loving our neighbor means celebrating what they do. But you can’t do that. It’s not that you don’t love your neighbor. You do. But you care about God’s opinion more than your neighbor’s opinion, and this makes you different. In fact, sometimes it makes you feel alone, like you’re the only one. But there is good news. You are not alone, not even close. Research has found that there are 59 million American adults who are a lot like you. There are millions of people around the country who are born again, deeply committed to practicing their faith, and believe the Bible is the reliable Word of God. But that’s not all. They’re also engaged in our government. They’re voters. They’re more likely to be involved in their community, and they’re making a difference in elections. The problem is that a lot of them feel alone, too. We want to change that. FRC wants to connect these 59 million Americans to speak the truth together, no matter the cost. If you want to learn more about this group and what it means to be a spiritually active, governance-engaged conservative, or if you want to find out if you are one of these sage cons yourself, go to frc.org slash sagecon and take the quiz to find out. The world is hurting, and we have the solution. We can’t do it alone, but we can do it if we work together. That’s what we’re working toward every day. Join us. Go to FRC.org slash S-A-G-E-C-O-N, SageCon, to learn more. That’s S-A-G-E-C-O-N, SageCon, to learn more.
SPEAKER 10 :
Welcome back to Washington Watch. Great to have you on the bus with us today. Hope you’re having a great, great Friday and on the verge of a wonderful weekend. All right, before I dive into this final segment, I want to yet again encourage you to sign FRC Action’s petition, which is specifically calling on Congress to repeal the FACE Act. Now, again, as we’ve talked about, this is a law that has been overwhelmingly used against pro-lifers. In fact, 97% of the time there’s been prosecutions has been against pro-lifers. And we’re trying to encourage Congress to repeal it, get rid of it. And you, your voice can make a difference. I encourage you to text the word FACE to 67742. Okay, after the past few weeks, I’ve highlighted a new book that my next guest has spent more than two years in writing. And earlier this week, the book was officially released. It’s entitled Life After Roe. Equipping Christians in the Fight for Life Today. And as I’ve mentioned before, this is an outstanding book. It looks at abortion and the whole life issue from the perspective of a biblical, a historical, as well as a political perspective. And the author, FRC’s very own David Claussen, he was on the program, in fact, earlier this week with Tony, But I want to go into a little bit deeper dive on the message of the book and also discuss some breaking news that just happened this morning that regards the life issue. So joining me now, David Claussen, the director of FRC’s Center for Biblical Worldview and the author of Life After Roe, Equipping Christians in the Fight for Life Today. David, welcome back to Washington Watch and congratulations.
SPEAKER 05 :
Well, thank you, Jody. It’s great to be on the program with you again.
SPEAKER 10 :
Well, listen, as a published author myself, I know how terribly exciting it is when the book is finally, finally released to the world. And I want to get into that more specifically. But before we do, just today, we had some breaking news on the life issue coming out of the United Kingdom, where a woman was arrested for holding a sign that just simply said, if you want to talk… I’m here. What do you think about this case?
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah, Jody, this should be setting alarm bells all over England, but in the United States as well. So just very briefly, kind of the background of this case, it goes back to spring of 2023. And you have Dr. Livia Taseki-Bolt. And she was outside an abortion clinic holding up a sign that said simply, here to talk if you want. Now, Jodi, that seems pretty innocent, pretty benign. That doesn’t sound very threatening. But the crime that she was committing was she was standing in a buffer zone because in 2022, there was a local ordinance that was passed that basically says that any activities that can be perceived as influencing or kind of distressing to patients or doctors at this abortion clinic that this was illegal. And so again, the sign made no explicit reference to abortion. She didn’t harass anybody. Again, she didn’t even speak to anybody. And yet, folks saw that she had this sign and she was prosecuted. And the judge this morning, Jody, handed down a sentence of $20,000. pounds, which I’m told is about $26,000, for the crime, again, of holding a sign that says, I’m here if you want to talk. Now, Jodi, again, this was a local ordinance that she was prosecuted on. But what’s even more concerning is that in 2023, they passed a national law in the United Kingdom called the Public Order Act of 2023, And in Section 9 of that law, it creates what’s known as these safe access zones, which are these buffer zones. So across the United Kingdom, England, Wales, it is illegal to be within 150 meters of an abortion clinic. By the way, if you’re not up on your metric system, that’s 160 yards, a football field and a half, that you can’t be outside an abortion clinic and even silently pray in some instances. So this is alarming. And by the way, Jody, this is what J.D. Vance, when he was at that security conference in Munich, was trying to draw attention to. This is what our State Department has been talking about. So these are grave concerns for religious freedom, for free speech. And it shows that pro-lifers abroad really are facing a lot of government hostility.
SPEAKER 10 :
They absolutely are, but the reality is this is not just individuals abroad. I mean, we’ve got challenges right here in our own country. In fact, your book, you have an entire chapter dealing with some of the ongoing challenges challenges that we’re facing right here in our own country when it comes to the life issue and standing for the unborn. And so, yeah, it’s chilling what just happened in the UK, but we’ve got issues of our own right here. Kind of highlight us some of those for us. What are some of the big challenges that we’re facing here in America?
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah, let me give you just briefly a couple, Jody, that I do talk about in the book. You have these, since Roe was overturned on June 24, 2022, 17 states have had kind of referendum, 17. And out of those 17, 14 of them have gone the pro-abortion direction. And the way these state referendums are, you know, out of state millions can kind of fund the pro-abortion side, spread lies, misinformation. That’s a huge threat. Another threat would be chemical abortion. I think I’ve been having conversations since my book came out. And if you know, a lot of folks like me who grew up in the 90s, we remember going on Saturday morning to kind of, you know, pray outside an abortion clinic. And I think maybe for some people my age and older, we still think that that image comes to mind. But over 60% of abortions don’t take place at abortion clinics anymore. It’s through chemical abortion, the two-pill regimen of mifepristone and misoprostol that was approved in 2000 by the Clinton administration. And then, of course, the Obama and then Biden administration walked back some of those requirements, some of those safeguards, so to speak. So those are massive problems. One other intellectual critique that I talk about in the book, Jody, is, you know, again, when I was growing up, a lot of people said, well, you know, on the pro-abortion side, well, it’s just a clump of cells. It’s just a clump of cells. Increasingly, no one makes that argument anymore. Why is that? Well, because my generation grew up with ultrasounds. We grew up with the ultrasound image on the refrigerator, and we knew that’s my little brother, my little sister, my cousin. And so, again, I unpack this in the book, but I think what I’m telling Christians who are engaging this issue, you need to be aware of kind of the intellectual pro-abortion argument that’s being used, which is personhood theory. personhood theory basically posits this idea that there’s a distinction between being biologically human and being a person that has moral standing and therefore has legal rights. Again, get into this a lot in the book. But again, as Christians, we can’t buy that personhood theory, that personhood is something that we achieve at some point in the developmental process. As Christians, we believe all people are are made in God’s image. And that happens at the moment of conception, that you have value and dignity and worth. And so, again, this idea that there’s a distinction between being biologically human and being a person with moral worth and dignity, that’s kind of, I know I’m going through it quickly, that’s kind of the intellectual argument that undergirds much of the pro-abortion argument. We need to be aware of that. And as Christians realize, there’s no room in a biblical worldview for that idea.
SPEAKER 10 :
Wow, great, great information there. I’m glad you brought up the ultrasound because that’s obviously what I grew up with as well. How, you know, these things are so precise anymore. How in the world, David, can people having seen an ultrasound, having utilized that technology, how can they then advocate for for the killing of an unborn baby. And keep a straight face about it. I mean, this is a baby. Yeah.
SPEAKER 05 :
I think Scripture gives us categories for this. Scripture uses the language of being hardened. And unfortunately, if you… Jody, you’ve been a pastor and a congressman. You’ve been involved in this battle for a long time. There is spiritual warfare that’s involved in this. And frankly, when you deny what your eyes tell you, you deny what good science and philosophy and theology teach you, Over time, you can become hardened. You can become calloused. Your conscience, that moral sense that we all have that’s embedded in us, the voice of your conscience, as you suppress the truth in unrighteousness, as Paul talks about in Romans 1, that voice can become fainter and fainter and fainter until you don’t even hear it anymore. And so again, as Christians, we want a rightly calibrated conscience. And we want to see that for our friends on the other side of this issue as well. Because if you have a rightly calibrated conscience, you’ll see through the means of common grace and science that the unborn is made in God’s image and has value and dignity. And it just, you know, it doesn’t matter what point on the developmental stage you’re in, you’re human and therefore you have value and dignity.
SPEAKER 10 :
Well said. I think we’ve gone far beyond the science. This is just a political battle, really. And that’s unfortunate that science has been pushed aside because you can’t continue denying that what’s in the womb is a baby. But let me go back to this, David. I know you’ve had probably tons of opportunities to talk about your book with multiple media outlets, but I think our audience might be particularly interested in church history. And last year, MSNBC host Joe Scarborough literally made the statement that the church has been pro-choice from the time of the apostles all the way till the Beatles broke up. And, you know, most of us hear that kind of statement. We say, that’s just, that is totally false in every way. But you prove in your book that the church has indeed been pro-life from the beginning. So what did you uncover in your research?
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah, and I have the book right here, Jody, and it’s chapter three of the book. And what’s, again, this is hundreds of hours I spent at the Library of Congress here in D.C. doing the research. And what I found is that from the first century, the church has been pro-life. And why is that? Well, the church was pro-life from the beginning because the Bible is so manifestly and consistently pro-life itself. But from the first century, and just let me read just a couple of very brief quotes, Jody, to make the point. First century in the moral instruction manual that Christians were using was called the Didache. And it says this in the Didache that you shall not murder a child by abortion nor kill that which is begotten. First century, that’s pretty clear. Second century, Clement of Alexandria, he said this, “…that Christians should not, in an effort to hide sexual sin, take away human nature, which is generated from the providence of God, by hastening abortion and applying abortifacient drugs to destroy utterly the embryo and with it the love of man.” Tertullian, writing in the second to third century, he says, to hinder a birth is merely a speedier man killing. Again, just very clear moral language. Augustine, he writing in the fourth century, calls it cruel lust that would resort, and here’s the quote, to such extravagant methods as to use poisonous drugs to secure barrenness, or else, if unsuccessful in this, to destroy the conceived seed by some means previous to birth. And final quote I’ll give you, fast forwarding to the Reformation, John Calvin wrote this, he says, “…for the fetus, though enclosed in the womb of its mother, is already a human being and is a monstrous crime to rob it of the life to which it has not yet begun to enjoy. So I can’t think of more clear moral language, Jody, and that’s true for 2,000 years of church history.
SPEAKER 10 :
Wow, that is some powerful tools for our viewers and listeners to be able to utilize. Again, I want to encourage everyone to get the book, and just a moment, I’ll give you an opportunity to tell everybody where they can get it. One of the things that surprised me from your first chapter was that 44% of pastors, only 44%, They preached about abortion in the 12 months after Roe was overturned. Why is this? Why are we not having churches and church leaders, spiritual leaders discuss this?
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah, Jody, I think in one sense it boils down to fear of man. There are a lot of pastors who don’t want to offend people in their congregation because they know abortion is a controversial topic. In fact, I would say kind of especially younger preachers, guys I went to seminary with, you know, we were brought up and we heard the criticism of the moral majority of Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson, you know, frankly, Jody, the older I get, the more I realize how those guys were really right on the issues and their diagnosis of the culture was right on. But I think there was kind of this idea of, well, you know, we don’t want to serve the donkey or the elephant. We want to serve the lamb. And so, you know, if there’s political issues, we just don’t want to touch those. And I get the impulse behind that. But I would just say, you know, where the scripture is clear, we need to be clear, brother pastor. And when it comes to the life issue, we have text. We don’t have to guess what God’s opinion. And so I would just encourage pastors, don’t give in to fear of man. And by the way, 71% of regular churchgoers tell us, and the survey we did with George Barna, that they want their pastor to teach and preach about abortion and the value of life. So I would just be encouraged to do that.
SPEAKER 10 :
All right, last two questions real quickly. I’ll give them to you as one. Who is the primary audience of your book? Are we talking pastors, Sunday school teachers, parents? Who is the audience, and how can people get a copy?
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah, Jody, I would say all of the above. I think this is a book that is written for people who care about the issue, and it comes at it, like you said earlier, from a theological, biblical, historical, and political perspective. And so those who have preaching and teaching opportunities, those who have discipleship opportunities— So I think pastors, preachers, Sunday school teachers, I’d say Christian parents, if you do homeschooling, Christian co-op, really anyone who wants to provide discipleship and catechesis on this issue I think would benefit from the book. And you can find the book wherever books are sold. So you can go to Amazon, Barnes & Noble. It’s published through Lifeway. And through the end of this month, Jody, you can still go to Lifeway.com, enter the keyword Washington Watch, all one word, and viewers and listeners of this program get 40% off. So again, go to Lifeway.com and use that code Washington Watch and get 40% off. Life after Roe.
SPEAKER 10 :
Equipping Christians in the Fight for Life Today. Excellent book. Thank you for writing it, for all the research. David Claussen, Director of the Center for Biblical Worldview here at FRC. Thank you so much for this outstanding work. As always, thanks for joining us on this Friday. All right, friends, have a great weekend. We’ll be back next week here on Washington Watch.
SPEAKER 04 :
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.
