In this insightful episode of Washington Watch, Tony Perkins dives deep into the ongoing government shutdown and explores the challenges Congress faces in reaching agreements on funding the Department of Homeland Security. Special guests provide updates on legislative strategies surrounding the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) and discuss the complexities of privacy and national security. Tune in to learn more about the implications on American lives and freedoms.
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From the heart of our nation’s capital in Washington, D.C., bringing compelling interviews, insightful analysis, taking you beyond the headlines and soundbites into conversations with our nation’s leaders and newsmakers, all from a biblical worldview, Washington Watch with Tony Perkins starts now.
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On reconciliation, what does this majority choose to spend our time on instead? Any hour now, Republicans are expected to release a budget resolution that adds tens of billions of dollars to the national debt, pumps colossal sums into ICE and Border Patrol without any reforms at all, while doing absolutely nothing to lower costs for hardworking Americans.
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That was Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer earlier today reading a statement on the Senate floor addressing the Democratic-led Department of Homeland Security shutdown. Welcome to this Monday, April 20th edition of Washington Watch. I’m your host, Tony Perkins. Thanks so much for joining us. Well, coming up, we’re now on day 66 of the partial government shutdown, with Congress still working to find a way to fund homeland security. We’re now also working to find a way to extend Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, also known as FISA. Congressman Ron Estes joins us with the latest on where things stand and whether a deal is within reach. And Congressman John Mullen, Eric, chairman of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, joins us to discuss Beijing’s involvement in the war in Iran. All of that and more straight ahead. Well, some good news here in Washington D.C. for a change. A nationwide Bible reading initiative began yesterday morning here in Washington to mark 250 years of the Bible in America. It’s called America Reads the Bible. The Family Research Council helped launch that effort at the Museum of the Bible as we had the first wave of readers yesterday morning. President Trump is expected to participate tomorrow. Joining us now to discuss the initiative and more is Washington Stand reporter Casey Harper. Casey, good to see you. Good to see you, Tony. Yeah, nice haircut. Let’s talk about this event and what we can expect to hear from the president.
SPEAKER 20 :
Yeah, this is an amazing event, Tony. Every day this week, passages of Scripture are going to be read aloud as close to about 500 Americans, many of them national leaders, are going to read the Bible publicly. There’s also some speeches, and we have some remarks here from House Speaker Mike Johnson.
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To me, from the time I was 12 years old, I knew that God’s word is flawless and true, that these are real promises and that we can rely upon it. Our nation has since the time of its founding, and we do well to preserve that foundation. I’m so grateful that you are all here to be a part of this great celebration. God is not done with America yet.
SPEAKER 20 :
Well, I agree with that. And it’s refreshing to hear national leaders talk about the Word of God being flawless and the foundation of our country. Of course, that’s true. And you mentioned President Trump. He is also reading tomorrow. He’s going to read from Second Chronicles at 6 p.m. Eastern tomorrow from the Oval Office via a video message. And everything is being live streamed. He’s not the only one, though. Dr. Ben Carson, who’s a former U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, he’s going to speak after the president reads, along with his wife, Candy Carson. But this is really just an initiative that’s an opportunity for America to renew their faith and renew our commitment to the Word of God being the foundation, not just for our private lives, but also for our nation.
SPEAKER 12 :
Yeah, the clip you showed was from Saturday night where it kind of kicked off with a ceremony. We were there. And then yesterday morning, the speaker was actually a part of the FRC wave as we started in the book of Genesis. We’ll talk more about that a little bit later. Jody Heiss was also a part of the FRC wave, so we’ll have him joining us later. Let’s move on, Casey. The House and Senate are back in session and funding for the Department of Homeland Security, top priority, along with now the extension of Section 702 of FISA.
SPEAKER 20 :
What can you tell us? Yeah, it was a chock full. full schedule this week for both chambers of Congress. So this week, the Senate is expected to get a vote in on the funding for the Department of Homeland Security. The shutdown’s been going on for months, approaching day 70. Meanwhile, Senate Budget Chairman Lindsey Graham is introducing a resolution to get some funding for ICE and Border Patrol, something Democrats have fought tooth and nail to prevent. His measure would give about $70 billion for both ICE and Border Patrol, which would fund those agencies through the rest of President Trump’s term. Now, you also mentioned FISA, which was thought to was going to be already done by now, but they’re taking another 10 days to work that out, to negotiate with some lawmakers who have privacy concerns and want to push for reforms. President Trump signed a 10-day FISA extension over the weekend, which is going to allow the program to continue as they can work this out. And all this, Tony, does mean, and this hasn’t been reported as much, that the Save America Act is probably gonna get kicked further down the road.
SPEAKER 12 :
Yeah, and we’re gonna talk a little bit later with Jody Heiss about FISA. There’s some difficult issues they’ve gotta work through before they can get something approved there. President Trump has warned Iran that the U.S. will use overwhelming military force if a deal isn’t reached by Wednesday. Now, we’ve heard this before.
SPEAKER 20 :
What makes this different? Well, we’ve seen a lot of conflicting things come from the president. I think what makes this different is that we’re running out of options besides overwhelming force. The president has pulled a lot of tricks out of his bag. The naval blockade seemed to be successful, seemed to be pressuring Iran even more. But now these talks are seemingly falling apart. Vice President J.D. Vance, there was thoughts he was already going to have left. Now we’re hearing he might leave tonight. But it’s unclear if Iran is even going to show up in Islamabad and Pakistan for these talks. And so President Trump himself has even expressed feelings that, publicly, that he doesn’t think they’re going to amount to much, but he wants to give it a try. And he has really ended with another threat, which is he’s going to bomb every bridge and every power plant in the country which would be long-term devastation that’s different from a blockade, which a blockade is economically devastating, but it could end at any moment as negotiations work out. Whereas if you destroy the power plants, that’s long-term damage that’s going to be really hard for them to rebuild, Tony.
SPEAKER 12 :
All right. Well, we’re going to be watching very closely this week to see how this unfolds, and we’ll talk more about it later. Casey, thanks so much for the update. All right. I want to go back to the House and Senate in for two weeks. They’ve got, as we talked about, some major legislative feats to accomplish before they go on a weeklong break, the 1st of May. Joining us now to discuss this, Congressman Ron Estes, who is a member of the House Budget Committee and the House Ways and Means Committee. He represents the 4th Congressional District of Kansas. Congressman Estes, welcome back to Washington Watch. Always good to see you. Well, great. Thank you for having me on. So two big challenges face Congress, ending the partial government shutdown so you can fund Homeland Security and dealing with the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, Section 702, better known as FISA. So where do you want to start?
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah, let’s start with Department of Homeland Security. I mean, we were now two months where we’ve had a shutdown of our Department of Homeland Security because the Democrats actually refused to fund that department. Their only proposal was to fund part of it. and to leave out the funding for Customs and Border Patrol and the funding for ICE or the Immigration Control and Enforcement. Basically, that’s their attempt to reopen the borders after President Trump has shut them down. And we wanted to make sure that we fund both the department and the entire department. President Trump’s really put a lot of effort into. He is— He has used an executive order to help make sure that the employees in the Department of Homeland Security are getting paid, which is a sad state that they’ve been mistreated twice now this fiscal year. And we want to make sure that we have them up and running. House Republicans have voted four times to fully fund the department, an agreement that the Democrats had agreed with. Senate Republicans have also voted to fund that, something that appropriations that agreed on both chambers prior to prior to this shutdown. And so we want to make sure that we move forward and make sure that we address that.
SPEAKER 12 :
Earlier this afternoon, I spoke with the Senate budget chair, Lindsey Graham, and he’s supposedly about ready to release text of a budget resolution that would fund DHS, immigration enforcement, through reconciliation. How do you see that playing out in the House?
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah, the the strategy, I guess right now where it is, is if the Democrats aren’t going to vote for funding DHS and particularly in the Senate where they need 60 votes to pass appropriations bills, the plan is to pass the appropriations bill for all of DHS except for the Customs and Border Patrol and for ICE. and then use reconciliation, what they’re calling a skinny reconciliation, to actually have Republicans vote to fund for Customs and Border Patrol and for ICE and actually protect our country’s borders. So that’s the process it’s working on now. Senator Graham’s working on it on the Senate Budget Committee. We’re having conversations here in the House Budget Committee as well on how do we move that forward. Obviously, when you have a bill that you want to pass, a lot of people look at adding other provisions to it as well. The discussion right now is whether we We should just move forward with a so-called skinny reconciliation bill to make sure that we keep these departments funded because time’s running out in what the president can fund with his executive order. So we want to make sure that we treat the employees right who are doing a job helping protect our country.
SPEAKER 12 :
Yeah, but most would admit there’s not too many skinny things here in Washington, D.C. Everything gets kind of bloated up here. So it’ll be interesting to see if it can keep it small. Now, one of the casualties, so to speak, in this is the Save America Act, which was going to protect elections. That appears now to be kind of getting a backseat in the Senate. What do you expect on that?
SPEAKER 05 :
It really is bad when provisions like this, things that we have to do, like funding the government, gets blown up in the process. And actually what it does is it slows down doing other things. You know, if you look at the Save America Act, which basically says people bring their ID to vote. That’s all it is, is what it’s asking for people to do. But it’s been all of the Democrats in the House voted against it. And the Democrats in the Senate are refusing to move forward with that bill. So it’s a struggle. We passed it out of the House with Republican votes. We want to make sure that the Senate votes on it as well so that President Trump can sign it into law.
SPEAKER 12 :
It’s a common sense bill, as you said. Basically, the main provision is you have to have an ID when you go vote so that we know that the person who is voting is actually the person who is registered to vote. I mean, it’s pretty basic. I want to talk about something else Congressman S. did last week before Congress left town. There was the work to try to reauthorize Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, also known as FISA. A lot of controversy and misconception around parts of this. Didn’t pass. You guys worked late into the night. It didn’t happen. There’s a two-week or a 10-day extension. What happens next?
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah, Pfizer is really important, you know, in terms of those provisions. And there’s several different sections in there. Section 702 is the one that we’re really addressing right now. And basically what 702 does is it allows the U.S. government, our intelligence community, to actually monitor contact, whether it’s phone calls, whether it’s e-mails or text messages that are coming from foreign sources. known or suspected terrorists that are outside the United States into the United States and making sure that they can gather that information when those activities happen. And it’s important to make sure that we gather that information. We have seen over the years that there’s been abuse. In fact, before 2024, there was a lot of abuse in that provision. Folks from the FBI were going through looking at the looking up people’s names and addresses that they knew or, you know, former girlfriends, boyfriends, other issues. And we put a stop to a lot of that in 2024. There’s some folks that think we ought to do some more in this provision. And so that’s really where the debate is, is how do we make sure that we guarantee for people in America that we can secure their privacy, but also protect us from foreign terrorists and the activities they might do? want to cause in terms of problems here.
SPEAKER 12 :
It’s an important debate and it’s a difficult balance, but we’ve got to do it. We’ve got to protect those constitutional freedoms, but at the same time, keep the country safe. It’s one of those tough ones. Congressman Estes, always great to see you. Thanks for joining us. Great. Thank you. All right, folks, stick with us. We’ll be back.
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250 years ago, our founding fathers signed a death warrant, pledging their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor to the idea that our rights do not come from men.
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but from God.
SPEAKER 07 :
Protected by Providence, they brought forth a new nation, one nation under God, whose word rings beneath every law and liberty. Family Research Council believes in preserving this rich history, the grounds of our freedom, our undeniable foundation of faith.
SPEAKER 10 :
I think all people really need to have this type of education.
SPEAKER 19 :
Well, I can tell you that it’s been an amazing course, period.
SPEAKER 08 :
I think this course is a reminder that a biblical worldview should really impact everything. It impacts our government from the federal to the state to the local. It should impact what we’re doing with our families and with our work.
SPEAKER 09 :
God and Government is a video-driven, Bible-based training course from Family Research Council that explores the connection between between biblical principles and American government. In this six-session video series, FRC President Tony Perkins equips participants with a practical understanding of civil government from a biblical worldview.
SPEAKER 19 :
I would encourage all people to take it. I almost wish I would have took it earlier that I could have taught my kids this.
SPEAKER 13 :
I wish I had known these things when we were homeschooling because I think children and my adults now would just greatly be influenced by that information.
SPEAKER 02 :
So I’m an attorney, and for me, it gives me some direct practical knowledge of what I can do to try to impact my legal community to make better legislation, to try to encourage legislators to make choices that have a biblical worldview, which is what we really want.
SPEAKER 01 :
Any pastor would benefit from taking this course. Because we are dual citizens, right? We are citizens of the kingdom of God, but we’re also citizens of this great land, and that comes with responsibility.
SPEAKER 08 :
Even as someone who has been involved in these types of issues for a while, you’re learning little bits and pieces of new stuff all the time. But it’s also approachable enough that newer people, younger people, high school, college students, they can really glean something from this. So… I would encourage everybody to take this course, whether it’s the videos, whether it’s doing it in person, bring your Bible study group through it, bring your homeschool group through it and equip yourself for these challenging days ahead.
SPEAKER 09 :
View the course at frc.org slash God and government or on the Stand Firm app.
SPEAKER 12 :
Welcome back to Washington Watch, the website, tonyperkins.com. Better yet, get the Stand Firm app. You’ll have access to news and commentary from the Washington Stand. You’ll also have access to Washington Watch, no matter where you go, and my daily devotional, Stand on the Word. All of that can be found on the Stand Firm app. Go to the App Store and get the Stand Firm app. Well, as the war in Iran continues to unfold, there is another actor on the global stage that is just out of the spotlight but is more involved than most realize. And frankly, it’s not surprising. It’s China. With us now to discuss this and more is Congressman John Moulinard. He is the chairman of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party. He represents the 2nd Congressional District of Michigan. Chairman, welcome back to Washington Watch. Good to see you. Thank you, Tony. Good to be with you today. So we hear about Pakistan helping to bring the U.S. and Iran to the negotiating table. I’m still questioning that a little bit. But we’re also hearing that China is playing a role, too, but maybe in a different way. What do you make of that?
SPEAKER 11 :
Well, China is clearly the largest purchaser of Iranian oil. They buy about 90 percent of Iran’s oil. They have partnered with Iran, North Korea, Russia and are enablers for these authoritarian regimes to do what they do. And so for them to say that they’re simply sort of a neutral bystander, peace loving country, we wouldn’t have a lot of these conflicts if it wasn’t for China propping up these regimes.
SPEAKER 12 :
Are they also providing technology and military material to Iran?
SPEAKER 11 :
They sure do. They provide parts for weapons. They would say they’re dual use. They could be used for commercial or for military applications, even missile material they’ve provided. And so when we see their efforts, they have something called military-civil fusion, where there’s really no private sector providing just commercial things. Everything in the And the private sector, quote, private sector is used for dual use applications for military. And so they would say they’re only supplying non-defense materials. But we know that’s not the case.
SPEAKER 12 :
How do you think China is viewing this conflict between the U.S. and Iran? And is this in any form or fashion maybe shaping their anticipated moves toward Taiwan?
SPEAKER 11 :
Well, clearly that’s a possibility because they’ve said Xi Jinping has told his military to be ready to quote reunify with Taiwan by force if necessary. And so that’s not a command to take Taiwan, but it certainly is their military preparation. We see them doing all sorts of intimidation tactics throughout the region. But I have to say they have to be very impressed with President Trump’s leadership and the military capabilities that we’ve seen both with Venezuela as well as with Iran. And that may very well give them cause to reflect on whether they want to initiate some military confrontation.
SPEAKER 12 :
Yeah, I would think you’re absolutely right. I mean, I think they’ve seen that the president is willing to act. He will go so far in his negotiations, but he will take actions if necessary. That has to be a different approach than China has faced with many American leaders. I want to shift to kind of another aspect of this. China has actually kind of gained a windfall, if you will, from the conflict there and the shutdown of the Strait of Hormuz because they own over 70 percent of the global solar, wind, battery and electric vehicle supply chains. Is this going to be beneficial to them if this constriction of oil and gas continues?
SPEAKER 11 :
Well, they have diversified their energy sources considerably. And as you point out, they are dominant in some of these different areas. They’ve also stored up a lot of oil. So that insulates them to a certain degree. But when you are that reliant on oil from Iran and that’s not able to get through and by the way, they would buy this. In ways that would violate the law sanctions laws, they would get it at a discount. Now they are in a situation where they can’t buy that oil at a discount, and if it doesn’t get through, they will quickly. exhaust their reserves. And so, to me, I don’t see them coming out as a winner on this, but they certainly would like to see the Strait open back up and have unfettered access to the oil, the illicit oil that they have through. And they have a shadow fleet of ships that use that are used to transport this oil. All of this has been disrupted by President Trump’s leadership on this.
SPEAKER 12 :
We have a couple minutes left, Congressman Moulinere. I want to ask you, last week you sent a letter to the U.S. Heartland China Association requesting assurances that that organization is not acting as an unregistered agent of China or in any way facilitating covert foreign influence in the United States. Share with us your concerns about this and what might be happening.
SPEAKER 11 :
Well, what happens is China, through their Ministry of State Security, funds something called the United Front Operations. And these are foreign-based entities where they’re nonprofits, they’re cultural exchange organizations. And so, on one hand, you’d say, well, isn’t that nice? They’re using these to reach out and share Mandarin and customs and things like that. But what they also are, are things that are influence operations that try and influence and intimidate people, especially Chinese nationals. They surveil Chinese nationals, intimidate them. We saw these secret police stations that were monitoring what Chinese nationals in the United States were doing online. And so it’s very deceptive what these organizations do when they lobby and they get involved in politics, which really violates the spirit of our election laws to have a foreign power trying to manipulate our elections to get people elected or to influence people in a way that benefits the Chinese Communist Party. So we’re basically saying they shouldn’t have tax exempt status and there should be transparency on where these funds are coming from.
SPEAKER 12 :
You know, it requires a watchful eye in a free country like ours where people have freedom of movement, the freedoms that we have. We’ve got to be very vigilant that there are not foreign actors taking advantage of those freedoms. And I think China has been one of the greatest abusers, have they not?
SPEAKER 11 :
They exploit our freedoms incredibly. They use our legal system to undermine us. And so it’s something that over the past 30 years, we’ve seen this in multiple phases. And I think more and more now people are becoming aware of this. And we have to also recognize that you know much of this is aimed at the united states but it’s also transnational repression that says the people who are from hong kong or chinese nationals we’re going to have to we’re going to leave it there out of time see you next time folks stick with us proverbs 22 6 says train up a child in the way he should go even when he is old he will not depart from it
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that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life. John 3, 16. For I know that my Redeemer lives. Job 19, 25. God raised Jesus from the dead because it was impossible for death to teach. Hold on Him. Acts 2, 24.
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Join Family Research Council in standing on the Word. Visit frc.org slash Bible for free resources to help your family follow the way. Jesus, the risen Savior of the world.
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When in the course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature’s God entitle them.
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A decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal That they’re endowed by their Creator. With certain unalienable rights. That among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men.
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Deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. Happy 250th. Happy 250th. Happy 250th. Happy 250th birthday, America. May God bless America. This is Washington Watch, and I’m Tony Perkins, your host, and we are glad that you are here and joining us on this Monday. All right, the foster care system in the United States is facing a significant shortage of available families. For every 100 children going into foster care, there are only about 57 licensed foster homes. Now, the shortage has forced children to stay in government buildings, but there’s an effort underway. at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to move children out of those buildings into stable family homes. The initiative is called A Home for Every Child. Joining me now to discuss this initiative is Dr. Alex Adams. He is the Assistant Secretary for the Family Support at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Dr. Adams, welcome back to Washington Watch. Thanks for joining us today.
SPEAKER 14 :
Glad to be here. Thanks for having me again, Tony.
SPEAKER 12 :
So walk us through the efforts that are currently underway. It was rolled out last week. I think you’ve got 14 states plus the District of Columbia that’s a part of this initiative. Share, number one, the problem and what you’re doing to solve it.
SPEAKER 14 :
Yeah. Well, first, my hat’s off to both President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump for issuing an executive order last November called Fostering the Future. This is a President and First Lady that are deeply committed to improving the foster care system. It’s something that they focused on in the first term and in the intervening time period. And it’s a whole-of-government approach to improve foster care. HHS is proud to play one part of it. Our part, as you said, is called a home for every child. As you shared in the opening, we have too few foster homes nationwide. If we have 100 foster kids come into the system, we only have 57 homes to care for them. And it’s not just a bad math problem. It has a real-world impact. When we don’t have enough homes for those kids, kids end up sleeping in government office spaces. They end up sleeping in hotels, in Airbnbs. locations that just aren’t conducive to the safe, loving, nurturing relationship that all children deserved and hopefully many of us were fortunate to enjoy. So what we’re trying to do is we’re trying to refocus the conversation, say, let’s increase the ratio of foster homes relative to the number of foster kids. There’s two ways to do that. First way to do that is to shrink the number of kids coming into the foster care system to begin with. That’s our starting point. President Trump said the best foster care system is one that’s not needed. Let’s wrap around families, let’s support families, let’s provide them supports so that foster care is not needed. But when foster care entry is not preventable, let’s focus on increasing the ratio of homes by recruiting new homes and retaining the ones that we have. Best way to do that is through faith-based partnerships, Tony.
SPEAKER 12 :
So let me go back and unpack this for just a moment, Dr. Adams. Let’s start with how many children are overall in the foster care system? How many are we talking about?
SPEAKER 14 :
So point in time between 300 and 400,000. It is on a nationwide decline, but at any given point in time between 300 and 400,000.
SPEAKER 12 :
So what are the major, and I applaud the effort to try to address the source of the problem and not the symptoms, and that is going to the family, strengthen those families so those children do not have to come into foster care. But what are the major contributing factors to children entering into the foster care system?
SPEAKER 14 :
Yeah, so top two reasons for why children enter foster care, parental substance use disorder and parental mental health issues. So we’re trying to build out systems. Just in February, under the leadership of Secretary Kennedy, we announced we’re going to start covering medications for opioid use disorder as a preventive measure to prevent kids coming into foster care in the first place.
SPEAKER 12 :
Well, and that’s another venue to engage the faith community as well in that area. So you’re absolutely right. I saw this back in my time in public office that the faith community is a great place to go. In fact, there was… 20, 25 years ago, there was another initiative on adoption focused on getting the faith community involved. But there have been barriers that have put in place like the previous administration that actually discouraged people of faith by the policies that they put in place. That’s got to be fixed. And this administration has removed those. But you’re reaching out across the country to the states, encouraging the states to develop these best practices. Do you think we can get to a point where we put that political stuff aside and we’re able to focus on the children?
SPEAKER 14 :
Well, I’m certainly proud of what we’ve been able to accomplish so far. Just 100 days after announcing the Home for Every Child campaign, we already have 15 jurisdictions who have joined, 14 states and the District of Columbia. And what that means is those states have committed to increasing their ratio of homes to kids, adopting policies that will increase their And we’ve seen bipartisan support. So we’ve had states as diverse as Alabama and Delaware, Maryland and Oklahoma. So, you know, I think what really excites me is how this has become a bipartisan issue, how President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump have brought together this diverse coalition committed to increasing the ratio. As you said, Tony, the message that we send to families of faith is one of the most important things we can do. Statistically, they’re much more likely to raise their hand and volunteer and run towards the foster care system. And when the previous administration in some states put in place policies that required families to violate their sincerely held religious beliefs and moral convictions, it was serving as a deterrent effect. One stat you should know is if every house of worship in the United States had just one family come forward and foster. Our ratio of homes to kids would be four to one, and we would have homes waiting on kids, not kids waiting on homes. So what excites us about this initiative, 15 states have joined. I know others are going to join in the near future, including in the next two weeks. And I think we’re going to separate the wheat from the shaft pretty quickly and see which policies are working and which ones might be DETERRING FAMILIES FROM STEPPING FORWARD.
SPEAKER 12 :
DR. ADAMS, I APPLAUD THE EFFORTS THAT ARE TAKING PLACE. WE JUST HAVE 30 SECONDS LEFT. HOW CAN PEOPLE FIND OUT MORE IF THEY’D LIKE TO BE A PART OF THIS?
SPEAKER 14 :
YEAH, SO ON OUR WEBSITE, THE ADMINISTRATION FOR CHILDREN AND FAMILIES HAS INFORMATION ON HOME FOR EVERY CHILD. BUT BECOMING LICENSED AS A FOSTER FAMILY IS A STATE-BY-STATE ISSUE. SO IF A FAMILY WANTS TO STEP FORWARD, LOOK AT YOUR STATE CHILD WELFARE ISSUE AND ALWAYS HAVE APPLICATION FORMS ONLINE. AND GOD BLESS YOU FOR EVEN CONSIDERING.
SPEAKER 12 :
It’s a great initiative. And Dr. Adams, thanks for stopping by and sharing it with us today. Thanks for having me. Absolutely. Folks, pray about that. Might be something you could do in your home. Don’t go away. We’re back after this. Exodus chapter 9, verse 1 says, Thus says the Lord God of the Hebrews, Let my people go, that they may serve me. You see, America has freedom for a purpose, right? The question is, are we living by that purpose today? In Scripture, deliverance and freedom is never an end in itself. It is a liberation unto obedience, to worship, and to a covenantal relationship. God’s demand to Pharaoh was not freedom for freedom’s sake. but freedom so his people could identify with and belong to and serve him. Freedom that is not used to serve God will not endure. One of the founders actually echoed a similar warning. Thomas Jefferson wrote, indeed, I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just and his justice cannot sleep forever. See, the founders understood we as a nation would be accountable to God for what He had granted to us. They sought freedom for a purpose, and that freedom was given to us as a nation for that same purpose, to serve God, to honor Him, and to live as a people under His authority. In this 250th anniversary year, we must ask the question, are we living by that purpose today as a nation. Lord, we thank you for the godly foundation and heritage of our states. Lord, we would return to an understanding of the freedom that you’ve granted to us, that freedom has a name. His name is Jesus. And freedom has a purpose. It is to honor and glorify you. And I pray that our nation would return to that understanding of the purpose of the freedom that you have granted to us. We thank you, Father. By faith, we pray that we would return to that purpose. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.
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SPEAKER 12 :
All right, this is Washington Watch. I’m Tony Perkins, your host. Glad to have you with us on this Monday. Hey, by the way, it was great to meet a number of our listeners in West Texas last week in Midland, Texas. And again, I want to thank First Baptist Church, Dr. Wood, for hosting us there in Midland. We had, you know, we’ve got a few more of these events coming up. In fact, we’re going to be, I’m not going to tell you when because we’re still working on all the details, but we’re going to be in Gainesville, Georgia. We’re also going to be in Kansas City, Missouri in the next few months. As I said, more details will be coming. In the meantime, if you’re interested in starting one of our Pray, Vote, Stand chapters, we’re doing a county, we’re doing a chapter in every county in America anchored in a church, and that was a part of our trip to Midland, Texas. If you’re interested in that, text the word CHAPTERS to 67742, CHAPTERS to 67742, and we’ll follow up with you. Our word for today comes from Joshua chapter 11. But the Lord said to Joshua, Do not be afraid because of them, for tomorrow about this time I will deliver all of them slain before Israel. You shall hamstring their horses and burn their chariots with fire. So why does God tell them to hamstring or disable these valuable horses? Well, if we go back to Deuteronomy 17, we can see why. Deuteronomy 17, 16, “…but he,” that is the king, “…shall not multiply horses for himself, nor calls the people to return to Egypt to multiply horses. For the Lord has said to you, you shall not return that way again.” God did not want Israel to depend upon their military might, but rather the power of God. Psalm 20, verse 7 says, Joshua is a trained military leader, and we need to be trained and equipped, but our confidence must never be in our ability or resources. It must be in the power of God, as the battles we face will almost always be more than we can handle. To find out more about our journey through the Bible, text Bible to 67742. That’s Bible to 67742. Well, yesterday, President Trump said U.S. negotiators would be in Pakistan today for another round of talks with Iran. But that looked increasingly unlikely as time passed. So where does all of this stand right now, the back and forth? Joining us now to discuss this, Greg Roman, executive director of Middle East Forum, previously served as political advisor to Israel’s deputy foreign minister and has worked for the Israeli Ministry of Defense. He joins us from Israel today. Greg, welcome back to Washington Watch. Thanks for staying up late and joining us.
SPEAKER 18 :
Tony, thanks for having me.
SPEAKER 12 :
So Vice President Vance, who has been leading the team of U.S. negotiators, was supposed to be en route to Pakistan, maybe going tomorrow. We don’t know. Give us the latest of what you’re hearing.
SPEAKER 18 :
My understanding right now is that Iran is considering skipping the talk. truth. It’s skipping them because it has nothing left to trade. The empty chair in Islamabad is not a negotiating tactic. It’s a confession. A regime with leverage shows up, extracts concessions. A regime without leverage stays home and issues press releases. That’s what Gharibaf, the speaker of the Iranian parliament and the head negotiator, is doing now. Tehran isn’t boycotting diplomacy. Diplomacy is boycotting Tehran, especially because right now, most of the cards are in President Trump’s vest. If anything happens, it’ll be because the U.S. reimposes the tight military blockade that it has had in place on the Strait of Hormuz since last week. And even more so, the Iranian economy, which is siphoning off $500 million a day, won’t be able to tolerate it much longer, and they’ll eventually have to talk.
SPEAKER 12 :
The ceasefire expires this week. If they don’t show up to negotiations, we can’t talk. We can’t find a diplomatic solution. Does this mean that hostilities take over again?
SPEAKER 18 :
I mean, frankly, if you think about the deadline, it’s only a deadline if you abide by it. And every time that it slides by, it gives the opportunity for Iran to complain, thereby becoming an incentive for them to try and extract more concessions from the United States. The value of Wednesday is that it’s Wednesday. Every clock in this crisis runs against the regime. The only clock running against ourselves as Americans are those that the ones we wind up ourselves. a reward to Iran and gives them an incentive to continue refusing to negotiate. That’s not patience for them. It’s a subsidy for their intransigent behavior. And frankly, President Trump should continue along the path that he chose after the 39th day ended with this war, and he should continue on the path to trying to complete his He might have to choose might on Wednesday.
SPEAKER 12 :
So you would not be for him. He’s made some suggestions that he might extend the ceasefire for two weeks. You do not think that would be in the favor of the U.S.?
SPEAKER 18 :
I think that if he is able to extract concessions from the Iranians, perhaps they’re willing to tell us where Americans that were killed by the regime are buried. Perhaps he is willing to There has to be some cognizant concession from the Iranians in order for him to extend the deadline, not just empty promises like they’ve been making for the past eight days and frankly, the past 47 years.
SPEAKER 12 :
Are we close to seeing, as you said, they don’t have any cards to play. They’re not showing up because they don’t have anything to offer. At home, is this regime in Iran so weakened that if a peace deal is arrived at, that that regime is vulnerable internally? And we may still see, not immediately, but in time, that regime collapse.
SPEAKER 18 :
What the Iranians are trying, and more specifically, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, is trying to sell to their people and to the rest of the world with Ayatollah Khamenei passing away, being taken on the first day of the war, and his son, Mushtab Khamenei, taking over. But it wasn’t a succession. It was a hostile takeover in clerical robes. The IRGC did not pick a supreme leader. It picked a hostage with a title that hasn’t been seen since the announcement of his leadership succession. This is the same exact way that took place in 1979. The revolution overthrew the monarchy and just restored one in 2026. Only this time, the crown belongs to the leadership of the junta of the IRGC and to the men with the guns. Mojtaba gained a throne, but he lost a hand, and he has no idea how to play either. Every Friday prayer now is a referendum on legitimacy. The regime cannot recover. And if it’s done by force or if it’s done by diplomacy, this is the beginning of the end of the Islamic Republic as we’ve known it for the past 47 years.
SPEAKER 12 :
So we’re seeing these statements that are made, but then, for instance, you know, these agreements, but then we see military action on behalf of Iran. Is that because the left hand doesn’t know what the right hand is doing or that there is a conflict between who’s running the country?
SPEAKER 18 :
Frankly, what we’ve seen right now from the Iranians is not this 10-point peace plan that they’ve put forward, but it’s a ransom note. They want the victors of this conflict to certify their regional extortion franchise. They want cash. They want tolls on the international waterway. They want the Lebanese front frozen so Hezbollah can reconstitute. The answer to each one of these from the United States has been no. they have a fit and act out and try to use military force to strengthen their position, it doesn’t allow them to actually move the needle forward to get where they’re trying to go, which is the survival of the regime. You don’t negotiate the terms of your own defeat from the losing side of the table, and the Iranians have not realized this yet. When they do, that’s where you’ll see actual real progress made. And I think a transition of government in Iran that might be peaceful or it might be through civil war. But we’ll only know about that once the conflict on President Trump’s terms is decided.
SPEAKER 12 :
Right. Greg Roman, always great to see you. Thanks for, again, staying up late and joining us on the program. I’m sure we’ll be talking to you in the next several days. Take care. Thank you very much. And, folks, I would encourage you to continue to pray into this situation. In fact, we’ve got prayer points. You can text Iran to 67742. That’s Iran to 67742. Pray for our president. I was with the speaker over the weekend. We were discussing a number of things and just praying for the president to have wisdom to make the right decisions and good counsel around him. All right, to close out today’s program, I want to highlight another very important event taking place this week. I mentioned earlier it’s good news, and that is America Reads the Bible at the Bible Museum here. I provided remarks at the opening celebration Saturday night, and then yesterday morning there were several of us from FRC. And in our wave, we had the speaker joining us. And we read Genesis, I think, chapter 16 through, I think, 25 or 26. Joining me now is one of the FRC readers, our Friday host, Jody Heiss. Jody.
SPEAKER 06 :
Tony, great to see you as always. Well, it’s good to be with you. Yesterday at the Bible Museum, that was a good event. Very, very special event. And I think more than special, it’s a spiritual event. Tony, and I think we all know that our country was founded on biblical principles, and we have strayed far, far away from that. And, you know, the Word of God is alive, is active. It penetrates the heart. And that really is the problem where we are right now as a country.
SPEAKER 12 :
Before you came to Congress, you served as a pastor. Twenty-five years you pastored in Georgia. I mean, I’ve got the benefit of longevity. I’ve been here for 23 years. I’ve seen a lot of changes. And to have the Speaker of the House reading – well, you heard the testimony. We played a clip from his testimony just talking Saturday night. He was there for the opening of the ceremony, joined us and read yesterday.
SPEAKER 06 :
when i first came here we did we haven’t had speakers that would be comfortable and there’s been a couple but none have done it and some of them would not have been able to do it that’s right and to have speaker johnson there who not only is reading the bible but it is who he is he is a genuine believer and an individual who shares a biblical worldview and is trying to bring that within the realm that God has entrusted to him now as Speaker of the House. It’s just remarkable. This is a critical time in our nation’s history. It’s like a crescendo of both evil and righteousness all at the same time that’s coming up. And now, I think more than ever, the importance of believers embracing and living out loud the Word of God is critical.
SPEAKER 12 :
the word the the bible says of the word god says this his word will not return unto him void so just the significance of the word over the entire it’ll be going on through i think thursday or into friday um 9 a.m to 9 p.m every day beginning yesterday just reading through the bible and that word being proclaimed over the nation on this 250th anniversary. I think it’s a prophetic act. I think it’s, you know, we need to pray into that, that we pray God’s word back to him. Lord, you said your word would not return unto you void. Take this and prick the heart of this nation.
SPEAKER 06 :
That’s right. And you know, what’s encouraging to me, Tony, about all this, of course, there’s several places in the Scripture where the Bible, the law was read publicly out loud. But one of the most profound is in 2 Kings 22 and 23 where the word had been lost. Very much like where we are in the country now.
SPEAKER 12 :
That was actually Deuteronomy, the book of the law that was found.
SPEAKER 06 :
That’s right. It was found. Then it was read publicly and revival resulted. And that’s what happens when we return to the Scripture. And it has… potentially nat national implications uh and so i just am praying and believing who knows where this is going to lead us as a country and what kind of impact but as you stated a moment ago we know god’s word never returns void and it as it is being read publicly across this country coming out of this nation’s capital i think it’s a very significant event
SPEAKER 12 :
Well, the Word has power, and every time we read in Scripture, in one of those moments where the Word is found and there’s a gathering of the people to read or to hear the Word of God, they respond to it. There’s a response, and that’s what we need to be praying is that there is a response to the Word of God. Jody, before we run out of time, I want to transition to another issue. As I mentioned, well, I didn’t mention, but our listeners know this, you served in Congress for how many terms did you? Four terms, eight years. Four terms, eight years. That’s what I thought. And before joining the Family Research Council, you were part of the Freedom Caucus, which actually originated in the conference room just around the corner here a number of years ago. There’s an issue going on in Congress right now. We talked about it earlier in the program, and that is the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, better known as FISA, Section 702. 702, right?
SPEAKER 1 :
702.
SPEAKER 12 :
That is what has a lot of conservatives concerned.
SPEAKER 06 :
And, well, it should. It is in direct competition and conflict with the Fourth Amendment, which guarantees that we as American citizens, be it people, places, houses, our effects, everything is secure from government intrusion apart from probable cause and a warrant. And what we’re all for. eliminating foreign threats and national security. That is a must. But at the same time, a must is protecting the Constitution and the rights of the American citizens from search and seizure.
SPEAKER 12 :
So the concern is not the foreign actors?
SPEAKER 06 :
What you have is a general procedure to gather information on hopefully foreign threats. But in that general procedure, there have been swallowed up American citizens whose information has been captured as well. And so what needs to happen, let’s continue getting the foreign threats, but protecting American citizens and make sure without probable cause and warrants,
SPEAKER 12 :
So if you have their information before you can do anything with it, what’s being asked for as a warrant is obtained.
SPEAKER 06 :
That’s right. And that is not happening under FISA Section 702. And this is a relatively easy fix. It’s a complicated situation, but it is not exceedingly difficult to abide by the Constitution when it comes to American citizens in this whole thing.
SPEAKER 12 :
Well, we can’t trample upon the Constitution and expect to have our freedoms remain. That’s right. It’s there for a reason. It is the agreement by which Americans, well, let’s see, that we agree to be governed by. And that’s why there’s so much pushback on this issue. All right, Jody Heiss, always great to see you. Thank you for having me. Always great to be here. All right, folks, great to have you with us as well. Until next time, keep praying and keep standing.
SPEAKER 21 :
Washington Watch with Tony Perkins is brought to you by Family Research Council. To support our efforts to advance faith, family, and freedom, please text GIVE to 67742. That’s GIVE to 67742. Portions of the show discussing candidates are brought to you by Family Research Council Action. For more information, please visit TonyPerkins.com.
