On today’s program: Pete Sessions, U.S. Representative for the 17th District of Texas, provides an update on how House Oversight Committee’s investigation into the White House’s violation of the Presidential Records Act is going. He also shares
SPEAKER 17 :
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.
SPEAKER 08 :
Well, good afternoon and happy November. Welcome to this Friday edition of Washington Watch. I’m your host, Jody Heiss, a senior vice president here at the Family Research Council and president of FRC Action. Glad to have you on board with us. A lot coming your way. Let’s hit some of the highlights. The House Committee on Oversight and Accountability has launched an investigation into the FBI’s failure to report complete and accurate national crime data. Now, if you remember, during his debate with Vice President Kamala Harris back in September, former President Donald Trump was fact-checked by ABC News’ David Muir when he talked about the rise in crime.
SPEAKER 07 :
Crime in this country is through the roof, and we have a new form of crime. It’s called migrant crime, and it’s happening at levels that nobody thought possible.
SPEAKER 02 :
President Trump, as you know, the FBI says overall violent crime is actually coming down on this country. But excuse me, the FBI defraud.
SPEAKER 07 :
They were defrauding statements. They didn’t include the worst cities. They didn’t include the cities with the worst crime.
SPEAKER 08 :
So who was right? Well, wouldn’t you know it, the FBI now has quietly revised this 2023 report, which now shows a 4.5% increase in violent crime in 2022, rather than a 1.7% decrease. Well, Texas Congressman Pete Sessions, a member of that all-important House Oversight Committee, will join me in just a little bit to talk about that. And with Election Day just around the corner, now just four days away, We here at FRC and specifically here on Washington Watch continue to shed light on the pro-abortion ballot measures that 10 states are going to be voting on, including Arizona and Nevada, where Vice President Kamala Harris was just yesterday.
SPEAKER 04 :
So, Nevada, to protect your right to make your own healthcare decisions, vote yes on question six. So, Arizona, to protect your right to make your own healthcare decisions, I would recommend you vote yes on Proposition 139. And make sure you vote up and down the ballot to truly protect that right. Truly protect that right. Truly protect your rights.
SPEAKER 08 :
Wow. Well, friends, to be absolutely clear, these measures do a lot more than what Vice President Kamala Harris and Planned Parenthood allies are saying that they do. And we’ll be highlighting two of them today when I’m joined by Brittany Vesely of the Colorado Catholic Conference and Congressman Mark Alford from Missouri. And FRC’s David Claussen will also be joining me today to discuss the pro-abortion referendums and why Bible Believing Christ followers need to vote this election. So be sure to stick around for that. Also coming up on today’s program, we’ll give you a sneak preview I try to get that out of my mouth. On the latest installment of what we’re calling Profiles in Leadership, it’s a series that features Tony sitting down with interviews with different leaders of our country. Today, we want to bring you a portion of that conversation with Oklahoma Congressman Kevin Hearn, in which he shared part of his faith journey.
SPEAKER 06 :
I thought that I could do anything. I was invincible. And at 31 years old, realized that I wasn’t invincible. And God led a special person to me who’s sitting here with us today in this room, but led me to Christ at 31 years old.
SPEAKER 08 :
Well, friends, you want to hear the rest of that story. Trust me, it’s powerful. So we’ve got a lot coming your way today. You don’t want to miss any of it. But if by chance you do, of course, our website is TonyPerkins.com. Lots and lots of resources there available for you. And let me also, before we get going today, remind you that if you join us before Tuesday, November 5th, we want you to come on board with us beginning 8.30, election night coverage. from Washington Watch. We’re going to be bringing some special election night coverage from a biblical perspective. Again, that’s going to begin at 8.30 Eastern Time. You can participate by tuning in through our app, the Stand Firm app, and to get a copy of that, to download it, simply text the word APP, A-P-P, text APP to 67742. Also, you can right now partner with FRC and take advantage of a two-time challenge match that is going to be running through the election day. What that means is every gift is going to be doubled. You can double your difference by joining this campaign to defend faith, family, and freedom. Again, to participate in that, you can text the word DEFEND. defend to six seven seven four two before november 5th to join that campaign all right let’s jump into our first topic for today yesterday the house oversight committee they launched an investigation into the fbi’s failure to report complete accurate national crime data Friends, this is a big deal. It comes after the FBI quietly revised its 2023 crime in the Nation Report, in which it reported an estimated 1.7% decrease in violent crime in 2022. Well, the revised report now shows a 4.5% increase. That is a 6.2% change. So what’s worse, that they were so far off on the numbers or that they quietly tried to revise it all? Well, joining me now to discuss this and more is Congressman Pete Sessions. He serves on that House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, as well as the House Financial Services Committee. He represents the 17th Congressional District of Texas. Congressman Sessions, welcome back to Washington Watch.
SPEAKER 10 :
Thank you very much. What an honor it is to be with you. And of course, as you know, Jody, I sit as the chairman of the government operations and federal workforce, the same thing that a young Jody Heiss performed also in the minority for the Republican Party on that same committee.
SPEAKER 08 :
That’s right. And I’m so glad that you are now taking the helms of that. It’s really a very important subcommittee, GovOps, government operations. And thank you for joining us, Congressman Sessions. Always great to see you. And I miss you and I miss all the gang there on oversight. But for those who may not have been tracking all of this, can you tell us a little bit more about the FBI’s annual Crime in the Nation report? and what was reported last year versus what we now know to be facts.
SPEAKER 10 :
Yes, I think I can shed a little bit of light on that. In fact, what happened is that the Department of Justice in evidently conversation that we are also subpoenaing that information. We’re asking for it first, then we’ll subpoena it to the Department of Justice about conversations that they had with the FBI and why they made these changes. The changes were not only abrupt, but what they were was a false indication that there was no increase in crime. This deadly crime indicator is always important because it gives us an idea not only about the people who come to this country that are committing crime, but the types of crime that Congress needs to be aware of and law enforcement. In this case, the justification was that they omitted a number of jurisdictions that normally wouldn’t report, and they did not include them in the report. Jamie Comer, as our chairman is doing, and we signed on to this, is to gather information about why they did this and under what circumstances. You and I could certainly speculate, Jody, and say, well, we believe this was done for a reason. But we’re going to find out that reason and who requested this and why that change happened. It’s deceptive. And it is the same sort of facts and factors that we see across the government where reporting by the government is either skewed or wildly changed as it becomes apparent when someone brings it up. So in this case, I believe we simply received information that it was not correct. They went and changed it internally, and now we’re asking questions.
SPEAKER 08 :
And well, you should. This investigation is 100% justified and you put it on the table. So let me just kind of fill in the dots if some people are kind of wondering about this. Vice President Harris has been going around touting the 2023 data and the media has used it to try to dispel concerns that Americans may have about crime. So the recent failures of the SBI to accurately report the crime data looks at least to be politically motivated. I mean, that is a legitimate concern, is it not?
SPEAKER 10 :
Well, in fact, it would be. And the questions that abound from this, the questions through official request is what are the conversations between the Department of Justice and the FBI? What are the all correspondence that is related to this issue we are asking for? Because as we have seen in the past, whether it is about President Biden, whether it was about him when he was vice president, the Department of Justice has chosen to use their powers that they have to block not only questions internally from other enforcement organizations, including, as we remember, the Internal Revenue Service, who asked for the ability to go deeper into the conversation, perhaps to gather metadata to prove whether a person did or did not commit these crimes, and they were blocked by the Department of Justice. The Department of Justice, as we have seen, uses their internal power. We call that an abuse of power. But we, as you know, Jody, as you did, we ask first for those documents and expect them to not only comply, but would expect those to reveal why there was this change and how long it was decided and whether there was an internal push for them to correct that or whether our conversation Then what happened between the committee and the Department of Justice, they made those changes.
SPEAKER 08 :
I am so glad, Congressman Pete Sessions, that y’all are pushing forward on this. This is yet just another example of what appears, at least, to be both the media and government colluding together to pull the wool over the eyes of the American people. If I can real quickly shift gears on you, House Republicans now are also raising concerns over the White House’s efforts to clean up remarks that President Biden made in which he referred to Trump supporters as garbage. Can you tell us about that and what kind of law might have been violated in the president doing that?
SPEAKER 10 :
You know, I think it’s entirely possible that the president could have violated the law. But let me say this, and it became apparent to anyone who saw this, President Trump turned that issue around.
SPEAKER 13 :
He used it.
SPEAKER 10 :
And while it may have been, while they call us garbage, it was just a bunch of trash talk, I think. But in essence, what I think this was, was a really articulate and thoughtful former president who said, fine, I’ll get my dump truck and we will make sure the American people know. It was all white. We’re clean. We’re going to pick up trash. We’re going to pick up the trash that this White House and Department of Justice has been throwing down, not just at the president, but the American people. And I think that this will end up being a dump truck that does a clean sweep.
SPEAKER 08 :
That’s funny. Well said. That puts a whole new perspective to the concept of trash talk. I love the way you laid that out there. Congressman Pete Sessions of Texas, always an honor to see you, my friend. Thanks for the great work that you do.
SPEAKER 10 :
to the American people.
SPEAKER 08 :
Fantastic. Congressman Sessions, great to see you. Thank you so much. Keep the torch ablaze, my friend. All right, on the other side of the break, we’ll examine what Colorado’s Amendment 79 wants to do and why voters in that state certainly need to stand against it. So don’t go away. Much more coming your way right after the break.
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Election night is almost here. Join FRC and Real Life Network for exclusive live coverage from coast to coast. With host Tony Perkins and Jack Hibbs, you’ll hear from an incredible slate of guests, including members of Congress and political heavyweights from around the globe. We’ll dive into the issues that matter and give you the biblical perspective. Pray that America chooses wisely. Join us on November 5th as we watch history unfold.
SPEAKER 19 :
Let’s not be discouraged. Don’t lose heart. Don’t lose the faith. Stand now strong because the Lord has given us the great privilege of living in a time when our choices matter, when our lives matter, when our courage matters. So let’s stand together and save this great country. God bless the United States of America.
SPEAKER 12 :
The American Republic has a freedom like no other. It has roots in the scriptures far more than any other heritage. And if we as followers of Jesus and conservatives don’t defend it, who will?
SPEAKER 13 :
Neutrality is not an option. There are many Christians who believe that if we just keep our heads down, if we just don’t say the wrong thing, that somehow we will come out of this unscathed. You’re naive if you think that, because what they want from us is not our silence. What they want from us is our submission.
SPEAKER 01 :
Part of the dilemma of Christianity in our generation is that we’ve relied a little too much on human wisdom and human reasoning, human strength, human resource, and we’ve relied too little on the power of God and God’s ability to open doors that we can’t open and do things that we couldn’t even hope to begin to do.
SPEAKER 14 :
This may not be an easy task, But we are living in a moment of challenge, but also a great opportunity. And we know always that we are not alone, that his spirit empowers us and protects us, and that he can do the unimaginable. Dobbs, after all, was never supposed to have it.
SPEAKER 09 :
father we thank you you have entrusted us with this moment in history and i pray that we would be found faithful and that as a result of our faithfulness to you that thousands millions would come into the kingdom as they would experience the forgiveness of sin and the new life that is found only in jesus christ amen
SPEAKER 18 :
Are you a Christian parent looking to raise a spiritual champion in today’s culture? Renowned author George Barna has written a new book, Raising Spiritual Champions. This book offers valuable insights based on extensive research conducted by George Barna, the Family Research Council, and Arizona Christian University. Learn how to help your children discern biblical truth and find compelling meaning and purpose. Don’t miss out on this essential resource for parents. Order your copy today.
SPEAKER 08 :
Welcome back to Washington Watch. I’m your Friday host, Jody Heiss, and so great to have you on board with us. All right, as we’ve been sharing in the lead up to Election Day, 10 states have ballot initiatives this election season to enshrine a so-called right to abortion in their state constitutions. That’s what’s so critical about this. These are constitutional referendums. And these states include Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Maryland, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New York, and South Dakota. And certainly I encourage all Bible-believing Christ followers in those states to go out and vote for life. And if, while you’re in process of doing that and trying to get others to join you, if you need or want a resource to help you be informed and involved in this fight for life, we have a life on the ballot resource that you can download. We’ve got a couple of options. We want you to get it, so do either of these. You can find it at frcaction.org slash life on the ballot, or you can simply text the word life LIFE, L-I-F-E, to 67742. Well, today what we want to unpack, Colorado’s abortion amendment, that would be Amendment 79. And joining me now to do this is Brittany Vesely. She’s the Executive Director of the Colorado Catholic Conference. Brittany, welcome to Washington Watch. Great to have you joining us. Thanks for having me, Jody. Okay, so tell us about Amendment 79 and really what’s in this text.
SPEAKER 15 :
Thank you. Amendment 79 is very deceptive. The language in it that the government shall not deny, impede, or discriminate against the right to abortion means that all common sense safeguards for abortion are gone. That includes Colorado’s parental notification law. So a minor could be coerced into an abortion without their parents’ knowledge. And it also means that when sex trafficking, sex trafficking is one of the biggest issues in the state of Colorado because we have I-25 and I-70, huge sex trafficking state, a minor who’s sex trafficked can be taken to an abortion clinic and not have any requirement for a parent or guardian to be notified and back into the slavery of sex trafficking. That’s how extreme this law is. It also removes any type of regulations on abortion clinics that are not held to the same standards as other surgical institutions. And because this amendment also removes Section 50 of Article 5 of our state constitution, that’s what prohibits taxpayer funding for abortion. Our Colorado legislature is very likely to come back in 2025 and allocate a multimillion-dollar bill funding abortion procedure and travel using our tax dollars.
SPEAKER 08 :
Wow. One of the first things you said there, Brittany, is the deception. And I noticed this on so many of these amendments, these referendums across these various 10 states. So in order to just clear the record here, because there is deception in this, what would a yes vote on this amendment mean? And what would a no vote do?
SPEAKER 15 :
The proponents of Amendment 79 claim that Amendment 79 is needed because we had a bill last year that requires private health insurance to pay for private employees. They said, well, we need to remove our 1984 prohibition on public funding for abortion. That’s Section 50 of Article 5 of our state constitution. So public employees could access their health insurance. But it’s interesting because Cobalt, Abortion Advocates, which is one of the biggest abortion providers in the state of Colorado, they fund abortion procedure and travel for women to come in from out of state privately, just announced they are capping their funding and yet do not have enough money to meet demand in Colorado and are asking for assistance. Why would they support Amendment 79 specifically? sponsor Amendment 79 and yet know that removing Section 50 of Article 5 in our state constitution opens up a direct taxpayer stream for abortion. That’s what the proponents are saying Amendment 79 does. And what’s deceptive is because we know, even though the Blue Book said there’s a zero fiscal note, that we’re going to have a multimillion dollar allocation come January from our very progressive legislature. That’ll fund abortion procedures and travel for all the women coming in from the out-of-state or surrounding pro-life states around Colorado, as well as Texas and Florida and Arizona. So even if we win in these swing states on abortion, those women will still be flown to the state of Colorado using our tax dollars, and those babies will still die.
SPEAKER 08 :
Wow. Okay, so I know it’s different in every state, but what is the percentage of votes needed in order to ratify this in the state constitution there in Colorado?
SPEAKER 15 :
So the proponents of Amendment 79 need 55% of the vote to change the Constitution, to add Amendment 79 to our state constitution, because what it does is both subtract by removing the Section 50 of Article 5 of our Constitution, and it adds a fundamental right to abortion. Those are two different things that actually make it really subject to legal scrutiny, because it does two things instead of one. It’s a title violation. But the threshold is 55% of the vote. Our polling from the strategy group out of Ohio shows that without our messaging on those three talking points I first mentioned, parental notification, late abortion on healthy mothers with healthy babies, which happens at 4% level in the state of Colorado, not the national average of 1%, and then also taxpayer funding for abortion, those three messages drop support from 60% to 47% in Colorado, and our side will win.
SPEAKER 08 :
Alright, so are you feeling good then according to that polling information going into this? I mean, obviously we don’t want to feel good to the point that we don’t urge everyone to get out and vote, but do you feel, do you have a good gut feeling going into this?
SPEAKER 15 :
The pro-life community in the state of Colorado is more unified than it ever has been before. In the last two years, we’ve had four abortion bills, including the Reproductive Health Equity Act of 2022 that codified statutorily elective abortion for all nine months. So with all of these abortion bills, we came together as a unified organization. pro-life Colorado entity, a 501c3, c4, and an issue committee, which is acting as right-to-know Colorado, where I sit on the board. So I think with our polling, with our messaging, with our unified coalition, we had the best opportunity to defeat Amendment 79. Really what we lacked is funding, and that’s a national problem in all the states that are dealing with abortion amendments. We are being significantly outspent by the pro-abortion lobby, which is unfortunate because the pro-abortion lobby knows that they stand to benefit millions of dollars more by pouring in millions now.
SPEAKER 08 :
All right, real quickly, where can people go to read or find out more about this horrible amendment?
SPEAKER 15 :
please visit www.righttoknowco.com. That’s T-O, so it’s R-I-G-H-T-T-O-K-N-O-W-C-O.com. That’s our issue committee fighting Amendment 79 in Colorado, and it’ll give you everything you need to know and what Colorado’s doing, our side is doing, the pro-life side is doing to fight this very extreme amendment in the state of Colorado.
SPEAKER 08 :
Brittany Vesely, Executive Director of the Colorado Catholic Conference, thank you so much for keeping us up to speed of what’s happening in Colorado. God bless you. We’ll be keeping an eye and praying for you as Tuesday rolls around. All right, friends, after the break, we’re going to have a sneak peek at Tony’s interview with the chair of the Republican Study Committee. That’s Oklahoma Congressman Kevin Hearn. He’s part of our Profiles in Leadership series. Stay tuned.
SPEAKER 03 :
Everything we do begins as an idea. Before there can be acts of courage, there must be the belief that some things are worth sacrificing for. Before there can be marriage, there is the idea that man should not be alone. Before there was freedom, there was the idea that individuals are created equal. It’s true that all ideas have consequences, but we’re less aware that all consequences are the fruit of ideas. Before there was murder, there was hate. Before there was a Holocaust, there was the belief by some people that other people are undesirable. Our beliefs determine our behavior, and our beliefs about life’s biggest questions determine our worldview. Where did I come from? Who decides what is right and wrong? What happens when I die? Our answers to these questions explain why people see the world so differently. Debates about abortion are really disagreements about where life gets its value. Debates over sexuality and gender and marriage are really disagreements about whether the rules are made by us or for us. What we think of as political debates are often much more than that. They are disagreements about the purpose of our lives and the source of truth. As Christians, our goal must be to think biblically about everything. Our goal is to help you see beyond red and blue, left and right, to see the battle of ideas at the root of it all. Our goal is to equip Christians with a biblical worldview and help them advance and defend the faith in their families, communities, and the public square. Cultural renewal doesn’t begin with campaigns and elections. It begins with individuals turning from lies to truth. But that won’t happen if people can’t recognize a lie and don’t believe truth exists. We want to help you see the spiritual war behind the political war, the truth claims behind the press release and the forest and the trees.
SPEAKER 08 :
Welcome back to Washington Watch. Great to have you. I’m Jody Heiss, and we’re honored to have you. All right, over the last few Fridays, we’ve been sharing some excerpts from a limited time series on FRC’s Stand Firm app. We’re calling the series Defending the Faith, Profiles in Leadership. The series just features exclusive sit-down interviews of Tony with some of our nation’s leaders, and it goes beyond the policies and politics And if you do not yet have the Stand Firm app, I would encourage you to download it. We call it an app, but actually it’s much, much more than that. It’s literally a platform. It serves as a kind of a state-of-the-art digital community where followers of Christ can go to connect and grow, receive encouragement, stay up to date on news from a biblical worldview, and be empowered to defend the faith. If you don’t yet have it, go to the App Store or Google Play, wherever you get your apps, or you can also just simply text the word APP to 67742. We urge you to do that. You’ll be very much glad that you did it and get a lot of use out of this app. It’s just for people like you and me. Well, in the latest installment of the Profiles in Leadership series, Tony sat down with Oklahoma Congressman Kevin Hearn, who chairs, by the way, the Conservative Republican Study Committee. And in that, Congressman Hearn shared how not only he came to Washington after a very successful business career, but he also shares about his faith journey. And here’s how Tony got all that conversation going.
SPEAKER 09 :
So let’s talk about business. Very successful businessman. Not to trump a competitor, but I started in Oklahoma. You actually represent the area that I grew up in, the Tulsa area. I grew up in Cleveland. I worked at Sonic. You ended up two dozen chains, two dozen stores of McDonald’s. Very successful businessman. You left that to come here. Why?
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, you know, I look at America being a place that, you know, I grew up very poor. You and I were talking about before we started this about my dad being in the military. I was a product of a military life, a broken family from that. My dad went to Vietnam for three times. My mother, who had myself and my younger brother, 18 months younger than I. I had a sister that passed away about a year and a half before I was born from spina bifida. And my mother was young and she said, you know, I need to go back to where your dad and I were from, which was Arkansas. She went back, married a guy that didn’t really like to work much, first-generation welfare, and we lived in extraordinary poverty. I didn’t have any running water, no indoor plumbing until I was in the eighth grade. My mother went on to have three more children with him, one of which, the first, my older sister, still to this day, still alive, has spina bifida. Her daughter has spina bifida in a wheelchair. So we’ve lived this, you know, very difficult life. But I think, you know, life’s about a binary choice. You can either continue to live like that or you can get out and start the grind of life where you’re going out and you’re facing the adversities of everyday life. And we didn’t have any money. I would actually skip school to go work at a sawmill so I could make gas money. I made $12 a day. A whole lot of money, bought a lot of gas then. I did. Yeah. And, but you know, that’s really why I ran. and ultimately was to really protect this opportunity we have. No guarantees, but protect the opportunity.
SPEAKER 09 :
But that’s a part of who you are. I mean, I spent my summers in Oklahoma working in the oil field as a roustabout. You couldn’t do that today at 16 or 17 years old. Are we depriving our kids of those difficult experiences that actually build the character and drive them forward?
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, I believe so. I’ve been criticized a lot by several members up here because I do think hard work is good for you. Working at the sawmill, getting hot, working at 105.
SPEAKER 09 :
Oklahoma gets pretty hot. Well, Arkansas gets hot.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah, a lot of hay. And we picked a lot of cherries in California. We’d leave school a week early to go pick cherries up and down the coast of California. And I do think it makes you appreciate other things when you see that kind of hard work when you’re young.
SPEAKER 09 :
But there’s more to Kevin Hearn than hard work and growing up in poverty. You discovered an element of richness that is intangible in terms of dollars and cents, your faith journey. Let’s talk about that.
SPEAKER 06 :
You know, I think a lot of people, you know, coming from the Midwest, the Bible bell, if you will, will say, I grew up in church and, you know, I, you know, my parents took me to church and I went to Sunday school and all that being, you know, a product, a Protestant Baptist, uh, believer. But I think, you know, when you look at my life, uh, as I mentioned, uh, the very impoverished life, we didn’t go to church. We didn’t, we didn’t talk about use God in a way that you would talk about it as a Christian and. You know, I went through a divorce. I thought that I could do anything. I was invincible. And at 31 years old, I realized that I wasn’t invincible. And God led a special person to me who’s sitting here with us today in this room, but led me to Christ at 31 years old. And I always tell people this story. She asked me, she says, do you know God? And she says, I’m not going to go out with you until you can answer these three questions. this was 31 year old guy i was a guy who knew everything i’ve been through all kinds of adversity in life and she said do you know god that’s god she was thinking big g i was thinking little g and she said well are you a christian i said man i’m getting a little uncomfortable here then she asked me if i was saving us i have to get back with you so that’s how it started out and uh About three months later at Antioch Baptist Church in Conway, Arkansas, by myself, I felt like Pastor Horton was talking directly to me and I was led to Christ. And that changed my life forever. I was at rock bottom. And everything we have today is from that moment.
SPEAKER 08 :
A great, great story. That was Oklahoma Congressman Kevin Hearn during an exclusive sit-down interview that is part of the new Profiles in Leadership series on the StandFirm app. And I assure you, you want to watch the rest of that interview, and you can do so by downloading the StandFirm app in the App Store, if you’ve not already done so, your App Store or Google Play, or you can simply text the word APP, A-P-P. to 67742. And you’ll definitely want to hear more from Tony’s interview with Congressman Hearn. So download Stand Firm. Much more coming your way. Stay tuned. We’ll be right back.
SPEAKER 16 :
Jesus said in John 15, these things I’ve spoken to you, that my joy may remain in you and that your joy may be full. In 2024, in these divided and uncertain times, how can this be possible? By abiding in him through his word. At Family Research Council, we wanna help you do that, which is the reason for the Stand on the Word Bible reading plan. In just 10 to 15 minutes each day, you will have read the entire Bible in just two years. But more importantly, you will be abiding in Him daily. Find our Bible reading plan at frc.org slash Bible. And join Tony Perkins each weekday for a 10-minute devotional inspired by the daily reading and designed to encourage you on this journey through the Bible. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube. And remember, the grass withers and the flower fades, but the Word of our God will stand forever.
SPEAKER 03 :
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 are 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 08 :
Welcome back to Washington Watch. Great to have you. I’m your Friday host, Jody Heist. All right. As I shared earlier today in the lead up to Election Day, we’ve been going around through each of the 10 states where Planned Parenthood allies are working to enshrine a so-called right to abortion in various state constitutions. Again, those states include Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Maryland, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New York, and South Dakota. Earlier today, of course, we talked about Colorado’s Amendment 79. Well, there’s another one that we want to cover today. That would be Missouri, and they’re dealing with Amendment 3, the so-called Right to Reproductive Freedom Initiative. And joining me now to discuss this is Missouri Congressman Mark Alford. He serves on the Armed Services Committee as well as the Agricultural Committee, and he represents the 4th Congressional District of Missouri. Congressman Alford, always great to have you on Washington Watch. Welcome back. Thank you, Jody. Good to be here. All right, so like you’re not alone, nine other states besides Missouri are dealing with a devastating initiative that would just have devastating impacts on pro-life laws that are in your state already enforced. Is that correct?
SPEAKER 11 :
Well, you’re absolutely correct. And I think overall, what we’re facing in America, this is a battle between good and evil. And the devil uses deceptive language, reproductive freedom. Let’s get this straight. Abortion has nothing to do with reproduction. It is the antithesis of reproduction. And yet the left, the woke, The progressives, the Democrats, want to try to convince the American people this has to do with reproduction freedom. Here in Missouri, it is illegal to have an abortion now. It has been since the Dobbs decision came down. And rightfully so, we decided in Missouri that we don’t want abortion. If you want an abortion, you can go to Kansas or you can go to Illinois. It is now on the amendment, Amendment 3. It’s going to be on the ballot this Tuesday. And Missouri voters have to decide. do we want abortions? Do we want taxpayer-funded abortions? And because they’re calling it reproductive freedom and instead of abortion in this language, it could include transgender or sex change surgery, mutilation for children, minors, without the consent of their parents. It is an open-ended language that they’re using in this ballot, which is very deceptive and very destructive if it passes.
SPEAKER 08 :
Yeah, that’s one thing I love about you and one reason I love having you on the program. You just cut through the quick and get through all the weeds and get to the issue. And the deception is real. And this is not about reproductive freedom. It’s about killing babies. I love the way you put that. But then what you ended with there, Congressman, dealing with the other part of the deception, how this opens a door for a trans issue and all sorts of other things, as well as potentially, you said, parental consent laws. Tell us more about that. What would happen if this passes?
SPEAKER 11 :
Well, if it does pass, number one, a woman could have an abortion up until time of birth because of mental health concerns. And that could be wide open as well. But this language also is so vague and deceptive that it would allow for minors to get an abortion without the consent of a parent, which I think the parent needs to be at least involved in this decision as well for a minor. and as we said would also allow for transgender i just call it sex change mutilation of young people you know i’ve said all along jody we have got to start reframing the way we talk about abortion in america the mother is just as important as the baby yes we should be fighting for the baby but i firmly believe that we should all fight for life-affirming care for the mother and the baby that God is growing inside of her. These are two bodies connected by one umbilical cord, all created by God Almighty. And we need to come alongside the mother and help her in this time of difficulty.
SPEAKER 08 :
powerfully and so accurately stated. One other thing, I want to throw this your way too. If abortion is enshrined as a right within the Missouri Constitution, that would have a pretty significant, I would think, impact on the legislators in your state. I would assume that it would mean that they could… no longer refuse to appropriate funds to abortion providers. I mean, this will just really be taxpayer-funded abortions.
SPEAKER 11 :
They would be forced to make these appropriations to abortion providers, doctors who want to kill babies. That is a crime and a shame. And that’s why we are rallying tomorrow, Saturday, November 2nd, here in Pleasant Hill, Missouri in Cass County at the Manor Church. We are having some, I think 15 pastors are going to be praying. I’m going to be there. Lamar Hunt Jr., part owner of the Kansas City Chiefs is going to be there. He is fighting against Amendment 3 actively. And we are going to have a time of prayer to pray. hopefully convince people, like God convinced people to vote no on Amendment 3, but also to protect our leaders, especially Donald J. Trump, who I think is in… He’s under fire. He’s under fire from all sides. But there are people who not just want him in prison or want him bankrupt. They want him dead. And we need to pray for his protection. And we’re also thoroughly praying for a fair and free election on Tuesday. Three things that I would wish everyone could turn out for at Manor Church at 5 p.m. tomorrow, Saturday, November 2nd.
SPEAKER 08 :
Congressman Mark Alford, thank you so much for your tremendous leadership, as always, and for taking time to join us today on Washington Watch. We appreciate it. God bless you. God bless Missouri. And may this initiative go down. Yes. Thank you so much for joining us.
SPEAKER 11 :
God is in control, Jody. Thank you. Absolutely.
SPEAKER 08 :
All right, I’d like to switch gears and turn our attention to our weekly worldview segment with David Claussen. He, of course, is the director of FRC’s Center for Biblical Worldview. As we’ve talked about today, there’s a lot at stake in next week’s election, and so we want to conclude today’s broadcast discussing how we need to be thinking as Christians as we approach Election Day. David, thank you for joining me, as always. Good to see you again.
SPEAKER 05 :
Hey, great to be with you again, Jody.
SPEAKER 08 :
Well, I know last time we texted earlier in the week, you were in Alaska teaching a Biblical Worldview segment or a course there. How’d the event go?
SPEAKER 05 :
It went well, and I’m actually coming to you right now from Anchorage, Jody, so get on a flight in a couple of hours. But it was just an incredible time doing a week of training here with pastors and ministry leaders. You know, wherever we go, Jody— you see the need for additional worldview training, help pastors want to be able to get equipped to talk about the issues that we talk about on this program, whether it’s abortion, religious freedom, sexuality. And so it was a joy to come out here and do several workshops with Joseph Backholm. And again, just to see the ministry that’s being done by faithful pastors all over the country is just a joy.
SPEAKER 08 :
It really is. And you and Joseph, y’all are doing a fantastic job. And in fact, I’m teaching a biblical worldview class at my church for a few weeks here. Hope to have you come join us on Wednesday coming up before too long. But as we look towards next week, David, millions of Americans have already, millions more will be headed to the polls. And yet there’s a lot of Christians that are still deciding whether or not they’re actually going to vote. What’s your message to anyone who might still be in that position trying to consider whether or not to vote?
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah, Jody, very simply, my message to Christian voters is to love your neighbor. Love your neighbor enough to engage in the political process that, again, affects our basic rights and liberties. You know, it’s been said that politics matters because policy matters, and policy matters ultimately because people matter. And Jody, we know that government is ordained by God. Government exercises a legitimate authority. And in a constitutional republic like we have in the United States, citizens get to elect those who wield that power. And I think we need to realize, Jody, by not voting, if Christians sit out this election, you are allowing those who don’t share our worldview to wield an inordinate amount of power. to affect the outcome of this election. And so again, just briefly, Jodi, I think we need to love our friends, love our neighbors, and love the future generations enough to engage in this election. Later this month, my son’s going to be born. My wife and I expect our first child. And it almost takes on another weight when you think about what kind of world is he going to inherit? What kind of country is he going to grow up in? And again, we want to see policies enacted that point people towards the good, the true, the beautiful, towards righteousness. And the outcome of this election is going to have massive implications.
SPEAKER 08 :
It really is. It really is. And bringing your son into it from that perspective just adds the weight of it all, certainly not only in your life, but just the reality of the whole thing. And yet I don’t recall ever in my lifetime, at least, where abortion has received so much attention in an election you and i have talked a lot about this topic but uh what what do christians need to know about abortion and the outcome of this election as we connect the dots between the two jody we’ve talked about it uh you know we but people just need to realize and
SPEAKER 05 :
I think this message is beginning to break through with Christians I talk to and Christian leaders and pastors. When you look at this election, you look at the top of the ticket, what you have in Kamala Harris and Tim Walz is the most energetic support for abortion. that we have ever seen in an American presidential election. The advocacy of Kamala Harris makes Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton almost look tame by comparison, Jody. Her voting record on abortion as a U.S. senator, again, is the wildest dream of a Planned Parenthood executive just a few years ago. And I think we need to realize that. Regrettably, lamentably, the GOP has backed down, Jody, and that’s not good. But we need to recognize, though, at the top of the ticket at least, the abortion movement, Jody, stands to make their greatest advance in the election of Kamala Harris since the Roe v. Wade decision was handed down in 1973. The stakes could not be higher.
SPEAKER 08 :
Absolutely couldn’t. And you are so correct, the energy that they have on this one issue. In fact, it really seems to be their only issue. While literally the world is on fire, all they can talk about is abortion, it seems. But there are other issues. and other issues that people of faith care about that are going to be affected by the outcome of this election. What are some of those other issues that you’re tracking that are absolutely going to be affected next week?
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah, I’ll give you two, Jody. I think religious liberty. Again, we saw under the four years of the Trump administration, just an administration that cared deeply about people of faith. You know, I think we should realize religious liberty is the ability to believe what you want to in terms of theology and doctrine, and then also to have the freedom to order your life according to the dictates of your religious convictions. And again, we’ve talked about this before, Jody. I think it was during the Obama administration that you heard the term freedom of worship begun to be introduced and kind of the idea that you can do what you want to in the four walls of your church, your synagogue, or your mosque, but once you leave the parking lot, you kind of have to leave your religion back at home. And What we’ve seen even in this campaign is a lot of progressive liberal candidates saying that when it comes to religious liberty, well, religious liberty needs to take a back seat when it comes to things like sexual orientation, gender identity. And that’s a huge issue. And then I would say, Jody, judges. That’s going to be a huge issue. Whoever wins the White House gets to appoint potentially hundreds of judges. I’ll just look this up. Barack Obama, excuse me, Joe Biden, in his three and a half years, Jody, has appointed 44 judges to the federal appeals courts and 166 judges to the district level courts. Those are lifetime appointments. For decades to come, folks who have been appointed by Joe Biden will be making decisions across this country that are going to affect us. And we know, Jody, that the two oldest Supreme Court justices are Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas. They’re respectively 76 and 74 years of age. The next president very well could name their replacements. So judges, religious freedom, all of these issues, Jody, are going to be on the ballot that matter deeply to evangelical Christians.
SPEAKER 08 :
They really do. Well, David, as we come to the end of this week and head into an all important. crossroads for our country next week. You know, we always love to end this week with you and talking about biblical worldview, but would you mind, why don’t we just end this week with prayer? Would you mind closing us in prayer and praying specifically for the election, for our nation, for Christians as they head to the polls next week?
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah, I’d be honored to, Jody. Let’s pray. Heavenly Father, we do come before you and we recognize, God, that you are sovereign. We recognize that the heart of the king is in your hand. And Lord, we know that you can turn it wherever you will. And so, Father, we know that you call us to pray for our leaders. You call us to pray for kings and all those in authority. And so we do that now. We pray for wisdom. We pray for guidance. We pray for direction for our leaders. And we pray that for voters. Specifically, Lord, we pray that for American Christians. Father, would you give them discernment? Would you give the body of Christ just an awareness of the stewardship responsibility that they have? And Lord, just briefly, I do pray for these abortion amendments that we’ve talked about all week. Lord, would you see that these be defeated? Lord, would you give Christians the courage of their convictions? And would these things be defeated? And finally, Lord, we pray for candidates who most closely approximate biblical justice. Would you, Lord, bless their campaigns? Would you bless what they’re trying to do, Father? And would you see godly men and women take positions of authority? Father, would you give our nation mercy? We don’t deserve your mercy. We don’t deserve godly rulers. But Father, would you give us mercy in this season? Would you give us your blessing? Father, you are in control. We submit to you, and we thank you for your many blessings. We pray this in the powerful name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. Amen.
SPEAKER 08 :
Amen. David Claussen, thank you so much. All the way from Anchorage, Alaska, thanks for taking time to join us on this Biblical Worldview segment. God bless you. Safe travels.
SPEAKER 05 :
Thank you, Jody. God bless.
SPEAKER 08 :
All right, friends, look, much as it staked last week, I want to encourage you to go to church this weekend and then get 10 of your friends from church and take them to the polls on Tuesday. And if they need any help, some assistance, go to our Stand Firm app and get the toolkit to help them know just how to vote for biblical principles.
SPEAKER 17 :
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.
