[inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] ladies and gentlemen, our program is about to begin. Please take your seats. Thank you. [inaudible conversations] good morning, ladies and gentlemen. To kickoff the 14th annual values voter summit please welcome to the stage tomasa ceremonies and stanley cup champion st. Louis blues fan, mr. Gill mertz. Yeah, baby. Stanley cup, st. Louis blues. Listen to you guys. Good morning. Im just trade, anyone over here, get your team win a a stanley cup this year . No . How about the middle come anywhere near win the stanley cup this last year . No, okay. Anybody here, your team win the stanley cup . No . The year before. Well, i waited 52 years. You had had your glory. You be quiet. I waited 52 years for the st. Louis blues to win the stanley cup, and here it is, baby. Not exactly what i thought it was but im happy with it. And now the st. Louis cardinals are going to be playing some other team for the world series. Does anybody know who they are playing ask how many st. Louis cardinal fans are there here . Do we have any Washington National fans in the house . [applause] well, you get ready to get your hearts broken. [laughing] hey, as long as were here would you like to do a values voter summit . Speaking of winners, i feel le a champion today. As we kick off the 14th annual values voter summit. Thank you, everybody for coming. Its going to be a great event. Let me begin with just a few housekeeping announcements and then we will light this candle. Ready . We evincing their logos glowing at you and on the monitors. We want to thank those sponsors because they not only share your values but they help make the values voter summit possible. So giving just a second. Ill read them all and they will give them all a great round of applause at the same time. We want to thank frc action, American Family association, American Values, family reseah council and the first time sponsor j. C. In which stands for judicial crisis network, youll hear more about all of these and, of course, Americans First is our faith in action partner. Were also pleased of the daily signal as our Media Sponsor and the Washington Times as a trusted news source of the values voter summit. [applause] now, now did not just tell you to wait until i got done . You are already going broke on me. I just started. Going to be a long weekend. All right, some more folks we want to recognize. The fox reader networkers, we are also pleased to welcome cosponsor Columbia International university, truth in Liberty Coalition and were partnering this year with generation joshua on our student efforts. Please note the plant is also sponsoring hospitality suite right across the hall from us an association of mature american citizens is sponsoring a cafe with madetoorder coffee in the exhibit hall which we definitely want you to visit. We want you to stop by their booths and cafe, learn more about what a race is doing to reduce the cost of healthcare and extend Social Security for present and future generations. We appreciate your understanding with enhanced security this we can. How many saw the president in minnesota last night on television . Many of you did. Common of you saw the fireworks that happened right after that . Its just terrible and so an event like this in the world we live in we just need to enhance security and we appreciate your understanding of that. In fact, let me mention all bags are subject to search and if deemed necessary by our security team, they will ask for that, please cooperate with them and, of course, name badges are required for admits to all sessions. Let me add this word because of what was on the Television Last night in minnesota. Use something suspicious, let us know. Just tell somebody. We would rather err on the side of caution and security than not. So please let us know. A reminder that Campaign Site anticipation of Campaign Literature is prohibited. Every year where with this impt disclaimer so look at the screen and listen carefully. [inaudible] [applause] any questions . I know what youre thinking i wish all the speeches what like that, right make sure to stop by our amazing exhibit hall you will find charging stations, signed up at booth number 15 and 43 for free trips to israel. Check it out. Offered our action place and christian friends of Israeli Committee heartland. 25 Leadership Institute is offering a 250 certificate of training, also can Research Council is sponsoring a passport book again this year. Just get all exhibitors that you cacique to stamp your book and to get to the frc booth by 1 00 tomorrow. On saturday 3 p. M. We would a drawing to win one of three prizes, a new car, a new house or an frc pen. [laughing] good luck, everybody. No, seriously, we have three prizes, a one and 50 gift card, to my free passes for next year and a 50 frc credit at our store. Remember, stop by the caffeine visit the association of mature american citizens. This is a conservative alternative to aarp. For coffee, tea and water talk to them and find what they are about. Hours are from eight until 7 p. M. And from saturday 8 a. M. To 5 p. M. We are giving away prizes for the best picture of the day. Posted on any social media platform with the hashtag vds 19. Drawings will be held friday night and it into saturday morning session. Be sure you hashtag vds 19 that event if you dont know how to do that ask a grandchild and asked and a chilled, they will tell you. Ultimately wine is a bill for ten days in the ballroom and vvs meeting was. Enter vvs m20 night being 2019. Got that . Did you say i guess . Not yet. You didnt get it yet. Try keep up, please. [laughing]. Would you join me in welcoming and thanking the media for being here. [applause] i would ask you to show them the same respect that they show our president , but please dont. [laughter] moving on. We should pray. Seriously, folks, we need to go to the source of our value and that is the lord god almighty who has shed his grace on our country. Were honored to have Michele Bachmann to offer our invocation this morning, former minnesota congresswoman, first woman to run for president in the Republican Party and cofounder of the Tea Party Caucus and proud to announce she is the new chairperson of the family Research Council board. Please welcome Michele Bachmann. [applaus [applause] good morning. This is a day the lord hath made. What a great way to begin the conference. Would you join me now in prayer as we dedicate this conference to the lord god almighty . Father, i thank you that where you are, we can be. Lord, we come to you by faith this morning. We come to you by faith asking you for the family here in the United States and around the world, we see the fullon assault and attack that there is, but we are encouraged because your word says, now the lord is that spirit and where the spirit of the lord is, there is liberty. So, father, we invite your sweet, holy spirit to fill this hall and fill this conference, fill every portion of this time that we might have ears to hear and hearts to understand your word. Lord, we ask that you would change us in our time that we are together. Change us in a way to be effective for your kingdom. So thank you, father, as we give this now to you. We anticipate with joy what you will do in our midst, in your mighty incomparable name we pray, amen. [applaus [applause] thank you, michelle. And now ladies and gentlemen for the presentation of our colors, would you please rise to your feet. Presenting the colors today from burke, virginia is usa troop 2215 taken from the 2nd 215. Our pledge of allegiance will be done by audrey duffy, a member of American Heritage girls truth mv 1212 and daughter for vicepresident of communications jp duffy and wife amanda and National Anthem done by mary millbin, a renowned soloist who performed at the white house, the super bowl, summit and president s kickoff rally. And now the presentation of color. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of america and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under god, indivisible with liberty and justice for all. [applaus [applause] oh say can you see by the dawns early light what so proudly we hailed at the twilights last gleaming whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight oer the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming and the rockets red glare the bombs bursting in air gave proof through the night that our flag was still there oh say does that star spangled banner yet wave oer the land of the free and the home of the brave america is a great country, isnt it . Yes, it is and we have a great president , dont we . Yes, we do. And still we can see as the years have gone by theres a dream in our land like a flame that keeps burning and a land of hope from the harbor still shines freedoms dream to its still turning tis the spar star spaengled banner yet wave for the land of the free and the home of the brave america, america, america, America America God Bless America have a wonderful summit please remain standing as we [inaudible] thank you, ladies and gentlemen. You may be seated. Ooh, she has both hairs on my head standing straight up. All right. One final announcement and then well begin. I need to remind everyone there are no unauthorized taping or recordings. Thats not allowed. You may view the sessions on the website after. Violators will be investigated by this man, adam schiff. [laughte [laughter] and let me warn you, the investigation will go on forever and forever and forever. All right. Everybody. Lets turn the page. Lets get started with the values voter summit by welcoming the president of frc action and family Research Council. Please welcome tony perkins. Thank you very much. Good morning. Thank you. [applause] welcome to the 2019 values voter summit. It is great to see each and every one of you from all parts of our country. Were so glad youre here and on behalf of all tsponsors, i want to welcome you to evangelicals, godfearing patriots or whatever else they want to call us. In fact, they can call us whatever they want because it doesnt matter. [applause] we will not be deterred in our mission to pray, to vote, and to stand together. [applaus [applause]. In fact, i think this weekend, i think its vitally important that we send a clear message to those that there are those of us that are not going a anywhere. Were not going to wave a white flag, were not going to surrender on the great issues of our day. No matter how many lawsuits they file, no how many investigations they launch, no how many threats they make to take our Tax Exemption for believing the bible, we have counted the cost. We will not bow. We are committed to stand. [applaus [applause]. And with that allow me to set the stage for the 2019 values voter summit. As youll see, were literally setting the stage. [laughte [laughter]. Battle for the heart and the soul of our nation. It is a battle that transcends politics and parties. It is no longer a skirmish between conservatives and liberals. It is an epic battle between two ideologies, two world views. We must pray like weve never prayed before. We must vote, meaning we must be involved at every level of government. William penn, the founder of pennsylvania, says governments like clock go from the motion men give them and as governments are made and moved by men, so by them they are ruined, also. Therefore, governments depend upon men, rather than men upon governments. We must move governments in the right way. [applaus [applause] and we must stand. There is an allout effort to discourage, to disappoint, and to dissuade you and other conservatives. Have you noticed that . The reports from the media would suggest that your labor has been in vain. Well, as you will see this weekend, that could not be farther from the truth. You are making a difference. [applaus [applause]. Do not grow weary in well doing for in time you shall reap. Earlier this year on the anniversary of the imfamous roe vs wade decision, with the background of the World Trade Center hit in pink, andrew cuomo signed the socalled Reproductive Health care bill more accurately the birthday abortion bill into law. Opening the door to infanticide in america. The response was quick. President trump addressed it headon in his state of the union address, saying this, quote, lawmakers in new york cheered with delight upon the passage of legislation that would allow a baby could be ripped from the mothers womb moments before birth. These are living, feeling, beautiful babies who will never get a chance to share their love and dreams with the world. He went on to say, let us Work Together to build a culture that cherishes innocent life and let us reaffirm a fundamental truth. All children born and unborn, are made in the holy image of god. [applaus [applause]. Leadership matters. States responded and planned parenthood lamented, as a near Record Number of prolife laws were passed in the states this year. 58 new prolife laws, many aimed at ending birthday abortion. [applause] now at the urging of the president , congress attempted to pass a ban on birthday abortion with senator sass and representative wagner blocked. Congress has attempted 80 times on the protection act only to be blocked by Speaker Pelosi and her party and thats why weve teamed up with the prolife caucus in the house to help pass a discharge petition that will force congress to stand on the side of life or on the side of death. [applaus [applause]. We are working to pass a discharge petition so there will be a vote on the house floor on the born alive abortion survivors protection act. At present there are 203 members that have signed the discharge petition. 218 are needed. And to aid in this effort we have launched the end birthday Abortion Campaign. How many of you have already participated in that campaign . Our goal is to take 90,000 of these newborn thermal pink and blue baby hats to nancy pelosi and deliver them to her on capitol hill. [applaus [applause]. Babies should be welcomed into the world and protected under our law. And we are going to send an undeniable, visible message when we cart all 90,000 baby hats to capitol hill. Now, right now our campaign, were over halfway. This representatives about 50,000 hats that we have collected in this campaign. Many, Many Americans have given 9 to not only purchase one of those hats, but to fuel the campaign to get to 218 signatures necessary to vote on this bill. We are going to send a message that america demands that we end birthday abortion. [applaus [applause]. And i invite you, i invite you to join with us this weekend and support the end of birthday Abortion Campaign and stop infanticide in america. And then when we stop infanticide, we will continue the march for life until every child born and unborn is welcomed into world and protected under our law. [applaus [applause]. With that, it is now my honor to officially open the 2019 session of the values voter summit. [applaus [applause]. Have a wonderful weekend and now ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the executive director of the truth and Liberty Coalition, and general counsel of Andrew Womack ministries, richard harris. Good morning. Excuse me, good morning. Its my distinct honor to introduce our next speaker this morning, the honorable mark meadows, republican from North Carolina. [applaus [applause] a true Freedom Fighter in the United States congress, mark meadows is serving his fourth term representing North Carolinas 11th district since january of 2013. Meadows ran for congress after accumulating nearly 30 years of Work Experience as a small businessman creating growth and value by specializing in startups and business reorganization. During his time in the house, meadows has been a known champion for fiscal responsibility, accountable government, pro growth economic policies, pro family and prolife initiatives and a strong military. Both democrats and republicans alike refer to him as a great leader, a listener, and someone who doesnt back down from a fight. As a result, after just a few years in washington, meadows has risen to be one of the most influential members of congress. In november of 2016 he was elected as the chairman of the House Freedom caucus, an Influential Group founded in january of 2015, consisting of roughly 40 conservative members of congress dedicated to giving a voice to those who feel forgotten by their government. He was reelected as the caucus chairman in january, 2019 and hes led the group through numerous high profile legislative battles, including Health Care Reform and tax reform and as a result, several commentators labored the House Freedom caucus as under meadows leadership, a group with new clout in washington. He served two consecutive terms as chairman. House oversight and government reform subcommittee on government operation. With oversight of agencies with the office of the president and others. Hes served three terms as a member of the House Foreign Affairs committee with expertise in the middle east and africa and recognized numerous times for his support of israel including leadership of bipartisan change to condemn the United Nations antiisrael record. Meadows leadership on capitol hill has been recognized by the american conservative union, National Federation of independent businesses, the National Rifle association, the u. S. Chamber of commerce, the National Taxpayer union. The military Officers Association of america, the nature conservatory, the National Retail federation and on and on. Above all, meadows is a deeply committed christian and demonstrated a devotion to his faith even in the High Pressure environments. One of his accomplished measures is his role in securing the release of miriam who had been in a sudanese prison for practicing her faith. He and his wife have two adult children, blake and haley. Would you join me in welcoming congressman mark meadows. [applause] thank you. Thank you. Please keep your seats. God bless you, it is great to be with you thank you for that welcome. I normally do not get a welcome like that in washington d. C. You know, were here to tell a little bit of the truth about what is going on and im having to leave right after this to go and do an interview with an ambassador that was relieved of her duty as part of the adam schiff impeachment effort. I think its time that we send adam schiff home instead of the president of the United States. What do you think . [cheers and applause] i think its time. You know, they love to do these things in secret. They love to actually have this secret way of trying to form a narrative to impeach this president and the people of america spoke in november of 2016 and they spoke loudly that we needed change, we need to drain the swamp and President Donald Trump is doing exactly that. He is doing that. [cheers and applause] now ive had the opportunity to be the chairman of the Freedom Caucus. Now the Freedom Caucus, for some of you that dont know, you know, we actually started a small group of us that said we needed to get together and you know, its had a few patriots. Patriots like congressman jim jordan from ohio. [applause]. And im here today to let you know, i am looking for his jacket. I know it is here somewhere. [laughter] jim is my best friend in congress. There is not a man who is willing to speak the truth in the face of adversity more than jim jordan. And if youre from ohio youre blessed to have him as a member of congress. [applaus [applause] but the Freedom Caucus was designed to give a voice to millions of americans who thought that washington d. C. Had forgotten them. I know all of you who have been actively engaged, have truly sometimes put your life on hold dd and by the way, these teleprompters, they have nothing on them so i just want to let you know, this is not a barack obama speech. All right . So, you know, so if we you know, when you start to look at america and the fact that washington d. C. Has lost its way, it is time that we restore that. We need to have some kind of vaccination for the potomac fever. You know, its amazing when members of congress and senators, they get elected, you go out and you work hard, and you try to make sure that theyre going to make a difference. They get elected, they raise their right hand. They say theyre going to defend the constitution. Theyre going to support your values. They come across the Potomac River and they lose their mind. All of a sudden they well ive said it here before, i might as well say it again. They have the backbone of a banana. When you peel it back, it gets real mushy. It is time that we elect people that have a backbone of steel and that are willing to stand up for the values that our god holds dear. [applaus [applause]. Now theyre trying to do all of this in secret, just a few miles from here this morning. In fact, they issued a subpoena just a few minutes ago to compel the witness to come forward and actually testify, but theyre not seeking truth. Theyre seeking a narrative. Theyre seeking a narrative that theyve already written the final conclusion to. Because they started three years ago. Eep before this president was sworn in, they were talking about impeachment and theyre bound and determined to do it and we need to send a clear message, if they do it, we will send them home. We need to send that [cheers and applause] now, we are not taking this sitting down or even lying down. Were going to stay in the fight because of people like you that continue to encourage us to stay in the fight. And i can tell you, being a member of congress was never on my bucket list. In fact, i can remember the time that i felt like i was being called to actually run for congress and because it wasnt on my bucket list i actually had a wonderful life in the mountains of Western North carolina. I called my wife that particular day and i said, you know, honey, i feel like the lord is leading me to run for congress. And she said, well, honey, if thats the way you are being led, ill support you in that. And all of a sudden, this sick feeling came over me. Because i didnt like to get up in front of people. I didnt like to be in the limelight, i just like to have a private life that actually, you know, really didnt involve coming and speaking before hundreds and thousands of people. So i got really this ill feeling, so ill that i had to pull over the car on the side of the road and throw up. But sometimes youre called to do something that brings you out of your comfort zone and many of you are here today because youre out of your comfort zone because you love this country and you believe it is worth fighting for and i thank you for that. [applause]. I thank you for that. So you may have heard about a little resolution thats floating around. The new chairman. Freedom caucus, andy biggs, who has taken over on october 1st has hit the ground running. He put forth a resolution that said we need to censure adam schiff for making up his opening testimony and it is time that we hold him accountable. [applause] its time that we hold him accountable. Now, there are 104 members that have signed onto that resolution and its growing each and every day and if your member hasnt signed on, you need to call them and make them see the light. And if they dont see the light, you need to make them feel the heat. If you will do that, i can tell you that those back bones that are like bananas start to stiffen up when they hear from hundreds, if not thousands of people from book home. Theres only one thing that a member of congress fears, its being voted out of office and theres only one group of people who can do that. Thats you. We the people. We need to make sure we hold our elected officials accountable. It is time, isnt it . It is time. So that resolution is being put forth and i can tell you right now, when adam schiff starts to make up things and this is being covered and im sure its being tweeted right now. Let me double down, when adam schiff makes up things, its time to call him out for making up things and actually make sure hes held accountable. Its time we hold him accountable. [applause] now, i was in a transcribed interview the other day, we had abbott volcker there and they brought him in and actually the democrats wanted to change the rules. They said, well, what we want to make sure of is that we have an unfair advantage. We want to make sure that the well, thats not changing the rules, is it . But they wanted to make sure that the democrats staff and majority of the staff in the house actually had more people in the room to be able to question the witness and that the republicans staff, they didnt want the members of congress to ask questions so they said no member of congress can ask questions. Now, the last time i checked, most of the people that of 435 in the house and 100 in the senate, theyre the only ones in washington d. C. That were actually elected to represent the people. And yet somehow the Democrats Health it was best to violence people like jim jordan, devin nunes and people who know this subject and adam schiff said we doesnt want members to ask questions. I can tell you that particular transcribed interview was going so poorly for the democrats after the third hour, adam schiff says im going to break my own rule and ask 25 minutes of questions. Now, you dont hear any of that reported in the media. Why . Because they leak out the Text Messages to give a particular narrative that was not supported by the actual interview that we conducted for over ten hours. If theyre about transparency, lets be transparent, lets let the American People decide for themselves. What do you think . [applause] im also here to tell you that this president is the most prolife president weve ever had in the history of our country, bar none. [applause] bar none. Hes willing to fight. And when a certain governor from virginia talked about that you need to make someone comfortable before you murder them after theyve been born, this president saw that know the only as offensive, but morally wrong and called it out for what it is, and that is murder. He is willing to stand with us on that issue. But i can also tell you that this president is serious about keeping his campaign promises. You know, early on in the administration, id tell the story and i wont go through all the details today, but i was actually there in the oval ofls. I got to go to the oval office. I know it comes as a shock to many of you, i was never invited there under the previous administration. But as i went there, there was a huge white board in this side room, just off the oval office. And in that on that white board was every Single Campaign promise that he had made when he had made it and they were going down checking them off one by one because this is a promisekeeping president. [applaus [applause]. He also works harder than anybody ive ever met. Hell work all through the night. I mean, there are phone calls that he makes in the middle of the night. He will oftentimes go on two or three hours of sleep. Now, we saw that last night. He was in minneapolis. Well, theres one conservative oh, theres three conservatives from minneapolis, so but you know what we had last night was an arena full of conservatives who said that they want their Government Back as well. When they were there, and it was electrifying. Now, were talking about minnesota. Were not talking about alabama. And yet, the same yearnings for we the people to take control of what we do is alive in minnesota, in maine, in california, in new york, and in between and everywhere else and if we allow that flame, that little flicker to start to grow into a huge blaze, not only will we win in 2020, but we will win with landslide proportions in spite of what the Mainstream Media and the polls will say today. And i think its time that we put a little fodder on the fire. It is time so i just need to give you a little bit of the background. Theyve got three nice monitors here in front of me and they have this big clock, i mean, its probably the clock has numbers that are neighb maybe a foot tall. Thats good because i wear glasses and most members of congress when it hits zero they gave you their ten point closing plan right about then. And i am not going to do that today, but i do want to share really from my heart and ask you for two things. One, a lot of people think that our nation will be healed by the policy that happens just a few miles from here and im here to tell you that our nation will be healed with committed believers and people on their knees before their heavenly father prying for our land each and every day. If you will pray, if you will pray, he will be faithful. And so i would ask you to pray for our nation. The second thing i would ask you to do to pray and encourage this president. Pray for him and encourage him because i can tell you the attacks that hes under. I dont know how any person has ever been able to stand up to such a task. I get concerned at times because the attacks are unrelenting. You would think that they would even have a day or two break and they just keep coming and yet, i can tell you even the teams. Democrats are not having an affect on this president or this country because ultimately he has one property and that is to put the will of the people, your priorities first, unlike anybody else that ive ever seen. He truly has, he is. [applause] and hes willing to do things that only other president s have talked about. We know that, we can look no further than in jerusalem there is now an embassy where there was only a promise before. [applaus [applause]. He made a commitment. He was consistent with that commitment and he delivered on that commitment. And so it is with that same type of resolve that youre going to see this president run through the finish tape in november of 2020. When we have four more years to actually turn this country back to its rightful attorney which is we the people. [applause] this president and the first lady are willing to sacrifice so much so that we can truly give in one nation under god. I want to share this personal story in all humility. Im a nobody from nowhere, i really am. I mean, you know, if you were with trying to figure out whether this guy has ever going to be a member of congress, the betting odds were not good. Not that you should be betting. And debby and i had the opportunity to attend the state dinner in honor of the australian Prime Minister here a few weeks ago and we went and you know, as anybody who has ever been honored to be at a state dinner, you feel privileged just to be invited and i looked around and kept saying, honey, what are you and i doing here . And i share that not to share the fact that we were there, but to share the fact that the first lady and the president made a decision. It was unbelievable. We had military band from all branches of the service, violins, but they made a determination to sing and play the battle hymn of the republic. Now, if you know the battle hymn. Republic, its one of those that just brings just that sense of patriotism and pride and sometimes a few tears. And they could have left out a verse and one of those verses really talked about christ being born across the seas and yet, they made a decision to make a strong statement, not just to the have is visitors that were there, but just to the nation at large. Indeed, we are a nation thats endowed by our creator. With certain inalienable rights that are godgiven and to recognize that and to see that brought tears to my eyes. It was one of those times when, as we were finishing up with that battle hymn of the republic, and him dying for us, and some of our sons and daughters dying for freedom, there is a calling on each one of us and i wear that because this president , and first lady, against all odds are willing to stand in the gap, to stand shoulder to shoulder with each one of you and believe that we are a country that once again can be godfearing and godhonoring. Thank you, god bless you. Thank you for allowing me to come and be a part of the team. God bless you. Thank you. We love you. We love you. God bless you. Thank you, mark. Arent you glad hes on our side . Amen. Hey, folks, just a quick word before we move on to a very impressive panel that i know youre going to love. I want to follow up on the campaign that tony perkins referenced before. If youd like to participate and purchase a baby hat, or 100 of them or 1,000 to present to nancy pelosi we want to give you an opportunity to be a part of that. In fact we are going to be tracking that. Im not able to see that in front of me. Do we have that, thermometer where were showing you can see that. Our goal is 10,000 hats during the values voters summit. Can we do it . Absolutely, we can do it and for you to do it, we have a hash tag that you can take advantage of. Again, i cant see it, but i think you can. Thats how i can make a donation. If you need help, well be happy to help you. Go to the Registration Desk. They can help you. Guys, we need every one of you to participate, buy a hat, buy 100 hats, be a part of this campaign and well let you know how thats going. Encouraging, we want to share with you the state of life in america and how leaders across the country are building a movement of victories. Lets all take a look at the monitors now. Governor cooper vetoed a controversial abortion bill that just got final passage in the generally assembly. The born alive bill would have required doctors to treat as regular patients. We stand for the missouri unborn act. I can guarantee you this, that the voice of the unborn in our state will be heard loud and cle clear. Republicans in both the Michigan Senate ap house passed a bill to ban a common second trimester abortion procedure. The bill refers to the procedure as a dismemberment abortion. Governor Gretchen Whitmer is expect today veto the bill when it makes it to her desk. The louisiana house passed a bill restricting abortion, the bill which passed in a 7923 vote would ban abortion once the heartbeat is detected. And its headed to governor bell edwards he desk, expected to be signed. The Indiana Senate voted 3810 in favor of a bill would ban a second trimester abortion known as dismemberment abortion. And now ladies and gentlemen, please welcome our panel and our moderator, vicepresident of frc action. [applause] good morning, appreciate the opportunity to moderate this panel with you this morning on such an important topic and we have seen so much action. There have been so many developments on the life issue over the past 12 months. Many of you will recall laws like the extreme abortion bill passed by the legislature in the state of new york and some other states. We believe the comments of Virginia Governor northam on infanticide. And we have this introduced at the federal level and youll be hearing about that later today. More recently, just since september, the family of the late Abortion Provider doctor discovered over 2000 unborn children in plastic bags in his garage. This shocking tragedy serves as a reminder of the pressing need to have their dignity recognized. And also recently, the Supreme Court just agreed to hear the nun med and its the first the Supreme Court accepted since President Trump filled two seats with justices gorsuch and kavanaugh on the Supreme Court. And we hope it will uphold louisianas ability to protect women and this could be a significant ruling on behalf of the unborn. All that to say in recent months weve seen this issue in center stage sometimes in good ways, and sometimes in bad ways, but every sing many time there have been state legislators like the ones on our panel this morning who have stood up and said were going to do something about this, we are going to stand for the unborn. A couple of numbers id like to share with you really quick. Just this year in 2019 there have been 36 prolife laws supported by frc action that have been signed into law and over the last nine years we have seen one third of all of the prolife laws enacted sns roe versus wade, one third of those that happened over the last nine years. I think those are things we can get excited about. [applaus [applause]. On our panel we have republicans and democrats on this issue showing this issue transcends party lines and they have stood up to send a clear message, we are standing for the unborn. We are winning hearts and minds and we are building an american future that is prolife. With that, i would like to introduce our panelists this morning. First we have senator jessica della cruz of rhode island, representing the 23rd district. And she is a first generation american born to portugese immigrants, selfemployed, and lived in North Smithfield with her husband and three children. She is a political newcomer, having been elected last fall and beginning her term as a freshman senator in january of this year. She stepped into Public Service after years of Civic Engagement and activism working to restore faithfulness to the United States and Rhode Islands constitution. She now serves on the Senate Committee of judiciary and Senate Committee on labor. In the 2019 session she actively opposed and voted against senate bill s152, a bill that dramatically expanded Abortion Access while weakening existing public protections under the guise of protecting roe versus wade. Please join me in welcoming senator de la cruz. [applause] next we have Katrina Jackson who is both an attorney and a state representative representing louisianas 16th district and i understand a senator elect now, so congratulations on that. [applause] she was first elected in 2011 and serves on numerous committee and shes known as a tough negotiator, she hasnt shied away from leadership and is a fighter for her values and for her constituents. At home you can find her fighting for clients in civil and criminal law cases and spending time educating and listening to her constituents. Shes in the 2014 legislative session from the louisiana right to life and twice received the life and liberty award from the family forum. She attributes her congressness not only to have a plan, but recognizes god in guiding. Join me in welcoming representative jackson. [applause]. Lastly we have North Carolinas 13th house district, first elected in 2007, and she serves as vicechairman of the North Carolina House Appropriations committee as well as chairman of the appropriations, difficult and natural and Economic Research and environment committee. Among other achievement. She was awarded the North Carolina right to life, prolife Excellence Award in 2011, and the North Carolina heart of a friend advocacy award in 2016. She is also a member of the national prolife womens caucus. She has been married for 53 years to her retired marine colonel roger mcelraft. [applause]. Please join me in welcoming her. [applause] id like to jump on the panel. If i could start with you and well work down the table. First question, i wonder if you could tell us your story personally. Why is this issue, the issue of defending the unborn, the prolife issue, why is this so important to you and what led you to get involved with this . Well, for me, its a nobrainer. You know, we have the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness and when i think, you know, back on history and great civil rights movements of our time, i think of William Wilbur and how he fought to stop the slave trade and how it was the great injustice of their time. And the great injustice of our time is the abortion issue. [applause] thank you. You know, i always think whats next . Its always a slippery slope. Its never were not going to just stop at abortion. Whats next . I mean, are we talking about disabled individuals . Are we talking about elderly individuals, talking about individuals who are sick . Who decides who lives and who dies . I think that when i look back at whats happening in rhode island. Planned patienthood, theyre not happy with obtaining abortion on demand. Theyre going to take it further, next is euthanasia and i dont know where it will stop. Thank you. Representative jackson, if we could ask you the same question. Its as simple as this for me. God hates to shed innocent blood. So i always said whatever god hated, Katrina Jackson was going to hate, too. This is not a political issue for me. It was not based on a party, it was based on my christianity. As senator de la cruz believes its an injustice. And when i talk to people who dont understand that or the sovereign god that we serve, i toll them all the time someone chose you. If you born after roe versus wade someone chose you and would you not have wanted us to fight for you . For me i not only fight for the unborn. When you fight for life you fight for yourself as well. Someone had a choice not to choose you. I dont think there should ever be a time where someone, other than god, would determine whether youre born. [applaus [applause]. So its just that simple. Thats why im prolife and will always be. Thank you. Representative mcelraft. Thank you. Mine is a little different. I grew up in a Christian Family in oklahoma originally and we never even heard the word abortion. We had no idea what abortion was, even as a young mother of two, my husband was a marine, we were at paris island, south carolina, and some roe vs wade passed and one of my friends said something about abortion and i started reading more about it, didnt understand it. But read that it was only a piece of tissue. It wasnt a baby. So didnt think much more about it until we moved to camp le jeune with my husbands job in the marine corps, when they tell you to go, you go. And i was doing my practical, i was getting a degree in medical Lab Technology and we went to the hospital to do our practicals. And when i did, i was on a break one day and went into the Pathology Laboratory to visit with the pathologist. We had just moved to North Carolina and theres a lot of from the person that laughed about North Carolina, or clapped, you know about pig picking in North Carolina and my mind was focused on pig. The saddest part was when i went in there, i looked around, just glanced around in the Pathology Lab and i saw buckets and buckets and buckets with little pink flesh in them and i thought they were little pigs, i truly did. I said what are you doing with all of these little pigs in here. He said pat, look again. Thats the weekends abortions. Theyre babies, the little babys bodies were so burned. Those days, that was in the late 70s, they were doing abortions with saline and we to have to do blood gases on them and try to keep them alive as much as we could. There were stories from nurses where the doctor, if they were born alive, he would try to turn them over in the saline. There was no firsthand knowledge about this, but these stories that worked in there. Many nurses stopped working for him. He continued on many years in the abortion industry. I dont like to call him a doctor, i call him an abortionist. Doctors are for saving lives. [applaus [applause]. From that moment on, i realized this was not a piece of tissue. Girls were hitchhiking down from new york to come down to jacksonville, North Carolina, the home of the marine corps and the home of the biggest abortionist in the nation. He got shut down by the irs a few years ago. We couldnt do anything to shut him down. There were pickets, all kinds of things. He did stop doing the late term abortions, we think, but he got shut down by the irs, so thats one thing about the irs i like. [laughter]. We are going to work on that legislation so im dedicating my next turn if i am reelected to making sure we do everything we can to save those babies lives. [applause] thank you so much for that. Next question for you all, we saw that video with a lot of the legislative help us, not all of them across the country. In all of your states in recent months over this past year, so there have been some significant things happening at the legislative level on this issue specifically. Could you unpack that specifically for us . What action is a legislature been doing, and what is your role been in that . Senator de la cruz, if we could start with you again. I want to direct and them because legislation did several things. First it a in meaningful restrictions on post viable abortions, post viability. Now abortions can be performed for unsigned reasons which could include Financial Health or emotional health. Limiting any constitutional restrictions on the methods of abortion and also any penalties for extremity of the human fetuses. One of the pieces of the legislation also diminished the role of the department of health, and making it so the department of health couldnt adopt safety regulation. I submitted an amendment in which would clear up the language so that those damages could be adopted pics i called the department of health, and i said id like the last ten years of inspections for planned parenthood. She said thats easy, theres only to make. This is supposed be inspected of you get on the floor i said planned parenthood model used to be safe, legal and rare. Then it was safe and legal but can we call legal putting language into our legislation that prevents the inspection of a a facility that perform surgical and chemical procedures . Can we really say we care about women when restaurants are held to a higher standard of cleanliness . Is it true that mcdonalds can be held to a higher standard than these clinics that provide care for women . Net wishes come to the point where it is just legal. I unfortunately my amendment did not pass, but i will continue to fight for this legislation. [applause] and lastly what did the legislature do . Well, common cause about the lesson watch the crew come sais unprecedented what the senate did. We had two bills the house and the senate bill which mirrored each other pick the first of the senate bill died in committee and then they made some minor tweaks which they could make substantial change were not, and the house bill was brought back to the senate judiciary. There were enough votes again to kill the bill in committee. And seconds before an up or down vote they decide to switch it to another committee. Bills to move from committee if they come to judiciary and theyre not meant to be there, then remove them but that is when we receive the bill. Not seconds before an up or down vote. It happened was we didnt have the votes and so come hell or high water they were going to make sure that bill was sent to health and Human Services which has always been heard in the judiciary, and where seven of the nine members were selfprofessed liberals or progressives. So we have fight in rhode island and elections have consequences and we need hold our elected officials accountable. [applause] representative jackson. We found number one prolife in the union. [applause] it is met if youre democratic republic, twothirds of our legislature prolife so we been able to push very manyfold legislation. We just had a senator author and pass the heartbeat that with no exceptions besides the life of the mother. Governor edward signed into law about three over months ago. [applause] [inaudible] overwhelming super majority vote in favor of the bill in both chambers. We also right now have the love life amendment. We call it the love life amendment. That was the bill i i authored what you with the Research Council, right to life interstate and everyone else which is going to get all voters for the first time an opportunity to vote on whether louisiana is prolife. Its what you put language in our constitution that says parisien is a prolife state. We are very excited about that. [applause] and that actually comes up during the 20 present to election so for the first time our constituency to the other issue that we always looked on as elected officials. If you want to learn more about that, website is lovelife vote yes. Com. Lovelife vote yes. Com and so we are pushing efforts to attract constituencies, constituency is a form every to vote in 2020 to place her in a constitution. Also i authored the admitting privileges bill. Our bill was upheld by the fifth circuit and we just heard about five days ago thats going to be heard as the night state Supreme Court. We are prepping for those arguments and waiting on a date. [applause] but what louisiana has done is we understand until its over turn roe v. Wade is a look at what weve done over the last 20, 30, 40 years, whats past meaningful legislation that place every restriction on abortion that we could. A lot of those laws have been upheld. Revit 24 hour waiting period mac, you cant perform form an abortion after certain time in louisiana and with a heartbeat bill, doesnt go into effect until alabama, mississippi goes it affected to put a provision in because where now litigating a number of cases that i just mentioned and so we parted with our neighboring states to litigate that issue. When you litigate it, whatever the outcome is for theirs, that will be the outcome for hours. Thats what our state has been doing. And every year in louisiana become to gilligan doesnt matter if youre black and white, democrat or republican, rural or urban, we come together as a super majority of the legislature with the democratic governor who is prolife. And we pass legislation that saves lives, and we do it not ignoring our constituency but educating our constituency and bring them along with us. Thats why the lovelife amendment for us so important. Because theyve always said in the national media, you have done it as a legislature, but how do constituents feel about it . We know our constituent are holistically prolife and so for the first time in 2020, then we get to say that. When we are talking about it on the floor, we say we advocate for those back home, in 2020 the advocate with us and we will, it will be resounding in louisiana constitution that louisiana and its constituents are prolife. [applause] representative mcelraft. Thank you. When i came in, we were in the minority, the republicans were in the minority, and in 2010 we actually got a governor, a house and a senate that were conservative republicans for the first time in 140 years. [applause] so we decided to get busy doing prolife legislation as quickly as good as long as we had that kind of a majority in both chambers and also the governor. There was nothing stopping us. We started out doing a womans right to know, and that was just a simple bill that says the doctor, if the woman wants to see her ultrasound, she should be able to see it. And what was really ridiculous is we required them to have them but they were never, the abortionist was never required to show them to the mother. We know why they did want to see the because they would see with the baby, it is not a piece of tissue. It is not a salve that is going, it is a baby. And so that actually, with the 72 hour wait while we have also, that really saved about 3500 babies a year because they would go to the Pregnancy Centers to get her ultrasound, they would get counseling, get health there to raise their children, singly or adoption, get the counseling they need, jobs, financial support, the things the Pregnancy Centers do. We dont just take them in and tell them, you know, lets kill your baby, thats the easiest way out. Because thats what planned parenthood does and im not afraid to say. Thats what planned parenthood does. Its all about the money. [applause] planned parenthood is all about the money. Well, we now have a governor of a different party. We dont have super majorities in the house or the senate, so we said what can we do that this governor wont veto . And so we decided to do the same thing that they did at the federal level come just make the bill almost 100 , and that was survivors protection act. We got a bipartisan bill. We got five democrats to vote with us, and the governor vetoed it. The governor vetoed it. All the bills that is yet to get the same protection to babies born from an abortion, that you give to babies that is born from any other procedure, life, natural, childbirth whatever at the same gestational age. Dont throw them on a table. Dont put them in a closet. And weve heard stories. You will hear from clare today and others baby today, demarco i dont know, but others who are survivors of abortion, that it is happening now. It is not from 40 years ago my story. It is happening now. They are putting them in closets. They are turning them over in a wet solution, whatever, anything and not paying any attention to them. And they are having the last breath without anyone caring for them. So we come have got this bill passed started in the Senate Senator joyce, a great friend to buy, she should be here rather than me. Anyway, she was the one that took the lead on this. With the house version of it as she took the lead in the senate and were going to take the lead on a couple of others, dismemberment bill and the abortion reversal bill. We had her whole legislation set for this year, and come but we knew there was a chance he was going to veto. What we did is we got churches to help us. We got North Carolina values coalition, tammy fitzgerald, some of you may know her, and barbara right to life. They got the message together and started come without an they got everyone together. What did we do to really get our whole caucus in bald . With prayer involved. We asked god to guide us in every bit of this effort. We were successful in getting it passed. The governor is the one who has it on his heart now, that babies will die in North Carolina that may not have had to die. And so are other two pieces of prolife legislation we were going to go do this year, we know they will probably be vetoed, so were sitting on them for a while. We did not have enough of the democrats who voted with us to go for the override we were lacking. We did vote to override it but we lack that one vote. So prayer, getting everyone involved and we get prolife rallies with africanamerican churches, white churches, everybody together praying. But the governor and his political talk with him about, he actually would sit someone across from him and say this is a im running against you if you vote to override the veto. So like i say, as the governor in virginia, the governor of North Carolina has this on his hands now. Appreciate all the answers of it. Weve got just a couple minutes left, so one final question for you. We have three different scenarios here. We have senator de la cruz, your effort to stop a bad bill that did go into effect. Representative jackson come youve been able to get good life legislation passed. You got that the coming up in 2020. Representative mcelraft, the legislation was able to get a good bill passed by the governor vetoed it. This issue plays itself out in different ways in each state. Looking at this through your eyes, the ice of legislature, legislators creatively leaning on the frontlines here, could you tell us, whats next for the Prolife Movement in your state as holcomb understand this is a longterm effort . Success doesnt always happen overnight whats next for the movement in your state recs what encouragement would you give people to get them involved . We cant stop the fight. I know that sometimes when we look at states, we say thats it, you know, were not going to bother with our time there or resources. We cant give up. We can cycle into a red state [inaudible] thats not what we need to do. What we need to do is firmly entrench us as we are and we need to fight for where we live. I grew up in rhode island on my life that i can imagine myself anywhere else. I want my children to grow in a state in which we respect life, and i would tell you that as a political newcomer i never expected to run for office. I was never never aspired to be a politician. In fact, when someone in the house a punishment i said politics listed at it dont want to get involved and she said but in order to make a change, you need to get involved. You can go to all the rallies and advocate but if youre not in the room where it happens, then you are was not as effective as you could be. I would implore you, if you can run for office, run for office. If you cannot run for office, support a candidate that you know is on the right side of life. Because when it comes down to it, i would look at candidate and see the can as a whole. Then i came to the realization that if the candidate is not on the right side of life, can i trust them to make any of the decision . Probably not. [applause] and so i would say if you cant run for office, support the candidate either financially, if you cant support them financially you can follow them on facebook, comments on their post, share it. If youre not on social media you can hold the site at a polling location. You can host a little gettogether fundraiser for the candidate. Whatever you can do, you can do something. We need to be very active in the political realm. Thank you. [applause] representative jackson. Whats next myself in louisiana is will continue to push toward advocating for womens health. As an attorney i always encourage everyone to go for people to advocate for womens health. I first explained roe v. Wade should be overturned. We understand where the Supreme Court is but it did not say we could not legislate an area of abortion in womens health. So just like the admitting privilege bill for us, it was an advocacy for womens health. Because in louisiana, every other Surgical Center regardless of procedure has said many procedures. We are not lowering in any area. So thats whats next for us. What weve been doing is were going to continue to push but also advocacy was important, taking the fight outside the state capital. Going into churches about our communities and talking to the pastors. My story is similar to yours, is that i attended church every sunday. Sunday school, midweek service, never heard abortion. I heard a description proverbs the said guy hated the shedding of innocent blood but no one in the church ever aligned with the killing a baby which is what blood is more innocent than a baby was a been born into a world of sin and he was known no sin . Now were reaching out to our pastors and advocating, and now theyre talking about a pixel imagine if that prochoice person had been sitting in a church since they one and two years old and hearing god hated abortion. I i dont care what party or wht race what religious affiliation. If they had heard that, a party or a a political machine woulde never been able to convince them that abortion was right. Answer advocacy is so important. [applause] thats truly whats next. Will continue our legislation that were taking our fight back to the streets come , back to te churches and encouraging advocacy at every level. You hear from the voices of elected officials and it comes from those who got has a point and it should come from the voice of babies. Thats what we are doing. Thank you. [applause] we will go ahead and carry on with the prolife legislation that we introduced this year, which is the dismemberment bill, and also the Abortion Pill reversal come Second Chance at life. They will probably be vetoed in North Carolina, so what we need to do more than anything is get a prolife governor will help us with this. [applause] and when one who is our Lieutenant Governor some going to work very hard to get him in the governors mansion, and he will work with us and he will help us get heartbeat bills, everything through that we can get to because he is very prolife. What will you need to be doing in your homes and that my constituents . I encourage them all, first of all, to pray. Because without gods guidance we will never win this fight. He has to be [applause] leading us. Help your pregnancy sin whether it be financially or and hopefully your Pregnancy Centers in your area that keep women from going to the abortion clinics. But if you can financially or support them with your volunteer hours, thats very important. I love the idea i i wish tht our state were totally prolife like louisiana as far as our legislature. North carolina is really a conservative state. But we have liberal, very liberal legislators and the governor that just will not give into even conservatives constituents. But if they hear from you and hear from you, thats what they need to and dont wait until a bill comes through. Right write them everyday, sendm them a text, send them an email, let them know that you want prolife legislation to pass. And just, just love god and love those babies. [applause] that concludes our panel. I want to thank our participants for their leadership, the input, and their leadership on such an important topic. So as we close and we give them a round of applause in thanks for everything they are doing. [applause] ladies and gentlemen, as much as i appreciate your applause each time i come to the podium, it is not necessary. [laughing] but i am humbled. Hey, everybody can what a great panel that was and how encouraging it is for those of us, all of us to care about life. And let me remind you again that we would like, our goal is 10,000 baby hats this week and at the values voter summit so lovely put up a slightly get on how you can make your donation. You can simply text baby 19, baby 1991999. If you need any assistance with that, you can ask can go to te frc Registration Desk and her staff will be very happy to help you. But thats our goal, 10,000 hats here over the weekend for values voter summit. In may of last year Senate Majority leader Mitch Mcconnell appointed tony perkins to u. S. Commission on International Religious freedom which is a ninemember Bipartisan Commission and its thank advance religious freedoms globally. It now serves as the commissions chairman. Before we bring them up to the podium with a very impressive panel, once again please look at the monitors as we look at religious freedom successes under the Trump Administration. President trump is a first u. S. President to host a meeting at the u. N. On religious freedom. We are proud of our religious heritage and this president , i will always protect religious liberty. Today with one clear voice of the United States of america calls upon the nations of the world to end religious persecution. We gather today is people to believe in freedom of religion. We have a very Important Group of people spending standing alongside of me. I wanted to welcome Pastor Andrew Brunson and other survivors of religious persecution to the white house. And now would you please welcome our panel and your moderator family Research Council president tony perkins. Well, good morning once again. It is great to be with you, great to see each and everyone of you. And this is an Important Panel and a not in my capacity as the chairman of u. S. Commission on International Religious freedom, as important as that issue is and is much as this administration has done. I want to focus on domestic religious freedom here in america today, the risk that it faces, the successes that we have seen, and the courage that its taken to defend it. And thats what some going to introduce our panelists this morning, you will see a Common Thread woven between them, different cases. Theyve got a butcher, butcher, baker, candlestick maker but that wouldnt get out of the correct. But we and women of the great courage that have stood up against the cultural tides and winds, and god has been faithful. Im going to start to my immediate left, colonel leland bohannon, retired from the United States air force. Let us thank him for his service. [applause] colonel bohannon, you were punished for not wanting to affirm samesex, a samesex marriage by signing an appreciation certificate for a Service Members spouse that was involved in one. And it would seem everyone would be happy because the statistical summary someone else, actually a highranking officer. You might sign. They got exactly what they wanted. They had it, but that wasnt enough, and they came after you for refusing to do that. And i want you to share this, a little bit about your story, what you went through and then the outcome. I appreciate the opportunity. So as a command of an organization on the base, one of my subordinates was retiring, as you said, and as is customary, each individual receive a retirement certificate. Oftentimes if they are married, the spouse also receives a certificate. And so when confronted with his certificate, no problem signing, happy to do it. He was a great troop, and oftentimes one of my noncommissioned officers to whom i would go and consult frequently because he had a lot of good expertise. But when asked to endorse or affirm the relationship he had with his partner, that was a bridge too far. And so i could not sign it. My superior offer to sign in my place, and that was a great solution. I think the upshot of it all was that the nco then decided to file a complaint, which was his right to do. I think the thing that we wrestle with in the military though, and this is probably one of things we need to be mindful of is about when addressing something that is contrary to regulation, youre looking at the regulation. And it wasnt until it got to the secretarys level that we actually began to open up the aperture obit and begin to balance policy against the constitution. And thats where the conflict arose. Talk about emotion. I think my wife for a lot more of the broad than i did but there was a little bit of angst. But quite frankly, i think, you mentioned courage. I do know that theres, i wont speak for everyone else, but conviction i think is what causes you to move in that direction. I want to talk about what was at stake here. You are close to retirement. There were those that wanted to push you out of the military. The retirement was at risk. Actually i was up for promotion and that was kind of one of the things upon you know, the initiation of investigation, my superior took the move to not recommend me for promotion. That was his way of communicating that there was an Ongoing Investigation and that he simply did not recommend me for promotion at that time. His right to do that. I disagree with this approach, and we had a good conversation about that at the end of the day though, in whose hands is it . Is my promotion is in his hands . May be in a limited sense, right . Its in the boards hands that evaluate all the promotion recommendations to an extent. But a think as os x, shirley and contents. Whether god wanted me to be promoted or not, thats his decision to make and i just know that i need to follow the convictions that i have. [applause] sometimes when youre standing alone, this conviction can feel kind of lonely. Who was walking with you . What gave you the encouragement and then to live out those convictions . Sure. No, its a great question and i think i wife jennifer would agree with me in saying that that has been the true blessing that has come in out of a difficult situation. And that is that the church, the local church, the church writ large was galvanized in many ways and was praying for us, and we knew that. And that was monumental, i think, in helping as to draw strength from others and to also at the same time encourage others in doing the same thing. Because quite frankly as a think all of us can probably attest to, we are all going to get our chance. There always will be a pending opportunity for you to stand for what god has said in his word as the differences between where society is going and where god has always been, become greater and greater. And i think everyone on this panel would say you were not looking for that. You were not expecting it. You were just living as god would have you live and then you found yourself right in the midst of it. The length of this trial and the outcome, just share that quickly with our folks. It was a bit drawn out. You know, i think governmental bureaucracy is alive and well. But thats okay, right . So that is the process and we followed the process. But as i said before i think it wasnt until we got to the third appeal that the entirety of the issue was really addressed, both air force regulation policy as compared to the First Amendment. I think it all hit the fan though on october 17. Todd blew the story and that kind of hit the press. But in a fashion that was measured and appropriate perhaps, but i will say its never fun being in the limelight. Thats kind of where it really not the length of intensity really stepped up and thats where the prayers were even more effectual. And the outcome . The outcome was positive, and air force board of correction military records found that i had not unlawfully discriminated against the noncommissioned officer and his partner. [applause] and perhaps more important, the secretary chose not to disagree with the boards recommendation. It was an election during the midst of this investigation and are,. Right i think had circumstance of indifferent, had someone else been making the decisions, if you will, the outcome could even quite different. As we were discussing, i think we can all appreciate where we are today, but where the pendulum will be in the future. Because it inevitably swings so we just have to be mindful of that. As the previous speakers have said, prayer is absolute essential. Kernel, congratulations on your successful promotion and retirement from the United States air force, and thank you for being with us. Aint you. My pleasure. [applause] some of you may be familiar with our next analyst, joanna duka. She is the owner of brush nib studio, and 2019, this year was a lawsuit winner as a wedding vendor taking her case all the way to the arizona Supreme Court. Now, joanna, actually less than a month ago you finally one your case at the Supreme Court in arizona. Yes. [applause] and that decision allows you from the court, allows you to decide what messages that you will proclaim the work as a designer and as an artist. Before, or besides sharing a little bit about what you do, tell us how you got there. What brought you all the way to the Supreme Court . Well, its over to be a with you this morning to take this incredible story. Freedom one in arizona this past month and its an incredible day for all americans and for all freedom loving people. [applause] this journey began with the opening an art studio with my business partner, she and i are both artist equipment artist since we were young and so a dream partner in early 2015 we open the business and we were going to all the normal steps a Business Owner coaster when youre Getting Started trying to figure out the things we didnt know and spending a lot of time on the phone with Government Agencies and trying to be legal and complaint at all of that sort of stuff. And at the same time we were developing our artistic style. As an artist can attest, art is an incredibly personal thing. Its an extension of who you are, and so breanne and i we are people of faith, women of faith, and so art was an extension of that state in god and the desire to express to our artwork the beauty of his creation and who he is and to be consistent in that. And we were creating for weddings. We are girls, we love weddings but as christians we have a special appreciation for the marriage, that is a picture of christ and his love for the church. So creating for weddings really was meaningful for us. And we learned in the process of starting a business that our city, the city of phoenix, had a law that would threaten us with criminal penalties including jail time if we were to create art consistently with our belief. And we had really no choice here we were not going to compromise our convictions certainly, and so we could sit and wait to have those terrible penalties potential in front of us or we could challenge the law and say this is not constitutional restrict the speech of artist. Breanna and i serve everyone but we cannot promote or speak every message and no american should be forced to. [applause] wow. And so caleb dalton is with who represents both joanna at our next analyst, don vander boon, but this case was one that has repercussions for not just others in arizona. I mean, this the free expression, the right of Business Owners like joanna to be able to not the force really as indentured servants to convey a message that they dont want to convey. Absolutely. And joanna and breanna of wing to stand up for the conviction. It wasnt an easy thing to make that choice. They couldve folded. Their other towns. They maybe couldve gone to another career choice but thats the only option the city gave them and the american should have to be forced to choose between their career and the conscious. Thats with the city of phoenix tried to do to them, but they willing to stand up to make that courageous choice to challenge this ordinance and ultimately obtained that victory with a clear holding that while it was from the state of arizona, those Core Principles apply to all americans. Nobody should be forced to violate their speedy but of whu did, joanna, not just for yourself but for others. You could adjust held back. What gave you im going ask all three, so don, get ready, then questioned you. As you are going to this there had to be moments where you wanted should i do this tax on sure the pressure not only politically and culturally, but spiritually. We are talking spiritual warfare in many ways because we are advancing truths what gave you that encouragement in the process . Absolutely my faith. Going into this breanna and i put a lot of prayer into, something god wants us to do, are we on the right path . Because we wanted to the right thing and we believe god was leading us to do. There were definitely very difficult moments, litigation is a long and drag a process. They have a lot of attorneys. Yes. We were doing a lot of waiting and within that there are times where its difficult and you wonder did i do the right thing . Is gods do with me in this . But we both say we grew a lot and opaque to this process because we do believe were standing for whats right and god took care of the details and we can trust tim wu step out in faith and do what he calls us to do but he will be faithful. Even if the outcomes have not been what we wanted we would subtrust that obviously thats the outcome we were praying for and where grateful we got that went and the freedom was about. And where grateful as well that you took the stand for many, Many Americans. Thank you. Thank you, joanna. [applause] don vander boon is from west michigan. Yes west michigan beef company, and the department of agriculture had the with you. [laughing] act under the previous administration. And i want you to explain what happened because weve known each other since that happened. Weve been working with you and i will let the cat out of the back, or should i say how out of the stall . Of the issue is your case turn it well another adf case but at the election a new department of agriculture and respect for religious freedom. But this was back during the height of the debate over marriage and as a christian Business Owner, Family Business, privately owned, you were simply educating, giving opportunity to counter the messages that were in the culture of when he came down to the issue of marriage. Share with our audience what happened, what you went through. Yeah, so i own a meatpacking business and it is inspected by the United States department of agriculture. We work very closely with them. There are two of them a fulltime station at my facility whenever we are operating. And in my business i have a break room and it was common practice or employees to bring in the magazine or newspaper, and during the months leading up to the Supreme Court marriage decision and sure thereafter, i noticed there was a lot of newspaper articles that were very supportive of the decision. And so in early august of 2015 i came across an article that was more typically based and gave a christian view of marriage, and so i printed it out and put it on my breakroom table for my employees to read, if they chose to do so come along with the other newspaper, whatever else was on the table. And it wasnt maybe three hours later i was told that there was someone to see me in my office. So i didnt think anything. I just went up to see you who was there, and he was my inspector in charge, and his boss, front line supervisor of the circuit that im in. And they were looking upset and angry and holding the article that i put on the table. And they shut my doors, and then sitting in the wondering what did i do wrong . They put that article down on the desk and said, are you going to leave the step under breakroom table x and they said, is there a problem . I i suggest, this is considered harassment and we are not willing to operate in this business or have any inspectors here unless you remove that from the table. So are you willing to take it off the table . Otherwise we will help our inspectors out of your immediately. And i just have to completely shocked and stunned. I had no idea this was coming and and i didnt know exactly what to do, and thats that they would sit and think that they had the authority as my government and tell me what i i could put on my breakroom table in my private business. Just to make sure you get the setting straight, this is in your business, your office. You have two inspectors from the United States Government Department of agriculture come in and telling you, if you dont remove this off of your table in your breakroom, they are going to pull out their inspectors, which ultimately shuts your business down because you cant operate without those inspectors. Thats correct. I inspectors had to walk from the office to the production area to this breakroom. So when they walked through they sought on the table and they said because this is a public area and they are public in place and, therefore, my business is not private, its public and are not allowed to have it on the table, that i need to leave my face at the door. Did you offer to give them blinders as the use when you look at the constitution . Id did read with them for about ten was going round and round about First Amendment freedoms and about, you know, what legal right he had to do this . And untold they are an expanded definition of harassment and now youre no longer allowed to do this. And so after reasoning with them for probably ten minutes, i finally come i agreed to leave the articles off while i try to decide what i could do legally. I told them im not giving up, that am going to forget what i can do but my employees depend on this for a living, my family does. I cant just have you shut the doors. So i agreed. And fortunately those are line of defending freedom which came to your aid as first liberty came to colonel bohannon eight. I want to make this a clue. When you look at these Public Interest law firms Like Alliance defending freedom, first liberty, liberty counsel, these positions are essential to the defending and promoting of religious liberty and so we are so grateful for them. [applause] we work handinhand, in this case, for instance, with don, adf handle the legal, building the case. We worked on the policy side even taking this to the white house after the election, and sonny perdue is the new secretary. Once the president , which we help work the executive order on religious freedom, the first may he was in office, once that was issued you begin to see the effects throughout the various agencies. And don, your case has been resolved. Yes, it has. The way it is right now, the executive order resulted in a policy being issued by the secretary of agriculture that protects all free speech, not just for private businesses but also for the employees of themselves to be able to feel free to share the convictions about moral issues and a discussions, and it freed it up for all of us. [applause] caleb dalton, that could change with an election. Because we just saw just yesterday, im going to ask about this, it has just yesterday beto orourke trying to make headlines again, you know, is going after your guns, now is going after your god. I hope he finds in actually. [laughing] [applause] he was asked im going to read it. Not going to do any commentary. Cnn don lemon yesterday at a town hall meeting on inequality or they call it the quality, framed this question picky set in terms of do you think, this is a call, do you think religion visitations by colleges, churches, charities should lose their taxexempt status if they oppose samesex marriage . Orourke, yes, without hesitation. Thats what were talking about here, that those who believe like the three individuals here representing millions of americans, there are those want to actually take the Tax Exemption away from churches if they stand for what the bible says about marriage. Thats. Thats incredible. First, thank you so much for having us and for the good work that you and the frc action do. Its incredible, the partnership we appreciate again your work on these cases as well. I got a candidate for Office Express that message of animus towards people of faith is shocking. Its shocking especially in light of the fact that george dems done a couple years ago indicated religious individuals and corporations input into the economy over 1. 2 trillion of benefits in Charitable Services that we provide. And for a candidate to attack those who are out there loving the neighbor but have a mere disagreement over an important issue like marriage, but have disagreement on viewpoints, thats not what america is about. America was founded on the idea that we can disagree but we can get along. And we can disagree but not have the government come in and opposed its viewpoint on individuals to compel them to violate the conscious. Thats with individuals here onstage experience with the power of government come in a try to compel them to violate their conscious. And thankfully with under the Current Administration to the court system we been able to obtain justice for these clients are but youre right, that indicates the importance of how elections can matter. I want to turn this for a moment from policy and the political side to the free personal site. As caleb has come we worked with a number of individuals, men and women, and young people who have stood up for their faith, and there are challenging times and moments in that. Im not, im going to throw it up, whether wants to grab this, but i think there are those that are here today, and you made reference to this, there are those who may be watching that may be done not in a trial today but they will be. As we see the culture movie in the direction that its going, theres going to come a day when we are all challenged to stand. And oftentimes this is like reading the bible, use the outcome, it was great, but you dont know what happened in the middle. Those lonely moments where theres discouragement and as joanna you said questioning, should i have done this . But if you would be candid and share kind of those low points so that people will know they are coming, but then as the scripture says, joy comes in the morning. I just would like to throw that out for whoever would like to grab it. I would just encourage everyone in this room, all of us as americans but specific as people of faith, to be willing to take the stand. When you believe in something, when something is at your core, then that needs to be something that youre willing to put everything on the line for and it is going to be difficult. There were very difficult moments but we have a great blessing of living and the United States of american having a system which was amazing in my case where we can contend for our rights and while we have that system i think we need to do so because it not only allows us to continue to live freely and live according to our conviction, but allows everyone that freedom. We are all better as americans when everyone is free than when we can live together in a way where each person is consistent with what they believe. So i would say do stand. There are great organizations rep suited here that really make it you are far less olympics are so many people who believe, so we people who are willing to stand for freedom and want to stand behind you so dont be afraid. Stand up and keep in mind the end goal and the purpose of life and that theres so much more the on this. So any challenges we experience here and now i really small compared to the things that truly matter. Thats great. [applause] thats a great point about using the courts. It reminded me of the apostle paul who said this is how you treat a a roman citizen . He used his citizenship as a roman to go through the process, and i think we need to do the same thing. As americans we have a First Amendment freedom. We have the freedom of religion. When the freedom of speech people we have the freedom of association, and its not to e locked away in a safety box. It is to be used an exercise so that it is strong and vibrant for the next generation. [applause] tony, you bring up a good point when you talk about the emotion of it all. I think when you look up here you see three instances, three cases, where the efforts succeeded. Whether my case is overturned, you want on the Supreme Court, your situation of being resolved, thats good, thats good to spirit what if it had gone the other way . So then, if this is something ive been wrestling with a little bit, because i was having a a good time in your force and effect i wanted nothing is better than leaving era men. They are a fantastic group of young men and women defending our nation editor they seem to be said of the court and the army and the sailors and the navy as well. So when god chose to truncate that, i said to myself, its hard not to be better about bitter about what i thought was what happened and is now not happy. That is again gods sovereignty. But if the cases have lost, for efforts have failed, would we be better . How does that the impact our witness, ill continued witness to our neighbors, to the American Public and really to the world . Because i think we can take some lessons from brothers and sisters in china, can probably take some lessons from her brothers and sisters in the middle east who are suffering far greater and we can even imagine. And here we have come we live in a nation where things are succeeding at perhaps the tide is turning in some ways. That may not always be the case. Will we continue with a spirit of generosity and outreach, or will we turn inward and become bitter because we didnt get what we want . An excellent point. Excellent point. [applause] ill give a quick plug for the sunday Morning Service here at the values voter summit i will be the focus of her message in daniel Chapter Three what the three young hebrews were facing the fire and they said if the lord delivers us from you, great pick if he doesnt, we are still going to be free. [applause] and this is a Family Business, and an income was a lot of families depending upon you. Because you are as a small employer, you had about how many speed is 50 employees. About 50 employees. You were faced, and this is where the government puts the squeeze on you because they know you care about the families because you know them. They are in your community. Some of them are fama and jeff to make, that putting you on the spot to make a decision that will affect not just you and your bottom line but always people that work for you. Yeah, that was part of the decision, whether to push back or not, is that old, the fear of loss, the fear of whats going to happen. And then as discouraging and the time, i filed a formal complaint through four days after this happened in august and i received a stamped letter that they received it and then i received another step letter that had been transferred to a different department. That was in september of 2015 and then it went into a black hole. Heard nothing, could get no answer, could get no response, couldnt even most of the time get hold of anybody. So theres months of just trying to run my business and always wondering if the next thing i put on the table is going to be the thing that shuts it down. The inspectors there every day, im working with the them every so he knows i filed a complaint and is looking over my table every day to see whats there. And so its just working with the for all those months and wondering, and by gods providence, defending freedom heard about the case. But when they started, then theres the reality of where this could go. And so at a certain point my wife and i, we sat down and said, are we prepared to lose everything . Because we dont know where it at the time i dont think President Trump had been elected yet and with a good it was pretty much a hopeless cause. And we decided it was, displayed everything. Its bigger than us and its something thats worth fighting for. So many people have died and fought for these freedoms, and ive read so many stories and aspired to them. And all of a sudden here it is, you know. Its my turn. So we hardly lost a thing. The lord prosper our business through it and blessed us to it. We counted the cost but didnt have to suffer like some other set. I so much that a flaw so much more than what we have. [applause] we have a few minutes left and want to ask another question. Im going to resist the temptation, don, so many one minute i could use with your account. Utterly terrible. Going to resist that temptation. We talked about those low moments but there was one point during the episode each of you went through that there was something that happened, somebody something, someone said something, read something that was encouraging, that in a moment of darkness was a light that breakthrough that just encourage you. Ill jump in. When i found out that mike barry and First Liberty Institute speedy mike barry speedy were not going to charge me for representation. I say that tongueincheek but ill go back to your earlier point, to know that someone who has the expertise and mike barry is a marine reservist, so he knows military law very well and he knows the issue very well. And so when he, i kind his name and he jumped in, both feet. It was a huge relief to know not only that someone with expertise was there to help also some of the same faith, he and his wife are praying right along with us. And that goes back to what we were saying earlier about just people communicating consistently along the way that whether it was through email or through a phone call or do a facetoface interaction, its hard to nail down one specific high point because we were consistently getting lifted up. I would say the two things that were most impactful to me, people who disagreed with our view of marriage, you are fighting for my freedom also and i stand with you and you are grateful for that so that is incredible to see. They saw the value of freedom, that we were fighting for all americans and encouraging to hear from other Business Owners of faith that im in this business were thinking about starting a business, i have been afraid to because of laws like this, and you have given me courage to do that. That is something, a great encouragement that others would be willing and heartened to follow their dreams and in the creative room or any other type of business. I would agree with you the support of the Church Family and my family at home, my wife and children and i had Business Owners in the same business i am that would stand by and call and say it is a good fight, anything what can i do to help . It isnt about one company or one family, it is about the freedoms we have all come to count on. I want to thank you for being willing to put it all on the line. You put your career on the line, you put your new business on the line, Family Business on the line, something bigger and greater than ourselves. There are times it doesnt turn out the way we want and in many cases we have many of them at the values voters summit where some are still going on for litigation and some did not turn out well. One of my greatest quotes from history comes from john quincy adams, the only president of the United States ever to turn around and run for congress and theres a reason he ran for congress, he wanted to end slavery. It was in 1838 they got so tired of hearing him talk about slavery they passed the gag, that you couldnt even bring up the word slavery on the house floor. He was approached by someone from fake news and they came to him and said mister adams, when you going to give up you have lost. You cant even talk about the very issue you ran for congress on. This is what he said. He said duty is hours, results belong to god. We bow to a lie or stand for truth and we stand for truth. [applause] and as you and i have the courage to stand for the truth. Generations, the benefit of the stand. And the boldness to stand. Lets thank our panelist. Taking back the side. Need to be courageous and start with us inside and lead with this in hand making us courageous thank you, great job. Our next speaker was sworn in as the 18th usaid administrator in august 2017. Prior to joining usaid he served us in congress, representing the great state of wisconsin. Also as ambassador to tanzania. No tanzanians here . Okay. He served as president of the International Republican institute, a nonpartisan Nonprofit Institution and advancing democracy and human liberty around the world. He served as president and chief executive officer of the initiative for global development, also a Nonprofit Organization that engages Corporate Leaders to reduce poverty through Business Growth and investment in africa and senior director at the Leadership Coalition which is a network of 400 businesses, nongovernmental organizations, policy experts and other leaders supporting Development Tools in American Foreign policy. Ladies and gentlemen, would you please welcome usaid administrator mark green. Good morning. Good to be with all of you. Thanks for those kind words. Thanks for this opportunity. Ronald reagan, one of our greatest president s and quintessential american used to claim there was a sign in the Federal Building that read in case of Nuclear Attack federal rules concerning prayer will be temporarily suspended. Of course the gipper would say that with a wink and a smile but was also making a serious and important point. In difficult times we know that faith is a source of strength and information. That truth is woven into the fabric of american history. And they sought to preserve it. In our young republican. Today i am afraid that too Many Americans dont appreciate how rare that freedom is. We owe tony perkins a debt of gratitude for his role in the Us Commission for International Religious freedom. He is an unyielding voice for those who are persecuted because of their faith. And we stand with tony and his colleagues. It is an expression of american compassion. The free exercise of religion brought the first pilgrims to our shores. An example of liberty for the rest of the world. He was borrowing from one of the same pilgrims, john winthrop, who was in turn borrowing from the gospel according to matthew. Usaid works on religious liberty because we firmly believe it is not merely an American Value but a universal one. Simply cant billions of souls all around the world feel strongly that their spiritual beliefs give purpose and meaning to their lives. It is protecting each others humanities, in todays world in too many places are attacked. Isis has committed genocide. And they decimated the Chaldean Catholic Church and beheaded congregants right from the altar. Another of the regions ancient faith communities were similarly targeted and attacked. They were marked for extinction. In 2018 i travel to Northern Iraq, my friend and former congressional colleague frank wolf, we visited a displaced person at camp and met with survivors. I will never forget looking into the eyes of a mother who showed us photographs of missing daughters that somehow sadly, it could not. One of my first trips as usaid administrator i traveled to burma and bangladesh and visited with muslims who brutalized through extrajudicial killings, rape and torture, displacement and destruction nothing short of an ethnic cleansing campaign. And tolerance and sectarian hatred. I visited a camp in burma and met with a young father whose children had all been born and were raised within the confines of a barbed wire permit or. They lacked a mosque, there was no regular medical care and they essentially lived off the food we were giving them. I looked at the young father and he said what do i tell my son . Ive got nothing. In china the government has forced millions of muslims into reeducation camps and a crackdown that harkens back to the darkest days of chairman maos cultural revolution. Beijing is determined to strip them of their individuality, identity and faith. In europe, the old scourge of antisemitism its rearing its ugly head. Violence against jews in places of worship is on the rise including yet another attack this very week in eastern germany. The suspect apparently sought to live stream his gruesome acts. I recently traveled to the nigerian countryside and learned how extremists were exploiting local conditions and conflicts, fuel for jihad. But we know that attacks on religious liberty dont always take an interfaith form. Sometimes they are simply efforts by an authoritarian regime to capture the community of faith, to bend it into surrendering its character and values for the tyrants doctor ends. Ive heard stories from Nicaraguan Community leaders about that countrys ongoing violence and brutality. The church and clergy who believe their faith calls upon them to restore some sense of peace and justice are under attack for doing precisely that. Because priests were unwilling to stand by as atrocities were committed by the regime, Daniel Ortega has called the roman Catholic Church itself cruel mongers. Nicaraguans have told me how ortegas Paramilitary Forces stormed the parish of the reverend gutierrez. Undid a hail of bullets he call the local Radio Station and before breaking down in tears, he said they are defiling the churches, government is killing us. On social media, nicaraguan bishop pleaded the government of nicaragua crosses the limit into inhumane and immoral, the International Community cannot be in different. He is right. Cannot be in different. We must not be in different. I am here to reaffirm the Trump Administration will never be in different when it comes to the persecution of faith communities. [applause] my friends, we believe as mike pence has put it an attack on one faith is an attack upon us all. If the you in every week ago, donald trump proclaimed we must all Work Together to protect communities of every faith. All over the world, usaid is supporting programs to address religious hate speech and interfaith conflict, to promote the strengthening and enforcement of laws that protect religious freedom and increase the capacity of Civil Society to advocate for it. We aim to reinforce ethnic and religious pluralism where it has historically existed. Our work is not about the content of faith. It is about societys tolerance for multiple faith traditions and an individuals right to freedom of conscience. That is the case in Northern Iraq and our efforts to restore at least some of what isis tried to destroy. Thanks to our president and Vice President , the us genocide recovery and Persecution Response Program is already providing 400 million to help persecuted minorities. We are working with 77 local partners, 17 faithbased groups and 35 international organizations, providing urgent relief and humanitarian assistance to devastated communities. I can announced today that we are extending our work, awarding a little over 5 million to a group of universities including purdue, notre dame and iraqs university to assess the agricultural damage done by isis that is impacting traditional cultural practices of persecuted communities. Let me be clear, we are not using these funds to rebuild faith, nor will we be rebuilding mosques or shrines or churches, but we do intend to restore some hope to those who isis targeted for destruction. [applause] but there is another way usaid is working to protect religious liberty. Through our efforts to unleash the power of faithbased organizations in our broader mission. So many of these wonderful groups are answering the call to the faithful that is wrong throughout history and the gospel of luke, the crowds call out to john the baptist asking what then shall we do . He answers by saying whoever has two to nicks should share with him who has none. Whoever has food should do the same. Ancient jewish sages wrote that the world depends on three things, the law, service to god and others and acts of loving kindness. More recent times, john paul ii reminded us every generation of americans needs to know freedom consists not in doing what we like but having to do, having the right to do what we ought. Reverend billy graham put it differently. He liked to say god has given us two hands, want to receive with and want to give with. I sense a pattern here. That spirit, that part of our humanity, the part that bears the unmistakable figure prince of god urges us to put faith to work and turn worship into deeds. At usaid we have been undertaking reforms to our partnership and procurement process to tear down barriers that too often pushes the Faith Community and local groups that too often calls upon faithbased organizations to surrender their faith character. We must be able to touch people who have been left behind or forgotten, we must be able to reach corners where governments cannot effectively go or where they have chosen not to. In many settings being able to partner with the Faithbased Community allows us to do that. Faithbased organizations are often uniquely trusted voices in those forgotten communities. They can harness networks and resources and insights that can help us reach out in ways we otherwise could not . I will end with this. This past march in jordan i visited the center run by keratitis international which provides training to refugees in the timeless art of crafting mosaics. The refugees were christians who had fled their homes in mosul and baghdad escaping the brutality of isis. Not only was it famous for these beautiful mosaics, but also as a model of religious tolerance. It is a place where christians and muslims have long lived peacefully sidebyside. Keratitis is helping iraqi refugees, people who have had so much taken from them to develop skills and craftsmanship to enable them to help in furthering the citys beautiful ancient traditions. Tolerant and diverse he has given these refugees an opportunity to once again practice their faith freely. It has enabled them to become part of the areas rich cultural fabric and taught them a skill to help them begin to economically rebuild their lives. Before i left on the trip i mentioned the refugees presented me with a gift. A beautiful mosaic to express their gratitude for our support in their time of need. We will display this in usaids main lobby as a symbol of our work to assist those who face persecution and violence merely for exercising their faith. It will also serve as a challenge to us to take up the mission that the worlds great faith traditions call for, to lift lives and build communities for believers and nonbelievers alike on the words of john the baptist, to share a tunic with him who has none, thank you. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. One of the great sponsors of this summit is the americans for religious freedom. As we have just been talking about that in the last couple sessions lets take a quick look at americans for religious freedom. I was told we dont write about jesus in school. They cut my mike a graduation speech because i thanked god for his guidance. They that i couldnt read at the bible during school during my free time. My teacher said i couldnt read a bible verse as my class assignment. Lets hear it for americans for religious freedom. The wonderful job they are doing. Our final speaker this morning, doctor Sebastian Gorka in the house. All of you know he is the host of the daily talk show on Salem Radio Network america first. He served donald trump as Deputy Assistant for strategy and the Us Navy Seals and the commandant of the marine corps. He has also testified before congress on the threat of global jihad is him. He is a guest instructor of the special Warfare Center and school at fort bragg. The home of the green berets. Doctor gorka writes for the hill and has written three books, defeating jihad, why we fight, defeating americas enemies with no apologies and he has a brandnew book out that you can get right here at bookstores everywhere called the war for americas sold. Please welcome doctor Sebastian Gorka. You got to stand for something and dont fall for anything you have got to meet your own man on a train never compromise whats right thank you, everybody and good morning. I feel like i should take a nap. Let me tell you a little story. My wife and i just moved home recently and have a little housewarming. Our neighbor from where we used to live came to the housewarming. A great guy, wonderful family, former marine in the Intelligence Community and he regaled us the sad story of what happened to his house in the recent floods here, some very heavy rain in northern virginia. At the end, three feet of water in his basement, huge amount of damage. I asked him how bad it is and where are they now . He said we are negotiating with the insurance company. It is all going to be fine except we lost all our photo albums with our children. Not valuable in terms of currency value, but priceless in terms of memory. It made me think, what are the items that i would grab if that hurricane were happening, god forbid there was a fire, what are the handful of things that i would reach for before i left our home to the elements . Not many, really. Most things can be replaced. Photo albums i remember the one physical item that would always be with me. And it doesnt look like much. It is about you a big, and inch tall, made out of baker light. Before plastic and polymers. It is a crucifix. A hand hewn crucifix with the cross being blue in the body of our lord in white. Why would i say that . Lots of fancier crosses. Ive been to the holy land, i have brought back crucifixes and crosses made of olive trees where our lord walked. Why that one . Let me explain. There is a story in my book the war for americas soul which describes how my life changed in the span of one sentence. Sometimes you can truly identify the moment in your life where your existence comes to a fork in the road and only two branches. You can go this way or you can go that way. For me that moment came on a beach in Southern France when i was 8 years old. My parents as children suffered under fascist occupation. They lived in hungary. My mother was born in 1939, my father was born in 1930, they lived as children under the oppression of world war ii and fascist dictatorship. After that, my father was arrested and tortured and given a life sentence by the secret police of the next dictatorship. The fascists were replaced with the communists. He would eventually escape from prison during the glorious ten days of the hungarian revolution. As he escaped to the west with the 17yearold daughter of a fellow prison made hiding under a train carriage and then eventually literally crawling through a minefield into free austria. That 17yearold girl whose father was in prison with my father for the crime of being a leader of the ymca, they escaped hungary to austria and were relocated to the uk where i was born and bred. I was born to liberty. The uk, the model of democracy. I grew up under margaret thatcher, looked to Ronald Reagan as a hero. My life changed when i truly understood what my parents had lived through. Because my father was a great athlete on the national crude team for hungary when arrested by the communists. They never broke him. He was a great bear of a man who loves to swim. On that day as i was sitting on the sand with my g. I. Joes he came out of the ocean, amazing figure of a man. And i looked at him and i saw something i hadnt realized before and had the lines on his risk, these white lines and i knew he was far too young to be wrinkled on his wrist. Like a foolish child i asked him hey, dad, whats that . Without skipping a beat, no emotion, he responded well, son, thats where the secret police bound my wrists together with wire behind my back so they could hang me from the ceiling of the torture chamber. That is when my life changed forever. Why . Because from that sentence on word i knew at a deep deep level in my soul that evil is real. That evil exists in the hearts of men, and it walks the earth. It is not a word that is just related to or reserved for mythological stories or childrens stories about witches and dragons and magic forests. Evil exists. That crucifix was given to me by my father because when he was in prison, it was his faith and the lord that kept him alive and sane. And he had a toothbrush which was multicolored blue and white and with a little shard of glass, he cut that toothbrush and he was an artist as well, formed the body of our lord out of the toothbrush. That god was with him in his direst moments. The war for americas soul, i tell the story how he was imprisoned with catholic priests because they were enemies of the state and an incredible story of how once a week they would be given a sweetbread of pastry that now and again would have some raisins in it, that would be the luxury of the prison food once a week and all the believers, all the patriots would collect the raisins to gather so that they could illicitly make fermented grape juice in prison, save some bread and then say mass while the communists were torturing and executing their fellow patriots. These are the things we have to remember today as we roll head long into a socialist america. We have one political grouping in our country that has come out of the closet as socialists. It is shocking to me as the child of those who escaped fascism and communism that according to the annual poll of the victims of communism Memorial Foundation, an amazing institution in dc, every year they do a big pole. According to the victims of communist Memorial Foundation in the last poll, 52 of american millennials wish to live in a socialist or communist america. It is not funny, madame. It is not funny. It is deadly serious. Because this ideology has caused the death of an estimated 100 million souls in the last century. And people like alexandria ocasio cortez, people like Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren wish to realize it here. And we cannot let them. [applause] as a good friend of mine, an orthodox jew taught me one day and jeff, if youre listening i give you full credit, there is Something Special about this country. The greatest nation created by god, hang on, just calm down and let me do the speaking, all right . I am the guy up here, i get the big bucks, you can just relax and listen, okay . As my friend jeff says, greatest nation created by god, israel, greatest nation created by man, america. That is the connection. We must never ever forget it. As Ronald Reagan reminded us, we need to be these shining city on the hill but as he also said the loss of liberty, the extinction is what he said, the extinction of liberty is but one generation away. I am honored to have worked for the president when he was candidate trump and the highest honor of my professional career to be his deputy for strategy in the white house. I have to be honest with you, in 2016, all he did was open a window of liberty. A very small, grace filled window of liberty. That window can close in the next 389 days. They on a warpath. Think of what they have done to his family and anyone who works, they call him a racist, bigot, white supremacist, they call him an antisemite, the most Senior Advisor is his jewish soninlaw and his grandchildren are jewish and he is the first president in 23 years of broken promises, 23 years, every single president for 23 years has said yes, we will recognize jerusalem, we will move our embassy, all of them broke their promise to our brothers and sisters in israel. Along comes donald trump. Let me tell you a story. When donald trump wanted to make that decision, i havent revealed this before. He had a meeting of his principles, his cabinet members, National Security adviser. Only three people in his administration, only three people supported the president s decision. One of them who didnt, who had a very robust reputation in the media, who had a nickname of mad dog, said dont do it, mister president. You will ignite world war iii, and i dont have enough marines to protect their embassies in the middle east. Dont do it. What was my bosss response . Three things. I promised our brothers and sisters in israel. I promised the American People. And by the way, it is the right thing to do. [applause] that is who donald trump is. [applause] and i have a personal request to you that i will illustrate with another story. As recently asked to address a republican conservative womens group for their annual dinner. I was honored, huge crowd, very fancy country club not far from here and i arrived early. Going to be a packed dinner. As i walk through the compound to the club i realized something strange. This is a conservative republican event and outside my car, only one other vehicle in the compound had a trump sticker. I mentioned this in my speech. I said thank you for coming, thank you for your support and activism and knocking on doors. Why arent you standing up for the president . You cant even put a Bumper Sticker on your car and dont give me this crazy liberals will key my car. Really kick you that is the level of your support for the president . That he is being called outrageous things every day, obamas cia director calling him a traitor National Television and you are worried about your car being keyed . Show some backbone because we are in a fight. We are in a fight and the republic at the Founding Fathers gave it to us. Dont be misled. The decision last week by nancy, the pixelation to the squad, four horse women of the democrat apocalypse. There was a spur of the moment of capitulation, he was sworn in on january 20, 2017. Because they decided that america chose the wrong candidate. Instead it should have been a woman who thought it was owed to her because of her gender and her last name, perhaps the most corrupt politician in corrupt american history. Do we ask you, what are you prepared to do in the next 389 days . You can knock on doors, ba hall monitor. It is all great but not enough. It is not enough. Because you know they will be organized, you know they will cheat, lie and bus people to the polling stations so i ask you very simply to do the following. In addition to everything you have done as supporters of frc and i thank you on behalf of tony and his great team i want every single one of you to become what the military calls a force multiplier. I dont care how old you are, how technically challenged you deem your self to be, if you are not on social media every day supporting the president you are part of the problem, not part of the solution. [applause] there is a reason incredible americans like Dennis Prager you will be hearing from later today, there are reasons he is being censored and throttled on social media. There are reasons an internal google email calling him and ben schapiro nazis, because they are afraid and we have them on the run but they will not give up and you owe it to Donald J Trump to be there for him. [applause] so here is my request as former Deputy Assistant to the president , to every single body in this room and everybody watching. I want everybody who has a pulse and who is breathing and listening to me, by midnight tonight, get a twitter account, get a facebook account and and instagram account. I dont care is all you do is retweet the president , you are being a megaphone. It is like the pamphleteers of the 18th century. These are pamphlets for saving the republic but even better than that wherever you live wherever you come from, document the insanity around you, the corruption, lies and propaganda, take a photograph and posted because that is the only way we will win. There is a reason why the president has 63 million followers on just twitter alone. Because the fake news Industrial Complex is out to destroy him and we cannot let that happen. So by midnight tonight, every single one of you, twitter, facebook and instagram and you know that i know people who can check, right . Watching. Watching. Let me end with the boss. Let me give you a direct quote from what i consider to be the most important speech he has given in the last three years and i dont want to make a mistake so i will read it to you verbatim. When i was in the white house, we managed to organize a visit by the president to poland, to one of the strongest nations in our judeochristian heritage and in negotiations with the polish government they wanted the president to give his big speech of his arrival in the fancy palace downtown. And a special request. His big speech will be delivered right next to the magnificent bronze statue of the polish Freedom Fighters. And the occupational forces. And standing next to the statue of Freedom Fighters. And after some negotiation they agreed. And i give you the 3 most important stands thes from that speech. If you havent watched it or read it do so tonight. You can read the transcript of the white houses website. These three standards are everything you need to know about not only the plate of our republic but the plight of our civilization. As i stand here today before this incredible crowd. And we hear those voices that echo through history. The message is as true today as ever. The people of poland, the people of america and the people of europe still cry out. We want god. Our own fight today in the west does not begin on the battlefield. It begins with our minds, our wills, and our souls. Today the ties that unite our civilization are no less vital and demand no less defense than the shred of land on which the hope of poland once totally rested. Our civilization and our survival depends on bonds of history, culture and memory. This is the most important part for all of us to internalize. The fundamental question of our time is whether the west has the will to survive. Do we have the confidence in our values to defend them at any cost . Do we have enough respect for our citizens to protect our borders . Do we have the desire and the courage to preserve our civilization in the face of those who would subvert and destroy it . That is the question, my friends, that we need to ask all of ourselves for the next 389 days. The stakes could never have been greater. If you want to know all the crimes that have been committed by the last administration, who is behind them, what it is going to take to the feet demand my exclusive interview with the president , have a look. The war for americas soul and it is a war. God bless you all. Never compromise whats right and oppose your family name s new book is available for purchase at the summit. You are walking out right now stop would you give me 3 minutes and then you can walk out. It hurts my feelings when you walk out when im giving announcements. Hang in there and these are important announcements, starting with another feature of values voters summit sponsored the Washington Times. Look at the monitors. If we have a more robust discussion, and they are expressed in independent media, to not be getting otherwise. Justin life you are dealing with all sorts of interesting people and events, something new every day. As a journalist i pursue the real news and find out who is thinking what. Who is behind this narrative in the news cycle . The tradition of american journalism in a way that is a news format and that has never been this important. Talking about how everything is accurate, that is journalistic integrity. 3 days a week we have four pages to fill. The illustrations that will best elicit energy from the reader so it can wade through the intellectual material. Reading controversial new sources like the Washington Times helps with trying to determine between fake news and real news. I have an insatiable curiosity. I like to talk to people. I like to ask questions and i like to find out what the truth is. Our reporters and editors i understand how important it was. Whether i agree with the stories or points of view free and independent press is happening in the country. It is important to go in on the ground and talk to people around the world to tell their stories, americans observed that, and provide factbased oasis of light in the digital dark age. For the Washington Times. And remember when the media just reported the news . Me either. That is why we need organizations like the Washington Times. You still only two minutes. Only two hours to enjoy your lunch. And the Abortion Campaign, all of you should have received the baby hat in your packet when you registered. We would like you to take that baby hat and toss it into the crib. And we are not just packing this in the ups box, shipping it there, cross our fingers and see what happens. We have media following us and hand deliver it. It will get all kinds of coverage. It is all part of the campaign. We want you to be part of that. A reporter stepping up and say i will match the next 500. Anybody here, our goal is 1000. If you agree to give a hat it will be doubled. If you want to give ten it will be 20. And text your gift, and ask someone to assist, and i dont want to have this conversation with you again. On behalf of my home state of california we apologize. Dont forget two hours to check that out. And a sponsored cafe, made to order complimentary coffee and two trips to israel, leadership training and much more. Dont forget the family Research Council is sponsoring a pass book, get to as many exhibitors as you can, by 1 00 pm tomorrow afternoon or 3 00 pm drawing, there will be 3 winners, two free passes to next years voters summit and the frc store, follow the crowd where the popcorn is popping. Hosting a hospitality suite across the hall today. Check out the hours and please stop by and check this wonderful sponsor. All college and High School Students from 5 30 to 7 00, and join in a competitive tribute in the palladium room, and something you dont want to miss. Have i mentioned free dinner . That will be tonight. From 5 00 to 5 30 this afternoon we have a book signing with Dennis Prager and todd starnes. And after the evening session tonight from 9 307 00, there will be a book signing in the exhibit hall that will be open for them and we have several book signings tomorrow in the exhibit hall and they are listed in your program schedule. It helps if you buy your book ahead of time. I have 45 seconds, i can do it. After the ending sessions we have a special showing of a brandnew movie about to be launched called no safe spaces, you have the right to remain silent featuring Dennis Prager. What we are doing tonight is normally a 90 minute fulllength feature film but for tonight we will show a 30 minute version of that, you can stay up and watch this 30 minute version of it and you will definitely want to take advantage of that. Your tag will be your ticket to the the family Research Council teaming up to host a job fair meet and greet and career consultation with organizations like the billy graham Leadership Institute, frc, public advocate of the us, National Center for Sexual Exploitation and other fine organizations you want to know more about. Be sure to participate on social media with the best picture of the day. Use hashtag pbs 19. Purchase tickets to sponsor these meals, reception or gala. The ticket you receive is your admittance. And it can be turned into hotel security. You may want to check with our office as well. At the Registration Desk. If you lost something or want to turn something in and if you require extra time preceding this afternoon our doors will be open a few minutes early, please know that there is an area upfront with guests with wheelchairs or scooters and should you have additional seats, the Contact Information leaving the ballroom. As you leave, take all your materials with you. A reminder that all bags are subject to search, name badges are required for admittance and have i mentioned no unauthorized videotaping or recording. Have a great afternoon. We have a full schedule and more great speakers. We will reconvene at 2 00 sharp. See you then. A programming reminder, donald trump will speak to the values voters summit tomorrow. We will have live coverage at 6 15 p. M. Eastern time on cspan. On capitol hill former Us Ambassador to ukraine has been participating in a closed door deposition with house impeachment investigators. She has been in there for two hours, looking at whether donald trump asked the ukrainian president to investigate joe biden who is the md post by 3 house committees, intelligence, oversight and Foreign Affairs as part of the impeachment inquiry. Reuters reports the Us Ambassador to the European Union will testify next thursday but will not share documents. The documents belong to the state department. Sunday at night eastern on after words in her latest book top love former Obama Administration National Security adviser and u. N. Ambassador susan rice talks about her life and career in american diplomacy and foreign policy. Shes interviewed by robin wright, author and columnist for the new yorker. What are you worried about in terms of russian intervention . I think its important for the American People to understand it hasnt stopped. This has been constant. They were very actively involved in 2016 as we saw through stealing, hacking and steely stg emails from the dnc, from john podesta and others on the clinton campaign. They try to infiltrate our electoral system. They put out false information and then they were very active on social media trying to pit americans against each other over domestic issues of content, whether race for immigration or guns or what have you. And their whole thing is to discredit our democracy, to cause people in this country to hate one another and turn against one another. And to try to weaken us from within. Watch after words sunday night at night eastern on tv on cspan2. A new cspan so poll shows just over half of americans are confident the 2020 president ial election will be open and fair. Theres a significant partisan gap on the question 72 of republicans are confident in the system, only 39 of of democrats share that belief. 58 of americans think foreign governments are among the threats to the system. While only 41 of republicans share in that concern for more than threequarters of democrats and over half of independence belief foreign governments may interfere with u. S. Elections. 31 of people believe the federal government has done enough to protect elections from foreign interference. 54 of republicans report having either a great deal for a fair amount of confidence in federal efforts. Only 16 of democrats and just over a quarter of independence agree. You can find all of the results including whether americans think president ial candidates should be required to release their tax returns and whether citizen should be required to show a government id to vote at cspan. Org. Former fbi Deputy Director Andrew Mccabe said agency heads knew the steele dossier had issues but felt it needed to be investigated. Thats not part of a Justice Department investigation into the handling of the 2016 president ial Campaign Information which ended in the mueller report. He was interviewed by journalist carl bernstein. [applause] thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much for that warm welcome, and good evening. Ladies and gentlemen, distinguishedin guests, student, and all members s of the new school community. Thanks so much for inviting me to speak to you here tonight. It is truly an honor to address a group as engaged and, quite frankly, as large, thats a bit terrifying for me, as you all are right now. But also to be able to on the 100th anniversary ofy the new school, so congratulations on your anniversary and thank you for making me a part of it. Tonight id like to talk to you a bit about loyalty and about how my experiences in the fbi showed me the majesty and the power of loyalty at its best. And the danger and manipulation of loyalty in pursuit of self interests. The model of the fbi is the fidelity, bravery, and integrity. So it begins with fidelity. Fidelity, what is that . The quality or state of being faithful. And. And what is faithful . According to merriamwebster, hateful is steadfast and affection or allegiance and loyal. So i think its appropriate that at the fbi, you