Transcripts For CSPAN Ben 20240703

Thats informative and im sure well talk about it when we talk about the labor market in the United States and how it affected peoples resources but the supplemental policy measure goes way further. All right. How was lunch . It was good. How was the morning session . Was it good . [applause] the afternoon session is going to be great and this evening is going to be great. As brent was saying, theres free food for the students. Now, here we actually believe that words have meaning so it means you can identify as a student and go get free food. This is the right. We actually believe words have meaning. All right. To kick off our afternoon session, i want to introduce someone that actually, ive probably known longer than anyone else that i have known here in washington, d. C. , i first met him when he was a radio talk show host and i was in office. I was in indiana. From my home state of louisiana, i introduced the first covenant marriage law and testifying before the indianapolis the indiana state legislate in your indianapolis and i got a call to do a morning talk show. Ill be honest, i didnt want to get up that early and go into the studio for the show but i did and im glad i did because it wouldnt be long until that microphone was vacated because the talk show host was soon elected to congress. Three years later after that our pathed crossed once again as he was a rising member of the Republican Party here in washington, d. C. And i joined the Family Research council, he quickly ascended the ranks of leadership becoming the chairman of the Study Committee and the chairman of the g. O. P. Conference and from there went to become governor of indiana and most recently, 48th Vice President of the United States, please welcome my good friend, Vice President mike pence. I was born free i was born free born free mr. Pence how about a round of applause for tony perkins who i have known a very long time. And i know this great gathering is sponsored by many wonderful organizations, yall come from all over the country, but it is the 40th anniversary of the Family Research council, so join me in thanking tony and everybody with f. R. C. Its made such a consequential organization. Tony, i appreciate so very much the introduction, you know the one i prefer is a little bit shorter. Im a christian, a conservative and a republican, in that order, and it is a joy to be back with so many faithfilled freedom loving americans at the operate, vote and stand summit. Last time i stood before you was back in 2018 as your Vice President. It was my privilege to be the very first Vice President to address this distinguished gathering and i want to thank you for giving me a reason to come back to washington, d. C. From our home in indiana. Washington, d. C. Is a place if you come with low expectations youre never disappointed. John f. Kennedy said it well, its a city that combines a Southern Efficiency with northern charm. But im awful glad youre here. Our life changed a lot. Karen and i moved back to indiana and bought five acres and a pond and i have a john deere riding mower and a pickup truck. My son is a captain in the United States marine corps who starts in top gun just this week. One of my own worthy soninlaw is a Fighter Pilot in the United States navy, finished top gun just last year. Most important thing thats happened in our family, though, since ive seen most of you last, karen and i have become grandparents not once, not twice but three times over, the most beautiful granddaughters ever born in the history of the world. What are the odds of that . So weve been incredibly blessed. I stand before you today, motivated by probably what brought you to our Nations Capital, i stand before you today as a candidate for president of the United States because i believe this country is in a lot of trouble. Its never been more important to stand firm to vote our values and to pray. We gather today, america is in crisis. Joe biden has weakened this country at home and abroad. So we have to decide right here and right now that joe biden will never be reelected as president of the United States and were going to elect strong conservative leadership to the white house. You know, every crisis we face is man made and that mans name is joe biden. He launched the worst inflation in 40 years. Wages are falling. Interest rates are rising so fast Mortgage Rates are now at a 22year high. And anybody that goes and shops at the grocery like karen and i do knows the cost of living has gone through the roof. Gasoline prices are up 60 after their war on energy. Overall, inflation is 16 . And we have the worst crisis at our southern border in american history. With the flood of humanity and fentanyl claiming lives every day and their aggressive Green New Deal agenda using taxpayer dollars to force the American Auto industry into electric cars set the stage for 145,000 u. A. W. Strikers to go on strike today. In the midst of all their failed economic policies, theres a steady assault on our values and attempts to marginalize those of us that agree in traditional moral values and faith. The disastrous withdrawal from afghanistan has emboldened the enemies of freedom around the world. If there ever was a time we needed men and women of faith dedicated to freedom to come together and resolve that we will win america back, it is today. The truth is americans are losing faith. Losing faith in our institutions, losing faith in each other. Losing faith in the future. I believe at the heart of that crisis of confidence is a crisis bat the very heart of our civilization. So i came today to talk to you about the erosion of the traditional family in america. And if i have the honor to be your president what i intend to do. I believe theres no threat to the american future than the collapse of the traditional family. I believe we must resolve here and now that we will elect leaders to the white house to the statehouse who Will Champion the traditional family without apology. And as your president , i will. The facts speak for themselves. People are getting married later and having children later in life. Declining u. S. Birth rates. Between 2007 and 2019 the number of babies born in america each year fell by 600,000. Well reflect more in a few moments. About the role of abortion in our society. These are not the signs of a thriving civilization but the hallmarks of decline. Its time we started to be honest with our neighbors and friends. Now, the radical left believes the institution of the traditional family is outdated and unnecessary. They routinely demean those of us who put our family and family values first. Underlying their agenda is the belief the family is secondary to the state. They believe parents should have no right in education and believe the government should sub plant the role of the family literally from the cradle to the grave. Dont ever doubt it. I would submit to all of you, theres never been a time when renewing American Families has been more urgent. Its the family, and its at the dinner table where we pass along our timeless values of faith and hard work, integrity, loyalty. I just finished a book with my middle daughter, charlotte, a little story about our family and how weve been blessed through the years. The title of the book is go home for dinner. Ronald reagan said all great social change begins at the dinner table. And reagan was right. The truth is, if we want to strengthen america, we want to strengthen the American Family. Strong families make Strong Communities and Strong Communities make a strong nation. Thats why your willingness to come to the Nations Capital today and hear all the speakers that you hear of such vital and timely importance and why today im unveiling a national pro strategy that will put the American Family first. A little bit later, or if you lose interest during my speech, you can go to mikepence2024. Com and read all about it. I wanted to come here to the pray, vote, stand summit and outline a plan to rebuild the American Family. Its really in four parts. Number one, well encourage marriage, childbirth and adoption with policies in this country. Secondly, were going to end the radical left assault on our kids and reject the transgender ideology thats taken hold in our schools. Third, were going to give parents in every state the right to choose where their children go to school, public, private, parochial or homeschool. Finally, were going to restore the sanctity of life to the center of american law in every state in the land. So first and foremost, were going to stand by twoparent families and work to make life more affordable. You should be able to raise a family in america on one income if you choose to do so. And in the 1980s, it took 40 weeks for the average american to earn enough money to support their family for the year. Now one parent has to work all year long, and thats if they can make ends meet. Under the failed policies of joe biden, weve seen inflation waging war on family budgets. In hobart, indiana, at at a gas station not long ago and a mother with two little ones strapped in the back seat told me even though her husband had a goodpaying job, he had to go to the food bank in town twice a week because gas prices and grocery prices have gone up so much. Weve got a plan to combat inflation. Were going to shut down runaway Government Spending and put us back on the path of a balanced budget and make it possible to lower Interest Rates on mortgages so more young families can live the American Dream of homeownership. Well extend and make permanent the trumppence tax cuts, essentially expanding tax relief for middle and low income families. And right out of the gate ill tell you right now, if youre going to be prolife, youve got to be pro adoption. Were going to work to make adoption affordable for every family in america. Weve got a plan. The truth is the high costs associated with adoptions often discourage prospective families from even thinking about it. The average adoption in this country costs about what the average income of what americans make every year and thats got to end. Under our plan as your president ill direct the department of health and Human Services to consolidate the web to a goal of making adoption zero cost for every American Family, and it bost cost taxpayers a penny. The money is already there. Were going to strengthen families by reforming government programs. Secondly, were going to leverage the power of the executive branch, appointments to our courts and congress to protect our kids from the radical transgender ideology taking hold in our schools. Ill never forget listening to joe biden give his first state of the Union Address where he pledged to protect the god given right of boys to compete in girls sports. As your president , i promise you, we will end the left happens assault on women sports and demand the participation in women sports is only to those where theyre gender is assigned at birth, and on day one ill reverse joe bidens policy that promote transgender child procedures and surgeries everywhere in america. And we will block federal funds to any hospital or Health Care Provider that conducts surgical or chemical reassignment on children under the age of 18. Weve got to protect our kids. Instead of encouraging the tragedy of this broken ideology we ought to be teaching our kids. Theyre fearfully and wonderfully made in the image of god and not a fan of the selfloathing ideology of the american left. Thirdly, well recognize that families dont coparent with the government, and we will restore parents rights in education in every state in america. I can honestly say i was for educational choice before it was cool. Indiana had one of the First School Choice programs in america. So if i get to be your president , were going to shut down the federal department of education. Were going to board it up and send all the money back to the states so they can expand educational choice for every parent in america. And finally, our plan, if i have the privilege of being your president , i promise you, well stand every day without apology for the sanctity of human life. You know, im not new to the cause of life. Some of you have known my career in the past as a congressman. I actually first authored the legislation to defund planned apparenthood. As governor of indiana, i signed legislation that banned abortions for race, gender, or disabilities that went all the way to the Supreme Court of the United States, and i will tell you that i couldnt be more proud to have been Vice President in and Ad Administration that appointed the three justices that compromised the majority that sent roe vs. Wade to the ash heap of history where it belongs. So if i have the privilege of being the president , i promise you ill end taxpayer funding of abortion at home and abroad and continue to appoint the strong judges and justices to uphold our god given right to life. And on day one, ill direct the department of defense to stop using taxpayer dollars to undermine prolife laws in states around the country. Senator Tommy Tuberville is right and the pentagon is wrong. And on the cause of life, i promise you, if i have the privilege of being your president , youll have a champion for the unborn in the oval office. Ill work with states around the country to advance the strongest possible protections for the unborn in one state legislature after another. We wont stop there. I truly do believe the times have come for a minimum National Standard that would ban abortions after the point that an unborn child can experience pain. We need a 15week National Standard to protect unborn children in california, in illinois, in new york, and in democratled states. I think the fate of our nation is tied up in the cause of life. Save the babies and well save america. If america is to survive, we have to strengthen our families, stand by the cause of life. We have to stand up for families. And all of you have to prepare to vote for men and women that share your values without apology. The most important decision i ever made in my life happened on a hillside on a rainy night in 1978. I was a freshman in college. I traveled with some friends down to a christian Music Festival in the early days of contemporary christian music. The festival took place at a place called asbury university. Been much in the news in the last year. I remember sitting on the hillside having walked away from the faith of my youth, having lost interest in religion, and it was like i heard the words for the first time that god so loved the world he sent his only begotten son that whoever believeth in him might not perish but have everlasting life. I remember being moved to stand up. Not out of a sense of just being convinced in my mind but because my heart was broken for what he had done for me on the cross. I walked down that rainy night and found a young pastor and accepted jesus christ as my personal lord and savior and changed my life forever. So as we gather today and speak about who it is for whom we will vote, and that for which we will stand, id encourage each of you to remember, remember to pray, remember the effective and fervent prayer for every righteous person, not be anxious about anything but in everything in these anxious times, by prayer and petition to present your request to god, request to restore this country, restore the family, to restore the foundation that seems to be crumbling under foot every day. And if youll do that, i know the peace of god that passes all understanding will guard your hearts and minds and youll be able to carry from here a determination and resolve, to pray and to stand and to vote over the next year and a half in such a way that will bring about that change. My fellow americans, my fellow conservatives, i want to encourage you to do all the above, to stand and to vote and to pray. And know that i and my little family, we dont know what the future holds, but we know who holds the future and well be there with you every step of the way until we win america back to everything thats always made us prosperous and strong and free, and we build it on a foundation of faith and freedom. So help me god. Thank you very much. God bless you. God bless america. I was born free born free free like the river raging strong chasing dreams and facing father time all right. Were just getting started. Our next speaker is a crowd favorite around here. In fact, i was just thinking the last time we were together on the same stage, we could have timed it better, it was 15 minutes after the Dobbs Decision was released and i was interviewing him onstage and of course we spent the entire time talking about what the world would look like in a postroe world. Dr. Ben carson needs little introduction. But im going to give him one anyway. Hes recently served as the 17th secretary of the u. S. Department of housing and urban development in the trump administration. I worked with him, met with him in his office many times, took pastors in to pray with him. But even in that position he found a way to include the Faith Community to begin addressing one of the crises in america. He is driven from his faith. He is engaged because of his faith. Of course nearly 30 years he served as the director of the pediatric neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins Childrens Center in 1987 he successfully performed the first separation of twins conjoined at the back of the head. Today he and candy could have gone off and enjoyed retirement, but no, he loves america. He is the founder and chairman of the American Cornerstone Institute where he launched little patriots, a free Online Learning platform that teaches kids american history, civics, and values. At a time when the world is in a hurry and the news keeps us in an emotionally charged state, the bedside manner of dr. Carson is still unnerved, provides a deep well of wisdom that our nation desperately needs to draw from. Please welcome our friend, dr. Ben carson. Dr. Carson thank you. Wonderful to be here with you again. And dont you like the theme, pray, vote and stand . So vitally important right now at this juncture in our country. Now, before i go on any further, you know these days everybody likes to make disclaimers. Im on this board, i served with this group, so you have to take everything with a grain of salt. I have a disclaimer, and it is that im not politically correct. Now, that doesnt mean im mean or try to insult people because i dont. I go out of my way not to do that. But i also found out its not worth tying yourself into a little pretzel so you dont offend anybody. Today people are offended so easily, have you noticed that . Its just crazy. You know, when i was a kid, they had a saying, sticks and stones will break my bones but names will never i dont think kids teach that to them anymore. They say if somebody says something to you, go to your safe space, you know. The whole thing has changed. But we cant let it change too much because freedom of speech is such an important part of the American Dream. And have you noticed america is the only country that has a dream. Theres no french dream. Theres no portuguese dream or nigerian dream, no canada dream. The canadians thought they had one until recently but were the only ones, were the only ones who actually have a dream, that shiny city on the hill. And how many people are trying to denigrate our country . And say what a horrible place it is . What do they my wife and i have been to 68 different countries. Weve lived overseas. And i can guarantee you that there is no place that compares with our country. It is the best place in the world. And its our job to maintain that dream for others. You know, a lot of people have given up on the dream and say i just want to survive because of all the things going on in our country right now. Its the same country, the same people, but weve had injected into our midst some who want to fundamentally change our country. And that is a big, big issue. But my American Dream was to be a doctor. It was the only thing that interested me as a little kid. I loved anything that had to do with medicine, dr. Kildare, dr. Casey, man, i was all over that. I even like going to the doctors office. I would gladly have a shot just so i could smell the alcohol swabs. Well, maybe not a covid shot. But obviously if youre going to be a doctor, youve got to go to medical school. And i was a terrible student. I was the worst student you could imagine. Everybody called me horrible names and teased me all the time. I admired the smart kids and there was one kid, his name was steve. He was the smartest kid in the classroom and he wanted to make sure you knew that. After a test hed come up to you and hold his a in your face and say, let me see yours, let me see yours. You wanted to let him see it all right but youd get in trouble for that. But, you know, my mother was such an amazing person, she believed in me when nobody else did. And she was always saying benjamin, youre much too smart for grades like this. I brought them home anyway but she was saying that anyway. She was encouraging. She had less than a third grade education herself and she prayed to god for wisdom because she wanted us to have a different life. And she knew that it was surrounding education because the homes that she cleaned as a domestic, they had a lot of books, she noticed they read a lot of books and didnt watch a lot of tv so she came home and imposed that on me and my brother. And we were not happy campers. In todays world, we would have called social services. They probably would have led her away in handcuffs. But we had to read the books. And i didnt enjoy that at all, at first. But after a while, i actually began to enjoy reading those books, started reading about entrepreneurs and innovators and explorers and surgeons and scientists. And as i read their stories, it became very clear to me that the person who has the most to do with what happens to you is you. Its not somebody else. Its not some circumstance. I stopped listening to all those people that were saying, you cant do it, the situation is difficult for someone like yourself, there are too many obstacles. And also, my mother, she was an incredible person. She never made excuses, no matter what was going on. And she never accepted excuses from us. And if we ever had an excuse, the very next thing out of her mouth was a poem, yourself to blame. We didnt want to hear that poem so we stopped making excuses. I think that was a very cool thing. But i got to the place where i was just reading, if i had five minutes, i was reading a book. In the space of a year and a half i went from the bottom of the class to the top of the class much to the consternation of the people that teased me and called me dummy. And i remember going up to steve after a test and i said, steve, how did you do on the test . And he poked out his chest and he said i got a 91. I said well, gee, thats too bad, i got a hundred. And i said next time if you need help, let me know. I was probably a little obnoxious but felt good to say that to that turkey. But, you know what, i had the exact same brain when i was at the bottom of the class that i had at the top of the class. What does that tell you about potential . We are made in the image of god and god is no dummy. He gave us these amazing brains that remember everything youve ever seen, everything you ever heard and can process more than two million bits of information in one second. The human brain is the most amazing thing in the universe. And yet, have you noticed how there are forces in our Society Today that are trying to take advantage of that developing human brain . Theyre trying to take advantage of our children. You know, the brain develops incredibly rapidly after conception. Hundreds of thousands of neurons every single day. And the brain continues to develop into the mid to late 20s, so thats the reason that someone who is 15 years old doesnt get a drivers license. They dont quite process things the way that a fully mature individual does. The more mature they get, obviously, the better they process things. But can you imagine taking advantage of Grade School Children whose brains havent developed who are very suggestible and very curious . And then you go up to them and tell them you may not be a girl or a boy, and it has a much bigger impact on them than it would for somebody who has a mature brain. Thats the very reason that god gave children parents, to protect them. And, you know, some people think all of this is of recent origin, all of these crazy things that are going on in our society, but its been going on for a while. I want to read you something that comes from the congressional record, january 10, 1963. Were talking more than 60 years ago. These are the remarks of the honorable a. S. Hurlong jr. Of florida and these are the current, at that time, communist goals for america. Number 15, capture one or both of the Political Parties in the United States. Seems like theyve done a good job there. Number 17, get control of the schools, use them as transmission belts for socialism and current communist propaganda, soften the curriculum, get control of teachers associations, put the party line in text books. Number 20, infiltrate the press. Get control of book review assignments, editorial writing, policymaking positions, gain control of key positions on the radio, tv, motion pictures. Think about that. Number 32, support any socialist movement to give centralized control over any part of the culture, education, social agencies, welfare programs, Mental Health clinics. Numbero 40, discredit the family as a institution. Encourage promiscuity and easy divorce. Emphasize the need to raise children away from the negative influence of parents. Attribute prejudices, mental blocks and retarding of children to suppressive influence of parents. Does any of that stuff sound familiar . This is all the things that are happening in our Society Today. We think we won the cold war but they had a longer plan. And thats why khrushchev said to eisenhower, your grandchildrens children will live under communism and we wont have to fire one shot. We see it happening all around us. And its very important, i think, for the American People to recognize that were being played. And we are not each others enemies. But there are those who are making us think were each others enemy by driving wedges between us on the basis of race, income, age, gender, political affiliation, religion, you name it, drive the wedge, make them enemies, destroy their society. Fix it so that everybody will say the system doesnt work, therefore we need Something Else that, i believe, is the reason we have all these district attorneys who are funded by nefarious sources who are allowing horrendous things to happen in our society so that everybody will say this doesnt work. And well have other people saying, weve got to get their guns. You know, theres too much criminal activity with the guns. Dont they realize that thats a violation of the Second Amendment . And people say think about this, they say you dont need a highpowered weapon for deer hunting or for duck hunting . How many times have you heard that . That just tells you they dont understand what the Second Amendment is. Its not about deer hunting but its about being able to protect yourself from an overly aggressive government. Thats what people need to understand. But the other issue that is so serious is the educational issue. Some of you probably saw the report about five months ago, the baltimore schools. Theyre following 23 Public Schools in baltimore, assessing them for children who could perform math at grade level, elementary, middle and high schools. Out of thousands of kids that were assessed, the number who could perform math at grade level, zero. And its not unique to baltimore. Weve seen this across the country. You know what, this is not a new phenomenon. This has occurred historically in other countries, too, particularly before they became socialists and communist countries. Its called dumbing down the population. Because if people are ignorant, its easy to tell them anything. Youve probably seen some of those man on the street interviews, havent you, where they ask them just basic stuff like who fought in the civil war . And theyre like france . And they have no idea. It must hurt to be that ignorant. But the fact of the matter is people can tell you anything when thats the case. Someone can come up to you and say bidenomics really works. And youre actually better off than you were before and your dollar actually goes further. Youve got to be pretty stupid to believe that, you know. But thats why you dumb people down. You can tell them, theres no problem at the border, even though there are thousands, if not millions of people streaming across, some of them are dangerous people, some of them are terrorists. If iran who thinks were the great satan is not sending its operatives through those open borders to wreak havoc upon us, then they would be guilty of terrorist malpractice. Im sure they are sending people over here to deal with that. But you know what its going to require for us to get back on the right track . Courage. Its going to require us to understand what our history is. This is a country that was founded on judeochristian values and principles. Our founding document, the declaration of independence says that our rights come from god and not from government. And it is us if our system is going to be fixed, it is going to be we the people. The governments not going to fix it. Because the governments do what governments do. Our founders knew that. Benjamin franklin and the whole group, they studied every governmental system that has ever existed and what they discovered is that no matter how they start, no matter how benign they are, they all migrate to the same place, growth, infiltration and domination. Thats what they do and why they work so hard to give us a constitution that would prevent that from happening in this country. And its important that people understand what that constitution is, the rights it provides for us. And we have to hold peoples feet to the fire and we have to vote the right way. We cant continue to vote irresponsibly. People go into the voting booth and they just look for the name that looks familiar. It could be satan. In some cases it is. And they just keep putting those people in office, you know. Thats not responsible voting. And people have to hold officials feet to the fire. You cant let people say, well, you can monitor the voting but you have to be way over there where you cant see whats going on. Or signatures dont have to match, or the addresses dont you cant just accept that, you know. We have to be vigilant and we have to protect the integrity of the process. Thats the role of the people. And we have to be courageous. And where does courage come from . It comes from god. And think about fort mchenry and the war of 1812 when the british were there and they say were going to knock that fort down and get that flag down and the bombs were bursting in air and the rockets were going and they thought they were going to win, but our soldiers were so determined, they worked so hard and they did not let that flag go down. The british finally gave up and went home. Thats who we are as america. And we must remember, if were going to be the land of the free, we must also be the home of the brave. Thank you. God bless you. He never disappoints. When he talks, i dont need a second opinion. Dr. Carson always nails it. Hes talking about the congressional record 60 years ago. Lets fast forward to this year, state of the Union Address. Turn your attention to the screen. President biden here in the peoples house its our duty to protect all the rights and freedoms. Congress must restore the right that was taken away in roe v. Wade and protect roe v. Wade. The president and i are doing everything to grant access to reproduction, health care, and make our patients safe. And more than a dozen states are forcing extreme abortion bans. Make no mistake about it, if Congress Passes the national ban, i will veto it. Lets also pass the bipartisan act and ensure lbgtq americans, especially transgender young people can live with safety and dignity. That is why we pray, we vote, and we stand. As was talked about this morning, there is really an unholy trinity with this administration, it is abortion, the perversion of the minds of children with the lbgtq and climate. That is everything they are focused on to the detriment of the American Family. Well, our next speaker, you are i hope you are ready to get a little exercise, because hes going to bring you to your feet. After a 2018 speech that he gave before the Greensboro Council in support of the Second Amendment, and that went viral, Mark Robinson was catapulted from life as a factory worker all the way to becoming the first black Lieutenant Governor of North Carolina. As a child, mark was the ninth of 10 children, and he grew up in extreme poverty. His father was an alcoholic who routinely abused his mother. However, his mother was a woman of strong ms. Graham and mark credits her with cultivating a foundation for his Christian Faith. During his time in office, robinson has stood out as a vocal supporter of the rights of parents and of children. In fact, he has enlisted the efforts of parents all across North Carolina to expose the indoctrination that is happening in Public Education that North Carolina and other state officials in other parts of the country have followed his example. Please welcome Lieutenant Governor robinson. Thank you, appreciate that warm welcome. Very first thing is thank our lord savior jesus christ. I do that every time i speak to a group. Every time i speak to a group, i do that. Yesterday i spoke to a small group of Business People in charlotte and i did not do that, and i was kicking myself the entire time afterwards. People think that i come on stage i would like to thank my lord and savior, jesus christ, because i want people to look at me that always had it together, never done anything wrong and never made any mistakes. Im looking at a crowd of people right now who have not always gotten wrong just like i have, have made mistakes, just like i have, and all of you know the reason why we call on jesus christ is because we need him in order to overcome our problems, we need to call him on a daily basis and need to give him thanks for what he has given us. What has he given us . I want you to take a look at this nation we are living in called the United States of america. Im not one to put in gods worth by any stretch and i dont want to be blasphemous. This is the reason our god has blessed this nation because our founders, our founders have the awe audacity and pen these words, we hold these truths to be selfevident that all men are created equal, that he are endowed by their creator certain unalienable rights, among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Why is that important . For the first time in history there was a government structure that actually gave credit to god almighty for what he gives us because our rights dont come from kings or from a congress or a parliament, they come from god almighty. The men that crafted that document, listen to this, they crafted a document called the declaration of independences before they were independent. Signed, sealed and delivered it to the most powerful king on earth before the king said they were free. They declared themselves to be free. That is courage. That is where we come from. I believe thats why god heard from heaven and said this nation has some problems. I know they have slavery and some inqualities and struggles and i can get behind this nation and every turn i will be there to make sure whatever problem they face, they will come through. He has been right there holding our hands the entire time. Why . Because there is a people in this nation. Right now. What we believe as patriotic americans that believe in god. Patriotism is not dead and you can believe god is not dead and he still at work in america. The question is will it allow him to work through you. Notice what i said i didnt say with you. I dont work with god, thats above my pay grade. I work with the state of North Carolina for the people of North Carolina. We dont work with god. Hes been our copilot. I dont know about you but if gods in the house, i want him driving whatever it is im on. I say mike, mike, come on, build that Basketball Team but sit on the bench. Thats not how it works. Will you allow god to work through you . Let us look at what this nation is facing right now. We have a wide open border right now, why . We have a wide open border right now because we have a government structure that is more concerned with using our soldiers as social experiments than they are than making sure that you and our families and nation are protected. Instead of being on the southern border, we have our soldiers focusing on things how to transition from a man to a woman, how do you use he, she, it, other 100 liberal ideologies trying to get our soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines and so our southern border is wide open. What god has given us in the men and women who protect this nation is incredible. It is an incredible and storied history of courage. You think about those folks who stood on bunker hill. You think about those folks who stood at places like gettysburg and those marines on iwojima and soldiers on dday and firefighters and First Responders on 9 11 and you think about the tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands who signed up and volunteered to go to places like iraq and afghanistan to fight the terrorists there, to lose their lives there, to lose their limbs there so no terrorists would come here. The story has great courage of courage but we have a federal government that is laying down like a lap dog allowing our southern border remain open and refuses us to use what we have given the strong men and women to defend this nation. If i was the governor of texas id get on the phone and make two phone calls. First phone call was to National Guard and god, i need you to come down to the border. We are going to defend it. I have already called South Carolina and florida and i have called tennessee and just like in the days of the alamo they are sending boys and girls down here to defend it. My next call would be to scwoa biden and say joe, this is the governor of texas, we are down here defending the border, you have two choices and come down here and help us or come down or shoot at us. If you wont do your job ill do your job because somebody has to get the job done. [cheers and applause] you cant skip over that, you cant change the course of that. Desperate times call for desperate measures. And it calls for strong men and women to stand up and do whats necessary to protect this nation just like those who came before us. This, the course, the spirit. The alamo needs to come back to texas, spirit of alamo needs to come back to america, talking about things that god has blessed us with. America has more fuel under her feet than any other nation on earth. Currently the Current Administration has us begging like poppers to nations that paupers to nationses that despise us. People talking about electric cars. All of this foolishness. They dont realize something. God bless us with that oil for a reason. I want you to think about this. Imagine if the United States of america was drilling, anwar, off the coast of North Carolina and getting it out of the ground as fast as we can, we would do it better than anybody else. Imagine it would be like if we were fueling our allies in europe. Do you think Vladimir Putin would have the nerve or the ability to make war on ukraine . Do you think the chinese would be as bold as they are. They would not because america would be what it is supposed to be a what god wants her to be, which is the leader of freedom in this world, but we refuse to use what god has given us because we are listening to unwise counsel in what is believed what is called Climate Change. I have tried over and over again to explain to these people about Climate Change. It happened four times a year. Right now, it is summer. Soon it will be fall. And it will be winter. After that, it will be spring. And then the cycle starts over again. Thats the only Climate Change that i believe in. Certainly we know that our globe shifts and there are cycles of warming and cooling and happened since the beginning of time. Ice age. I dont think any dinosaurs are looking at an eastern airliner flying over us. And that guy was driving an s. U. V. Everything that Climate Change agenda has told us in the last 30 years, every prediction they have made has not come true. Why . Because you know, i know, god almighty has his happened on this work and mysteries on this earth and in this universe that you or i never will understand should we be good stewards of the earth . Absolutely. Should we form our policies on pseudo science . Absolutely not. One of the most Dangerous Things in this world right now is this adherence, way the western world is bowing down to the Climate Change agenda. Notice the nations it has destroyed, england, france, germany and italy, nations for decades stood up for freedom and whats right in the world and crown jewel they want down to be the weakest is the United States of america. Strongest one out there and i guarantee you let the chinese come over here and take over the United States of america. They will head up to anwar and get that oil out of the ground and gulf of mexico and get the oil. We need to get out of the oil out of the ground right now. Now. Not in five years, 10 years. I told somebody, these people talking about being president and i want to be the president. No. No. I want to be the president. If you want to get something done, get a woman, i just wont get you. Meanwhile our future and childrens future are going down the drain. Now is not the time for weakkneed with stickerbook smiles. I need a warrior in that white house that is going to stand up and declare the truth. I need somebody who is going to shut down that border and make us Energy Independent and someone going to rebuild our military and walk on the world stage and say im from the United States of america and im not here to be your tailor to be the head but here to lead and what is right. I dont want to hear one weakkneed politician do you think he ought to be prosecuted . I dont know. I dont want to talk about it. I want george washington. I want thomas jefferson, i want sam houston. I want Davey Crockett and general patton and stand up to the world and say im not afraid of you and people to look at the media. Do we have any of those, abc, nbc, cbs. Are you here you. I dont fear you. [cheers and applause] you want my head, come and get it. You want my head, come and get it. I consider it to be an honor to have a head and give for my country and ill gladly do it. Why . Because someone was willing to give their head. I look back over the history of this country, sometimes it brings tears to my eyes and i think, young men, young women who were willing to risk all for concepts they didnt understand like independence, liberty, barely understood what it was about but in their minds eye they could see a better country for their family, for their friends and for future generations. Young men and women who fought war and stood on the fields in fredericksburg and gettysburg and stood up at little round top, people who stood in places like iwojima, those who rode across the english channel, left home, left a job, left family, left daddy, left their wives, left behind everything that they loved and went through all that training, went through all that basic suffering and went off to learn and got equipped went over to england, never had children. Never had the pleasure of seeing themselves to get old and seeing grandkids playing on their feet. They died on the beaches of france and died in the mountains of italy, died in those places, 100 places in japan and those islands. Why . Why did they give up their lives . Those men and women gave up their lives so i could stand here right now today. And as bold as they were standing in combat to give their lives, thats how bold you and me need to be today. We need to stop being afraid. We need to stop being nervous. We need to stop being afraid that someone is not going to like us. With some people, i want them to not like me. Sooner you tell me, mr. 257 jingles that our children should be reading porn, as soon as you tell me you dont like me, i figure god is well pleased. Im right over the target. I get accused all the time you might not want to say that because people will think you are crazy. You know somebody told me the president transgender was scribbled on the white house lawn, it does not get any crazier than that. I digress. Maybe it does. Maybe it does, when you think there are individuals there are drag queens to read to small children at your Public Library and people think it is all right for children to be sexually mutilated. When you think that its ok for our border to be wide open and you and me to not be secure and when you take that we should not be using what god has given us and make our lives better, yes, it does, indeed get crazier and crazier as time goes on. But we need to be better. How do we do that . Do it the same way dr. Carson was talking about. Time for us to speak with that spine and stand on the courage that those men who crafted that declaration stood on. They knew, they knew by signing that document and sending it to the king, signing their death warrant, but they knew what they believed in, they moved ahead and legacy they have left us is courage. Will you join them in that legacy . Lets be courageous. God bless you all. God bless the great state of North Carolina and god bless the United States of america. Thank you. [cheers and applause] talks what is happening in our military today and the press are saying these are woke tales, this isnt hamming. I want to attention to the screen. This is an official, not from saturday night live an official Navy Training video. High hi, we are here to talk about pronounce. What would if i misgender someone. First thing to recognize, you correct yourself and move on. Thank you for telling me that. This is why we pray. This is why we vote. And this is why we stand. [applause] for this indoctrination, you would think that they have accomplished enough of their indoctrination in our Public Schools but now doing it in our military. No safe space in america for nonindoctrination. For the last four years we have been on the forefront like supporting home schooling and School Choice and oppose social Emotional Learning and socalled sexual education. Recently the nation is confronting an an task on parental rights from inside the school house where there has been an intentional effort to drive a wedge between a parent and child, to undermine your ability as a parent and grand parent to instill into your child to pass the baton. And i am so encouraged by what we have seen happening postcovid. There were a few silver lynnings to covid, one was parents got an inside view of what their children were being indoctrinated with. And we have an army of momma bears who have stepped forward and have begun the process we are not finished yet where they have taken back education in america. For our next panel, we will look at that. The senior fellow for education studies at the Family Research council who served in the trump administration, megan our education panel. He was a High School History teacher. 3 1 2 years ago is a devoted wife, mother of two, photographer and bible study leader. Today is the fearless president of the Chino Valley School district board. [applause] she agreed to answer the call of concerned parents who felt their rights were being marginalized by an existing school board. This gave voice and ran for school board on a proparent plaintiff and beat the odds and former School Board President in the last election along side those in her community. Her top priority is to make that parents determine what is the best interest of children and this is my taifort part of her bio and has given her yes to god and will continue to stand in the gap. [applause] i know that you all remember keesha at her moment in 2021 loudoun county. She is a parental rights and freedom activist and founder of a Grassroots Organization that focuses on organizing against gender ideology and she is a Home School Mom. So thats in 2021. We were putting out the call. We had just been through the pandemic and putting out the call we need christians to run for School Boards and local office and isnt this wonderful to see examples of the kind of folks we can get. Very red oklahoma, very blue california and the state of florida all right here where exciting things are happening. So im going to start with ryan and come back to being a big fan of his. Going hot on twitter and in spite of my admiration for the many wonderful things you have done, i have to ask you what is going on with the pedophile principal in Oklahoma City schools . Its going on and this is joe bidens war on our kids, on our schools, on our faith, on our country. And what we see here is to push radical gender ideology in the classroom and take away rights. You guys are seeing it and seeing it in oklahoma and leading the country on how we are fighting back. We have a drag queen principal of one of our schools who has hired another drag queen. This is what joe biden wants for our folks. I have demanded that no drag queen should be running a school in this country, especially oklahoma. But we have to continue the fight. We have to win this war for our kids, our kids souls and oklahoma we have introduced School Choice. Every single child in oklahoma has School Choice. The parent can send their kids to a private christian school, home school, christian school. If they are not going to meet the kids get them into a Different School and empowering every kid to do that in oklahoma. The other thing we are doing, we are very proud we have the First Religious Charter School in the country in oklahoma. [applause] this is coming under assault from all these radical leftists and legal institutions, you know them suing against our religious liberties. We are not going to back down and we are standing even more clear. The Supreme Court has been wrong. There is no separation of church and state and the declaration of independences. It doesnt exist, so we will bring back to god and schools in oklahoma and fight back against that radical myth. We are are going to drill down on more of those in a minute. And sonia who is a beacon of hope in the blue state of california proving that parents mean. What is going on in california. California prompted me to run and that is 3 1 2 years ago when the shutdown happened and a lot of things were revealed. My kids were fortunate enough that parents yanked them out and put them into a charter and all kids have that availability. During that time, kids were supposed to be coming back and im seeing what these children are experiencing during this time. A bunch of us parents got together locally and started a Grassroots Organization and said how can we fix this, provide solutions and shut down with our School District and through that a lot of parents went to a school board. I didnt know a school board. Thats how some of us are and in california we go through the state. We went through that and got shut down and our school board had a wicked agenda and us moms started to go out and did drives to start advocating for bills that we knew at that point learning what the school board was and our School District has been amazing and controlled by wicked things and had to flip some seats. Went up against some big dogs. Had over 150,000 on a school board. Running commissioners, they knew how to run an election. As parents we united together and knocked every single door and not only did we flip one School Board Seat but two. [applause] it can be done. January we hit the ground running and passed multiple policies that makes sense. And here we are now because of common sense being sued by our attorney general who is allowing wicked evil people on the streets and suing us and wasting taxpayer dollars. Excellent. Excellent. Quiche yeah keesha. How what about your leadership you are suffering and i read about it and today i read that, you know randy wine garthen is saying about mothers and called a couple of groups. I think what is going on with all of that . What they say, when they start to call you names and it is funny they use the word rsh mic not on . Sound just like the k. K. K. They are the ones being wasted and trying to divide our children, about each other, divide parents against their own children and they are constantly trying to make america seem like its a place that its not. I dont know about you and go in your Grocery Store i find americans are friendly and trying to help each other but the more they can push that narrative, they can make us believe something that is just not true. And i hope we can get that. And when you dig into the gender critical, these ideologies they come from marxism and we understand what we are dealing with it becomes eternalized within us and not something outside but something we have to fight but they are literally coming for our children. They are not joking and not kidding, they really mean what they say and we need to take them seriously and stand up and fight back. [applause] im going to go back to ryan. When i google you, the articles that come up, theyre pretty upset, even in oklahoma, people are upset, the people who are in the media and people in the education establishment there. So they are all pretty shocked are you really going to allow a 60 seconds for a prayer to start the school day . Absolutely we are. And all the right people are upset and unbelievable to me how radical the left has become. Let me tell you what we are doing in oklahoma. Every single will have a full minute of silence and we are going to protect and the Christian Faith was the most vital and we will protect that in our schools. The other thing this we will continue to do is lay out this case for bringing god back to school. The left is fighting tooth and nail to keep porn like designedder qurch ueeer. What mortifies them . The constitution, the bible in the classroom. Folks, the more that they cry, the more they get this extreme action that we are right over the target and we will bring god to school. This is the greatest history. We want you reading the constitution and want all students to know that this is a choice. America is the greatest country in the world and we want all of our children to carry on the path that america is on to live up to the Core Principles and show that history is and teachers unions are out. Parents are in. When you hit the ground running in california you passed a very controversial measure where your school board voted that parents should be notified if their child starts to have a question about gender or asks to go about different pronouns and made this declaration in school outside the parents knowledge that the school would be obligated to inform the parent. Can you tell us what is going on with this and how do they feel about that . I never imagined this would go coast to to coast. And notifying parents that they should be notified. It was a simple notification policy because we have some crazy laws that i dont believe are constitutional and find the gray areas and challenge them from our department ed and pushing confusion on our children and not every child is fortunate to be put into a private school. Thats all it was. And here we are being sued for it but it gives us hope because california can come together, our communities are coming together despite the multiple Death Threats that i have received and being called every name in the book. You have beautiful support not just from the local communities and all over california and the nation. That is going to show when we bring this into the higher courts. And i think thats going to happen as long as we continue to link together. Yes. Yes. Right. In a lot of ways, Governor Desantis started this off with the they say dont say gay. Right . How are you fairing up under that . Terrible. Parents having crazy to have these conversations to think you would get push back. But thank god your communities are coming together and im happy to see that, especially in california. You guys should look at our florida policies that you can copy. And i would invite all of you if you are involved, take a look of what we have in florida. Its kind of like the blueprint and there are so many parents that will support you, but people are scared and thank god you are out there, but im too afraid to go out and say these things. But we need to encourage them and help them understand what is on the line. Maybe your child isnt in a Public School or indoctrination camp that they like to call them, but they have to live and work around these children who are well up and be in the world one day and it is imperative to all of us that we encourage those who feel like they cant say anything and too afraid to help them understand what is truly on the line, the next generation of leaders, sciencists, innovators that will keep america being pushed forward and maybe public office, they will be a leader and we have to make sure we hear people kind of like backing up that they are bold, just like we are doing in florida, Governor Desantis and keep your head down and shoot for what is right. At the end of the day, these are issues that are right and wrong and there is no way you can convince me that it is right for children to see porn or for children to be exposed to these explicit materials in classrooms. It is just wrong. And as a believer standing on the word of faith, word of god. Thats what we are called to do. The thing that i really loved about the parents rights bill is the age limit. Children in kindergarten through third grade would not be discussing Sexual Orientation and gender identity in the classroom. And this has got to be i havent pulled it, 85 90 issue with people. But the vast majority of people in america can agree this is something we need to discuss with our own children and yet you saw the meltdown, right . And this is why we have to lead as christians, because what the left is doing is a topdown imposition of an agenda and marxist and antigod and what you see behind me and all of you are thousands and thousands of other people of faith who believe what we believe and who want to make sure that the children of this country have not their childhood innocence is robbed but educated and equipped to join American Society and keep this country moving forward. If i could, you asked me about the attacks that have come at me but not at me but attacks on the parents. Two moms who went to fight for their kids. This is the final stage of what the left has been working on. Create a department of education that can be weaponnized. There shouldnt be a department of education, folks. But they have created this department and seen this department push common core and partner up with the teachers unions and partner with every radical group to target moms and dads because it is right, it is the end stage to break down the family and break down society to create a School System that will only perpetrate a voting block thats what they are trying to do here is the fundamental reshaping of the country. I know there are times, wouldnt have been amazing to be there with the founders as they crafted the constitution. But you know what . Maybe we are born for times like these. All of you in this room, all of you listening this is that time. The moms and dads. This is the time which god created you and get our country back and end this marxist plot. We are called to do that. We only have five minutes left and i have a question for each of you ladies. You were talking about what you did with your lawyers. And school board boot camps. One of the first two questions i get, the first one is how do i get rid of my general counsel because the lawyers advising the school board are simply ideological. They are telling School Board Members that they will be sued if they do this or lawsuit over that. How did you handle that . When i took the seat and wanted to bring policies me and the superintendent, we had a history of mom and superintendent, which wasnt the greatest and came, u. C. California is firing superintendents. Be part of protecting our kids or you can be part of what you see across california. And we had a handshake of a nosurprise deal. There is really good people but they have been shoved into acorner and need to let them know and i said, look, i will stand in front of you before they come after you. And we have said that through our words and actions. Heres the thing. He told us that i was going to bring forward a policy that its illegal. Ok, soccer mom. Dont know much about law but i want to know what law were going to break. Went on and on. And they said its illegal. Give me all these documents and they are saying we are breaking the law but cant cite the law and the judge said he is trying to legislate from the bench. Use their words against them. Doesnt take a genius. Anybody can do that. I mean really. You can do it. And so eventually after four weeks there was the law. They dont have a law. Ding, ding, ding, time to bring a policy forward and now there is no law and there is a law. Dont let them always push it. The gray area can go our way, too. Heres where the hope is, california, we spend a lot of money in indoctrinating our kids. The department of jags is on the sex lization and where we can come together. We come together and protect our kids and fight hard. California will show the nation and link arms that we can do this. But little part of the great law is going to save us and we are going to swing the battle for our kids. And i think that is what brings us hope and fight the fight. Now, keesha, i like to think of you and moms and dads, there are dads out there, too, mom and dads like you and concerned citizens, you guys are like the bulwark of protection, the fire power that will protects leaders like these when you are active in the community and i love your Youtube Channel where you did an undercover investigation of an lgbtq church event that was targeting kids. What advice would you give . Not everyone can be a ryan or tanya. There are a lot of you guys, there are a lot of people who can be a keesha, a mom doing the best she can in her community. What advice would you give to those parents and grandparents . How can they be more involved . Start talking to your children and grandchildren. Start there. And we cant just ask anymore how your day was at school. If they are out of your sight five days a week, seven, eight hours a day, you need to probe what is happening behind those classroom doors. We really have no idea. These are strangers. These teachers are strangers and do not know who they are, probe your children and help them to understand. Help them to understand what is actually going on. Show them the words and talk to them about the types of language that will be used to indoctrinate them so when they hear it, mom, dad, red flag, something happened at school today that you need to know about. My daughter has gotten im a Home School Mom but will play videos where there is a lesson going nuts and i would rather that so they know the language and know exactly what is being out there. These are some of the things in a protective way that we dont need to shield them from but we need to help them understand the lay of the land and inform you and you could take that to the superintendent and take that to the legislators and say this is what is going on. Were out of time and i want to close in a prayer, so if you would bow your heads please, god, you created us in your image and you want us to speak out about what is true, good and in your words and your begotten son. Please bless ryan, tanya and keesha and their work. Bless all the faithful servants they represent that serve you in schools and communities across the nation. We ask you to raise up a powerful force of believers who willow bay you, honor parents, protect children, speak truth and reclaim education in america to advance the kingdom of god. We ask all of this in jesus holy name. Amen. Can i Say Something really quick . Every single day, get on your knees, he will protect you and at the end of the day, if you do that, our kids are going to win. [applause] isnt it exciting to see what is happening and small sample of what is happening all across america. Why . Because you are praying, youre voting and standing. You are making a did difference. Hear more about the education issue in the 5 00 hour and doing a live watch. We are going to transition to our last panel for the afternoon. And its going to focus on the life issue. The historic Dobbs Decision handed by the Supreme Court on june 24, 2022 was a major victory tore the prolife moment, one that we fought for for 50 years. There is a spiritual nature and the court changed its mind about abortion, but there is much work that still needs to be done. This victory was followed by the 2022 elections where the republicans the party that had worked for decades to protect and defend left hoped to gain large margins in congress. That didnt happen. The republicans barely control the house and in the senate not all republicans can be relied upon. In michigan, kansas, kentucky and montana, prolife initiatives failed on the ballots. Many claim that the 2022 election was a sign of protecting the unborn is a losing issue for republicans and therefore should be abandoned. Well, you know its never easy to do the right thing. When you actually look at the numbers, the numbers tell a different story. And part of the work we have to do is to encourage those that are in position to make these decisions to continue to do the right thing for the right reason. Joining me now on this panel to discuss the way forward in this post roe world. Congressman chris smith. He is probably the leading voice for life on capitol hill. And he is in his 22nd term representing new jerseys 4th congressional district. Chair of the prolife caucus and done that for 37 years and prior to that executive director of the jeersy right to life. Ohio state representative jena, third term representing the 80th district of ohio and leads the prolife caucus in the house which will be very much in the spotlight heading into the upcoming election and our own mary, director for the center of Human Dignity and calling to advocate and speak for the unborn and for life. Mary served as the director of the d. C. Catholic seat. They have two children including a little girl that i saw her wheeling in the stroller just one month ago. Please welcome our panel to the stage. Thank you for joining us today. And congressman smith, you are to my left here, after the Dobbs Decision, i made reference to this in the beginning, some have said you know roe is gone, there is no federal role any longer in protecting the unborn life. But thats not consistent with the message that we heard for 50 years. Mr. Smith i want to thank you for the extraordinary job you do. You are a force and you are very good at strategy and cant thank you for the leadership you have provided. [applause] mr. Smith my wife and i have been in the Prolife Movement since 1972. I met her in the Prolife Movement and we have aspired to some day have a federal protection for unborn children happening at the state level as well. But life needs to be protected, constitutionally and by statute. The Dobbs Decision could not have be clearer and alito that all lawmakers, not just state lawmakers, they have a critical role. We write laws and rig you late, proscribe it but we need to step up. I see some folks in capitol hill saying lets leave it to the states. If you leave it to the states and like the state of new jersey where governor murphy has signed into law a bill that allows abortion right up until the moment mf birth. New york, colorado, a number of states have. The newest thing, the abortion pill, which, as you know, kills the child by starvation. Thats how it works. Its operative impact is by killing a baby by starving him or her to eth tkfplt that is child vie to death. That is child violence and we need to stop it. [applause] you have previously introduced legislation, working actually with senator graham in the senate on a paincapable bill which is, you know when a child theres consensus building in this nation, 65 of americans agree when a child can feel pain in the womb, sucks its thumb, that at least that should be a minimum nationwide. But what youre proposing does not say that states cannot go further. Its simply saying that were not going to be in league with north korea and china, were going to be a country that at least has a bare minimum of protection, given that we have states like california, new york and new jersey. Theres no doubt. And a 15week ban or even the legislation that mike kelly has introduced, the heart beat bill, which im a cosponsor of that, legislation preempts states like new jersey and new york. If we had a 15week ban, which is not what i want, we want more protection there right. Weve had consensus building. There is consensus being built. The fact that a child can feel excruciating pain as theyre being dismembered, especially during the early moments of that abortion, its outrageous. It underscores the violence thats happening and a 15week ban would, if it was in the states like new jersey, we believe it would save at least 55,000 children from the horror of that later term abortion. And i do see it as a step and only a step. Its how we got to where we are today. Without a doubt. The Dobbs Decision was based on a 15week ban. Im going to skip over to you for just a moment. Im going to go to mary. I want to continue this conversation about the 2022 elections where post that election people were saying t a losing issue for republicans. But not if you talked about it the right way, not if you embrace it. Its when you ran from it that it became a problem for you. Right. And i think if we look at states like texas and florida, we can see that in those states, strong prolife legislation was enacted, but people spoke clearly about what we want to do with prolife legislation. Prolife legislation isnt in any sort of restriction. Its a protection, a protection for a person. A person who i got to meet six weeks ago when i gave birth to my little one. A minute before she was born in states like california and new jersey she could have been aborted and that is what were trying to protect. That little baby who oohs and aahs and has just started to smile, thank goodness. We can see when our legislators speak with clarity and when they talk about what the goal is, what theyre trying to do, prolife legislation is a winning issue because americans love babies. All you have to do is walk down the street with my stroller and you can see that everyone in america is inherently prolife. You cant see a baby and not smile. Yeah. Thats so true. And its just a matter of what weve been doing for 50 years continuing to do. This is a baby. Its not a calculation of weeks. Its a baby that feels pain, sucks its thumb. Weve had pictures on our refrigerators of these babies. Its life. And we need to protect it. Im going to talk to you for a moment about ohio in particular because actually ohio, governor dewine was one of about a dozen governors who had signed very strong prolife legislation, ran for reelection, won overwhelmingly, didnt run from the issue, but yet november 7 we had a Ballot Initiative in ohio dealing with the life issue and it failed. Whats happening in ohio . You know, so when governor dewine ran this, when i first started running for office as well, it was very interesting. Because dewines ban on signing in ohios heart beat bill right before there had been an issue with getting it passed into law, overriding veto and all of that, that was his number one thing that governor dewine ran on. He said, if the bill comes to my desk, i will sign it into law. And by the grace of god we moved it through legislature and it was signed into law in our state. Which really told us that ohioans are overwhelmingly prolife. The science is Crystal Clear that life does begin at conception. And ohioans know that, believe that and thats what they voted in to office. Unfortunately this november we do have a citizenled Ballot Initiative taking place that is happening this november. Its extremely scary because it would make ohio the second most liberal state in the nation for abortion rights. And that is not where ohioans stand. And unfortunately whats happening is out of state billionaires, planned parenthood is spending so much money in our state and is lying to ohioans and theyre confusing the issue. So what were trying to tell ohioans is that this extreme measure that is on the ballot is not what the left is trying to portray. Its extreme and its not only about killing unborn children up until the very time of birth in our state, its also a big issue about parental rights in our state. So were really urging people to vote no on this issue in our state. I kind of mixed up the issues there because there was just a Ballot Initiative in ohio and august in august that dealt with raising the threshold on constitutional amendments. I mixed up the two issues there. But that was the one that was kind of the battle, millions of dollars were flowing into the state to make this an issue about abortion whether it was actually about the state constitution and who would decide, who could manipulate the constitution. But its all about that november Ballot Initiative. Where do we see things going in ohio . Absolutely. So in august we did have a special election, what that special election said was, it was raising the constitutional threshold from 50 to 60 , to change our states constitution. And what we saw in august was how do state billionaires, planned parenthood coming in and totally confusing the issue and unfortunately that did fail in august. What were really seeing in ohio is that then led to the november ballot. Because nationwide what were seeing is states thats constitutions that are easy to change through citizenled initiatives, all of these organizations are targeting those states to come in and change the constitution to enable abortion to be in the constitution for life in that state, which really goes around the legislature and really harms women and children. What are you hearing on the ground right now in ohio . You know, what were really trying to do is get out the word, specifically on issue one. Were trying to tell ohioans whats really taking place in the november Ballot Initiative, what the reality is. The reality is that if it passes, it would enshrine abortion in our constitution up until the time of birth. That is extreme, no matter how you look at it. And thats not where ohioans stand. We voted in a heart beat bill not that long ago. Ohioans are for life and Something Else to keep in mind, i always tell people that as republicans we might not agree on everything, right . There might be tax issues we distkpwrae on, but ohioans disagree on, but republicans across the board are prolife. They know that life begins at conception and we agree on this. Statewide every Office Holder is republican. Theyve campaigned on these issues. We have supermajority in ohio in the house and the senate. These people have campaigned on saying, hey, we believe that life begins at conception and were going to move forward on these prolife policies. So really the concern in ohio is that if it passes in november, its not where ohioans stand, its because a lot of money is flowing into our state and confusing ohio voters. So were really trying to get out the word of whats happening in november and why people need to understand whats at stake this november. Ohio is overwhelmingly prolife. In fact, the whole heart Beat Initiative began in the state of ohio. As you said, governor dewine made this a campaign issue, because the previous governor wouldnt do it. And he did it. And ohios planted a flag for life. If you live in ohio, you need to make sure that you are informing your friends of whats coming up this november on the ballot as it pertains to life. Chris, we talked about this throughout the course of the day, about the biden administration, their, what i call the unholy trinity of abortion, lgbtq and the climate. But in almost every piece of legislation that they push, you can you just have to look and youll find it eventually, is abortion. And this is one of their top Foreign Policy objectives, is to push abortion. And theres a piece of legislation that was passed about 20 years ago, right after about the time i got here to f. R. C. , it was the pepfar. This was to deal with aids in africa and it was a good piece of legislation, to protect lives. But its been hijacked by the biden administration, its up for reauthorization. Whats happening with that . Unfortunately the president of the United States, who is the abortion president , has integrated abortion into every single solitary policy he can do. Even for a state like ohio, texas, places throughout the country where theres a heart beat bill, or some other protective statute, hes now ordered his Veterans Administration to use v. A. Health facilities, i used to be chairman of the Veterans Affairs committee, what a gross misuse of the v. A. And all of those medical centers and the Community Health centers to turn them into abortion mills. And yet hes ordered that. That was an executive order that went into effect last year. And this is just part in parcel of what hes doing with every single solitary program. You look at any bill or any policy, you dont have to look hard. They are proud of being for abortion until birth and we talk about some members on the republican side saying, you know, we just want to do state laws. None of the democrats have that inhibition or that vision. They passed twice in the last congress when they had control of the house a bill that would allow abortion until birth in every single solitary state. Until birth. And would eviscerate every modest protection that weve gotten over the years, like informed consent, womens right to know laws. And thats what Vice President harris is talking about when she says we want to codify roe. Thats what she means. Eliminates what ohio has done, every state if they get the house and the senate and the presidency, honestly, the filibuster will be gone and they will impose that. Everybody here and the entire country, the most draconian, antilife, antichild policy on the face of the earth. Until birth and no conscience protection either. That includes notification laws and everything. Its right in the bill, its gone. The World Health Organization is pushing the identical model statute on every country in the world. I read their model legislation. No gestational limits, right until birth. No informed consent. Everything is laid out, its written just like the one that the democrats tried to get passed here and got passed, only the filibuster saved this on the senate side and its a very brave and some very brave republicans who stood up. You asked about pepfar. The president s emergency plan for aids relief. I was one of the cosponsors of it in 2003. The great henry hyde, the finest prolife lawmaker who ever lived, he was the prime sponsor. And the legislation was about going after the pandemic of hivaids, which was rafrbageing ravaging africa. So many people were dying. And it worked. It put a tourniquet on it. Its being sustained with drugs and a. R. V. s, all these good things. In comes joe biden, he puts out brand new guidance to all of the recipients of pepfar, and says, you have to now try to change the laws in the countries youre operating under for Sexual Reproductive Health and rights, which means on the lgbtq agenda and on the abortion agenda. And theyre not trying to protect life, believe me. This is planned parenthood and all the usual suspects. Unfortunately we got some people in our party, not many, who are suggesting that, lets just pass a three or fiveyear reauthorization of the program. Well that just endorses everything that biden has done. Puts a rubber stamp, it says, yep, were for what he did and what were doing, were trying to get what trump did, to his everlasting credit, President Trump did the protecting life and Global Health assistance policy, which was an updated and expanded mexico city policy that said that any organization that receives federal funds for Global Health, anyone, they cant perform abortions in those countries. Even with their own money. And this idea behind that is we really care about the unborn child and their mother, because theyre covictims of abortion, we care just as much about that mom as you all know, you do as well, were not going to say, oh, do whatever you want, just segregate your accounts a little bit and you can change the laws of country after country. And theyre trying to do it. Theyre trying so hard to do it. They have succeeded in some instances. We ha close call just recent we had a close call just recently in liberia where n. G. O. s, just like they do in america, who runs the abortion policies for the other side . Planned parenthood and company. Theres a big push in liberia to legalize abortions ondemand. It has been stalled. Ive been very much involved with it myself. And i was told by many of those people, its all these n. G. O. s coming in and saying, this is what you have to do. And they can prevail. They do it at the state level and they do it at the federal level. So for us on the republican side, prolife side, to give biden three or five years, were going to give him one through the appropriations process. Mario diazbalart, god bless him, wrote an excellent foreign aid appropriations bill that incorporate mexico city and a lot of other prolife policies. He and our leadership, from Kevin Mccarthy on down, are saying, this is what we want and were going to fight for it. People dont seem to realize, these are our tax dollars being used to push abortion, both here and abroad. Jena, whats the way forward . I mean, we talk about theres a federal role. Obviously the states in really the focus, spotlight, because of where we are now. The state lawmakers can decide the policies for their state. But its not just policy anymore. Weve got, as you mentioned, all this money coming in to try to tilt the scales. What is the way forward, as you see it in ohio, that could help other states . You know, when i first started running for office many years ago, a reporter looked at me and he said, do you think roe will be overturned in your lifetime . And i remember at the time, the consensus was, theres absolutely no way thats going to happen. But i remember i looked at him and i said, absolutely. I absolutely believe roe will be overturned in our lifetime because if i didnt, then i shouldnt be running for office and i shouldnt be doing the work to get to the point where roe is overturned. And thankfully by the grace of god i think for a lot of people it was overturned even quicker than what some conservatives would have even thought. Were at the place in ohio where its actually, i think, the First Quarter of a postroe america. And i think for some people it can be very frustrating to see some states having these citizenled Ballot Initiatives where ohioans are being lied to, where a lot of out of state money is flooding in and confusing the rhetoric. I think my message to whether youre in ohio or an american in another state, look, the war is not done. We know that life begins at conception. General z is the most prolife generation in years. You know, what i would look at you twice who are here today and i would say, if you are in another state, you need to make sure and you need to see what the constitutional threshold is in your state. Go back and check that out. Because thats something really scary thats happening in ohio and you might say, hey, thats ohio, thats not our state, well, its very clear what the left is doing. Theyre trying to change the constitution and lie to americans in that manner. So go home, see whats going on with your constitution in your state, and, secondly, we have to make abortion unthinkable nationally. You know, so theres a lot of movement in ohio going, how can we continue lifting up the pregnancy resource centers, how can we allow churches to understand and preach messages on the bible speaks to prolife policies. The bible is prolife. God loves children. And life does begin in the womb. Theres a lot of movement on a community level, that if you are in a church, a nonprofit, working in a pregnancy resource center, continue helping with those resources so that we can make abortion unthinkable to the average american. And then on the legislative level, you know, we are continuing working on policies to help the unborn, were continuing working on ways to ensure that abortion is unthinkable, that it no longer happens in our state and theres talk in congress about, what does this look like on a National Level . When were looking at indiana and west virginia, that is pretty much life at conception, states that are bordering ohio, well, how can we live in a state that if it passes in november would allow abortion up until the time of birth, but one mile over says, hey, a life begins at the time of conception . So i would love to see Congress Taking a look at this and having those broader conversations because we cant live in america where one mile over life begins at conception and in another state allows abortion up until the time of birth. So theres a lot of things that Community Members can do, continue supporting women, continue supporting children, help with your pregnancy resource center. Theres women and men in your church that dont flow that life begins at conception. So continue on that message because that changes cultures and will change our nation. So important that we not stop what weve been doing for 50 years, having those conversations, educating people and bringing them to an understanding that this is a child created in the image of god. But i just want to emphasize something you just said and that is the deception. Millions of dollars are being we shouldnt be surprised, but millions of dollars now are being used to confuse and to deceive the voters. And so you play a key role in that by being informed, by knowing the truth and sharing it. Youve heard that weve got to be bold, courageous and speak up. So that others will know. And, mary, i want to kind of were going to bring our time to a close here. But the educational aspect of this, about how we talk to our friends, how we weve got a lot of resources, the Family Research council and the biblical world view side, but also its the conversations that we have. It absolutely. Is i loved what jena said about this is the First Quarter. And when we look at the only other time in history in america where human beings were not classified as persons, when we look at what happened with slavery, it was 100 years before we had the civil rights movement. We need to make sure that its not 100 years before the unborn child is granted full rights as a person. And that begins our conversations with our neighbors. [applause] there how do we have those conversations with our how do we have those conversations with our friends about the humanity of the unborn and our responsibility to protect them . Especially in what, you know, what we would describe as a very polarized society, especially now. Its intense. How do we do it . I think we need to lead with love and love and listening. If theres two things that you can do, its, first, listen to what your neighbors are saying. And then love them in that moment. Theres a lot of hurt and a lot of pain behind the proabortion position. Its a lot of women who have had abortions, men who have paid for them, men who have supported them, friends who have said, oh, it would be ok. And a lot of these people have later realized, oh, my gosh, that was a baby. And that pain is what is driving the violence that we see in the proabortion movement. We need to meet that with love. And compassion. And we need to meet that with, hey, we have other solutions for you. Theres a better way because that is a human being and that human being deserves respect, deserves love and a chance at life. And as jena mentioned, the Care Pregnancy Centers, this is something we need to be supporting, our Care Pregnancy Centers now, more than ever, because their work has multiplied, its increased. Their impact has increased. You have the longest perspective here on the life issue as a champion for life. Tell me what encourages you going forward. The people that are here, the fact that its all based on believing that god can perform miracles. And a he has. And we do ask for miracles. We ask for the women who have had abortions come to peace and reconciliation and i know no other movement ive been involved with, i do a lot of human rights work in congress, religious freedom, human trafficking, no other movement where the people right here in this audience, you, f. R. C. , reaches out to women who have had abortions and say, we love you. God loves you, we love you. And for women who are have unintended pregnancies and theyre worried about it and the Pregnancy Care Centers are the lifeline. I cant tell you how many times i spoke at a Pregnancy Care Center recently, a couple years ago, and two women got up and said, thank god that the director was out there doing sidewalk counseling because we had our babies and they told their story. It was beautiful. A few minutes later, two young girls got up, 12 and 13, i believe they were, and they talked about school and sports and how prolife they are, then they turned to the woman who was the director and said, you have not been in the parking lot that day at the abortion clinic, we would have been dead. So this movement is all about love. Its a all about we dont hate our opponents. Love those who hate you, thats what we have to do based on scripture and its hard sometimes, particularly in the political, as you know so well, in the political gives and takes, but respect our opponent. A man who said, ive come to the agonizing conclusion that ive resided over 60,000 deaths, he ran the biggest abortion mill in new york, he also was the founder of something, he changed his position and if he could change, because he was doing prenatal surgeries its a st. Lukes hospital at st. Lukes hospital and he said, there i am helping a child, a patient, and then in the other room or clinic, im killing the same baby with dismemberment or some other hideous method. Birth is an event that happens through all of us. Its not the beginning of life. An ultrasound has shattered any myth that somehow the child is not human and alive. They have unbelievable wake and sleep cycles and everything else. We have to hope we can persuade, stand in the gap, go into the wind and i call on my fellow lawmakers and house senate who are saying, just let the states handle it. Lets bend into that wind. Ive had hard races mayorga self. Ive myself. Ive run 23 times. Almost lost a few times. Its worth the fight. Yes, it is. Because were only in this because were trying to defend moms and babies from the violence of abortion. Chris, thank you so much. [applause] jena, thank you. Mary, thank you. Thanks to our panel once again. [applause] announcer , ladies and gentlemen, please take all your belongings and exit the ballroom area to allow preparations for this evening saegs. Thank you. Evenings session. Thank you. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2023] this evening, former president and 2024 puican president ial candidate donald trump is the keynotepeer at the concerned women for america 2023 summit in washington, d. C. Watch live at 7 00 eastern on cspan, cspan now, our free mobi veo app, or online at cspan. Org. Cspan is your unfilter view of government. Were funded by these Television Companies and more. Including cox. This syndrome is extremely rare. Hi. But friends dont have to be. This is joe. When youre connected, youre not alone. Cox supports cspan as a public service, ong with these other televion providers. 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