Washington Watch

It’s Tuesday, July 16, 2019, and we’re getting ready for another exciting edition of Washington Watch with Tony Perkins, where each day we’re joined by America’s leaders, policy makers, and culture-shapers as we talk about the important issues of the day from a biblical worldview. Listen here live at 5:05 p.m. ET.

Today we’ll hear from:

• Mark Green, Administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), on how USAID promotes religious freedom as a means to achieve economic development.
• Kristina Arriaga, Vice Chair of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, to highlight Cuba’s ongoing religious suppression, including their prohibiting key religious leaders from leaving the country to attend the U.S. State Department’s Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom. 
• Tristan Azbej, Hungarian State Secretary for the Aid of Persecuted Christians, on Hungary’s effort to provide aid to persecuted Christians.
• Travis Weber, FRC’s Vice President for Policy and Government Affairs and Director of the Center for Religious Liberty, to reflect on the first day of the 2^nd annual Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom.

On the Monday, July 15, 2019 edition of Washington Watch with Tony Perkins, we heard from:

• Gus Bilirakis, U.S. Representative for the 12^th District of Florida and Co-chair of the Congressional International Religious Freedom Caucus, to discuss what Congress can do, and is doing, to advance religious freedom around the world.
• Mike Pompeo, U.S. Secretary of State, to continue the discussion on the U.S. State Department Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom and to highlight the newly formed Commission on Unalienable Rights, which will advise Secretary Pompeo on how to advocate for the most fundamental rights in diplomatic discussions.
• Jerry Boykin, FRC’s Executive Vice President and Retired Lieutenant General, on efforts to combat the persecution of Christians around the globe. 

On the Tuesday, July 2, 2019 edition of Washington Watch with Tony Perkins, we heard from:

• Scott Perry, U.S. Representative for the 10^th District of Pennsylvania, responding to Senator Chuck Schumer’s criticism of President Trump’s recent impromptu meeting with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, where he became the first U.S. President to step onto North Korean territory.
• Elizabeth Johnston, the Activist Mommy, on the hostile reaction to her successful campaigns to stop drag queen story hours at public libraries.
• Calvin Beisner, Founder and National Spokesman of the Cornwall Alliance, which recently published an open letter urging policymakers to reject alarmist climate policies that would trap people in poverty.

On the Monday, July 1, 2019 edition of Washington Watch with Tony Perkins, we were heard from:

• Mark Meadows, U.S. Representative for the 11^th District of North Carolina and Chairman of the House Freedom Caucus, on President Trump’s meeting with Kim Jong Un, where he became the first sitting U.S. president to step into North Korea.
• Ralph Norman, U.S. Representative for the 5^th District of South Carolina, a cosponsor of the Ensuring Accurate and Complete Abortion Data Reporting Act of 2019, which would require states to provide data on abortions in their state to the federal government, correcting the egregious underreporting of abortions in the U.S.

On the Friday, June 28, 2019 edition of Washington Watch with Tony Perkins, we heard from:

• Terry Jeffrey, Editor-in-Chief of CNS News, to analyze the second night of the Democratic presidential debate.
• Ken Blackwell, FRC’s Senior Fellow for Human Rights and Constitutional Governance and former Co-Chairman of the Census Monitoring Board, on yesterday’s decisions handed down from the Supreme Court on gerrymandering and the census citizenship question.
• Kristina Arriaga, Commissioner on the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, on USCIRF’s congressional hearing concerning Turkey’s religious communities and their ability to practice their faith without government interference.
• Todd Nettleton, Host of Voice of the Martyrs, in commemoration of the Day of the Christian Martyr, June 29.

On the Thursday, June 27, 2019 edition of Washington Watch with Tony Perkins, we heard from:

• Andy Harris, U.S. Representative for the 1^st District of Maryland, on how House Democrats have only themselves to blame for the crisis at the border for continually blocking President Trump from obtaining the funds needed to deal with the problem.
• David Brat, Dean of Liberty University’s School of Business and Former U.S. Representative for the 7^th District of Virginia, to analyze the first Democratic presidential debate that was held last night.
• Travis Weber, FRC’s Vice President for Policy and Government Affairs, to further discuss the first Democratic presidential debate.

On the Wednesday, June 26, 2019 edition of Washington Watch with Tony Perkins, we heard from:

• Mike Johnson, U.S. Representative for the 6^th District of Louisiana, on the so-called “Do No Harm Act,” a bill that would roll back the religious freedom protections in the 1993 Religious Freedom Restoration Act, and its hearing yesterday in the House Committee on Education and Labor.
• Sam Brownback, U.S. Ambassador-at-large for International Religious Freedom, on the U.S. State Department’s annual religious freedom report, which found a “chilling array” of religious suppression around the world.
• Mercedes Schlapp, Assistant to the President and Senior Advisor for Strategic Communications, on the crisis at the southern border and House Democrats’ reluctance to provide adequate funding to address the issue.

On the Tuesday, June 25, 2019 edition of Washington Watch with Tony Perkins, we heard from:

• Josh Hawley, U.S. Senator from Missouri, on an undercover video from a whistleblower in which the Head of Responsible Innovation at Google claims the tech giant will decide what is “fair and equitable” to prevent another person like President Trump from ever being elected.
• Mo Brooks, U.S. Representative for the 5^th District of Alabama, on the Trump administration’s policy statement opposing half-measures pushed by House Democrats to put a band-aid on the immigration crisis without fulling addressing the humanitarian and security problems at the border.
• Doug Lamborn, U.S. Representative for the 5^th District of Colorado, on his bill to defund PBS for indoctrinating children with progressive content.

On the Monday, June 24, 2019 edition of Washington Watch with Tony Perkins, we heard from:

• Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Jerry Boykin, Executive Vice President of Family Research Council and former commander of Delta Force, on Iran’s threat to shoot more U.S. drones out of the sky.
• Kristan Hawkins, President of Students for Life, on the Planned Parenthood forum where twenty Democratic presidential candidates promoted the group’s abortion agenda.
• Larry Obhof, President of the Ohio Senate, on the Ohio Senate passing a budget that would fund pregnancy care centers.

On the Friday, June 21, 2019 edition of Washington Watch with Tony Perkins, we heard from:

• Bob Fu, President of China Aid, on the mass protests in Hong Kong and the Christian hymn that has become the “anthem” of the protestors.
• John Merrill, Secretary of State for Alabama, who is calling out the Southern Poverty Law Center for “inaccurate reporting” on voting numbers and other facts.
• Alvin Dupree, a Wisconsin Pastor and a Member of the Appleton Area School District’s Board of Education, who came under fire after praying in Jesus’ name at graduation.
• Geoff Rogers, co-founder of the U.S. Institute against Human Trafficking, on how sex-trafficking across the U.S., while primarily targeting girls, also targets boys as young as 10-years-old and dresses them as girls.

On the Wednesday, June 19, 2019 edition of Washington Watch with Tony Perkins, we heard from:

• Gus Bilirakis, U.S. Representative for the 12^th District of Florida, on House Democrats piling on pressure to divert federal family planning dollars (Title X) to fund abortion in this morning’s hearing in the House Energy and Commerce Committee.
• Jennifer Bryson, Founder of Let All Play, on the firm decision from USA Women’s Powerlifting to not allow biological males to compete against women, and on a widely cited study to promote transgender athletes that has been thoroughly discredited.
• Meg Kilgannon, Executive Director of Concerned Parents and Educators of Fairfax County, on the American Library Association encouraging rural libraries to deceptively perform transgender story hours under parents’ noses.
• Dede Laugesen, Executive Director of Save the Persecuted Christians, and Rebecca Sharibu, mother of Leah Sharibu, on the plight of the Nigerian schoolgirl who was kidnapped by the Muslim terrorist group Boko Haram in February 2018, and has not been released because she refuses to renounce Christ.

On the Tuesday, June 18, 2019 edition of Washington Watch with Tony Perkins, we heard from:

• Denise Harle, Legal Counsel for Alliance Defending Freedom, the Christian legal firm representing a student athlete in Connecticut who lost her chance at a scholarship when she was forced to compete against biological males who identified as female.
• Kelly Shackelford, President and Chief Counsel of First Liberty Institute, on the Supreme Court tossing out the Oregon Court of Appeals’ ruling against Aaron and Melissa Klein, Christian bakers who declined to create a cake for a same-sex “wedding,” and ordering the lower court to re-hear the case from the beginning, specifically in light of the 2018 Masterpiece Cakeshop ruling.
• Peter Sprigg, Senior Fellow for Policy Studies at Family Research Council, on California legislation banning professional counselors from helping minors struggling against same-sex attractions.
• Rebecca Friedrichs, Author of “Standing up to Goliath: Battling State and National Teachers’ Unions for the Heart and Soul of Our Kids and Country,” on the California Teachers’ Association trying to pass off SPLC propaganda as “anti-bullying” curriculum.

On the Monday, June 17, 2019 edition of Washington Watch with Tony Perkins, we heard from:

• Jerry Boykin, Executive Vice President of Family Research Council and former commander of the U.S. Army’s Delta Force, on the torpedo attacks on two civilian oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz, off the coast of Iran.
• Ted Yoho, U.S. Representative for the 3^rd District of Florida, on Bernie Sanders’s speech at George Washington University trying to defend “democratic socialism.”
• Brad Dacus, President of Pacific Justice Institute, who is defending a Christian school raided by the state of California, which is harassing it to force it to either renounce Biblical teachings on sexuality or shut down entirely.
• Michael McAfee, Director of Community Initiatives at Museum of the Bible and a teaching pastor at Council Road Baptist Church in Oklahoma City, and his wife Lauren McAfee, Corporate Ambassador for Hobby Lobby, on their new book, “Not What You Think: Why the Bible Might Be Nothing We Expected Yet Everything We Need.”

On the Thursday, June 13, 2019 edition of Washington Watch with Tony Perkins, we heard from:

• Eric Cochran, former engineer at Pinterest, who was fired for blowing the whistle on Pinterest’s censorship of pro-life site Live Action.
• Ivy Shelton, pastor of First Baptist Church in Waskom, Texas, on the Waskom City Council unanimously declaring themselves a “sanctuary city of the unborn.”
• Mercedes Schlapp, Assistant to the President and Senior Advisor for Strategic Communications, on the oil tankers reportedly torpedoed in the Strait of Hormuz and President Trump’s Statement of Administration Policy, promising to veto appropriations bills if House Democrats weigh them down with liberal amendments.
• Steve Scalise, U.S. Representative for the 1^st District of Louisiana and House Minority Whip, on House Democrats blocking an amendment during the appropriations process to prohibit federal funds from going to entities that do not protect babies born alive during an abortion.

On the Wednesday, June 12, 2019 edition of Washington Watch with Tony Perkins, we heard from:

• Josh Hawley, U.S. Senator from Missouri, on Michael Bogren’s withdrawing his nomination to fill a federal court vacancy, and on Pinterest’s absurd and outrageous new strategy to censor the phrase “Bible verses” and block a top pro-life site, Live Action.
• Terry Jeffrey, Editor-in-Chief of CNS News.com, on the White House’s Statement of Administration Policy, threatening to veto appropriations bills if House Democrats weigh them down with various liberal amendments.
• David Stevens, President of the Christian Medical and Dental Association, on the American Medical Association’s call for state laws that allow minors to override their parents’ objections to vaccinations.

On the Tuesday, June 11, 2019 edition of Washington Watch with Tony Perkins, we heard from:

• Ralph Norman, U.S. Representative for the 5^th District of South Carolina, on how President Trump's threat to impose tariffs on Mexico turned into a win for the border.
• Bob Onder, State Senator for the 2^nd District of Missouri, on a judge’s injunction to keep open the state’s last abortion clinic.
• Mike Gonzalez, Senior Fellow at the Heritage Foundation, on the hypocrisy of Hollywood in threatening to boycott Georgia while bending over backward for China.

On the Monday, June 10, 2019 edition of Washington Watch with Tony Perkins, we heard from:

• Jim Banks, U.S. Representative for the 3^rd District of Indiana, on how radical pro-abortion positions are becoming a requirement in the Democratic party, as evidenced by Democrats seeking to remove longstanding pro-life riders from appropriations bills and by former Vice President Joe Biden’s “flip-flop-flip” on the Hyde Amendment.
• Andy Harris, U.S. Representative for the 1^st District of Maryland, on the Trump administration’s directive to U.S. embassies overseas not to fly the LGBT-pride flag.
• Justin Danhof, Director of the Free Enterprise Project and General Counsel for the National Center for Public Policy Research, on a letter by CEOs calling abortion bans “bad for business.”

On the Friday, June 7, 2019 edition of Washington Watch with Tony Perkins, we heard from:

• Ralph Norman, U.S. Representative for the 5^th District of South Carolina, on H.R. 6, a bill that would codify Speaker Pelosi’s immigration policies by rewarding lawbreakers and punishing law-abiding immigrants.
• A Madison, Wisconsin Parent, who objected to a science teacher’s transgender “coming out” video instructing students to call him “Mix” instead of “Mr.” and to refer to him using invented pronouns, which was shown to his elementary-age son at school without any prior notice to parents.
• Charlie Kirk, Founder and President of Turning Point USA, on why he warns against Americans’ embrace of socialism.

On the Thursday, June 6, 2019 edition of Washington Watch with Tony Perkins, we heard from:

• Rob Portman, U.S. Senator from Ohio, on his bill that established a plaque at the World War II Memorial featuring President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s D-Day prayer.
• Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Jerry Boykin, Executive Vice President of Family Research Council and former commander of the U.S. Army’s Delta Force, on his own father’s involvement in D-Day and the importance of remembering those who fought and died.

On the Wednesday, June 5, 2019 edition of Washington Watch with Tony Perkins, we heard from:

• Mark Meadows, U.S. Representative for the 11^th District of North Carolina, on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announcing an end to fetal tissue research contracts through the National Institutes of Health.
• Emily Birnbaum, Reporter at The Hill, on bipartisan Congressional concerns over the FBI’s database of more than 640 million photographs and their use of facial recognition technology.
• Aaron Baer, President of Citizens for Community Values, on two publicly-funded libraries in Ohio that were forced to cancel drag queen shows after public outcry.