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Current Events and Social Issues 0:06 Welcome to the Washington Watch News Desk. I'm Sarah Holliday and here is the latest news. More people are waking up to the international movement to keep women's spaces and sports exclusive0:18 to actual women. The Ladies Professional Golfing Association or LPGA is the latest to come around. Just earlier this week, LPGA policy allowed biological0:29 men to compete against women. But over the past several months, experts in medicine, science, sports physiology, golf performance, and gender policy law all weighed in on the controversy0:41 of a biological male playing on the ladies tour. In the end, they confirmed something most people already know. There's a major biological difference between men and women. The LPGA finally acknowledged0:53 those facts and made a slight policy change that will go into effect next year. It used to be that any trans identifying man could compete. Now the LPGA has limited eligibility to males who1:05 haven't gone through puberty. Women's rights activists say it's a start at least. That same movement scored another victory in Ohio last week when Republican governor Mike DeWine signed1:17 the Protect All Students Act. And while it does protect all students, the law will especially protect the state's girls. Under this bill, private spaces in schools like bathrooms, locker1:29 rooms, showers, and changing rooms will be limited to 1 sex. In effect, DeWine said there will be no more mixing of boys and girls in the name of radical gender ideology.1:41 Most agree these are major steps in the right direction. Now, let's turn to the Middle East where tensions between Israel and Hamas seem to grow by the day. And NSC International is1:53 only adding fuel to the fire. This global organization just released a nearly 300 page report, and it came with strong accusations against Israel. Watch.2:04 We looked at everything that needed to be considered, and at the end, the only reasonable conclusion that could be drawn is that Israel2:16 intended and intend to commit genocide.2:20 The Israeli foreign ministry immediately responded to this claim that in the fight for its survival, Israel has committed genocide. They insisted that the report was based on lies and entirely false. Ministry2:32 spokesman Oren Marmorstein set the record straight. He declared that Israeli citizens have been subjected to daily attacks. Israel is defending itself against these attacks acting fully in accordance2:44 with international law. While this report has been months in the making, it's also not the first of its kind from Amnesty International. 1 noteworthy aspect of the document is its claim that Israel is2:56 guilty of quote, repeated direct attacks on civilians. Yet, some have wondered, what about Hamas? After all, the terrorist organization has repeatedly3:08 used their own civilians as human shields. Amnesty International clearly didn't take that into consideration. Back to the US. There's another interesting conversation taking place at the3:20 Department of Education. US officials are scratching their heads. They're trying to understand why public school math scores are so remarkably low. In fact, data released Wednesday by theGovernment Efficiency and Education Challenges 3:32 National Center for Education Statistics shows the scores plummeted between 20 19 and 20 23. NCES commissioner Peggy Carr had this to say.3:42 The results are sobering. This decline that we're we're seeing was was there in 20 15. So all of this cannot be blamed on COVID. We3:53 have, been struggling with this declining scores, particularly in math, for a4:00 while. But if COVID didn't cause it, what did? At least some experts have noted that within this time frame, there was a significant rise in LGBT activism in schools.4:12 Many have even argued that ideology has become a priority in a number of districts. 1 that has taken the place of important learning time in subjects like math. Regardless, there have yet to be any4:24 definitive answers to these lingering questions. And those are today's headlines. I'm Sarah Holliday. For more news and commentary, be sure to check out the Washington Stand at washington stand dot com and follow us on4:35 social media for updates at FRCDC. Up next is Washington Watch with Tony Perkins. We'll see you tomorrow with more news.4:52 From the heart of our nation's capital in Washington DC, bringing compelling interviews, insightful analysis, taking you beyond the headlines and sound bites into conversations with our nation's leaders and5:03 newsmakers, all from a biblical worldview. Washington Watch with Tony Perkins starts now.5:11 We need a military that is 100 percent focused on protecting our country and enhancing our national security, not implementing a woke agenda.5:24 Our military is not a social experiment. It should be a lethal fighting force feared by our enemies and made up of our best and brightest in this5:36 country.5:38 That was Alabama senator Tommy Tuberville on the senate floor raising concerns about the National Defense Authorization Act, which is currently making its way through congress. Thank you for joining me for this Thursday5:49 edition of Washington Watch. I'm Tony Perkins. Well, here's what we have lined up for you today. Missouri senator Josh Hawley is leading the charge against the provision in that defense bill that would require women 186:00 and older to register for selective service. That's a precursor to being drafted. Senator Hawley joins me later to discuss his efforts to stop this controversial move by the left. And over6:12 in the house, speaker Mike Johnson and the leading Republicans met today with Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to kick off the new Department of Government Efficiency.6:21 There is an enormous amount of waste, fraud, and abuse in the government, and I think everyone knows that intuitively. And so the efforts here, both with our subcommittees that are being created here and with the DOGE6:32 effort itself, will be to, to explore that, to investigate it, and lay it bare for the American people to see. I think that's how we'll begin to bring about the change that we all need.6:42 We'll hear from Texas congressman Pete Sessions, cochair of the new Doge caucus, on how this initiative aims to cut government waste. Well, US education continues to struggle as newly6:54 released test scores for fourth and eighth graders show a sharp decline in math proficiency.6:59 And when compared to other highly developed countries, US ranks 20 sixth in math. The pandemic highlighted these deficiencies even further. Parents finally had a window into7:11 the indoctrination that was taking place. School staff were more concerned about their own pronouns rather than students understanding how to use a pronoun in a sentence.7:22 That was Michigan congressman Tim Wahlberg, a member of the House Education Committee. Now public school advocates are blaming COVID, but is there a deeper issue? We'll talk with FRC's Meg Kilgan and7:34 a former Department of Education official about what's really going on in public education. And on the international front, chaos in South Korea continues where political unrest continues. We'll explore the7:45 spiritual condition of the nation and the role of the church in this critical moment with doctor John Lee, lead pastor of the Rock Presbyterian Church in Maryland. Finally, as we witness the spiritual7:57 battles that are shaping events worldwide, I want to invite you to join Operation Prayer Shield if you've not already done so. Now this prayer initiative invites believers to seek God's divine protection and8:09 guidance, not only upon our nation, but our allies very volatile times leading up to January the twentieth and beyond. If you'd like to join us in this effort, simply text shield, that's s8:22 h I e l d, to 67742. That's shield to 6 7 7 4 2 to participate. Alright. Let's get started. Just moments ago, house and senate Republicans wrapped8:33 up a brainstorming session with entrepreneurs Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, who have been tapped to lead the incoming Trump administration's new department on government efficiency. While today's8:45 meeting excluded Democrats, bipartisan discussions are planned as even some on the left, believe it or not, expressed interest in this new initiative. So what exactly was discussed today? Join me now by8:57 phone, congressman Pete Sessions of Texas, who is cochair of the newly formed House Doge Caucus. Congressman Sessions, welcome back to Washington Watch.9:07 Thank you very much. The conversation today evolved itself around 2 meetings with both of these young young men who have associated themselves with the9:19 efficiency of government. They both come to the table very interestingly in a in a very similar fashion, and that is while they have been highly, highly9:30 successful, 1 of them being probably the richest man in the world, They are concerned about our country. They see where the mismanagement of financial,9:43 data of of the of the size of government of the inefficiency is a threat, an immediate threat to the greatest nation in the world. And that they9:55 want to come and add their, not just ideas, but their hard work and their good name, to this effort. And so they have said, which I did not know until10:07 today, an arbitrary figure of some 18 months from now for fourth of July, 20 26 that they have want to make10:19 significant progress and believe that it will be on track for them to, announce, success. And so that we were gathering together, house members,10:31 senate members, Republicans, and might I add that the Doge caucus in the house, now has 3 Democrats who have joined with us who see that government efficiency must be10:43 a priority, for Congress.10:46 Congressman Sessions, the the Congress clearly plays a role in this because in, in previous in the previous Trump administration, a budget was actually introduced by the10:57 president that called for cuts, but Congress dismissed that because Congress is the 1 that controls the purse strings. So while the the the the this agency can look at11:09 areas to cut, it's ultimately the Congress that funds government.11:15 Well, that's true, but we're talking about efficiencies here. We're talking about we may, come to an agreement to appropriate billions or trillions of dollars, but11:26 it goes into a bureaucracy that is wholly incapable of effective delivery to the United States, to the American people. An example of that is it11:38 is why and it's not even disputed. We just don't know the actual figures. The largest government building in Washington, DC is the Ronald Reagan building. And yet11:50 in testimony before the subcommittee of which I'm the chairman of, the discussions were up to 60 percent of the employees in that building, not12:02 military and not law enforcement, went less than 1 day a week. If you cannot come to work, if you cannot work with people, who who need I12:13 mean, these government jobs are not solo practices. They are working with people, looking at databases, working at problems, working across, agencies.12:25 And, that's an example of the of the need that we have to make sure that things work. In the congressional district, I represent Texas seventeenth district.12:39 4 years ago, we received money from FEMA that would be about combating wildfires with a fire station, so to speak. They would be put up way12:51 out in in in the central Texas. They would be there to fight wherever the wildfire was in central Texas, and it was some 478000 dollars. We have13:03 yet to even pitch a a an inch of dirt at this. And so it's 3 years later, nothing has happened, and prices have risen 40 percent. So the inefficiency13:14 of government, the rules and regulations, the way that they are placed in a way, we're gonna maybe rearrange that stack. We're gonna look at every single part of government Yes. And13:26 make it efficient.13:27 This is going to prompt some soul searching, I would think, congressman Sessions, because this goes back to what is the purpose of government. Because if you look a lot of these programs, and and and I'm not I'm not13:39 gonna pick on any particular party, but it's not necessarily been about delivering services, but it's been about creating jobs. And that's not the role of government, but that has been the13:51 role of many of these programs.13:55 Well, I don't think that there's any question in my mind that some of the conversation exactly that you're having could be could be true. But the vast14:06 number of jobs that are created or that are in the government are jobs that are supposed to be there to fulfill a need of people. And what happens is is that14:18 there are those that come and tinker with that, like the president of the United States, who organized and to have a negotiated settlement of a union bargain with14:30 Social Security that their 45000 employees could stay at home under those programs rather than going to work.14:40 Right.14:41 And I will tell you that if they are light years behind, which I believe they are and inefficient. The American people are gonna see this whole solely for what it14:53 is. We've had problems. You'll recall just a few years ago, the passport office.14:58 Right.14:59 We have problems with the IRS. So that's we'll get in under this. But if the American people think that what we're doing is worthy, then it will succeed. If they think what we're doing is15:11 anything other than that, we'll be in trouble.15:14 So congressman Sessions, let's talk about how the Doge caucus will operate. What what what are the what are the first steps you're going to take to get this ball rolling?15:23 Well, the the first step that we were gonna take, we already have. We have put a invitation out. The, 3 leaders of the the caucus, are going to make sure that,15:35 Aaron Bean and I began this, and then we've now added in, congressman from, Utah, Blake Moore. And Blake is gonna be in with us because we felt like he would15:46 add a particular voice as a as as a new young member. But we believe that what's happened is we have made it available to members 6015:58 some members of Republicans. 3 Democrats have agreed to join us. This is now a, quote, bipartisan effort. 4 now, as of today, somebody else stepped up. We want to begin16:10 talking about all the ideas, not just 1 or 2 or 5. And we all have ideas about the government efficiency. As the chairman of the government reform and oversight16:22 subcommittee on federal workforce, government operations in federal workforce, I've been doing many of these hearings. And this government's wholly inefficient, which is what16:34 left it right for exactly what we're doing. We will then move to next. And remember, we've only got 2 weeks left before we reorganize. But what we will16:46 do is begin formulating things where where people can come and, provide feedback. We have a web I'm sorry. We have an email address, gauche at16:57 mail dot house dot gov. We want people to send us their information, their ideas. We want industry involved. We want commerce involved. And we're gonna take these where will be17:09 thousands of ideas, work through them with our members that will be busy, and then present, plans every few weeks to where we keep people up with people who17:21 are regular Americans who wanna see us succeed.17:25 Congressman, we just have about a minute left. I know you gotta get on the floor to vote. But Vivek Ramaswamy mentioned low hanging fruit for reducing government waste. How much are we talking about there?17:36 Well, the the low hanging fruit, is is where he believes, and I do too, that there are functions that the government performs that it should17:48 not be the sole provider or should not be doing it. Obviously, there are conversation about a lot of things. We have a hundred and 58 different jobs programs18:01 that are duplicative efforts. So we're gonna look at the duplicative effort. We're gonna look at things that are not following the mandate of what their department was about, and that is an easy,18:13 pickings. So we will we will quickly float these up. We will decide how we're going to do it. If I'm gonna suggest to you what we ought to do with somebody, I better have an answer about how18:25 I'm gonna do it And if it's a necessary, part that needs to be covered, where would it move? It's easy for us to say, oh, well, we'll move it back to the states. But that then requires we go through the18:37 appropriations process and get that done.18:40 Well, it's much needed, and we look forward to, watching and, reporting on the process. Congressman Sessions, thanks for joining us.18:47 Very useful. Thank you very18:49 Stick with us, folks. We're back after this.Spiritual Vigilance and Global Challenges 18:52 The throne of Jesus Christ is unchallenged. His name was never on the ballot to begin with, and it's never gonna be on the ballot. He's the king of kings, and he's the lord of lords, and nothing's gonna change19:04 that. And so our mission stays the same, preach the gospel, make disciples, get ready for heaven. In the meantime, that we're to advance the concerns of the kingdom of god here on earth.19:16 America has entered a critical and vulnerable period from now until January the twentieth. Join Family Research Council for Operation Prayer Shield, a 10 week prayer initiative for our nation. From now until January19:26 twentieth, our country faces global challenges, a transition of leadership, and a lame duck session of congress. This season calls for heightened spiritual vigilance, discernment, and prayer. Text the word shield to 619:38 7 7 4 2 to join us. You'll have access to prayer points, scripture, prayer calls. Text shield to 6 7 7 4 2. Unite with us and pray for our nation.19:52 Let's not be discouraged. Don't lose heart. Don't lose the faith. Stand now strong because the Lord has given us the great privilege of living in a time when our choices matter, when our lives matter, when our20:03 courage matters. So let's stand together and save this great country. God bless the United States of America.20:09 The American Republic has a freedom like no other. It has roots in the scriptures, far more than any other heritage. And if we as followers of Jesus20:21 and conservatives don't defend it,20:24 who will? Neutrality is not an option. There are many Christians who believe that if we just keep our heads down, if we just don't say the wrong thing, that that somehow we will come20:36 out of this unscathed. You're naive if you think that. Because what they want from us is not our silence. What they want from us is our submission.20:47 Part of the dilemma of Christianity in our generation is that we've relied a little too much on human wisdom and human reasoning, human strength, human resource, and we've relied too little on the power20:59 of God and God's ability to open doors that we can't open and do things that we can't even hope to begin to do.21:05 This may not be an easy task, task, but we are living in a moment of challenge, but also a great opportunity. And we know always that we are not alone, that his21:17 spirit empowers us and protects us, and that he can do the unimaginable. Dobbs, after all, was never supposed to happen.21:27 Father, we thank you. You have entrusted us with this moment in history, and I pray that we would be found faithful. And that as a result of our faithfulness to you, that thousands, millions would come into21:39 the kingdom as they would experience the forgiveness of sin and the new life that is found only in Jesus Christ. Amen.21:55 Welcome back to Washington Watch. Good to have you with us on this Thursday. The website, tony perkins dot com. Better yet, download the Stand Firm app so that you can have Washington Watch with you wherever you go. Not22:06 only Washington Watch, but the Washington Stand and Stand on the Word, our daily devotional. You can find it in the App Store, Stand Firm. For the third time in 4 years, Democrats are trying to22:18 mandate mandate that women register for selective service through the annual National Defense Authorization Act. Now we currently do not have a draft, have not had a draft since, the Vietnam22:30 War. However, however, the selective services in place to get young men, 18 and older, they have to register in the event that we have a draft. And given the22:42 fact that the military continues to miss its recruiting numbers because of all of the woke agenda that's been injected into our nation's military, they're now wanting to force women to22:53 register for the selective service so that they could be drafted. Well, there's a group of Republican senators pushing back, and leading the charge is Missouri senator Josh Hawley. He joins me now by phone to discuss the23:05 status of this battle. Senator Hawley, welcome back to Washington Watch.23:09 Thank you so much. Thanks for having me.23:11 Alright. So give us the status, the National Defense Authorization Act making its way through congress. This is an annual must pass bill, funds the military, also gives direction and policy. What's going23:23 on?23:24 Well, we're awaiting the text of it, Tony, the final text, but I can tell you that, as it came out of the Senate, it once again contained the draft our daughter's language, as I think of it, which is23:36 totally unacceptable. And I have voted against this legislation in years past because this language was included in it. And today, a group of my colleagues and I have sent a letter to our leadership making clear that we23:48 will oppose this legislation on the floor if necessary, as I have done in the past, until this language is removed. It is an absolute travesty to try and force women24:00 to register and just let's be clear about this. This is compulsory now. Compulsory. It's not as if, well, you can volunteer. It's compulsory service for women in the military is totally wrong.24:11 I see this 2 motivating factors behind this, and I wanna get your thoughts on this. So part of it is that the left continuing to want to erase the difference between genders. We see that on so many24:23 fronts. But, also, I I think from a very practical standpoint as they have foisted upon our nation's military, this woke agenda, they're not meeting their recruiting24:35 numbers because young people are not wanting to join the military.24:40 That's right. They're not meeting their recruiting numbers. They're not meeting their retention numbers, Tony. They're losing more folks than they should. And you're right. It's because they've really the left has turned24:50 the military or tried to into a giant social experiment. And I know this because I talked to to folks, particularly enlisted men and women, all the time. In fact, I've got it in my my own family. Proud to say that. And25:02 what I hear from them all up and down the chain of command, and again, especially the listed folks is that they have this woke agenda shoved down their throats, and what they want to do is defend the United States of25:13 America. That's why they enlisted. That's why they wanna be in the service. But they're trying the Democrats are trying to turn the military into a giant experiment in, in trans rights. I mean, right now, we are paying25:24 for transgender surgeries in the military, our tax dollars. They're trying to use our tax dollars to pay for abortions in the military. They wanna have compulsory draft of women in the military. My view is stop25:36 all of this social experimentation and get back to defending America. That's what we should be focused on.25:41 Absolutely. But I I see that they they want to rely upon the women to fill the void created by the decline in those that are voluntarily joining the25:53 military. So this is many will say, well, this is it's not gonna happen. We haven't had a draft in 50 years. That's not true. Where the military is headed, we may have to see a draft.26:04 Well, and particularly given the the pace of our foreign conflicts and the proliferating foreign conflicts, Tony, especially under this administration, which is thankfully on its way out the door. But if you think about26:14 we are just inches away from having boots on the ground in Ukraine, perhaps in significant numbers. I mean, if this president's policy Joe Biden's policies are gonna continue, which they're not, thank the lord. But I'm26:24 just saying, you think about our military commitments. They're not getting smaller overseas. They're getting bigger, which is its own problem. But to your point, as they proliferate and as our real numbers of26:36 both recruitment and retention decline, the idea that, oh, we'll never go to a draft, oh, we may well have to go to a draft. And the idea that we would compulsory draft women, I think, is wrong.26:47 I I I could not agree with you more. I mean, I I'm happy if my daughters would want to serve in the military. I've got 1 that's in law enforcement, 1 that's26:55 a26:55 nurse. But to force our to be a nation that would force women to defend and fight for us, something about that, quite frankly, senator, is wrong.27:07 It is. It's wrong, and I I think it sends the wrong message in all kinds of ways. Really, in many ways, it it sends a message, that we don't respect the personal choice of women, that we don't respect,27:20 their choices for their lives. Because what we're telling them, I just can't emphasize this enough, is that you don't have a choice. You must register. And then if drafted, you must serve no matter what. And listen, you27:31 know, a draft for anybody is an infringement on people's rights. I mean, the Supreme Court has had to litigate this, been clear about it. But we've said in cases of of great national need that it can be done and great27:43 national need. But let's be clear that this would be a massive infringement Right. On the rights of women without them having any say in it whatsoever. It's a hundred miles away from from a woman saying, yes. I wanna27:54 serve voluntarily. That's awesome. It's wonderful. That's not what this is.27:57 Right. And infringement upon the family, as well. And, again, trying to erase the distinction between men and women. This is what the left has been about. But it it appears that voters are28:09 waking up to this. So is this the time to put this issue to rest?28:15 And you're right about voters. I mean, we have had the chance now just in this last election, both at the national level and in many states, looking what the left is doing by trying to erase men and women as28:27 biological realities altogether with their radical trans agenda. And in state after state, including, you know, so called blue states, you see voters decisively rejecting this. And I think this is the time to draw the28:37 line and say we've gotta get this woke garbage out of our national government and out of the military. We should begin with the military and say no more spending on trans surgeries and trans care. No more28:49 spending on abortions. No more trying to force women into the draft. We need to stop all of this and recalibrate. Get back to the basics, get back to defending this country.28:58 So, Senator Holly, how can our listeners and our viewers help?Show more In this video 0:06 Current Events and Social Issues3:22 Government Efficiency and Education Challenges18:52 Spiritual Vigilance and Global Challenges29:04 International and Domestic Political Issues38:35 Education Reform and Spiritual Renewal
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