Latest / Salem Podcast Network / This Week on Capitol Hill - Violent Riots in France Could be Preview of Democratic Control of Congress ... and Will Upcoming Israeli Elections Make the Middle East Even More Volatile?

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This Week on Capitol Hill - Violent Riots in France Could be Preview of Democratic Control of Congress ... and Will Upcoming Israeli Elections Make the Middle East Even More Volatile? · Salem Podcast Network

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Welcome to This Week on Capitol Hill, your insider's guide
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: to the stories shaping Washington and the world.
• 0:06
  Speaker 2: I'm your host, Tony Perkins.
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: With Election Day just 10 days away, the battle for
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: control of Congress is intensifying. House Speaker Mike Johnson says
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: this is no ordinary midterm election.
• 0:17
  Speaker 3: The early polling numbers, the early turnout numbers in many
• 0:20
  Speaker 3: of the states is showing a very important trend. Republicans
• 0:24
  Speaker 3: are not staying home. They are not depressed. They're coming
• 0:27
  Speaker 3: out in huge numbers. And we're going to win because
• 0:29
  Speaker 3: of that.
• 0:30
  Speaker 2: You know why?
• 0:30
  Speaker 3: Because everybody knows what's at stake. This is not a
• 0:33
  Speaker 3: midterm like we've ever faced before. We're in a very
• 0:36
  Speaker 3: different time of challenge right now.
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: The speaker joins us from the campaign trail to discuss
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: what Republicans must do to maintain their majority.
• 0:44
  Speaker 2: What the outcome could mean for the direction of the country.
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: Meanwhile, the Trump administration is pursuing another round of diplomacy
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: to end Russia's war against Ukraine. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: met with Vladimir Putin this week following talks with Ukrainian
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: and European leaders.
• 1:02
  Speaker 4: And I think there's some degree of momentum.
• 1:07
  Speaker 5: And I hope that this today can be another step
• 1:10
  Speaker 5: forward in the peace process and discussing how we resolve
• 1:14
  Speaker 5: the Ukrainian conflict.
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: Can diplomatic momentum produce a peace agreement when the two
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: sides remain divided over fundamental issues? Newsmax chief Washington correspondent
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: James Rosen joins us to examine the latest.
• 1:29
  Speaker 2: Developments in Washington and around the world.
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: And in France, violent unrest has exposed deep divisions over
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: the country's political and economic future. President Donald Trump described
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: the situation in stark terms.
• 1:43
  Speaker 6: If you look at what's going on in France, I've
• 1:45
  Speaker 6: been doing this stuff for a long time, and I've
• 1:48
  Speaker 6: been watching other countries for a long time.
• 1:50
  Speaker 7: I have never seen anything like that. That wasn't a
• 1:53
  Speaker 7: little bit of a riot. That wasn't a little bit
• 1:56
  Speaker 7: of a protest.
• 1:58
  Speaker 6: That was a full-on revolution, and it continues, and it continues.
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: With government spending in France consuming more than half of
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: the country's economic output and America's national debt now exceeding
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: $ 40 trillion, are we witnessing a warning of what happens
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: when government promises exceed its ability to pay? Economist David
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: Bonson joins us to discuss the warnings for America if
• 2:25
  Speaker 1: government socialism expands. Plus, in Missouri, voters will decide whether
• 2:29
  Speaker 1: to reverse a 2024 decision to enshrine abortion in the
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: state's constitution or by approving Amendment 3 on Election Day,
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: which would protect life in the womb and beyond. Former
• 2:40
  Speaker 1: Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey joins us to explain what's
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: at stake and why the outcome could reverberate far beyond Missouri.
• 2:49
  Speaker 1: And finally, as Americans prepare to vote, Speaker Johnson says
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: voters understand the stakes.
• 2:55
  Speaker 7: I believe we can win.
• 2:56
  Speaker 3: I believe this is different than any midterm because people
• 2:58
  Speaker 3: know the stakes. We have a fundraising advantage right now.
• 3:01
  Speaker 3: For the first time in 10 years, Republicans have a
• 3:04
  Speaker 3: fundraising advantage over Democrats because people know the stakes are
• 3:06
  Speaker 3: so high. We have far superior candidates, and we've got
• 3:10
  Speaker 3: a great record to run on.
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: But regardless of party, those who participate in the process
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: will shape the future of our country. Later, I'll explain
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: why voting is more than a right of American citizenship.
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: It is a responsibility. And for Christians, a matter of
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: faithful stewardship. All of that is straight ahead on this week.
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: on Capitol Hill.
• 3:32
  Speaker 2: Today's edition of This Week on Capitol Hill is being
• 3:35
  Speaker 2: presented by AARP.
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: The Trump administration intensified its effort to end Russia's war
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: against Ukraine this week. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff met with
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: Ukrainian President Zelensky and European leaders in Norway before traveling
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: to Russia to talk with the Russian President Vladimir Putin.
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: Following those meetings, the Kremlin indicated it was willing, in principle,
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: to resume negotiations in November. Russia also released American Stephen
• 4:08
  Speaker 1: Hubbard following a personal request from President Trump. But the
• 4:12
  Speaker 1: central question remains, are these developments signs of meaningful progress
• 4:17
  Speaker 1: toward peace, or is Moscow simply buying time while continuing
• 4:22
  Speaker 1: its war against Ukraine? Joining us now to discuss this
• 4:25
  Speaker 1: and other major developments is James Rosen, chief Washington correspondent
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: for Newsmax. James, welcome back to this week on Capitol Hill.
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: Thanks so much for joining us.
• 4:34
  Speaker 7: Always an honor to be with you, Tony. Thank you.
• 4:36
  Speaker 7: All right.
• 4:36
  Speaker 1: Let's talk about, you know, we go back from Iran
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: to negotiations there. Now we're back with Russia and Ukraine.
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: What do you make of the latest negotiations there?
• 4:47
  Speaker 4: Obviously, it's going to depend on where you sit. And
• 4:51
  Speaker 4: I don't mean ideologically. I mean in which foreign capital
• 4:53
  Speaker 4: you sit. In Moscow, the Kremlin has to be very
• 4:58
  Speaker 4: pleased with the recent set of actions taken by President Trump,
• 5:03
  Speaker 4: including lifting some economic sanctions or pausing some economic sanctions
• 5:07
  Speaker 4: against Russia. Also, the acceptance of diesel fuel from Russia
• 5:13
  Speaker 4: and what appears to be an increased supply application of
• 5:19
  Speaker 4: pressure on the Zelensky government in Kiev. And from their
• 5:23
  Speaker 4: perspective in that foreign capital, they have seen the United
• 5:26
  Speaker 4: States withhold intelligence that is ordinarily provided to the Ukrainian
• 5:31
  Speaker 4: military for about three days at a time when the
• 5:34
  Speaker 4: killing of civilians by the Russian forces in Ukraine is
• 5:39
  Speaker 4: seen at its highest level since the full-scale invasion began
• 5:43
  Speaker 4: nearly five years ago. Now, apparently that intelligence sharing has
• 5:47
  Speaker 4: been resumed. But nonetheless, from the point of those who
• 5:52
  Speaker 4: are stridently pro-democracy, these are troublesome signs from the Trump administration.
• 5:59
  Speaker 4: From the Trump administration's perspective, the way the president thinks,
• 6:03
  Speaker 4: he's a dealmaker. He's always been a dealmaker. But in
• 6:06
  Speaker 4: his history of dealmaking, President Trump has been an interested party,
• 6:11
  Speaker 4: or the Trump Organization has been an interested party, and
• 6:13
  Speaker 4: the deal-making that he's engaged in now with Mr. Kushner
• 6:18
  Speaker 4: and Witkoff as his emissaries and his intermediaries, the deal-making
• 6:24
  Speaker 4: is not on behalf of the Trump Organization or Mr.
• 6:26
  Speaker 4: Trump himself. He's acting as a mediator, in essence, in
• 6:30
  Speaker 4: a foreign war between two foreign states, and So this
• 6:35
  Speaker 4: is not his traditional venue for deal-making, but the way
• 6:39
  Speaker 4: they see it is they have a deal that's elusive.
• 6:42
  Speaker 4: They have a war that's costing a lot of life
• 6:45
  Speaker 4: and a lot of bloodshed and a lot of economic damage,
• 6:49
  Speaker 4: in which the easiest way to solve it or to
• 6:52
  Speaker 4: settle it or at least to reach a deal is
• 6:54
  Speaker 4: to compel the weaker party to capitulate. That might be
• 6:58
  Speaker 4: the swiftest road to a deal, but it might not
• 7:00
  Speaker 4: be the swiftest road to a just deal.
• 7:04
  Speaker 1: We have the Ukrainian president, Zelensky, wants to be a
• 7:09
  Speaker 1: part of these conversations. I don't think he wants the
• 7:12
  Speaker 1: United States negotiating with Russia on his behalf without him
• 7:15
  Speaker 1: being in the room.
• 7:16
  Speaker 2: Is that a legitimate request?
• 7:19
  Speaker 7: For sure.
• 7:21
  Speaker 4: In the days of President Biden, they used to say
• 7:23
  Speaker 4: nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine.
• 7:26
  Speaker 7: It is also the Ukrainians' experience since Mr. Trump resumed office.
• 7:30
  Speaker 4: Or reassumed office, that every time he talks to Vladimir Putin,
• 7:33
  Speaker 4: he comes back singing from the Kremlin songbook. And there
• 7:39
  Speaker 4: have been times where President Trump has expressed in this
• 7:42
  Speaker 4: term great dissatisfaction with Vladimir Putin, saying every time I
• 7:47
  Speaker 4: talk to him on the phone, you know, the next
• 7:50
  Speaker 4: day he kills more people. And so there were many
• 7:53
  Speaker 4: such expressions from President Trump. But in the end, But
• 7:58
  Speaker 4: it may be the president's calculus that the United States
• 8:01
  Speaker 4: and U.S. business interests are better served by compelling an
• 8:05
  Speaker 4: end to the war that is favorable to the Russians.
• 8:08
  Speaker 4: But that is not the view of our European allies, certainly.
• 8:13
  Speaker 4: It's not the view of most foreign policy analysts in
• 8:15
  Speaker 4: this country, that that would be the best thing in
• 8:19
  Speaker 4: the long-term future for the United States.
• 8:21
  Speaker 1: James, let's turn to the Middle East. Israelis go to
• 8:25
  Speaker 1: the polls on Tuesday with the region still confronting threats
• 8:28
  Speaker 1: from Iran and its proxies. How might the election affect
• 8:32
  Speaker 1: Israel's relationship with the United States and the Trump administration's
• 8:36
  Speaker 1: regional strategy?
• 8:38
  Speaker 4: Well, you posed this question, Tony, at a time when
• 8:40
  Speaker 4: published reports allege that the United States and Israel are
• 8:44
  Speaker 4: jointly developing fresh plans for airstrikes and other military action
• 8:49
  Speaker 4: against Iran immediately following or shortly following after the US
• 8:55
  Speaker 4: midterm elections, which as we sit here are less than
• 8:59
  Speaker 4: two weeks away. But as you note as well, the
• 9:01
  Speaker 4: Israeli elections will occur even sooner than that. For Benjamin Netanyahu,
• 9:07
  Speaker 4: who in his various stints is the longest serving prime
• 9:10
  Speaker 4: minister in Israel's history, It's been a long time since
• 9:13
  Speaker 4: he was dominant in his own political culture. Increasingly in
• 9:17
  Speaker 4: the last several elections, he has been allied in order
• 9:19
  Speaker 4: to form a majority government in the parliament. He has
• 9:23
  Speaker 4: been allied with far-right groups that were not traditionally previously
• 9:27
  Speaker 4: part of his electoral coalition. So the election is not
• 9:32
  Speaker 4: a slam dunk, I would say, for him to win necessarily.
• 9:37
  Speaker 4: I think he's favored to win just because there is
• 9:39
  Speaker 4: an incumbency advantage in But nonetheless, how that election turns
• 9:44
  Speaker 4: out will have a very significant impact on the region,
• 9:47
  Speaker 4: on Israel's future, on the conduct of the campaign against
• 9:50
  Speaker 4: Iran and Israel's relationship with the United States. There's a
• 9:53
  Speaker 4: very close partnership, obviously, despite some public expressions of frustration
• 9:58
  Speaker 4: from time to time. chiefly on President Trump's side, between
• 10:03
  Speaker 4: him and Prime Minister Netanyahu. And should somebody else take
• 10:06
  Speaker 4: the reins in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, then it stands
• 10:11
  Speaker 4: to reason that the partnership will be less close because
• 10:15
  Speaker 4: we've never seen such a close collaboration between the US
• 10:17
  Speaker 4: and Israel before.
• 10:19
  Speaker 1: Certainly something to be watching because the whole Middle East
• 10:23
  Speaker 1: is very, very volatile, remains that way. James Rosen, always
• 10:27
  Speaker 1: great to talk with you. Thanks so much for taking
• 10:29
  Speaker 1: time to join us this weekend.
• 10:32
  Speaker 7: Always a pleasure.
• 10:33
  Speaker 6: Thank you, Tony.
• 10:33
  Speaker 2: All right, folks, still.
• 10:36
  Speaker 1: A lot more of this week on Capitol Hill to come,
• 10:38
  Speaker 1: but let me give you some heads up.
• 10:41
  Speaker 7: Vote.
• 10:42
  Speaker 1: Elections are coming, and James was just talking about it.
• 10:44
  Speaker 1: I want to encourage you to make a plan to vote,
• 10:47
  Speaker 1: and we have a resource available for you. It's a
• 10:49
  Speaker 1: voter guide, personalized voter guide. Text the word VOTE to 67742,
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: and I'll send you a link. All right, stick around.
• 10:55
  Speaker 2: We'll be right back.
• 11:00
  Speaker 8: As prices keep rising, Social Security is even more important
• 11:04
  Speaker 8: to older Americans.
• 11:06
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• 11:35
  Speaker 2: Welcome back to This Week on Capitol Hill. I'm Tony Perkins,
• 11:38
  Speaker 2: your host.
• 11:39
  Speaker 1: France's economic and political troubles have spilled into the streets
• 11:43
  Speaker 1: with the violent protest and growing public anger over the
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: cost of living and deteriorating government services. But behind the
• 11:51
  Speaker 1: unrest is a much deeper economic problem. Government spending accounts
• 11:56
  Speaker 1: for more than half of France's economic output, while the
• 11:59
  Speaker 1: country's national debt is approaching 120% of their gross domestic product.
• 12:05
  Speaker 1: Despite that extraordinary level of government spending, mostly on social programs,
• 12:10
  Speaker 1: many French citizens believe they're getting less in return, and
• 12:14
  Speaker 1: they don't want government cuts. Here in America, our national
• 12:18
  Speaker 1: debt has now surpassed $ 40 trillion, and we're headed down
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: a very similar path. And if so, how do we
• 12:24
  Speaker 1: avoid the consequences? Joining us now to discuss this, economist
• 12:28
  Speaker 1: David Bonson, founder, managing partner, and chief investment officer of
• 12:32
  Speaker 1: the Bonson Group. David, welcome back to This Week on
• 12:35
  Speaker 1: Capitol Hill. Thanks for joining us.
• 12:37
  Speaker 2: Thanks for having me, Tony.
• 12:39
  Speaker 1: So France has one of the highest levels of government
• 12:42
  Speaker 1: spending among developed economies. What decisions brought this country to
• 12:47
  Speaker 1: this point and how much of the current crisis do
• 12:50
  Speaker 1: is the result of promises that government made that they
• 12:53
  Speaker 1: can no longer.
• 12:55
  Speaker 2: Afford to keep.
• 12:56
  Speaker 6: Yeah, France is an interesting subject because all of Western
• 13:01
  Speaker 6: Europe has made excessive promises to, as you rightly pointed out, Tony,
• 13:05
  Speaker 6: social programs. France is more dramatic than some of the
• 13:09
  Speaker 6: other Western European bloc countries. And so essentially, there's two
• 13:14
  Speaker 6: things going on. First, they have put a ton of
• 13:17
  Speaker 6: debt on the country's balance sheet that has to be paid.
• 13:20
  Speaker 6: And that's a huge problem. And that's what most people
• 13:23
  Speaker 6: focus on. But then there's what that takes away from
• 13:28
  Speaker 6: crowding out the private sector, crowding out the future opportunities.
• 13:33
  Speaker 6: There's math going on here. All you have available for
• 13:37
  Speaker 6: growth is what's available in the national savings to become
• 13:41
  Speaker 6: invested into future productive growth. Every dollar spent covering government
• 13:47
  Speaker 6: programs is a dollar that can't go into the productive
• 13:51
  Speaker 6: side of the economy. France made a conscious decision to
• 13:54
  Speaker 6: have a very large social safety net, very large social programs,
• 13:58
  Speaker 6: but all at once it becomes, A, unaffordable, which is
• 14:01
  Speaker 6: what most people like to focus on, But as an economist,
• 14:04
  Speaker 6: it's B that I like to focus on, how it
• 14:07
  Speaker 6: hurts their productive growth.
• 14:10
  Speaker 1: So, David, you know, for kind of the agrarian society,
• 14:14
  Speaker 1: the government is eating the seed corn of the people.
• 14:18
  Speaker 7: Yeah.
• 14:18
  Speaker 6: Well, that's one thing that I think a lot of
• 14:20
  Speaker 6: my conservative friends have a hard time understanding is we
• 14:24
  Speaker 6: love to blame politicians, especially here in America. But yeah,
• 14:28
  Speaker 6: the politicians, the people in France, they were doing.
• 14:31
  Speaker 7: What the people asked for.
• 14:33
  Speaker 6: And the voice of the people said, give us earlier retirement,
• 14:37
  Speaker 6: give us pensions you can't afford. And then they want
• 14:40
  Speaker 6: to complain that the chickens come home to roost.
• 14:44
  Speaker 1: And so now the government's realized they can't continue to
• 14:47
  Speaker 1: pay for all of this. And so they've suggested some
• 14:50
  Speaker 1: cutbacks and the people are, there's a lot of political
• 14:53
  Speaker 1: resistance to that.
• 14:55
  Speaker 2: Is there, are there warning signs here for America?
• 15:00
  Speaker 6: There certainly are, but there's two things going on here.
• 15:04
  Speaker 6: One we have in common with France, one we don't
• 15:06
  Speaker 6: have in common. The thing we have in common with
• 15:09
  Speaker 6: France is universal to human nature and the way I
• 15:11
  Speaker 6: believe God made the human person. People don't like austerity.
• 15:16
  Speaker 6: Humans intuitively do not like cutting things that they're used
• 15:19
  Speaker 6: to getting. Some grown-ups have to do it, but no
• 15:23
  Speaker 6: grown-up likes doing it. That's fair enough, but Americans are
• 15:27
  Speaker 6: not going to like cuts to anything they're used to
• 15:31
  Speaker 6: any more than the French do. That's why Milton Friedman
• 15:34
  Speaker 6: famously said there's nothing so permanent as a temporary government program.
• 15:39
  Speaker 6: It's why many of us, Tony, who were critical of
• 15:41
  Speaker 6: the Affordable Care Act during the Obama administration, knew that
• 15:45
  Speaker 6: it was going to end up becoming more popular, but
• 15:48
  Speaker 6: then more problematic because people weren't going to want to
• 15:50
  Speaker 6: give up some of the things that couldn't be paid for.
• 15:54
  Speaker 6: But here's where America does have an advantage France doesn't have.
• 15:58
  Speaker 6: While both of our countries are crowding out the private
• 16:01
  Speaker 6: sector with excessive government spending and debt, America has a
• 16:05
  Speaker 6: pro-capital markets, pro-enterprise, reasonably anti-tax, anti-regulation environment. Nowhere near as
• 16:13
  Speaker 6: much as I want, nowhere near as much as I
• 16:15
  Speaker 6: wish what we had during the Reagan supply-side moment was.
• 16:19
  Speaker 6: But France has embraced such a regulatory apparatus that that
• 16:24
  Speaker 6: further diminishes their ability for economic growth and compounds their problem.
• 16:30
  Speaker 6: This is why people like myself are pleading with America
• 16:33
  Speaker 6: to not go down this heavy regulatory path.
• 16:37
  Speaker 2: So, David, with that in mind, voters are headed to
• 16:41
  Speaker 2: the polls.
• 16:42
  Speaker 1: And we see this conversation that's taking place nationally about
• 16:46
  Speaker 1: socialism and We've seen the Democratic Socialists of America propose,
• 16:51
  Speaker 1: you know, some radical ideas that would be more in
• 16:55
  Speaker 1: line with how France has governed than the United States.
• 16:57
  Speaker 1: I mean, could we be at a fork at the
• 17:00
  Speaker 1: road when you talk about we have a strong economy,
• 17:03
  Speaker 1: but policies that could be adopted could change all of that?
• 17:07
  Speaker 6: Yeah, I don't want to belittle, diminish the risk going on,
• 17:11
  Speaker 6: and I also don't want to overstate it. There are
• 17:13
  Speaker 6: a couple seats where there's no question there are DSA, socialist,
• 17:18
  Speaker 6: socialist adjacent candidates that are running in districts that they're
• 17:23
  Speaker 6: even likely to win. And then as a national reality,
• 17:29
  Speaker 6: America has a long way to go until we actually
• 17:32
  Speaker 6: embrace the socialist impulse, and that's a good thing. But
• 17:36
  Speaker 6: the problem is it moves marginally. It moves incrementally. And
• 17:40
  Speaker 6: that's what I think we have to resist. And Tony,
• 17:43
  Speaker 6: I hope you'll forgive me, but we have to resist
• 17:45
  Speaker 6: it on the left and the right. There are tendencies
• 17:48
  Speaker 6: to embrace further government programs right now all over the place.
• 17:52
  Speaker 6: It isn't just partisan. This extreme DSA stuff is more
• 17:56
  Speaker 6: in the Democratic Party. But a lot of us are saying,
• 17:59
  Speaker 6: let's be a choice, a contrast to that on the
• 18:03
  Speaker 6: Republican or conservative side, not an echo. I think that's
• 18:07
  Speaker 6: very important as voters think about where they go in
• 18:10
  Speaker 6: the next election.
• 18:12
  Speaker 2: No offense taken here.
• 18:13
  Speaker 1: I think you go back to the issue of COVID
• 18:17
  Speaker 1: and the government intervention there in direct government payments. That
• 18:21
  Speaker 1: has really set kind of a new standard.
• 18:23
  Speaker 2: For both parties.
• 18:25
  Speaker 7: It definitely has.
• 18:26
  Speaker 6: And when you start promising voters things, you may have
• 18:29
  Speaker 6: noticed that a lot of voters like free money and
• 18:32
  Speaker 6: then it gets more entrenched. And I think that the
• 18:35
  Speaker 6: COVID example is a wonderful time to make the point
• 18:40
  Speaker 6: that we were giving money out we didn't have and
• 18:44
  Speaker 6: now it has to be paid for. And by the way,
• 18:46
  Speaker 6: just because I'm a man of faith as you are,
• 18:49
  Speaker 6: I have to make the point. It's not just bad
• 18:51
  Speaker 6: because we can't afford it. It's bad because it does
• 18:55
  Speaker 6: something wrong for the human soul to tell a human being,
• 18:58
  Speaker 6: here's free money, here's free things. You can be less responsible.
• 19:02
  Speaker 6: You can have less agency or less stewardship of your
• 19:05
  Speaker 6: own family affairs. There's both an economic and I think
• 19:09
  Speaker 6: a sort of lesson in moral culture here that we
• 19:11
  Speaker 6: need to learn.
• 19:12
  Speaker 1: Well, I think in some ways it shifts government into
• 19:15
  Speaker 1: the role of God as people look upon government in
• 19:19
  Speaker 1: a more dependent way.
• 19:21
  Speaker 6: And Europe has been doing that for decades as they
• 19:24
  Speaker 6: become increasingly secular. It's a perfect inverse correlation. Their decline
• 19:30
  Speaker 6: of faith and embrace of the Christian religion has coincided
• 19:35
  Speaker 6: with an embrace of more state and the government being
• 19:39
  Speaker 6: a sort of messiah. And of course, we see it
• 19:42
  Speaker 6: here in the States as well, not quite to the
• 19:45
  Speaker 6: same degree, but Europe has proven to be a long-term
• 19:49
  Speaker 6: ally test case of how a society that abandons Christian
• 19:55
  Speaker 6: principles embraces more statist principles. My own view is this
• 20:00
  Speaker 6: goes back to 1 Samuel 16, you know, the people
• 20:02
  Speaker 6: wanting a king and When they're avoiding the God of
• 20:06
  Speaker 6: the scriptures, they embrace a God of Washington, D.C.
• 20:10
  Speaker 7: It's not good.
• 20:11
  Speaker 2: David Bonson, I want to thank you for joining us
• 20:13
  Speaker 2: in Lightning Conversation. Good to see you.
• 20:15
  Speaker 7: Thank you, Tony.
• 20:16
  Speaker 2: All right, folks. So we need to vote, we need
• 20:19
  Speaker 2: to pray, and we need to evangelize.
• 20:21
  Speaker 1: Coming up next, Missouri voters go to the polls.
• 20:24
  Speaker 2: We're going to talk about that.
• 20:25
  Speaker 7: Don't go away.
• 20:31
  Speaker 8: As prices keep rising, Social Security is even more important
• 20:35
  Speaker 8: to older Americans.
• 20:36
  Speaker 5: I counted on it to pay for groceries and prescriptions.
• 20:39
  Speaker 5: Everything costs more now.
• 20:41
  Speaker 8: AARP is fighting to protect the Social Security Americans earn
• 20:45
  Speaker 8: through a lifetime of hard work.
• 20:47
  Speaker 9: I've paid into Social Security since I was a teenager.
• 20:50
  Speaker 9: It isn't a handout. I earned it.
• 20:53
  Speaker 8: Join us to stand up for Social Security. Visit aarp.org
• 20:58
  Speaker 8: slash social security voter paid for by AARP.
• 21:05
  Speaker 2: Welcome back to This Week on Capitol Hill. I'm Tony Perkins,
• 21:08
  Speaker 2: your host.
• 21:09
  Speaker 1: Two years ago, Missouri voters approved the constitutional amendment establishing
• 21:13
  Speaker 1: broad protections for abortion in the state's constitution. Now those
• 21:18
  Speaker 1: same voters are Having an opportunity to reconsider that decision,
• 21:23
  Speaker 1: Amendment 3 would repeal the abortion amendment adopted in 2024
• 21:28
  Speaker 1: and restore the state's authority to protect the unborn and
• 21:32
  Speaker 1: establish constitutional protections for minors against radical gender transition procedures.
• 21:40
  Speaker 1: The outcome could have implications, though, well beyond the state
• 21:43
  Speaker 1: of Missouri. If voters reverse the decision they made two
• 21:46
  Speaker 1: years ago, Could it signal a turning point in the
• 21:49
  Speaker 1: national debate over abortion following the Supreme Court's reversal of
• 21:53
  Speaker 1: Roe v.
• 21:53
  Speaker 2: Wade?
• 21:54
  Speaker 1: Joining us now to discuss what's at stake is former
• 21:57
  Speaker 1: Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey and, most recently, the co-deputy
• 22:01
  Speaker 1: director of the FBI. He's now working with Vote Yes
• 22:05
  Speaker 1: on Amendment 3, Political Action Committee. General Bailey, welcome to
• 22:09
  Speaker 1: This Week on Capitol Hill. Thanks for joining us.
• 22:12
  Speaker 7: Hey, thanks for having me on, Tony.
• 22:14
  Speaker 1: So Missouri voters approved an abortion amendment in 2024. Now
• 22:19
  Speaker 1: they have an opportunity to reverse that decision. What has
• 22:23
  Speaker 1: changed in the past two years that gives you confidence
• 22:26
  Speaker 1: that voters will reach a different conclusion?
• 22:29
  Speaker 10: Well, I think the voters are waking up to the
• 22:31
  Speaker 10: fact that the other side of this issue has been
• 22:34
  Speaker 10: lying to them from day one. Two years ago, voters
• 22:37
  Speaker 10: in Missouri were promised an amendment that would provide what
• 22:39
  Speaker 10: they called reproductive freedom.
• 22:41
  Speaker 7: That was a lie.
• 22:42
  Speaker 10: What they got instead was a lawsuit filed within 24
• 22:44
  Speaker 10: hours of passage of that amendment. And a judge in
• 22:47
  Speaker 10: Kansas City, Missouri, unilaterally began striking down all health and
• 22:51
  Speaker 10: safety measures designed to protect women and children. Every abortion
• 22:55
  Speaker 10: in Missouri is a dangerous back alley abortion now where
• 22:58
  Speaker 10: these facilities don't have to live up to the same
• 23:00
  Speaker 10: basic medical standards as any other medical facility.
• 23:03
  Speaker 7: And so Amendment 3 reverses that.
• 23:07
  Speaker 10: It restores licensing, health inspections, complication plans, basic health and
• 23:11
  Speaker 10: safety measures, ends dangerous late-term back-alley abortions, and permanently codifies
• 23:16
  Speaker 10: the prohibition on gender mutilation of our children.
• 23:19
  Speaker 7: And that's something that the Missouri voters support.
• 23:21
  Speaker 1: So the amendment, I don't want to put words in
• 23:24
  Speaker 1: your mouth, but the way you describe it is that
• 23:26
  Speaker 1: it was a Trojan horse in 2024.
• 23:29
  Speaker 7: That's exactly correct. It was a Trojan horse.
• 23:32
  Speaker 10: And look, the same lies that were being told in
• 23:34
  Speaker 10: 2024 are being told again in 2026.
• 23:37
  Speaker 7: The proponents, excuse me, the opponents of.
• 23:40
  Speaker 10: Amendment 3 are saying that somehow passage of Amendment 3
• 23:44
  Speaker 10: leaves women and children less safe. That's an explicit lie
• 23:47
  Speaker 10: because they're ignoring the fact that it restores children. common
• 23:50
  Speaker 10: sense health and safety regulations that are required in every
• 23:53
  Speaker 10: other medical facility. And so they're lying about that, but
• 23:56
  Speaker 10: they're also committing a lie by omission. That's a legal
• 23:59
  Speaker 10: term where you don't tell the full truth. And they're
• 24:01
  Speaker 10: saying that the legislature passed a statutory ban on gender
• 24:06
  Speaker 10: mutilation of children, which is true. But what they omit
• 24:08
  Speaker 10: is the fact that that ban, that prohibition sunsets, it
• 24:11
  Speaker 10: expires next year.
• 24:12
  Speaker 7: And so without this permanent.
• 24:14
  Speaker 10: Codification of that ban, in the state constitution, children will
• 24:17
  Speaker 10: be left at risk and will create a new generation
• 24:19
  Speaker 10: of victims.
• 24:20
  Speaker 1: Now, as Attorney General, you investigated this issue quite extensively
• 24:26
  Speaker 1: to really almost uncover, you know, I would use the
• 24:31
  Speaker 1: word conspiracy to target children and confuse parents over these
• 24:36
  Speaker 1: radical gender transition procedures that mutilated children. This is a
• 24:43
  Speaker 1: way to stop that, as I understand the amendment.
• 24:47
  Speaker 7: Yeah, that's absolutely right. Look, parents were lied to.
• 24:50
  Speaker 10: Their children were administered powerful chemicals that forever changed their
• 24:54
  Speaker 10: bodies and their lives. Irreversible surgeries for children under the
• 24:58
  Speaker 10: age of 14 that permanently created, again, a generation of victims.
• 25:01
  Speaker 10: And when we went to trial during our investigation to
• 25:03
  Speaker 10: expose this conspiratorial industry of gender mutilation that extended into
• 25:09
  Speaker 10: some really dark places, The victim's testimony was really the
• 25:12
  Speaker 10: most powerful, and I think persuaded the court to enter
• 25:15
  Speaker 10: the judgment in our favor. And again, that led the
• 25:16
  Speaker 10: legislature to pass a statute, but that statute expires.
• 25:19
  Speaker 7: That's why we've got to have Amendment 3.
• 25:21
  Speaker 10: We've got to have this constitutional protection to, again, make
• 25:26
  Speaker 10: Missouri the safest state in the nation for women and children.
• 25:29
  Speaker 1: General Bailey, we just have about a minute left, but
• 25:31
  Speaker 1: if Missouri becomes one of the first states to reverse
• 25:34
  Speaker 1: the a abortion amendment like this since Dobbs? Because after
• 25:39
  Speaker 1: the Dobbs decision, there was kind of a, the pro-life
• 25:42
  Speaker 1: community was somewhat stunned. The pro-abortion community jumped on this
• 25:46
  Speaker 1: right away, began to, as you described earlier, mislead voters
• 25:50
  Speaker 1: in states where this was on the ballot. If the
• 25:53
  Speaker 1: voters in Missouri approve Amendment 3, what message would that
• 25:57
  Speaker 1: send to other states that are confronting similar questions?
• 26:01
  Speaker 7: Don't buy the lies.
• 26:02
  Speaker 10: Don't believe the falsehoods that are being spread by Planned
• 26:05
  Speaker 10: Parenthood and this vast conspiracy, the pro-death cult. And certainly
• 26:10
  Speaker 10: the Missouri is the show me state. We we are
• 26:12
  Speaker 10: naturally kind of, you know, question what people are trying
• 26:15
  Speaker 10: to trying to sell.
• 26:16
  Speaker 7: And I think that that is proven true.
• 26:18
  Speaker 10: That's why there was such a motivation to change course
• 26:21
  Speaker 10: after just two years of living under the falsehoods that
• 26:24
  Speaker 10: were spread in the previous election.
• 26:26
  Speaker 2: Where can folks find out more about the topic?
• 26:29
  Speaker 10: Look, go to Her Health, Her Freedom. That's the website
• 26:34
  Speaker 10: as well. You can go to Yes on Amendment 3.
• 26:36
  Speaker 10: Follow me on Twitter. We will continue to press the message.
• 26:40
  Speaker 10: Yes on 3 restores basic common sense, health and safety
• 26:43
  Speaker 10: measures for children, ends dangerous back alley abortions, and permanently
• 26:46
  Speaker 10: protects children from gender mutilation and woke ideology that created
• 26:50
  Speaker 10: a generation of victims.
• 26:52
  Speaker 2: General Bailey, thank you.
• 26:53
  Speaker 1: Coming up next, House Speaker Mike Johnson joins us from
• 26:56
  Speaker 1: the campaign trail.
• 27:02
  Speaker 8: As prices keep rising, Social Security is even more important
• 27:05
  Speaker 8: to older Americans.
• 27:07
  Speaker 5: I counted on it to pay for groceries and prescriptions.
• 27:10
  Speaker 5: Everything costs more now.
• 27:11
  Speaker 8: AARP is fighting to protect the Social Security Americans earn
• 27:15
  Speaker 8: through a lifetime of hard work.
• 27:18
  Speaker 9: I've paid into Social Security since I was a teenager.
• 27:21
  Speaker 9: It isn't a handout.
• 27:22
  Speaker 2: I earned it.
• 27:24
  Speaker 8: Join us to stand up for Social Security. Visit aarp.org
• 27:28
  Speaker 8: slash social security voter paid for by AARP.
• 27:36
  Speaker 1: Welcome back to this week on Capitol Hill. I'm Tony Perkins,
• 27:39
  Speaker 1: your host. With election day just days away, control of
• 27:42
  Speaker 1: the House of Representatives remains very much in contention. Republicans
• 27:46
  Speaker 1: have reported a fundraising advantage, while polling suggests Democrats may
• 27:50
  Speaker 1: have a slight edge in voter enthusiasm. But Neither campaign
• 27:53
  Speaker 1: contributions nor enthusiasm guarantees victory. Elections are decided by who
• 27:59
  Speaker 1: shows up and votes. House Speaker Mike Johnson has been
• 28:03
  Speaker 1: traveling across the country campaigning to preserve the Republican majority,
• 28:06
  Speaker 1: and he joins us now from the campaign trail to
• 28:09
  Speaker 1: discuss what he's seeing on the ground and what's next
• 28:12
  Speaker 1: for Congress when it comes to President Trump's agenda.
• 28:16
  Speaker 7: Mr.
• 28:16
  Speaker 2: Speaker, welcome back to This Week on Capitol Hill.
• 28:19
  Speaker 7: Hey, Tony.
• 28:20
  Speaker 3: Good to see you again. Look, talk about enthusiasm. That's
• 28:23
  Speaker 3: what we're seeing on the trail everywhere. I'm speaking to
• 28:26
  Speaker 3: you from a hotel room in Colorado right now. I
• 28:28
  Speaker 3: was in California yesterday. As you know, I've been traveling
• 28:31
  Speaker 3: nonstop 40 districts across 22 states this month alone. And
• 28:35
  Speaker 3: I'm going to the swing districts and the supposedly tough
• 28:38
  Speaker 3: areas for Republicans, and I am seeing huge crowds. We
• 28:42
  Speaker 3: had an event late last night for Kevin Lincoln. He's
• 28:45
  Speaker 3: one of our star recruits. He's a Marine and a pastor.
• 28:49
  Speaker 3: He was the former mayor of Stockton, California. He flipped
• 28:52
  Speaker 3: a blue mayor's office to red, and he's going to
• 28:54
  Speaker 3: do it in the congressional seat there as well. An
• 28:57
  Speaker 3: incredible guy, has a servant's heart. Tony, you're going to
• 29:00
  Speaker 3: love Kevin Lincoln when he wins this race. We went
• 29:03
  Speaker 3: to a big manufacturing facility on the port and he
• 29:07
  Speaker 3: had 300 plus people turn out just waving signs like
• 29:11
  Speaker 3: they were in LSU's Tiger Stadium on Saturday night, brother.
• 29:14
  Speaker 3: I'm telling you, conservatives, even in the state of California,
• 29:17
  Speaker 3: are excited and energized. They're casting their ballots. And I'm
• 29:20
  Speaker 3: telling you, the polls nationwide are wrong. We're going to
• 29:22
  Speaker 3: win this thing.
• 29:23
  Speaker 1: You know, we spoke a little bit last week about
• 29:25
  Speaker 1: kind of the silver wave and one of the concerns
• 29:28
  Speaker 1: being the issue of socialism and the threats there.
• 29:32
  Speaker 2: I want to ask you about the violence in France.
• 29:34
  Speaker 1: Now you've described what's happening there as a warning to
• 29:37
  Speaker 1: Americans about the direction.
• 29:38
  Speaker 2: Of our own country.
• 29:40
  Speaker 1: What specific parallels do you see and what should Americans
• 29:44
  Speaker 1: be doing to prevent similar instability here?
• 29:48
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I did a social media post on this early
• 29:51
  Speaker 3: in the week after we saw the alarming video, the
• 29:54
  Speaker 3: things happening in Paris and across France and other parts
• 29:57
  Speaker 3: of Europe now. It just is a warning to us.
• 30:01
  Speaker 3: I mean, this is an image of what would happen here.
• 30:04
  Speaker 3: if the far left were able to have their way.
• 30:07
  Speaker 3: If we had not won the election in 2024 to
• 30:10
  Speaker 3: restore the border and restore law and order, right now
• 30:13
  Speaker 3: we have a totally secure border, thanks be to God.
• 30:16
  Speaker 3: We haven't had a single illegal alien released into the
• 30:18
  Speaker 3: country in 17 straight months. Because Republicans won the election
• 30:22
  Speaker 3: in 24. We have the lowest violent crime rate in
• 30:26
  Speaker 3: 126 years nationwide. But all that could be reversed overnight
• 30:29
  Speaker 3: if the Democrats are able to take charge again. This
• 30:31
  Speaker 3: is the full result of their ideology. Open borders, embracing
• 30:38
  Speaker 3: these radical ideologies. It turns into what you're seeing in France.
• 30:41
  Speaker 3: And we need to take note of that. America is
• 30:43
  Speaker 3: the last best hope of man on earth. Because we
• 30:46
  Speaker 3: adhere to the founding principles of America. Secure borders and
• 30:49
  Speaker 3: the rule of law are critically important parts of that.
• 30:52
  Speaker 3: What you're seeing in Europe is the red-green alliance, and
• 30:55
  Speaker 3: that is something we have to oppose.
• 30:57
  Speaker 7: You know, Mr.
• 30:57
  Speaker 1: Speaker, some have acknowledged that that is a threat, but
• 31:00
  Speaker 1: they've been somewhat dismissive of it. But I've been working
• 31:03
  Speaker 1: with Congress now for about 25 years. And what I've
• 31:07
  Speaker 1: seen increasingly with these small margins, I mean, you've had
• 31:10
  Speaker 1: in some cases one vote to work with as Speaker
• 31:13
  Speaker 1: of the House. That gives tremendous power to small groups
• 31:18
  Speaker 1: that band together and negotiate on behalf of their priorities. Now,
• 31:23
  Speaker 1: some cases we agree with it, some cases we don't.
• 31:25
  Speaker 1: But in the Democratic Party, If they were to have control,
• 31:28
  Speaker 1: the Democratic Party, this would allow just a handful of
• 31:32
  Speaker 1: these democratic socialists to be able to leverage their agenda.
• 31:37
  Speaker 2: With the party leadership just by sticking together.
• 31:41
  Speaker 7: That's exactly right. And Tony, that is what is going
• 31:43
  Speaker 7: to happen.
• 31:44
  Speaker 3: We're going to hold the majority, but I don't know
• 31:46
  Speaker 3: it's going to be a large majority for the Republican Party.
• 31:48
  Speaker 7: The problem we have.
• 31:49
  Speaker 3: In Washington and in America across the board is that
• 31:53
  Speaker 3: you have the radical element, the insurgent left, the far
• 31:56
  Speaker 3: left Marxist ideology that is taking over the Democrat Party.
• 31:59
  Speaker 3: There will be a small group of them elected to
• 32:02
  Speaker 3: Congress because they've already won the Democrat primaries in certain
• 32:05
  Speaker 3: places around the country. They're going to have a huge
• 32:08
  Speaker 3: outsized influence upon the Democrat leadership in the House and
• 32:11
  Speaker 3: the Senate because they will leverage that to make them
• 32:15
  Speaker 3: do and say and commit to crazy things. You're already
• 32:18
  Speaker 3: seeing lots of news articles written about this. There's a
• 32:20
  Speaker 3: coming civil war in the Democrat Party. It's just beneath
• 32:23
  Speaker 3: the surface at the moment. But right after the election,
• 32:26
  Speaker 3: that's what happens. That's why every single vote for people
• 32:29
  Speaker 3: who love America, understand that we're the last, you know,
• 32:32
  Speaker 3: the shining city on the hill, the last stronghold of
• 32:34
  Speaker 3: freedom ever. And if you believe in common sense, if
• 32:37
  Speaker 3: you want America to continue on a trajectory of growth
• 32:40
  Speaker 3: and expansion and strength, you have to vote for Republicans
• 32:43
  Speaker 3: for Congress. We have to be able to outnumber this
• 32:46
  Speaker 3: radical element. It is a very, very serious concern.
• 32:48
  Speaker 2: We have right now.
• 32:49
  Speaker 1: Along those lines, you have said that this is no
• 32:51
  Speaker 1: ordinary midterm election. Is it because the parties have become
• 32:55
  Speaker 1: so ideologically divided that the two are incompatible?
• 33:01
  Speaker 7: Absolutely, Tony.
• 33:02
  Speaker 3: I've been saying on the campaign trail, everybody, please mark
• 33:04
  Speaker 3: my words in the next two years and the years ahead,
• 33:06
  Speaker 3: we are not going to be in Washington having traditional
• 33:09
  Speaker 3: arguments as we used to about marginal tax rates and
• 33:12
  Speaker 3: shades of regulation, slight differences in foreign policy. We are
• 33:15
  Speaker 3: now engaged in an open battle to save the republic
• 33:19
  Speaker 3: against people who have open disdain.
• 33:21
  Speaker 7: For the founding principles of America. That's where we are.
• 33:23
  Speaker 3: And it happens on the 250th anniversary of our nation
• 33:27
  Speaker 3: in November of 2026 in a midterm election. We have
• 33:30
  Speaker 3: to decide which road we're going to go down. I
• 33:33
  Speaker 3: believe the American people are going to make the right choice.
• 33:35
  Speaker 3: I don't think they are on board with Marxist, communist,
• 33:39
  Speaker 3: radical Islamist, you know, joining together, rioting in the streets
• 33:43
  Speaker 3: of Europe. What they want to do here, if they're allowed,
• 33:45
  Speaker 3: we're not going to have that. And so patriots have
• 33:48
  Speaker 3: to stand together right now more than we ever have before.
• 33:50
  Speaker 2: All right, Mr. Speaker, just a little over a minute left.
• 33:52
  Speaker 1: Many Christians recognize the importance of the issues that are
• 33:55
  Speaker 1: at stake, but still don't participate in the elections. What
• 33:59
  Speaker 1: will you say to those voters who are considering sitting
• 34:01
  Speaker 1: this election out?
• 34:03
  Speaker 7: You're derelict in your duty if you sit out this election.
• 34:06
  Speaker 7: You just are.
• 34:06
  Speaker 3: And I say that friend to friend, brother and sister
• 34:09
  Speaker 3: to brother. Listen, we have to fulfill our civic duty.
• 34:13
  Speaker 3: God calls us to be engaged, be salt and light
• 34:15
  Speaker 3: in our culture, to advance and stand for his principles.
• 34:18
  Speaker 3: And they are under assault right now. If the foundations
• 34:21
  Speaker 3: be destroyed, what will the righteous do? That's Psalm 11.3.
• 34:24
  Speaker 3: That is not a rhetorical question for us. It's something
• 34:26
  Speaker 3: that we get to answer because we have the blessing
• 34:29
  Speaker 3: of living in this free country. Every two years, you
• 34:31
  Speaker 3: get to go and vote for your members in the
• 34:33
  Speaker 3: House of Representatives. And this is the basic responsibility we have.
• 34:37
  Speaker 3: Romans 13 and all the reminders in Scripture, the civil
• 34:40
  Speaker 3: authorities are ordained of God, but we have to be
• 34:42
  Speaker 3: engaged in that process to make sure that the righteous
• 34:46
  Speaker 3: are ruling. To put it bluntly, you cannot allow these
• 34:49
  Speaker 3: radical elements to take over your country. I think, I
• 34:52
  Speaker 3: truly believe it's a basic responsibility we have to vote
• 34:55
  Speaker 3: our values. and advance the principles that we know to
• 34:57
  Speaker 3: be right and true and good.
• 34:59
  Speaker 2: Well, the scripture says when the righteous are in authority,
• 35:01
  Speaker 2: the people rejoice. When they're not, they moan.
• 35:05
  Speaker 7: Mr.
• 35:06
  Speaker 1: Speaker, let's pray and hope there's a lot of rejoicing
• 35:09
  Speaker 1: going on here in the days ahead.
• 35:10
  Speaker 2: Thanks so much for joining us, and we'll catch up
• 35:13
  Speaker 2: with you next week.
• 35:15
  Speaker 7: Thank you, my friend. Appreciate you.
• 35:16
  Speaker 2: House Speaker Mike Johnson.
• 35:17
  Speaker 1: After the break, a few final thoughts on why voting
• 35:19
  Speaker 1: is more than a right of citizenship and why the
• 35:22
  Speaker 1: decisions we make at the ballot box will help determine
• 35:25
  Speaker 1: the future of our country.
• 35:27
  Speaker 7: Stay with us.
• 35:36
  Speaker 1: Welcome back to This Week on Capitol Hill. As Americans,
• 35:40
  Speaker 1: we have the right to vote. With that right comes
• 35:42
  Speaker 1: the power to choose our leaders and influence the values
• 35:45
  Speaker 1: that guide our government. That right must be protected, but
• 35:50
  Speaker 1: it must also be exercised. There are roughly 250 million
• 35:54
  Speaker 1: Americans eligible to vote, yet in the 2022 midterm elections,
• 35:58
  Speaker 1: fewer than half participated.
• 36:01
  Speaker 2: Think about that.
• 36:02
  Speaker 1: In a nation where government derives its authority from the
• 36:05
  Speaker 1: consent of the governed, Millions chose not to make their
• 36:09
  Speaker 1: voices heard. And Christians are not exempt from this troubling pattern.
• 36:13
  Speaker 1: Even where churchgoers vote at higher rates than the general population,
• 36:17
  Speaker 1: far too many remain on the sidelines. As Americans, we
• 36:22
  Speaker 1: have a right to vote. As Christians, we also have
• 36:25
  Speaker 1: a responsibility to be faithful citizens. Remember Jesus' words, Render
• 36:30
  Speaker 1: to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God
• 36:32
  Speaker 1: the things that are God's. In our constitutional republic, citizenship
• 36:37
  Speaker 1: carries responsibilities. Our government was not designed for spectators. It
• 36:42
  Speaker 1: depends upon the participation of the people. Jesus also called
• 36:46
  Speaker 1: his followers the salt of the earth and the light
• 36:49
  Speaker 1: of the world. Salt that never touches the food cannot
• 36:52
  Speaker 1: preserve it. Light hidden from view cannot illuminate the darkness.
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  Speaker 1: We're called to make a difference, not withdraw from the
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  Speaker 1: world around us.
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  Speaker 2: Voting is simply one practical way to fulfill that calling.
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  Speaker 1: Our freedoms were not secured so that we could stand
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  Speaker 1: aside while others decide how they will be used. The
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  Speaker 1: ballot is not the whole of faithful citizenship, but it
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  Speaker 1: is one of the clearest opportunities we have to act
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  Speaker 1: on our convictions. In the late 1940s, the Reverend Peter Marshall,
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  Speaker 1: chaplain of the United States Senate, preached a sermon entitled,
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  Speaker 1: Trial by Fire. Drawing from Elijah's challenge in 1 Kings,
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  Speaker 1: if the Lord is God, follow him, but if Baal,
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  Speaker 1: follow him. Marshall warned against living in a moral fog,
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  Speaker 1: refusing to choose between conviction and compromise. Then he declared, I,
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  Speaker 1: for one, am tired of hearing about our rights and
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  Speaker 1: privileges as American citizens. The time has come, it is now,
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  Speaker 1: when we ought to hear about the duties and responsibilities
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  Speaker 1: of our citizenship, end quote. Those words are as relevant
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  Speaker 1: today as when he spoke them. Because every election is
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  Speaker 1: about more than which party wins or who occupies an office.
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  Speaker 1: It is about the principles that will shape our laws,
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  Speaker 1: protect our freedoms, and influence the lives of our children
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  Speaker 1: and grandchildren. When we stay home, we don't stop those
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  Speaker 1: decisions from being made. We simply leave them to someone else.
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  Speaker 1: So ask yourself, if people who share your convictions remain silent,
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  Speaker 1: whose values will shape America's future? We cannot demand responsible
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  Speaker 1: government while neglecting our responsibility as citizens.
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  Speaker 2: Exercise your right. Fulfill your responsibility.
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  Speaker 1: Study the candidates, weigh the issues against biblical values, and
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  Speaker 1: then vote. And to help prepare you, I have a
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  Speaker 1: resource for you. Simply text the word VOTE to 67742.
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  Speaker 1: That's VOTE to 67742. And we'll send you a link
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  Speaker 1: to our election hub. And you fill out the link
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  Speaker 1: and you'll get a personalized federal voter guide. Again, that number, 67742,
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  Speaker 1: the word VOTE. And with that, my friends, that has
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  Speaker 1: been This Week on Capitol Hill.