Columnist.
The president's Iran deal came at great expense to U.S. security — and it may come at even greater expense to the regime's victims. About 43 billion dollars' worth. Until recently, most people probably didn't know that the Iranian government owed a bundle of money to American and Israeli terrorism victims. Since the late 1990s, U.S. courts have awarded billions of dollars to these families for their loss and their suffering. Billions of dollars that — for years — has gone unpaid. Now, with Iran set to cash in on the international community's misplaced trust, Congress is demanding that President Hassan Rouhani pay up. Before the U.S. lifts sanctions, at least 120 House conservatives want the regime to give survivors of terrorism what's owed them. If Iran refuses, a new bill would block the flow of funds promised in the U.S. nuclear deal.
While businesses start closing the books on another fiscal year, Congress is fighting to close the books on taxpayer funding of Planned Parenthood — permanently. Caught in a scandal with an unprecedented "ick" factor, organization President Cecile Richards took the stand for the first time to try to justify the grisly baby harvesting ring her group has been hiding.
Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) may have taken top honors, but there were plenty of winners at this year's Values Voter Summit! In a jam-packed weekend that featured everything from presidential candidates to grassroots celebrities, the greatest victory belonged to the conservative movement. Ten years into what even our adversaries call "one of the country's highest-profile conservative gatherings," the crowd was electric.
[Thursday] morning, in a historic moment, Pope Francis of the Holy See addressed a Joint Meeting of Congress. "The Golden Rule," Pope Francis said, "... reminds us of our responsibility to protect and defend human life at every stage of its development." We could not agree more. The fight for the lives of the unborn in America has been raging stronger than ever, as the curtain has been pulled back and America has seen the realities of what happens at Planned Parenthood, the largest abortion provider in the nation.
If you want to hear absurd statements, ask pro-abortion politicians to defend their views on the unborn. [Tuesday], CNS News asked House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) whether "an unborn baby with a human liver and a human heart is a human being." He refused to take a position on what he called a "very, very controversial and very tough issue." CNS countered, "If it's not of the human species, what species is it?" Whip Hoyer's response? "I'm done. I'm done here." Vice President Joe Biden was questioned about his pro-abortion status conflicting with his Catholic faith. Echoing Barack Obama during his presidential race in 2008, Biden said that having a theological discussion about when life begins is "above my paygrade." He admitted that while he agrees with the Catholic Church's belief in life at conception, "I'm not prepared to say that to other God-fearing, non-God fearing people that have a different view." But supporting unrestricted abortion isn't above his pay-grade?
This week, senators were treated to the company of energetic little Micah Pickering, a thriving three-year-old who was born prematurely at 20 weeks post-fertilization. Micah's story first caught public attention earlier this year when his story was told in a New York Times piece, causing Americans to grapple with the reality that premature babies are surviving at younger and younger ages of gestation. Micah and his parents flew all the way from Iowa to the nation's capital to advocate for the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act. The Pickerings sought to give the Senate living proof for why standing up for pain-capable babies is not only humane but compassionate and commonsense. They, along with Senator Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), FRC's Arina Grossu, and other Senators and pro-life leaders participated in a press conference in advance of [yesterday's] Senate vote on the bill. Micah's life is living proof that babies at 5 months gestation are living human beings that can feel pain. In the NICU, Micah was routinely administered pain medication, because the physicians knew his little body was in pain as he struggled to live.
How serious is President Obama about addressing the crises in his military? Not very, if his latest nomination is any indication. With the troops already fighting an internal war over recruitment and retention, the president wants to raise the stakes by appointing openly gay Eric Fanning as Army Secretary. Fanning, who conservatives remember from the Phillip Monk controversy, has spent his last several years lobbying for open transgenderism in the ranks as Air Force undersecretary and later as the defense secretary's chief of staff. His efforts paid off when both bosses, Deborah Lee James and Ash Carter, publicly supported the idea, insisting that "times change."
[Friday], in a loud and chilling statement, every Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives but five voted against a measure that protects babies born alive after a failed abortion. Thankfully, Rep. Trent Franks's Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act passed the House anyway, with unanimous Republican support. The bill makes it a criminal offense for an abortionist to allow a born alive infant to die, whether by neglect or by actively killing the child.
[Wednesday] night wasn't just the second GOP presidential debate — it was the second round of strong performances by Republicans on the sanctity of human life and the importance of religious liberty. Unfortunately, under the same bifurcated format as Cleveland's, some of the field's best torchbearers on the issues were relegated to a smaller forum earlier in the evening. Personally, I think everyone would have been better served had the stage been set for *all* of the candidates.
Could America be facing another 9/11? Lawmakers trying to stop President Obama's Iranian deal think so. With two procedural votes in the win column for the president, conservatives are looking through every weapon in their arsenal to keep one of the most dangerous Middle East regimes from using theirs on innocent Americans. Although the administration is still withholding information on the agreement's side deals, what Congress does know is enough to scare anyone.
In my new book *No Fear*, I tell the story of Lila Rose, who, as an 18-year-old UCLA student, walked into a Planned Parenthood clinic in Southern California with a mission to expose the illegal activity of the nation's largest abortion provider. Her courage to stand up for life has played a key role in bringing our nation to where we are today: 10 installments into the Center for Medical Progress's undercover videos of Planned Parenthood. We are without excuse when it comes to what our laws and tax dollars are facilitating — the trafficking of aborted baby body parts. The question now is whether Republican leaders have the courage to walk into the Capitol and challenge President Obama over his commitment to keep the federal dollars to Planned Parenthood flowing.
Not everyone agrees with Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.) that Planned Parenthood is "one of the finest organizations in America!" Just ask Governor Nicki Haley (R-S.C.). Like several other states, South Carolina was so appalled by the group's black market for baby parts that it launched its own internal investigation of Cecile Richards's group. What it found was nothing short of shocking. According to the state government's report, the President's favorite abortion group exhibits the same disregard for laws that it does for lives. The state's Department of Health and Environmental Control [DHEC] discovered so much wrongdoing that it had to temporarily shut down operations.
If you think GOP leaders are catching flak from inside the Capitol, you should hear what the rest of the city is saying! Congress isn't the only one jittery over a potential budget showdown over Planned Parenthood. K Street, the major thoroughfare in D.C. for corporate lobbing, is a nervous wreck over the possibility that the government's money could dry up by September 30. Already, the collective hand-wringing is having an effect on the debate under the dome. "We cannot have another shutdown," said a spokesman of Financial Services Roundtable. "Don't do something that disrupts the markets. We've got enough volatility right now. It's okay to have the debate. It's okay to have the fight. But at the end of the day you've got to get the government funded."
As revealing as David Daleiden's undercover videos are, they're exposing a lot more than Planned Parenthood. The summer scandal is also pulling back the curtain on where several politicians stand. As the first House hearing proved, a number of Democrats seem perfectly content — if not *proud* — to support a group nonchalantly carving up tiny humans for dollars. [Wednesday], their allegiance was on full display, as they doggedly defended an organization whose grisly side business has yet to affect its lucrative relationship with American taxpayers. House Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) desperately hopes to change that, inviting women who survived the excruciating procedure Planned Parenthood profits from, to testify. "Do not tell me these are not children," pleaded Gianna Jessen. "A heartbeat proves that. So do I."
It may not be a comfortable position for Republican leaders, but it's certainly a familiar one. Caught between Planned Parenthood and a hard place, the GOP has to decide whether to continue the funding of an organization that's been exposed for trafficking in baby body parts or stand up to a President who has vowed to defend the nation's largest abortion provider no matter what.
Let's hope Congress got plenty of rest in August, because it looks like they're going to need it! With just 12 legislative days to handle a bushel basket of crises, members won't have the luxury of easing back into their routines. [Today's] first GOP conference of September will likely be a long one, as conservatives try to hash out their strategies over two critical issues. On the foreign policy front, members will be tackling the President's deeply flawed Iran deal, while on the domestic side, Congress is mulling a budgetary response to the abominable Planned Parenthood. Before the House and Senate recessed, most Republicans left little doubt as to where they stood on the issues. But where they stand and how they respond are two very different questions for this leadership team.
There were plenty of good lines from Thursday's presidential debate, but Senator Marco Rubio (Fla.) summed it up best: "God has blessed us. He's blessed the GOP with very good candidates. The Democrats can't even find one." Of course, oceans of ink have already been spilled on the dissection of the candidates' performance (or lack thereof), but the senator from Florida is right: if you're looking for losers, Cleveland didn't have a whole lot.
Jesus said, "Let your 'yes' be 'yes' and your 'no' be 'no.'" Unfortunately, that'll be a lot harder for Houston voters in the next election. Thanks to an administration that apparently sees people as a nuisance in their advance of an anti-religious freedom agenda, voters will have to pay extra close attention this November, when the Houston bathroom bill is finally on the ballot. Mayor Annise Parker is up to her old tricks — the most recent being her intentional manipulation of the ballot language. Although she and the rest of the council have no choice but to bring the issue up for a vote, they still plan on using every stunt in the book to protect the measure — including muddying the question's wording.
It didn't take long for a federal judge to block some of the Planned Parenthood footage — and now we may know why. According to records, federal Judge William Orrick has an interesting political connection to the man who once said, "God bless Planned Parenthood." Not only was he appointed by this President but, as documents show, raised $200,000 for Obama's campaign.
It's bound to be an uncomfortable day for 45 senators, now that another Planned Parenthood video is reminding voters who the politicians are standing with. Hours after they voted to protect the abortion giant's half-billion dollars in taxpayer funding, the Center for Medical Services showed the world another instance of Cecile Richards's group selling off intact babies like cattle at auction.
