Tuesday night, President Trump turned his first State of the Union Address into an American pep rally. Cheering the American people for helping one another overcome a year of natural and man-made tragedies, the president cast a winning vision of unity.

“We endured floods and fires and storms,” the president said in the opening of his address. “But through it all, we have seen the beauty of America’s soul, and the steel of America’s spine.” The president even gave a shout-out to the Cajun Navy. “We saw the volunteers of the ‘Cajun Navy,’ racing to the rescue with their fishing boats to save people in the aftermath of a devastating hurricane.”

This may seem like a throwaway line, but like so much in the president’s remarkable speech, it was an affirmation of the “American way,” which, as President Trump said, we are rediscovering. Throughout the speech, Trump pointed not to the government as the key to solving America’s problems but to our faith in God and one another.

“In America, we know that faith and family, not government and bureaucracy, are the center of the American life. Our motto is ‘in God we trust,’” the president affirmed.

This speech was a sea-change from the previous president in that it celebrated all things American. “We celebrate our police, our military, and our amazing veteran as heroes who deserve our total and unwavering support.” But what made this speech one of the most remarkable addresses I’ve heard from the House chamber is the way the president wove in powerful accounts of heroism, sacrifice, patriotism, compassion, and commitment. Two such accounts were the actions of Albuquerque Police Officer Ryan Holets and North Korean-born Ji Seong-ho.

As the president shared last night:

“Ryan was on duty when he saw a pregnant, homeless woman preparing to inject heroin. When Ryan told her she was going to harm her unborn child, she began to weep. She told him she did not know where to turn, but badly wanted a safe home for her baby. In that moment, Ryan said he felt God speak to him: ‘You will do it — because you can.’ He took out a picture of his wife and their four kids. Then, he went home to tell his wife Rebecca. In an instant, she agreed to adopt. The Holets named their new daughter Hope.”

Several powerful messages were conveyed to the American people as Officer Ryan and his wife stood in the gallery to the applause of Congress. First, in the two and a half minutes that the president highlighted the compassion of Officer Holets, the last eight years of hostility towards law enforcement that’s been fomented by statements and actions from Washington officially ended.

Even more powerful was the message of the sanctity of life that has become a hallmark of the Trump administration. This affirmation of life was not missed by the pro-abortion crowd. Tweeting in response, Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards said, “If the government won’t change, WE will change the government. Like never before, women are the most powerful political force in this country. Together, we are going to transform America into the country we know it can be.”

The reality is that President Obama already took us to that point with his pro-abortion agenda and the American people rejected it.

But there was more communicated through Officer Holets, a very subtle but compelling endorsement of religious freedom. It was Holets’s faith — on the job — that caused him to reach out with compassion to this homeless, drug-addicted, pregnant mom.

This is America at its best. This is religious freedom!

Picking up on the power of faith, President Trump shared the story of Mr. Ji Seong-ho:

“In 1996, Seong-ho was a starving boy in North Korea. One day, he tried to steal coal from a railroad car to barter for a few scraps of food. In the process, he passed out on the train tracks, exhausted from hunger. He woke up as a train ran over his limbs. He then endured multiple amputations without anything to dull the pain.”

The president continued:

“Later, he was tortured by North Korean authorities after returning from a brief visit to China. His tormentors wanted to know if he had met any Christians. He had — and he resolved to be free.

"Seong-ho traveled thousands of miles on crutches across China and Southeast Asia to freedom. Most of his family followed. His father was caught trying to escape, and was tortured to death.

"Today he lives in Seoul, where he rescues other defectors, and broadcasts into North Korea what the regime fears the most — the truth. Today he has a new leg, but Seong-ho, I understand you still keep those crutches as a reminder of how far you have come. Your great sacrifice is an inspiration to us all. Seong-ho’s story is a testament to the yearning of every human soul to live in freedom.”

I’m not easily impressed with political speeches, but the president’s address to the nation Tuesday night was indeed impressive. The message was clear. To use the president’s words, “Together, we are rediscovering the America way.” Faith, family, and freedom!

Originally published here.

Post-Obama, States Pick Up Harassment of Little Sisters

For years under the Obama administration, the Little Sisters of the Poor and other faith-based organizations had to fight to continue to occupy the role they had always occupied in serving the public good. While some large for-profit companies like Exxon and Pepsi were exempt from the HHS contraceptive mandate requiring employers to cover free drugs and services that can destroy human embryos, the previous administration refused to honor the request of faith-based nonprofits that objected both to the mandate and the accounting gimmicks imposed through regulations supposedly granting an “accommodation.” It was a simple request; the organizations just didn’t want to be forced into something that violated their consciences. Why should Catholic nuns be forced to cover contraceptive or embryo-destroying drugs in their health plans? The Obama administration shrugged, however, and insisted on forcing them to take part — which led to years of ongoing litigation after the Little Sisters and others stood their ground over the accounting gimmicks. This needless harassment of elderly nuns, whose mission is to take care of the poor, became an election issue, and then-candidate Trump promised to protect them if elected.

After entering office, President Trump did follow through, and last May issued an executive order protecting religious freedom and specifically mentioning the need to protect these faith-based groups from the unfair HHS mandate. And this past October, his administration followed through on the executive order, with HHS issuing new rules exempting the Little Sisters and others from the mandate and the accounting gimmicks to which they were subject. These rules finally offer a proper exemption which the Obama-era rules never did, and consequently should end the years of litigation that the nuns and others have been caught up in.

Alas, it was not to be so. Enter a number of liberal, anti-faith state officials intent on political grandstanding. These folks are not happy with the nice solution provided by HHS and have sued the Trump administration over these new rules. Whether it is an inability to live and be happy with anything President Trump does, or a desire to continue steamrolling the Little Sisters at the behest of “women’s rights” (I suppose the “women’s rights” of the Little Sisters don’t matter much), these state politicians from liberal-leaning states have chosen to prolong needless litigation and use state resources to force those with moral and conscience objections to violate their deeply held beliefs. So far, this group includes California (whose suit was joined by Delaware, Maryland, New York, and Virginia), Washington, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts, where just this week a judge rejected an attempt by a religious school affected by the mandate to intervene in the lawsuit, asserting the DOJ can defend the case fine. Let us hope so. The DOJ should vigorously defend this common-sense rule issued by HHS, which is an effort to bring years of litigation to an end.

Beyond the political grandstanding there is little justification for the suits against the Trump administration. The states have the legal power and authority to set contraception policy in their states and can “issue” contraceptives to those they wish to — while leaving other states free to do differently. And they can do all this while leaving the Little Sisters out of it. So why not? The issue apparently is not a provision of contraceptives but rather preempting the choice of religious organizations like the Little Sisters from being able to choose health care plans and policies that reflect their religious beliefs.

Originally published here.

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This is a publication of the Family Research Council.