Programs: "a popular government, without popular information, or the means of acquiring it, is but a prologue to a farce or a tragedy. . . A people who mean to be their own governors must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives. " -- james madison, chief architect of the u. S constitution and u. S. Presidentoverview: when frc was established over 30 years ago, there were woefully few voices advocating for the primacy of the family at the national level. Liberal policy makers, activist judges, and much of the media and academia considered traditional moral values nothing more than the vestiges of a bygone era. In 1983, family research council was established in the heart of washington, d. C. With the mission to educate americans about the central role the family plays in the nation's well-being. Frc would serve as a strong rejoinder to those working to undermine the family and the judeo-christian values upon which our nation was founded and would demonstrate the veracity and efficacy of those values in contemporary society. Although frc has worked successfully to temper the policy of unrestricted access to abortion-on-demand, this tragedy remains with us. Liberal policy makers and judicial activists continue to assail the institution of marriage, and liberal special interest groups outnumber and outspend frc. With the expansion of same-sex marriage through the obergefell supreme court ruling, there has been a reduction of americans' religious freedom and conscience rights. Frc has become a leader in exposing this severe problem, and we will continue to do everything we can to defend americans' fundamental religious freedoms. With faith that right makes might, as abraham lincoln once said, frc continues to advance a pro-faith, pro-family, and pro-freedom agenda with great effect. Public policy--frc's policy analysts develop research papers, legal briefs, and regular email publications on a wide variety of family issues. These include booklets, the bi-weekly social conservative review, opinion editorials, pamphlets, issue brief papers, issue analysis papers, blog posts, and lecture summaries. Some of the publications that we produced in 2017 include: "hostility to religion: the growing threat to religious liberty in the united states - june 2017 edition; "religious liberty: an introduction to our freedom to believe; "a clear and present danger: the threat to religious liberty in the military - volume ii; "women, special operations forces, and selective service inclusion; "the first amendment defense act should not protect multiple views of marriage; "how to amend the johnson amendment; "the free speech fairness act: restoring first amendment speech rights to churches, charities, and their leaders; "religious liberty and the "wedding vendor" cases; "supreme court nominations: filling justice scalia's seat and beyond; and "judge neil gorsuch: the case for confirmation". At our 2017 frc speaker series events, national leaders and experts addressed the hottest topics of the day, including the devastating consequences of abandoning truth on college campuses, how parents are fighting transgender ideology in public schools, how the left is silencing free speech, how conservatives can fight human trafficking, the "equal rights" argument for fetal personhood, and more. On may 6, 2016, we filed an amicus brief (with other organizations and scholars), in the wyoming supreme court case of neely v. Wyoming commission on judicial conduct and ethics, arguing that to force a judge to perform same-sex weddings against her conscience violates her constitutional free speech and free exercise rights. On january 9, 2017, we filed an amicus brief, along with the north carolina values coalition, in the supreme court case of g. G. V. Gloucester county school board, arguing that the school board should be able to determine its own policy mandating that students use the bathroom of their biological sex. On february 13, 2017, general boykin filed a brief along with other retired generals, asking the u. S. Supreme court to hear the case of united states v. Sterling, and arguing that faith is integral to military morale and readiness, and so religious freedom should be strongly protected in the military. On may 12, 2017, we filed a brief, along with the north carolina values coalition, in g. G. V. Gloucester county school board, after it was remanded to the u. S. Court of appeals for the fourth circuit. Frc is one of the leading organizations in the fight to defend our nation's most vulnerable issues - life, marriage, and religious liberty. Frc employs many of the most influential experts to defend these god-ordained institutions. Arina grossu (director, center for human dignity), peter sprigg (senior fellow for policy studies), travis weber (director, center for religious liberty), and chris gacek (senior fellow for regulatory policy) all made numerous media appearances and authored a large number of compelling policy papers and op-eds.
government affairs--the government affairs (ga) team plays both defense and offense on our issues in a bold and bipartisan manner. We're expanding frc's influence as the leading pro-family voice in washington, d. C. , and our experts educate leaders in congress, the administration, governors, state legislators and our grassroots network, utilizing face-to-face meetings, expert testimony, presentations, briefings and email alerts. Ga defends the sanctity of human life and the institution of marriage, upholds religious liberty, opposes judicial activism, presses for tax relief for families, supports parental choice in education, and speaks for the family throughout the world. In response to california's violation of the federal weldon amendment conscience provision by mandating abortion insurance coverage, and due to the obama administration's subsequent lack of enforcement, the house in july 2016 successfully passed the conscience protection act (s. 304) by 245 to 182 to strengthen this law. The senate did not act. Therefore, after the 2016 election, ga prioritized this bill among many others and focused on getting these attached to "must pass" spending bills to force the senate to consider them. In september 2016, the pro-life movement celebrated the fortieth anniversary of the hyde amendment, which bans taxpayer funding of elective abortion. The amendment has recently faced renewed opposition from the democrats, most recently when for the first time in history, the party platform called for its full repeal. Frc's own director of the center for human dignity, arina grossu, was invited to testify at congressman trent franks's hearing "the ultimate civil right: examining the hyde amendment and the born alive infants protection act. " although house republicans worked very hard to pass this bill before the october recess, they were unable to do so. However, with scores of conservative victories in the november elections, not only will the hyde amendment be preserved but the born alive abortion survivors protection act has a very good chance of becoming law. Frc fully intends to see the bill through to completion in 2017. On february 1, 2017, frc president tony perkins stood with congressional leaders and pastors from across the country as they reintroduced the free speech fairness act. The bill would repeal the johnson amendment, which the irs has used to threaten churches and non-profits with loss of their tax-exempt status simply for exercising their god-given right to free speech on political matters. In fact, 99 different churches were targeted by the irs in 2015 alone citing a violation of the johnson amendment. Repealing the johnson amendment was a key tenet of the 2016 republican platform, and we now have the historic opportunity to undo it once and for all! Making good on his promise to nominate a judge from his list of 21 conservatives, president donald trump wasted no time in nominating the well-qualified judge neil gorsuch to fill the seat of the late justice antonin scalia. Frc president tony perkins had the privilege of being at the white house when gorsuch was nominated. Justice gorsuch fits perfectly into the mold of the late justice scalia, and we are confident he will uphold the constitution in his future opinions. With more abortion regulation and religious liberty cases coming before the supreme court, justice gorsuch's confirmation could not have come at a better time. On the national day of prayer, may 4, 2017, president trump signed an executive order in favor of religious liberty. This was a first step to overturn unlawful restrictions placed on churches, businesses, and organizations that have been punished for holding to their beliefs. President trump is also pushing to implement these religious freedoms across federal agencies. Tony perkins and other leaders continue to work with the presidential administration to again make religious liberty a priority in the united states. You are helping turn our nation back into the land of the free. President trump signaled an end to the radical transgender policies implemented by former secretary of defense ash carter last year. Following implementation of president trump's directive, your tax dollars will no longer be used for gender reassignment surgeries, transition therapy sessions, and group sensitivity trainings. Instead, your money will be used to not only provide better medical care to our military but also to prepare them to defend our freedoms. Frc president tony perkins was privileged to help draft the final gop platform last year in cleveland, which was crystal clear on rebuilding the military by focusing on mission readiness instead of social experimentation. Frc has worked hard to see the transgender policy in the military reversed, and we are thankful for a president who has made clear that he will keep his word, regardless of the backlash. On march 31, frc scored a huge victory when the new hampshire state health, human services, and elder affairs committee quashed a bill that would have banned sexual reorientation therapy. This decision comes just a month after frc's own peter sprigg testified before the committee against the bill, arguing that it violated parental rights as well as the rights of young people who want to pursue such therapy. We are thankful that new hampshire legislators care about children who want to change their unwanted same-sex feelings. In one of his first executive actions as president, trump signed an order reinstating the mexico city policy, blocking taxpayer funds from being used for overseas abortions. The very next day, the house of representatives passed the no taxpayer funding for abortion act, an frc-backed bill that bars federal funding of abortion in the united states. This spring, frc supported a bill that overturned an obama title x regulation requiring states to fund planned parenthood. This was the first pro-life bill signed into law since 2004! Most recently, the trump administration announced that it was not renewing $200 million in funding for planned parenthood and 81 other like-minded groups, which frc strongly advocated for. Other legislative victories for frc included a law that increases funding for sexual risk avoidance education in public schools and a bill that expands restrictions on federal employees' ability to view pornography in the workplace. Throughout the year, ga convened multiple coalition meetings, hosted strategy meetings with congressional staff, and directly lobbied multiple members on the committee and leadership on conscience protections and other values riders in "must pass" spending legislation. Ga has worked for over two years to protect religious freedom and free speech rights of pastors by working to gut the johnson amendment, the current law barring 501(c)(3) organizations, including churches, from endorsing candidates. Frc helped draft legislation to gut this tax provision and was instrumental in encouraging whip steve scalise (r-la. ) and rep. Jody hice (r-ga. ) in the house and senator james lankford (r-okla. ) to introduce the free speech fairness act (fsfa) last year and again this year (h. R. 781/s. 264). Ga's mandi ancalle testified on may 4, 2017 before the house government reform oversight subcommittee in favor of this legislation. Ga is lobbying to attach this bill to the fy2018 reconciliation bill which will contain "tax reform. " frc supported the american health care act of 2017 (h. R. 1628, "ahca") reconciliation bill because it provided the best path forward to re-establish the fundamental federal policy that abortion is not health care, to redirect funding away from planned parenthood, and to provide american families improved outcomes through lowered costs and more options. While this bill passed the house, it did not pass the senate to become law. We are continuing to work to ensure any bill to repeal and replace obamacare does not fund abortion and defunds planned parenthood. We are also encouraging members of congress to support a bill protecting the conscience rights of medical professionals from participating in abortions, legislation overturning washington, d. C. 's physician-assisted suicide law, and a ban on fetal tissue funding to prevent more of planned parenthood's fetal organ harvesting.
communications/brand advancement--the mission of frc is timeless, but the way in which we communicate that mission must be constantly adapted to incorporate new technologies and reach new audiences. The communications department is responsible for the public image of frc; they interact on a daily basis with the press corps and ensure that frc's positions are clearly communicated and accurately represented. Despite attacks and outrageous labels from the left to silence our voice, frc continues to grow in influence and expand our visibility promoting the pro-family agenda to opinion leaders and the public through effective media strategies. In fy 2017, the frc communications team tracked over 20,167 media mentions of frc and our affiliates; frc staff made over 70 live tv and cable network appearances, (including fox news, fox business, msnbc, cnn, cbn, ewtn, and local dc affiliates abc 7, fox 5, and nbc 4), plus 31,783,753 online video views; had almost 350 radio hits on prominent stations across america; placed 80 op-eds in publications nationwide. Frc's "washington watch with tony perkins," a daily one-hour radio program, is now syndicated by the american family radio, bott radio network and usa radio network. Frc's radio program now airs in 39 states and several major metropolitan areas such as sacramento and san jose (calif. ), denver (colo. ), detroit (mich. ), las vegas (nev. ), buffalo (n. Y. ), portland (ore. ), and dallas (tex. ), among other cities. The show allows us to cut through the media's filter and speak directly to concerned americans about how a biblical worldview shapes public policy. Tony has hosted dozens of members of congress as well as prominent conservative leaders, authors, and pastors. Congressional guests on the radio program include: sen. Lindsey graham, rep. Ralph abraham, rep. Dave brat, rep. Warren davidson, rep. Ron desantis, rep. Trent franks, rep. Andy harris, rep. Jim jordan, rep. Mark meadows, rep. Ted poe, rep. Francis rooney, rep. Steve russell, rep. Chris smith, and many others have been frequently interviewed on the radio show. We continue to effectively reach, equip and engage the public via social media. We currently have 29,473 followers on twitter, 229,591 frc facebook page likes, and 6,192 instagram followers. We are voicing truth and eternal values into the marketplace of ideas.
other programs--with vigorous representation before congress, the executive branch, and, when appropriate, the federal judiciary, frc pursues an active program of public education and awareness. In tangible ways, we are arming policy makers and the american citizenry with the power which knowledge gives. Frc holds numerous lectures and hosts conferences, garnering media attention from around the world. These events are subsequently edited and made available to our constituents on our website. Frc's church ministries team connects and mobilizes over 40,000 pastors, plus their millions of congregants; over 7,200 church-based culture impact teams, and over 36,500 prayer partners. In 2017, our watchmen pastors group expanded to over 13,600. Each of these pastors commits to pray for the nation, preach christian citizenship messages, and partner with at least three other pastors. In may, frc hosted our 14th annual national "watchmen on the wall" conference in washington, d. C. Nearly 500 attendees from 41 states, d. C. And australia gathered in washington, d. C. Where frc equipped and encouraged them to boldly act as salt and light in their communities. We had hispanic events in 3 states, and translated the culture impact team manual into spanish. Additionally, we held a number of events specifically for the african-american community. Over the last 30 years, many pro-family organizations have come and gone, but the challenges and pressures facing christians and other people of good will in the public square have remained great. With the faithful prayers and support of families dedicated to our mission, frc has weathered the storms of hostile administrations, softening economies, and unrelenting opposition from special interest groups. With a bold vision for growing the influence of family research council, we move ahead with great anticipation. Trusting in the providence of almighty god to guide and establish the work of our hands, frc exists to advance faith family and freedom in public policy and public opinion. May we be found ever faithful to our task.
