Heard at Heritage

Foster families provide life-saving care for thousands of children each year. These families, in turn, are served by various agencies, both religious and secular, which equip, support, and empower them to care for children. Unfortunately, the City of Philadelphia told longtime foster parents that they could no longer work with Catholic Social Services — because the City doesn’t like its Catholic beliefs about marriage. Now, the Supreme Court will decide the fate of this adoption agency and determine whether these families can continue to serve children in need. Join us for an expert panel featuring a foster care policy expert, a foster and adoptive mother supported by a faith-affirming agency, and the lawyer from the religious liberty law firm Becket who argued on behalf of the families at the Supreme Court. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It has been an unprecedented election season, including a global pandemic, widespread civil unrest, and the increasing polarization of the country. Americans have a lot to contemplate as they go to the ballot box. But once the people have spoken…it’s time to analyze the results.Join our all-star panel for unique insights on how the results could translate into policy and action. There will be no shortage of colorful commentary, as our panelists discuss the political implications in the aftermath of what promises to be an historic election. What do the results mean for our constitutional republic? Will there be changes to our foreign policy? How will the results affect the economy and jobs? What are the ramifications for the Supreme Court? We will explore all of these questions and more! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Heritage Foundation’s Edwin Meese III Center for Legal and Judicial Studies is honored to announce that former Attorney General Ed Meese will deliver our thirteenth Joseph Story Distinguished Lecture. The event will be a conversation with him, reflecting on his life, legacy, and over 50 years within the conservative movement.The namesake of the lecture—the eminent jurist Joseph Story—became the youngest Associate Justice ever to serve on the United States Supreme Court when he was appointed by President Madison in 1812. Story made a significant mark on American law in his thirty-three years on the bench, but his greatest contribution to jurisprudence is his renowned Commentaries on the Constitution, in which he set forth a philosophy of judicial restraint. This lecture series celebrates his legacy.Previous Joseph Story Lectures have been delivered by Justice Clarence Thomas, Justice Anthony Kennedy, Justice Brett Kavanaugh, Judge Janice Rogers Brown, Judge Carlos Bea, Senator Orrin Hatch, and more. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In 2010, six organizations set out to redefine civics education. What they brought about is known as “New Civics,” “Action Civics,” “Civic Engagement,” or “Project-Based Civics.” Dr. Lindsay’s important new study examines the origins, nature, and educational effects of this movement in civic education and demonstrates that it has a clear progressive bias, teaches our kids to protest, and leads to civic ignorance. In part III of our America's History of Hope series Dr. Lindsay will discuss this important study and provide a roadmap for putting Americans back on a path toward civic knowledge.Want to revisit Part I of the Series? Click here to watch The Power of Trial and Triumph.Want to revisit Part II of the Series? Click here to watch The Perils of Revisionist History. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Operation Warp Speed (OWS) is an unprecedented public-private partnership to produce and deliver 300 million doses of a safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine by January 2021. Thus far nearly $10 billion has been directed by Congress to this effort which carries the promise of an early end to the pandemic and the resumption by Americans of their normal lives. The two main government partners within OWS are the Health and Human Services and Defense Departments. The Department of Defense is providing key assistance and capabilities including assistance with logistics, contracting and supply chain management. Something else DOD is providing is leadership.In May 2020 Army General Gus Perna was weeks away from concluding a 39 year military career when President Donald Trump called upon him to serve as the Chief Operating Officer for OWS. Confirmed by the Senate on July 2, General Perna with Dr. Moncef Slaoui, the Chief Scientific Advisor, now helps lead this historic undertaking which has been compared to the country’s WWII Manhattan Project.This engaging webinar will probe the goal, the progress and the challenges involved with this critical project. We will also explore the status of the vaccines and how an Army General has adapted to lead an effort requiring the cooperation of literally hundreds of different entities, both in and out of government. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Every night, nearly half a million Americans sleep in homeless shelters, cars, and the streets. Sadly, many of these citizens struggle with addiction or mental illness. Yet in America’s most progressive cities, left-wing mayors and city councils spend billions of dollars on homelessness programs with insufficient results. Why do the most progressive cities have the highest rates of homelessness? What conservative solutions could stop this problem?In the wake of the COVID-19 lockdowns and widespread street unrest, cities are now grappling with what to do about homelessness. Join The Heritage Foundation as we expose the left's counterproductive approach and bring to light thoughtful, compassionate conservative solutions for homelessness. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

From building the border wall to rescinding the unconstitutional DACA program to stopping illegal immigrant caravans from Central America, the Trump Administration has made a dizzying number of border security and immigration changes. Border security and immigration are regularly among the top issues that Americans care about because they affect so many aspects of our lives – the economy, crime, public health, education, culture, and more.The meaningful progress of the Trump Administration is opposed by the radical left who seek to undo these changes and impose an open borders immigration policy, along with amnesty for millions of illegal aliens already in the United States. The Trump Administration made these changes in the face of stiff and coordinated opposition via lawsuits and judicial activism, congressional inaction, and state and local sanctuary jurisdictions. This opposition has real consequences, including heartbreaking drug overdoses and violent gang activity in the United States from the deadly drugs and MS-13 gang members crossing our border. In 2020, COVID-19 further complicated America’s border and immigration issues, leading to travel restrictions, employment visa and foreign student policy changes to protect public health and prioritize Americans getting back to work. America will continue to experience dynamic immigration issues when countries recover from COVID-19 and have to address their struggling economies.Join our virtual event for an important and lively conversation about the accomplishments of the Trump Administration on border security and immigration. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

American security interests are challenged by worrisome developments across the globe, ranging from China’s rapid military buildup to Russian adventurism to North Korean nuclear programs. COVID-19 has had an effect on all of America and the U.S. military has not been spared. To counter these threats and more the Defense Department developed and executes today the 2018 National Defense Strategy. The first line of effort in that strategy calls upon the DOD to “rebuild military readiness as it builds a more lethal joint force.”How is that effort going? Has the Department of Defense been successful in rebuilding military readiness? What successes have occurred and what challenges remain? How has COVID-19 impacted the execution of the strategy?Please join Heritage for his prepared remarks followed by a question and answer session with the man responsible for implementing the strategy, Secretary of Defense Dr. Mark T. Esper. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The emerging market, especially in Africa, has achieved many technological advances in the past several years. Meanwhile, China's burgeoning fifth-generation (5G) wireless network offers developing countries faster access to the rest of the world and the ability to expand their industries with the use of digital technology. But, at what cost?The U.S., arm-in-arm with the rest of the free world, must mitigate the risks associated with government-controlled Chinese companies deploying 5G wireless networks in emerging markets, and work to develop viable alternatives to Chinese technology. Such a presence is a clear national security threat that compromises global telecommunications and data infrastructure, and ultimately affects how countries are governed.Beijing’s “civil-military fusion” practices must not be allowed to threaten any nation's security. Further, the United States must meaningfully penalize Beijing’s blatant attempts to threaten America’s critical infrastructure while using its technology industry in service of state espionage.Join our virtual event for an important and lively conversation about 5G and the developing world. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In some respects, 2020 has been a disappointing year for the Second Amendment. The Supreme Court continued its decade-long silence on this important constitutional right, and gun control legislation remains a potent rallying cry for many local, state, and national lawmakers. And yet, 2020 is nevertheless poised to be a year of Second Amendment resurgence. Nationwide protests, violent crime spikes in major cities, and calls to defund or abolish police departments have led to record-breaking numbers of gun sales. Nearly 40% of new sales during the first half of the year were by first-time buyers, with an estimated 2.5 million Americans joining the ranks of gun owners between January and June.Who are these new gun owners? What motivates them? What obstacles do they face in the exercise of their Second Amendment rights? How might this unprecedented spike in first-time gun owners affect the national conversation about the right to keep and bear arms? Join our important conversation about the changing landscape of gun ownership in America and what this means for the larger debate on gun control.NOTE: Due to an unfortunate technical issue, parts of Amy Swearer's address have been lost from the final video version of this event. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.