". . . and having done all . . . stand firm." Eph. 6:13

Commentary

True Blue Award Recipients Celebrate Faith, Family, and Freedom

March 1, 2023

Wednesday morning, FRC Action, Family Research Council’s legislative affiliate, presented True Blue awards to members of Congress whose voting records perfectly defended the values of faith, family, and freedom. This year, 159 members of Congress were honored with a True Blue Award —21 from the Senate and 138 from the House. For the senators and representatives who received the award, the morning together was a perfect time to slow down and reflect on the beauty of standing united to preserve our nation’s founding values.

Congressman Mike Bost (R-Ill.) shared with me, “Family values and [being] pro-life — the reason I first got involved in politics was my wife and I’s strong stance. I’m 62 now, and I was 24 when I ran for my first office, so that’ll let you know how long we’ve been working on this.” He added, “The award is nice, but the real award is that we can save the lives, that we can maybe get this nation straightened back out and heading in the right direction.”

Similarly, Congressman and Vice Chairman of House Republicans Mike Johnson (R-La.) highlighted the unique difficulties that legislators with family values face moving forward. He told me, “We have a lot of challenges in the culture right now — some that are unprecedented, more than we’ve ever had. We have a rising number of people who are losing faith in our institutions, losing their appreciation for the foundations of the country: religion and morality, which the founders said were indispensable to maintain the republic. We have less people attending church regularly and more people suggesting that they don’t value any organized religion at all, so this is sort of a new landscape for us in many ways.”

“We have to confront that challenge realistically,” Johnson continued. “Our message doesn’t change because the truth doesn’t change, but how we package it and present it and how we speak with clarity and conviction and consistency is really important right now. That’s part of the value of FRC and FRC Action, is that they’re sort of on the cutting edge of that, helping us to think that through and to present it and defend the truth. In my view, it’s never been more important than it is right now.”

In the 117th Congress, members faced numerous pieces of disturbing legislation that would undermine human dignity and the natural family — and, by extension, weaken the foundations of our society. True Blue recipients voted against radical pro-abortion legislation such as the misleadingly-named Women’s Health Protection Act, which would mandate abortion on demand through all nine months of pregnancy and eradicate commonsense pro-life laws that protect unborn children in many states. They also voted against the (Dis)Respect for Marriage Act, which codifies same-sex marriage into federal law and targets faith-based organizations that support natural marriage.

One True Blue recipient, Congresswoman Lisa McClain (R-Mich.), commented on the necessity to provide Americans with “a positive, spiritual path to follow.” She shared, “I think it’s especially critical for young people, right? I have a daughter that goes to the University of Alabama, and I know she follows Tony and his program. I think if we can give America — but especially young people — a different path, a positive path to follow, I think good things will happen.”

“I think if you look at what’s going on, there’s a lot of these revivals going on, right?” McClain observed. “People are done with the divisiveness, they’re tired and they’re worn out of the anger and the bitterness. They want a place for hope — nothing’s perfect, but they are looking for a little hope. And I think you’re gonna see a lot more of that over the next couple years. Obviously, I’m more of an optimist than I am a pessimist, but I think it’s contagious.” 

Congressman Bost aptly summarized the battle ahead for members of Congress who will fight to uphold faith, family, and freedom: “It’s really about the fact that we’ve got to pass this on to our children and make sure that they come back to the anchor that this nation was formed on.” Values that were once common sense, such as upholding the sanctity of life and advocating for religious liberty, are under attack more than ever. Thankfully, legislators like the True Blue recipients are fighting every day to defend our values in the halls of Congress.