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No American should be forced to choose  Today is the 25th federal observance of National Religious Freedom Day. “No American—whether a nun, nurse, baker, or business owner—should be forced to choose between the tenants of faith and law,” President Donald J. Trump’s proclamation reads. A commitment to religious freedom has guided the Administration throughout its first year in office: The President issued an executive order last May that “protects the freedom of Americans . . . to exercise religion” and minimizes “undue interference by the Federal Government” in areas such as health care His Holiness Pope Francis hosted President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump at the Vatican last year to discuss how religious communities could help combat terrorism Vice President Mike Pence has been a forceful advocate for religious freedom, including in a powerful speech delivered at the World Summit in Defense of Persecuted Christians last May Read the President’s Religious Freedom Day proclamation here. Martin Luther King, Jr., model of an American patriot  Martin Luther King, Jr., would have turned 89 yesterday. Instead, his life was cruelly cut short by an assassin’s bullet 50 years ago this April. King’s greatest legacy is fighting to secure civil rights while strengthening America’s national idea. He understood that our country’s long struggle for equality was not a rejection of American values. To the contrary, it was our Nation’s attempt to live up to them. “The Reverend’s devotion to fighting the injustice of segregation and discrimination ignited the American spirit of fraternity and reminded us of our higher purpose,” President Trump’s proclamation read. Read more: If you love America, King’s story is worth remembering. Plus: Watch President Trump’s weekly address honoring Martin Luther King, Jr. Statement on the mudslides in California  President Trump has been briefed and will continue to monitor the mudslides in California. The President and First Lady extend their deepest sympathies to the families affected, their appreciation for the first responders saving lives, and their prayers for those who remain missing. PHOTO OF THE DAY President Donald J. Trump and House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy | January 14, 2018 (Official White House Photo By D. Myles Cullen) POTUS TODAY Today, President Trump will hold a meeting with President Nursultan Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan in the Oval Office. The two will then participate in a joint press statement and working lunch. This morning, Vice President Mike Pence will participate in a phone call with President Ashraf Ghani of Afghanistan. The Vice President will then join President Trump to participate in a working lunch with President Nazarbayev. New York Post’s Paul Sperry: “This town is proof that Trump’s wall can work” NATIONAL SECURITY & DEFENSE Issued on: January 16, 2018 All told, a legion of empirical evidence supports the idea a southern border wall could, in fact, work. This town is proof that Trump’s wall can work By Paul Sperry New York Post January 13, 2018 … Federal data show a far-less imposing wall than the one Trump envisions — a two-story corrugated metal fence first erected under the Bush administration — already has dramatically curtailed both illegal border crossings and crime in Texas’ sixth-largest city [El Paso], which borders the high-crime Mexican city of Juarez. … When the project first started in 2006, illegal crossings totaled 122,261, but by 2010, when the 131-mile fence was completed from one end of El Paso out into the New Mexico desert, immigrant crossings shrank to just 12,251. They hit a low of 9,678 in 2012, before slowly ticking back up to a total of 25,193 last year. But they’re still well below pre-fence levels, and the Border Patrol credits the fortified barrier dividing El Paso from Mexico for the reduction in illegal flows. … And crime abated with the reduced human traffic from Juarez, considered one of the most dangerous places in the world due to drug-cartel violence, helping El Paso become one of the safest large cities in America. Before 2010, federal data show the border city was mired in violent crime and drug smuggling, thanks in large part to illicit activities spilling over from the Mexican side. Once the fence went up, however, things changed almost overnight. … Drug smuggling along that border entry point has also fallen dramatically. In fact, since the fence was completed, the volume of marijuana and cocaine coming through El Paso and seized by Border Patrol agents has been cut in half. … All told, a legion of empirical evidence supports the idea a southern border wall could, in fact, work. There is also anecdotal evidence. In local press accounts, El Paso residents and business owners alike have praised the fence, citing it as an effective deterrent to both illegal crossings and crime. Now Trump plans to build a possibly bigger deterrent. The existing fence along the El Paso sector, which is made of a combination of corrugated steel and metal meshing, towers 21-feet high at some points and is already hard to climb. But the Trump wall, which will begin construction in El Paso, will be even taller and have multiple layers of security. … Read the full column here. Stephen Moore: “Why taxes matter after all” BUDGET & SPENDING Issued on: January 16, 2018 ...There are now more than 100 companies that have offered bonuses and benefit hikes to their workers due to the tax cut. An estimated one million workers have benefited. Why taxes matter after all By Stephen Moore The Washington Times January 14, 2018 One premise of modern-day “progressives,” is that taxes don’t have much influence on how much and when people invest, how much they work and save, or where they live. … Boy, has the just-enacted Trump tax bill already proved these critics wrong. With the recent Walmart announcement of an increase in their starting wage, there are now more than 100 companies that have offered bonuses and benefit hikes to their workers due to the tax cut. An estimated one million workers have benefited. This after one month. … The blue state governors have argued for many years that their high tax rates don’t cause people to move — even though the two highest income tax states, California and New York, have each lost about one million residents to other states over the past decade. … Some blue state governors and mayors are examining whether they can convert their income taxes into payroll taxes (which could be deductible off federal taxes as a business expense for employers) as a way to preserve federal deductibility. Some are even threatening to sue the federal government as if this tax deduction were a constitutional right. … Why go to all this trouble if taxes don’t matter? … The timeless economic lesson here is that taxes profoundly influence how and where we live our lives. There are proposals all over the country to tax soda pop, sugar, and carbon emissions so we consume or produce less of them. So why is it so hard to accept the reality that if we lower taxes on virtuous activities — work, investment, starting a business, or saving for retirement — we will get more of these? … Read the full column here. Our Current Immigration System Jeopardizes American Security IMMIGRATION Issued on: January 16, 2018 QUOTE We will defend our country, protect our communities, and put the safety of the American people first. President Donald J. Trump ENTRY OF FOREIGN-BORN TERRORISTS: The Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security released a new report showing how many convicted terrorists entered the United States through our immigration system. The Department of Justice (DOJ) and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) have jointly submitted a report pursuant to President Donald J. Trump’s Executive Order 13780: Protecting the Nation From Foreign Terrorist Entry Into the United States. The report found that approximately three out of every four individuals convicted of international terrorism-related charges between September 11, 2001 and December 31, 2016 are foreign-born individuals who entered the United States through our immigration system. 402 foreign-born individuals were convicted of terrorism in United States courts. 1,716 foreign-born aliens with national security concerns were removed from the United States. These totals only show those aliens who were convicted or removed, and therefore, do not represent the total measure of foreign terrorist infiltration of the United States. A significant number of terrorists have entered the United States solely on the basis of family ties and extended-family chain migration. Mufid Elfgeeh, who benefitted from chain migration, was sentenced to more than 22 years in prison for attempting to recruit fighters for ISIS. Mahmoud Amin Mohamed Elhassan, who entered the United States as a relative of a lawful permanent resident, pleaded guilty to attempting to provide material support to ISIS. Uzair Paracha, who entered the United States as a relative of a lawful permanent resident, was sentenced to more than 30 years in prison for providing material support to al Qaeda. Terrorists have also entered the United States through the visa lottery program. Abdurasaul Hasanovich Juraboev, who entered the United States through the visa lottery program, pleaded guilty to conspiring to support ISIS. Ali Shukri Amin, who entered the United States as the child of a visa lottery recipient, was sentenced to more than 11 years in prison for conspiring to provide material support to ISIS. The report by DOJ and DHS does not contain information regarding the number of terrorism and terrorism-related offenses committed by individuals who are the children of foreign-born individuals. Terrorist attacks carried out by children of foreign-born individuals include the attack in Orlando by Omar Mateen, which killed 49 people and wounded more than 50 others, and the attack in San Bernadino, California by Syed Rizwan Farook, which killed 14 people and injured 22 others. The report also found that in FY 2017, DHS had 2,554 encounters with individuals on the terrorist watchlist who had attempted to enter and infiltrate the United States. GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE: The report by DOJ and DHS also sheds light on acts of gender-based violence committed against women by foreign nationals. There are an average of 23 to 27 honor killings in the United States every year, according to a study commissioned and provided to DOJ’s Bureau of Justice Statistics in 2014. The 2014 study also estimated that approximately 1,500 forced marriages occur in the U.S. every year. More than 90 percent of the victims of honor killings in North America were murdered for being “too westernized,” according to a representative sample studied through open media sources. The Government Accountability Office published a report in 2011 that found criminal aliens incarcerated in state and local prisons were convicted for 69,929 sex offenses between fiscal years 2003 and 2009. According to a 2016 report by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the number of women and girls at risk of undergoing female genital mutilation (FGM) was three times higher in 2012 compared to 1990. The CDC report states that the increase was entirely a result of the rapid growth in the number of immigrants from FGM practicing countries. TIME TO END CHAIN MIGRATION AND THE VISA LOTTERY: This report shows, once again, that our current immigration system jeopardizes our national security. By failing to impose meaningful selection criteria, such as skills or likelihood to assimilate, our current family-based system is incompatible with national security. President Trump sent a list of priorities designed to enhance public safety and national security to Congress last October, which included the elimination of the visa lottery program and extended-family chain migration. The Attorney General and Secretary of Homeland Security have repeatedly explained that our current immigration system compromises our national security.