Pence rolls out Republican policy agenda ahead of midterms
CBSN
Former Vice President Mike Pence rolled out a Republican policy platform on Thursday ahead of the midterm elections — and possibly his own 2024 presidential bid.
Pence's "Freedom Agenda" platform, released through his nonprofit group Advancing American Freedom, entails rolling back taxes and regulations, securing the border, and energy independence, as well as standing "strong against Russia" and "confronting communist China." The platform makes little mention of former President Trump, who has lambasted Pence over the 2020 presidential election certification and said voters wouldn't "accept" Pence as a 2024 vice presidential candidate.
The platform has a heavy cultural element to it as well, what Pence calls the "American culture pillar," and includes a pledge to "save women and protect women's sports" by "ensuring that sports competitions are between those who share their God-given gender." The platform also aims to reform big tech, and prevent censorship by social media platforms, a key conservative cause in recent years.
Ashley White received her earliest combat action badge from the United States Army soon after the first lieutenant arrived in Afghanistan. The silver military award, recognizing soldiers who've been personally engaged by an attacker during conflict, was considered an achievement in and of itself as well as an affirming rite of passage for the newly deployed. White had earned it for using her own body to shield a group of civilian women and children from gunfire that broke out in the midst of her third mission in Kandahar province. All of them survived. She never mentioned the badge to anyone in her battalion.
The knock at the door came at nighttime on Mother's Day 2008 in Oregon, where Jessica Ellis' parents lived. It was around 9:20 p.m. and his wife, Linda, was already in bed; her father Steve Ellis told CBS News, that he thought someone let their animals out — but two soldiers in Class A uniforms were standing at the door.