Latest / The Ben Ferguson Podcast / Reading, Writing…Failing—Pandemic Fallout Leaves Kids Falling Behind Fast

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Reading, Writing…Failing—Pandemic Fallout Leaves Kids Falling Behind Fast · The Ben Ferguson Podcast

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: The House Republicans on the Oversight Committee have released this
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  Speaker 1: report on fraud in Minnesota, targeting Tim Wolves, targeting Keith Ellison.
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: Do you think that this is just about trying to
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  Speaker 1: get those two figures or do you think that there's
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  Speaker 1: actually something that Ellison and Wolves have to say for themselves.
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  Speaker 2: House Republicans. I'm not serious about rooting out waste, fraud
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  Speaker 2: and abuse in the United States of America. You know
• 0:21
  Speaker 2: why because the biggest fraud being perpetrated on the people
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  Speaker 2: of this country right now is coming out of sixteen
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  Speaker 2: hundred Pennsylvania Avenue.
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  Speaker 3: You're listening to the forty seven Morning Update with Ben ferguson.
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  Speaker 4: Good Tuesday morning. It's so nice to have you with
• 0:39
  Speaker 4: us on the forty seven Morning Update, and we've got.
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  Speaker 1: Two big stories for you.
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  Speaker 4: First up, the damage that was done to America's future
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  Speaker 4: with our kids being the ones that had the most
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  Speaker 4: to lose during the COVID lockdowns, and now we're seeing
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  Speaker 4: the disaster of the education system we set up and
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  Speaker 4: how it's going to have lasting effects on this country.
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  Speaker 4: Up next, we have an update and it's really shocking
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  Speaker 4: about more corruption with unrump direct ties to terrorist organizations
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  Speaker 4: and how your tax dollars have been going to pay
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  Speaker 4: the salaries of these terrists. But before we get to that,
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  Speaker 4: I want to take a moment and ask you to
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  Speaker 4: help the people in Israel, with my friends at the
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  Speaker 4: IFCJ working right now on the ground for all those
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  Speaker 4: in need. From America's revolutionary war to Israel's fight for
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  Speaker 4: survival in nineteen forty eight, both nations have faced moments
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  Speaker 4: that tested their courage, yet freedom endured. In October of
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  Speaker 4: nineteen eighty five, President Ronald Reagan delivered these remarks about
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  Speaker 4: America's commitment to stand with Israel.
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  Speaker 5: In our talks, we paid special attention to two issues,
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  Speaker 5: our commitment to Israel's security and well being, and our
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  Speaker 5: shared desire to move forward together toward a just and
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  Speaker 5: lasting piece between Israel and all its Arab neighbors. A strong,
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  Speaker 5: secure Israel is a shared interest.
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  Speaker 4: As Americas celebrates to its two hundred and fiftieth anniversary,
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  Speaker 4: the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews reflects on the
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  Speaker 4: friendship between the United States and Israel, two democracies built
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  Speaker 4: on faith, liberty, and hope. Sign up to receive a
• 2:14
  Speaker 4: free USA Israel flagpen when you go online to flag
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  Speaker 4: pin IFCJ dot org. That's flag pin IFCJ dot org.
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  Speaker 4: It's a forty seven morning update and it starts right now.
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  Speaker 3: Story number one.
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  Speaker 6: There were warning signs when COVID was going on. There
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  Speaker 6: were warning signs from people that were being silenced as well,
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  Speaker 6: saying that no one was understanding the harm that was
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  Speaker 6: being done to our children academically by having quote remote learning.
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  Speaker 6: You remember when kids stayed home for a couple of
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  Speaker 6: years and we're having school over their iPads. Well, now
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  Speaker 6: we are seeing real data of just how much damage
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  Speaker 6: was done to the future of this country and our
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  Speaker 6: children that should have probably just been held back instead
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  Speaker 6: of socially promoted. Well, not only was children's well being
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  Speaker 6: a decline during that time, but now we're seeing a
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  Speaker 6: decline nationwide since the COVID nineteen pandemic, with children now
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  Speaker 6: in twenty nine states worse off in twenty twenty four
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  Speaker 6: than in twenty nineteen, according to a new report out
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  Speaker 6: from the Anti E. Casey Foundation. Now the report comes
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  Speaker 6: as families struggle with higher costs for food, housing, and
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  Speaker 6: other necessities. Advocates warned that cuts to government safety net
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  Speaker 6: programs could worsen conditions for children, and so they want
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  Speaker 6: you to spend more money. But the research is showing
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  Speaker 6: something very different. In fact, the research shows the kids
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  Speaker 6: who are healthy, safe, fed, educated, and surrounded by strong
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  Speaker 6: family relationships have a much better chance to thrive and
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  Speaker 6: contribute as independent adults. The Foundation's vice president saying this
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  Speaker 6: to Axios. We know that today's children are tomorrow's workforce.
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  Speaker 6: So the strength of the economy is the future, and
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  Speaker 6: that is directly tied to the well being of kids today.
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  Speaker 6: The Foundation's twenty twenty six Kids Account Data book measured
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  Speaker 6: children in four different categories, and this should make every
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  Speaker 6: American furious. Economic well being, then education, then health, and
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  Speaker 6: then family and community. The national score fell from five
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  Speaker 6: fifty three to five forty seven from twenty nineteen to
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  Speaker 6: twenty twenty four. In fact, five of the top seven
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  Speaker 6: states were in the Northeast, while eleven of the fifteen
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  Speaker 6: lowest rank states were in the South. Still, eight Southern
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  Speaker 6: states actually improved, including South Carolina, which posted the nation's
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  Speaker 6: biggest gain at thirty eight points. Air of children, by
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  Speaker 6: the way living in households burdened by housing costs rose
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  Speaker 6: from thirty to thirty one percent. That affects more than
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  Speaker 6: twenty two point four million children. It was the first
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  Speaker 6: increase since twenty ten according to the data. As well,
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  Speaker 6: and the report revealed sharp declines in health and education scores.
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  Speaker 6: Even though we have quote Obamacare, child and teen deaths
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  Speaker 6: actually rose eight percent, So much for Obamacare saving kids' lives.
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  Speaker 6: While health scores.
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  Speaker 4: Fell from six hundred and twenty four to six oh seven,
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  Speaker 4: And then the education part comes in education scores took
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  Speaker 4: the biggest hit in any category, plunging from five eighteen
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  Speaker 4: to four seventeen, driven by massive declines in reading and
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  Speaker 4: math proficiency in forty seven different states. They said the
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  Speaker 4: rise and child and teen deaths reflect a youth mental
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  Speaker 4: health crisis as well that was a real problem during COVID.
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  Speaker 4: Some states have moved to put more mental health professionals
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  Speaker 4: in schools, and family and community scores improved from five
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  Speaker 4: eighteen to six oh eight, while economic well being rose
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  Speaker 4: to five point fifty one all the way up to
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  Speaker 4: five point fifty seven. Now here's the part that's really
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  Speaker 4: interesting about this. These safety net programs, including the temporary
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  Speaker 4: twenty twenty one child tax credit expansion, may have actually
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  Speaker 4: helped cushion families, but recent Georgetown University data actually showed
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  Speaker 4: fewer children enrolled in Medicaid and more uninsured, even though
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  Speaker 4: Obamacare is out there, raising concerns now about what was
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  Speaker 4: going to happen in the terms of child wellbeing and
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  Speaker 4: outcomes for children with a system that is clearly broken
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  Speaker 4: and heading in the wrong direction, particularly around the economic
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  Speaker 4: security in a time when we know costs are rising
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  Speaker 4: for food and housing and basic necessities. New Mexico, for example,
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  Speaker 4: ranked forty ninth, but improved by twenty two points, largely
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  Speaker 4: on economic gains. Mississippi ranked last overall that saw stronger
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  Speaker 4: education results after at twenty thirteen third grade reading law
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  Speaker 4: and continued funding in schools, teacher training, and early childhood education.
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  Speaker 4: All of those things obviously are really really really really
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  Speaker 4: really important. Now that's positive proof that when we make
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  Speaker 4: direct investments in families and children, that children then do well.
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  Speaker 4: The teen birth rate, by the way, also fell twenty
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  Speaker 4: four percent. I'm going to say that again. The teen
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  Speaker 4: birth rate fell twenty four percent during the study period.
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  Speaker 4: It's the direct results of decades of investment in trying
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  Speaker 4: to ensure that teen pregnancy rates actually decline. The study
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  Speaker 4: sense now you put all this into perspective right now,
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  Speaker 4: and here's what we know. For a fact. We know
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  Speaker 4: that COVID and having children stay home not only literally
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  Speaker 4: cost kids their lives with mental health issues, but it
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  Speaker 4: also took away the quality education or even maybe the
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  Speaker 4: bare minimum education that they were receiving. It made it
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  Speaker 4: all worse. And now we have a major economic problem
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  Speaker 4: on the horizon. Too many kids that don't even know
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  Speaker 4: how to read going into college. Let me say that again.
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  Speaker 4: The new data also shows that more kids are going
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  Speaker 4: to college without being proficient in reading. How is that
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  Speaker 4: even possible? Welcome to social promotion of our government schools.
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  Speaker 4: It's clearly defrauding kids of their future. And the fact
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  Speaker 4: that we socially promoted countless children all across the country
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  Speaker 4: is now really coming back to honess and it will
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  Speaker 4: honess in the workforce as well. All because Democrats wanted
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  Speaker 4: to shut down the schools. And remember the big lie, Oh,
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  Speaker 4: it'll only be for two weeks, We now know it's
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  Speaker 4: going to have a lifetime of repercussions for so many
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  Speaker 4: kids that were in our public school systems. Next story
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  Speaker 4: number two, it's time to give you an update on
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  Speaker 4: the new UNRA scandal that is rocking the United Nations
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  Speaker 4: and American taxpayers funded it. For years, you and I
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  Speaker 4: were told that the United Nations Relief and Work Agency,
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  Speaker 4: better known as UNRAP, was a humanitarian organization just helping
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  Speaker 4: the Palestinian refugees with schools, medical clinics, food assistants, and
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  Speaker 4: social services, all things obviously that you should be in
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  Speaker 4: favor of. Washington then sent billions of dollars of your
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  Speaker 4: tax dollars to support these quote operations, and American taxpayers
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  Speaker 4: were also assured that these funds were helping innocent civilians
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  Speaker 4: and promoting stability in one of the world's most volatile regions.
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  Speaker 4: Well over the last several years, a very different picture
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  Speaker 4: has emerged, and now we're seeing just how bad it
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  Speaker 4: really was. Investigators have uncovered evidence that many of the
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  Speaker 4: UNRA facilities were allegedly being used by terrorists, yes, by
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  Speaker 4: the actual terrorists that are killing innocent people. Weapons were
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  Speaker 4: found near schools, Questions emerged about educational materials promoting anti
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  Speaker 4: Israel rhetoric. Then came the shocking allegations that some of
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  Speaker 4: the UNRA employees, which then turned into more than some themselves,
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  Speaker 4: had actually participated in the Hamas October seventh terrorist attack
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  Speaker 4: against the people of Israel. Now comes perhaps the most
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  Speaker 4: explosive revelation on top of all of that. According to
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  Speaker 4: a new investigative summary that was released by USAID and
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  Speaker 4: the Office of Inspector General, more than one hundred current
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  Speaker 4: and or UNRA employees have been referred to the US
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  Speaker 4: State Department for suspension or debarment because investigators have now
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  Speaker 4: found clear evidence directly tying them to Hamas or participating
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  Speaker 4: in the October seventh massacre. Now let me go over
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  Speaker 4: this again in a different way. You have now proof
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  Speaker 4: of more than one hundred UNRA employees who are being
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  Speaker 4: paid by our tax dollars and are supposed to be
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  Speaker 4: doing humanitarian work that are actually straight up terrorists or
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  Speaker 4: directly working with terrorists who are killing and planning the
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  Speaker 4: October seventh attack. Not only that many of these employees
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  Speaker 4: actually participated in the attack and the planning of October seventh,
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  Speaker 4: and you and I were paying them their salaries they
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  Speaker 4: weren't actually doing their job. Then you have to ask
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  Speaker 4: yourself another question, just how bad is the actual corruption
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  Speaker 4: to know that they're basically being paid to train for
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  Speaker 4: a terrorist attack and again this would be you and
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  Speaker 4: I are tax dollars going to what we were told
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  Speaker 4: was humanitarian aid. Instead was going to aid and a
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  Speaker 4: bet and support the training of terrorists to kill innocent Jews. Now,
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  Speaker 4: just let that sink in for a moment. This wasn't
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  Speaker 4: just one person. It wasn't ten, it wasn't twenty. It
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  Speaker 4: was more than one hundred UNRA employees. And these weren't
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  Speaker 4: obscure employees hidden somewhere in the bureaucracy. That's something else
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  Speaker 4: you need to understand. According to the investigators, those referred
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  Speaker 4: included school principles, teachers, counselors, medical workers, security personnel administrators.
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  Speaker 4: This is how bad the terrorists control and the terrorist
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  Speaker 4: ties are within this area in the world in Palestine now.
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  Speaker 4: The Inspector General's report also lays out allegations that sound
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  Speaker 4: almost unbelievable. Investigators identified as school deputy principal who allegedly
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  Speaker 4: served as a Hamas military commander, and you and I
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  Speaker 4: were helping pay for his salary. Another deputy principal allegedly
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  Speaker 4: served as a squad leader in a Hamas infantry battalion. Again,
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  Speaker 4: that would be a terrorist organization. One teacher allegedly worked
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  Speaker 4: in Hamas' intelligence operations tracking explosive devices. Another allegedly served
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  Speaker 4: as a platoon commander for the terrorist organization, and one
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  Speaker 4: teacher was reportedly identified as a HAMAS while master sniper.
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  Speaker 4: That's who our tax dollars were going towards. There was
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  Speaker 4: also another one that received orders involving anti tank missiles
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  Speaker 4: during the October seventh attacks. Now, these are not accusations
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  Speaker 4: involving political opinions or even social media posts. These are
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  Speaker 4: allegations involving direct participation in a designated terrorist organization, and
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  Speaker 4: in some cases, direct involvement in the deadliest terroist attack
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  Speaker 4: in Israel's history. The Inspector General says its investigations now
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  Speaker 4: produced referrals involving one hundred and eight individuals and that
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  Speaker 4: additional referrals could also be quote forthcoming. The report also
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  Speaker 4: notes that potential criminal referrals remained possible as investigators continue
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  Speaker 4: reviewing the evidence. And here's why you should care. For decades,
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  Speaker 4: the United States was one of the largest funders, largest
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  Speaker 4: financi angel backers of UNRUPP. American taxpayers contributed not millions,
• 15:05
  Speaker 4: but billions of dollars over the years to fund the
• 15:08
  Speaker 4: agency's operations across Gaza, and the line that we were
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  Speaker 4: sold was, Hey, this is no brainer for America. We're
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  Speaker 4: helping civilians that would reduce the instability in that part
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  Speaker 4: of the world and create conditions for peace instead of war.
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  Speaker 4: But instead, now what we find out is American taxpayers,
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  Speaker 4: you and I were actually helping fund an organization that
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  Speaker 4: failed to prevent extremists from embedding themselves inside of its workforce,
• 15:37
  Speaker 4: and in fact, it's pretty clear they were allowing it
• 15:40
  Speaker 4: to happen on purpose. Now the allegations, thank goodness, are
• 15:44
  Speaker 4: fueling outrage on Capitol Hill. Many lawmakers have spent years
• 15:49
  Speaker 4: warning that unders oversight mechanisms were inadequate and that the
• 15:53
  Speaker 4: agency had become vulnerable to be infiltrated by hamas. Those warnings,
• 15:58
  Speaker 4: by the way, were often dismissed as you know, political attacks. Well,
• 16:02
  Speaker 4: those critics are pointing to the latest investigation and asking
• 16:05
  Speaker 4: a simple question, how did this happen? How did individuals
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  Speaker 4: connected to hamas end up working as teachers, principles counselors,
• 16:14
  Speaker 4: and administrators inside an organization receiving international support. How were
• 16:20
  Speaker 4: these individuals able to remain employed while holding positions inside
• 16:26
  Speaker 4: of a terrorist organization at the highest levels, and perhaps
• 16:30
  Speaker 4: even more important than that, what safeguards failed or were
• 16:35
  Speaker 4: they purposely not used. Now UNRAP has consistently denied institutional
• 16:41
  Speaker 4: support for HAMAS, but their employees, well, they tell a
• 16:44
  Speaker 4: very different story. They, of course in point to internal
• 16:48
  Speaker 4: investigations and employees screening efforts. The organization is said it
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  Speaker 4: takes allegation seriously and has terminate employees when credible evidence emerges.
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  Speaker 4: The United Nations has also conn do they claim investigations
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  Speaker 4: into previous allegations involving staff members ties to terrorism. Now
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  Speaker 4: the latest development is different because of the scale, and
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  Speaker 4: this is the part that matters. The number is no
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  Speaker 4: longer a handful of employees. The number is now over
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  Speaker 4: one hundred. And what makes this such a political moment
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  Speaker 4: is this? The Usaid Inspector General says these referrals are
• 17:25
  Speaker 4: intended to prevent these individuals from receiving future benefits through
• 17:30
  Speaker 4: US funded aid programs. Now, one former unredschooled principle previously
• 17:36
  Speaker 4: received a government wide debarment after investigators linked him to
• 17:40
  Speaker 4: HAMAS activities directly connected to October the seventh. Investigators say
• 17:45
  Speaker 4: we are continuing to quote review approximately one thousand, five
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  Speaker 4: hundred er personnel and their records and additional referrals will
• 17:54
  Speaker 4: be forthcoming. And that means, when I'm telling you right now,
• 17:58
  Speaker 4: in this story, well it's far from over. And politically,
• 18:02
  Speaker 4: it arrives in a moment when many Americans are already
• 18:04
  Speaker 4: demanding greater scrutiny over how our taxpayer dollars are being
• 18:08
  Speaker 4: spent not overseas but actually in this country with massive
• 18:13
  Speaker 4: fraud and corruption. Supporters of the foreign ad of course
• 18:17
  Speaker 4: they're saying, no, no, no, we've got to keep sending the money. Well,
• 18:20
  Speaker 4: why would you send our tax dollars directly to terras
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  Speaker 4: Because that's exactly what we're looking at now. And this
• 18:27
  Speaker 4: is also a story about lack of accountability or previous
• 18:31
  Speaker 4: administrations deliberately looking the other way, knowing exactly what was
• 18:35
  Speaker 4: going on. The story is also about oversight, like why
• 18:38
  Speaker 4: were so many people in Washington to sleep at the
• 18:40
  Speaker 4: wheel on this? And it's also a story about whether
• 18:44
  Speaker 4: American taxpayers can really trust our government and knowing that
• 18:48
  Speaker 4: billions of dollars were sent overseas that are actually reaching
• 18:51
  Speaker 4: the people they claim to be reaching, well instead, no, no,
• 18:55
  Speaker 4: it's going to the terrorists. Now, the USAID Inspector General's
• 18:58
  Speaker 4: investigation is quote ute, ongoing and robust. More referrals are expected,
• 19:04
  Speaker 4: more evidence, they say, is being reviewed, and lawmakers in
• 19:08
  Speaker 4: Washington are already signaling that they want real answers now.
• 19:12
  Speaker 4: One thing is certain, the pressure on UNDRA has never
• 19:15
  Speaker 4: been greater, and after this latest bombshow report, the questions
• 19:20
  Speaker 4: surrounding the agency are only getting louder.
• 19:23
  Speaker 3: Thank you for listening to the forty seven Morning Update
• 19:26
  Speaker 3: with Ben Ferguson. Please make sure you hit subscribe wherever
• 19:30
  Speaker 3: you're listening to this podcast right now and for more
• 19:33
  Speaker 3: in depth news, also subscribe to the Ben Ferguson podcast
• 19:38
  Speaker 3: and we will see you back here tomorrow