When 83% of the people speak, will the Senate listen? The following opinion was originally published in the  February 9, 2026 Washington Times.     In an era of deep political division, finding consensus on almost anything seems impossible. Yet there is one policy that unites Americans across party, race, and region: requiring proof of citizenship to vote in federal elections. According to Gallup, 83 percent of Americans support this basic safeguard. The Safeguard American Vo

By Dr. Jimmy Lee Tillman II We hear it everywhere: housing affordability crisis, health care affordability crisis, childcare affordability crisis.  The language is so common that we don’t stop to ask what it actually means — or what it conceals. Here’s the problem: “affordability” isn’t a real thing you can fix.  It’s a word that makes concrete problems disappear into fog. The Language Trick Compare these two statements: “I can’t pay my rent because my wages haven’t kept up w

There's a better path than Obamacare By Dr. Jimmy Lee Tillman II As Congress prepares to debate extending Obamacare subsidies, and as this issue takes center stage in the upcoming midterm elections, American families deserve both the courage to confront what's broken and the wisdom to demand better solutions. The question before us is not whether citizens need help with healthcare costs—they absolutely do. The question is whether we will continue a failed approach that enrich

President Trump's decisive action against ISIS terrorists in Nigeria on Christmas Day demonstrates what principled American leadership looks like. When terrorist groups systematically slaughter Christians—over 7,000 killed in 2024 alone—the United States has both a moral duty and strategic interest to respond. As president of Martin Luther King Republicans and a Heritage Foundation Academy Fellow, I've spent years coordinating advocacy from Black Christian congregations acros