Sarah E. Makin ن

Thanks @Newsweek for publishing an oped from @SamuelBrownback and me today. #afghanistan #IRF newsweek.com/time-try-new-a…

@RushanAbbas @SpeakerJohnson @RepMoolenaar @RepTomSuozzi @RepYoungKim It’s an honor. Always.

@DCSas @SpeakerJohnson @RepMoolenaar @RepTomSuozzi @RepYoungKim We are so honored to have you in our corner dearest @DCSas. Thank you for being such a powerful voice for the voiceless. Your continuied support is a light in this struggle, and we are so grateful for your prayers and your partnership.💖

I love Ziba, Grace, & Gao Pu so much. It is an honor to be their friend & advocate. May God bless them, their families, & those in Congress who won’t give up until their loved ones are free. @SpeakerJohnson @RepMoolenaar @RepTomSuozzi @RepYoungKim Rep Chris Smith @luke_alliance @CUyghurs @RushanAbbas @ziba116 @GraceJDrexel @GaoPu1231

The Chinese Communist Party is waging a war against faith. Order my book, China's War on Faith, today to learn more about the CCP’s assault on religious freedom and the global consequences of digital authoritarianism.

As Trump & Xi meet today, political prisoners should be a top priority. For those wanting to learn more, you can check out the following reports from @HudsonInstitute which lay out the short-term & long-terms strategies for securing their release: hudson.org/why-trump-shou…

I was giving a speech on the humanitarian aspect of the russian invasion of Ukraine while this attack on Ukraine was unfolding. 🤦‍♀️ Self-evident. #Kyiv today. 8 ppl killed. 45 wounded (2 children). Still looking for people under the rubble. Tomorrow is a city-wide day of mourning

Both Senate and House versions of the resolution passed with a unanimous vote! This week has been stressful but at the same time, it has also been deeply humbling and full of hope. I want to thank the incredible colleagues in each congressional office who have stood by us, supported us, and helped keep these cases in the spotlight this week. I feel blessed to have such an amazing group of friends who have been anchoring me through this difficult journey. Let’s keep pushing forward — together. #FreeGulshanAbbas My deepest gratitude to @SpeakerJohnson, Rep. Chris Smith, @RepTomSuozzi @SenTedCruz, @SenatorDurbin and all the other members of Congress for their leadership.

You’re right. Labeling a church ‘illegal’ in China perfectly captures the CCP’s paranoid tyranny. What’s truly ridiculous is a superpower so terrified of peaceful Christians praying that it criminalizes worship. Humans have a fundamental right to practice their faith according to conscience—not state approval. The CCP’s ‘sinicization’ campaign isn’t harmony; it’s forced subordination of Christianity to Communist ideology, replacing God with the Party. Fear not. Faith will survive anyway.

@DCSas @GaoPu1231 @realDonaldTrump “He’s the pastor of the LARGEST urban underground Christian church in China.” Which means illegal ! Don’t say “underground”. You should express yourself clearly so that readers can understand.

Ezra Jin isn’t just another pastor imprisoned in China (bc there are many). He’s the pastor of the LARGEST urban underground Christian church in China. His children are AmCits (his daughter was a Senate staffer). TY, @realDonaldTrump, for committing to raising his case!

PRESS RELEASE: USCIRF reiterates its recommendation that President Donald J. Trump swiftly nominate an Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom (IRF) and calls on the U.S. Congress to act promptly with the confirmation process. uscirf.gov/news-room/rele…

Secretary Rubio rocking the Nike Tech ‘Venezuela’ on Air Force One! 😂

For months, Gao Pu shut himself in his apartment, a wave of hopelessness washing over him. He had no connections, no political power, and no influence. The most he could do was post on social media, although that was unlikely to help much. Both of his parents, Christian leaders approaching their 70s, were now in Chinese jail. And he was thousands of miles away—in the United States. “Be safe. Take care of yourself,” his mother had told him when the police first came for his father. Weeks later, they took her, too. The couple, Gao Quanfu and Pang Yu, led the Light of Zion Church in central China. Over the years, the church became an influential gathering place for Christians who wished to worship outside Communist Party control, Gao Pu told The Epoch Times. They pose no threat, Gao said—they just want to serve their God in peace. But for Beijing, independent faith is the problem.

You’re a good one, @RepTomSuozzi. Thank you for being a consistent & vocal advocate for these prisoners. And thank you for being a friend to @ziba116. #FreeGulshanAbbas #LongIslandStrong

Read the great @ziba116’s plea for the freedom of her mother, who has been unjustly, wrongfully, and arbitrarily imprisoned in China for almost seven (7) years: dailywire.com/news/one-daugh…

Why does religion remain at the center of so many global conflicts — and why do policymakers often ignore it? Today, host @Andrew_Langer is joined by Sarah Makin @DCSas, religious freedom advocate and producer of @FaithUnderSiege, to explore the role of faith in global conflict, diplomacy, and human rights. Drawing on her experience in government and international advocacy, Makin argues that one of the biggest blind spots in U.S. foreign policy is a failure to understand religion as a core driver of identity, motivation, and conflict. The conversation closes with a broad reflection: ignoring religion in policy discussions doesn’t eliminate its influence — it simply makes decision-makers less equipped to understand the world.

"Modern schooling is systematically terrible at forming well-adjusted, curious, intellectually creative, entrepreneurial adults. Schools, even much better schools, cannot solve this. Here's the truth: Nobody loves your kids as much as you do." - @BenSasse at the 2026 Alexander Hamilton Awards

While people are focused on a has-been, deranged American podcaster platforming an attention-seeking Ukrainian woman, let me just remind you - From a foreign policy/natsec perspective, support for Ukraine should never be predicated on liking or supporting its leader. For me, it has always been about America’s strategic interests, the preservation of the West, and, because of my faith, standing with the innocent and oppressed. It is in America’s interest for Ukraine to prevail and for Russia to emerge weaker from this war. It is also in our interest to remain morally serious enough to distinguish between aggressor and victim, between a flawed democracy struggling toward the West and an authoritarian regime actively aligned with our enemies. I will never side with a state that suppresses religious freedom, crushes dissent, censors speech, steals children, doctrinally encourages the rape of women, shuts down the internet to their people, enables societal collapse through rampant addiction and abortions, and partners with Iran to help kill Americans and our allies. Russia is not some misunderstood counterweight to Western excess. It is a revanchist power built on repression, corruption, violence, and imperial nostalgia. Ukraine is imperfect. Corruption exists. Political failures exist. I have never denied that, whitewashed it, or indulged in fantasy about it. But none of that changes the fundamental strategic reality. An 800k strong, battle-hardened Ukrainian military standing between Russia and the rest of Europe is not charity. It is one of the greatest strategic bargains the United States has seen in generations. The tragedy is that the American left failed to define a real end-state and failed to arm Ukraine rapidly enough to secure victory when it was still achievable in 2023. And now parts of the far right are collapsing all moral hierarchy in service of some end-state that runs counter to our interests. If we care about Western civilization, deterrence, and American strength, then the answer is not retreat, confusion, or moral relativism. The answer is clear aggressive policy that drives this war to a conclusion that benefits Ukraine - not as an act of charity, but as an act of American national interest and civilizational self-preservation. And no it’s not endless arming. That is politically impossible and strategically lazy. The answer is a hard-nosed Ukraine endgame built around leverage, burden-shifting, and conditional pressure. America should define the objective clearly: a sovereign, armed, economically viable Ukraine capable of denying Russia future conquest, while Russia pays a permanent strategic price for aggression. Europe must carry the long-term burden. The United States should provide the capabilities only America can provide: intelligence, air defense, long-range fires, advanced munitions, and defense-industrial surge capacity. Europe should finance the bulk of Ukraine’s sustainment, reconstruction, artillery, armor, and territorial defense. America provides the strategic backbone. Europe provides the mass and permanence. Frozen Russian assets should be used to arm and rebuild Ukraine. Russia broke it. Russia should pay for it. Ukraine must receive enough battlefield capability to make continued Russian war irrational, not merely expensive. Support should be tied to reform, transparency, and anti-corruption benchmarks. The United States should pursue negotiations only from a position of strength. A ceasefire that rewards conquest is not peace. It is a pause before the next war. Any settlement must preserve Ukraine’s sovereignty, deny Russia a veto over Ukraine’s future, and build a defense architecture that makes a second invasion far harder than the first. None of this charity. It is not maximalism. It is not endless war. Make Russia’s aggression fail, Europe carry its share, make Moscow pay, arm Ukraine to deter, and secure an outcome that strengthens America rather than draining it.

A regime that does what the CCP does cannot be trusted & does not make for a good economic (or any other kind of) partner. That’s why this matters.

These guys are the real deal. I have learned to sort the wheat from the chaff. These guys are the wheat.

Underground churches, middle-of-the-night arrests, and an alleged drugging: Frannie Block investigates China’s detention of Pastor Ezra Jin, and the CCP’s war on Christianity. thefp.com/p/china-persec…

Watch “Inside China’s Shocking Persecution of Christians” by @TheFP’s @FrannieBlock featuring @GraceJDrexel and @Bill_Drexel’s indefatigable advocacy to free Grace’s dad and many more in China: