HEALTH CARE // House Speaker Paul Ryan admitted that the American Health Care Act would need to “improve” and be refined. Less than an hour later, Sen. Rand Paul called for a “pause” to the ongoing effort. http://cvote.it/2muLcIO
TRAVEL BAN // A federal judge in Hawaii placed a nationwide block on President Trump’s new travel ban, just hours before it was set to go into effect. http://cvote.it/2muAT7I
RELIGIOUS LIBERTY // The United States is entering a period when its commitment to religious liberty is being tested, Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito told an audience at an event sponsored by a Catholic lawyers’ organization. “A wind is picking up that is hostile to those with traditional moral beliefs,” Alito said. http://cvote.it/2muPJLl
AUTO INDUSTRY // In Detroit, President Trump told the auto companies: ‘Build new plants in Michigan.’ President Trump said: “We want to have new plants built in Michigan, and new plants built in Ohio, and new plants in Pennsylvania and North Carolina and so many other locations.” http://cvote.it/2muFiaP
TRUMP // President Trump traveled to Tennessee to commemorate the 250th birthday of the seventh president, Andrew Jackson, and toured Jackson’s plantation, which is known as the Hermitage. “They say my election was most similar to his,” Trump said during an appearance in Detroit, before he left for Tennessee. http://cvote.it/2muwDFo
CABINET // The Senate confirmed former Sen. Dan Coats, R-IN, to serve as President Trump’s director of national intelligence, 85-12. http://cvote.it/2muxJ44
CULTURAL SEWAGE // Indecent material leaves men dissatisfied with real relationships, a new study finds. But sadly, the mistaken belief that viewing indecent material is ‘healthy’ for relationship persists. “Like cigarettes in the 1950s, we know that just because a practice is popularly accepted doesn’t mean it is healthy or beneficial,” said Haley Halverson, a spokesperson for a group against indecent material. http://cvote.it/2muPYpU
LIFE // An in utero heart operation on a 29-week-old unborn child is the first such procedure performed in Ohio. “We wanted to do anything we could to help him,” said mother Stephanie Hartman. http://cvote.it/2muOJXO
CATHOLIC // Despite warnings, a bill to legalize assisted suicide advances in Hawaii. “Physicians are seen as trusted health advisors, and this bill undermines this relationship, creating suspicion and uncertainty for Hawaii’s patients,” said Deacon Walter Yoshimitsu, executive director of the Hawaii Catholic Conference. http://cvote.it/2muWigV
THROWBACK THURSDAY // 1945 – The west Pacific volcanic island of Iwo Jima is declared secured by the U.S. military after months of fiercely fighting its Japanese defenders. http://cvote.it/2npJlu5
SAINT // Saint Clement Mary – http://cvote.it/dailysaint
DAILY MASS // “Blessed are they who hope in the Lord.” (Ps 40:5) – http://cvote.it/Daily-Readings
HOPE // Meet the American monks who are trying to re-evangelize Ireland. http://cvote.it/2muNsQs