WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov 19, 2025--
The Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity (FREOPP) is proud to announce that Congresswoman Virginia Foxx (R-NC) will receive the Frederick Douglass Award, the organization’s highest honor, during the opening reception of the Freedom and Progress Conference on November 20, 2025 in Washington, D.C. The award recognizes exceptional leadership in advancing freedom, opportunity, and upward mobility for all Americans.
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Throughout her distinguished career in Congress, including her current role as Chair of the House Committee on Rules and her prior service as Chair of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, Congresswoman Foxx has been one of the nation’s most steadfast champions of policies that expand opportunity and empower workers, families, and students. Her legislative leadership has been instrumental in promoting higher education reform, career pathways, worker freedom and flexibility, and school choice, core pillars of FREOPP’s mission to expand economic opportunity for those who need it most.
Raised in rural North Carolina in a home without running water, Congresswoman Foxx embodies the promise of the American Dream. Her journey from humble beginnings to becoming one of the most respected voices in Congress serves as an inspiration to many and a reminder that perseverance, education, and opportunity can change lives.
“Congresswoman Foxx represents everything the Frederick Douglass Award stands for,” said Akash Chougule, President of the Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity. “She is a living example of the power of freedom and opportunity to transform lives. From her tireless work on behalf of students and workers to her leadership in advancing policies that strengthen families and communities, she has made it her mission to ensure more Americans can achieve the kind of success her own story exemplifies. We’re honored to recognize her extraordinary contributions to building a freer, fairer, and more prosperous America.”
“It is an honor to be recognized by the Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity,” said Congresswoman Virginia Foxx. “FREOPP’s work to expand opportunity through freedom, education, and personal responsibility reflects the values that have guided my own life and service. I’ve always believed that every American, no matter where they start, deserves the chance to work hard, learn, and succeed. I’m deeply grateful for this recognition and for FREOPP’s leadership in advancing policies that help more people achieve their American Dream.”
The Freedom and Progress Conference, hosted annually by FREOPP, brings together policymakers, business leaders, and scholars to discuss innovative policy ideas that advance economic opportunity through freedom and free enterprise. This year’s conference will take place on November 21, 2025, featuring a full day of sessions focused on education, work, family, and innovation.
About FREOPP
The Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity (FREOPP) is a nonpartisan, nonprofit think tank dedicated to expanding economic opportunity to those who least have it, using the principles of individual liberty, free enterprise, technological innovation, and pluralism. Learn more at www.freopp.org.
Learn more about the conference here. We hope you’ll join us in Washington to cover one of the most timely and consequential gatherings on the future of American freedom and prosperity.
Freedom and Progress 2025, November 21, Washington, DC
BAGHDAD (AP) — An American journalist who was kidnapped in Baghdad had tried to cross from Syria into Iraq three weeks earlier and was initially turned back, an Iraqi official said Wednesday.
U.S. and Iraqi officials said Shelly Renee Kittleson had also been warned of threats against her in the days before her abduction. A freelance journalist who has worked for years in Iraq and Syria, Kittleson was kidnapped from a street in the Iraqi capital Tuesday and remains missing.
Hussein Alawi, an adviser to Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, said Kittleson had sought to enter via the al-Qaim crossing from Syria on March 9 but was turned back because she did not have a press work permit and because security concerns due to “the escalation of the war and aerial projectiles over Iraqi airspace as a result of the war on Iran.”
She later entered the country after obtaining a single-entry visa to Iraq valid for 60 days issued to allow foreign citizens stranded in neighboring countries to “transit through Iraq to reach their home countries via available transport routes,” he said.
Kittleson entered Baghdad a few days before she was kidnapped and was staying in a hotel in the capital, he said.
“The incident is being followed closely by Iraqi security and intelligence agencies under the supervision of” al-Sudani, Alawi said. He noted that one suspect believed to be involved in the kidnapping plot has been arrested and is being interrogated.
Iraqi security forces gave chase to her captors and arrested one suspect after the car he was driving crashed, but other kidnappers were able to escape with the journalist in a second car.
An Iraqi intelligence official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to comment, said Iraqi authorities believe she is being held in Baghdad and are trying to locate her and secure her release. He said authorities “have information about the abducting party” but declined to give more details.
U.S. officials have alleged that Kittleson was taken by Kataib Hezbollah, an Iran-linked Iraqi militia that has been implicated in previous kidnappings of foreigners. The group has not claimed the kidnapping and the Iraqi government has not publicly said anything about the kidnappers' affiliation.
The Iraqi intelligence official said that prior to Kittleson's abduction, Iraqis had contacted U.S. officials to notify them that there was a specific kidnapping threat against her by Iran-affiliated militias.
Dylan Johnson, U.S. assistant secretary of state for public affairs, said on X Tuesday that the “State Department previously fulfilled our duty to warn this individual of threats against them.”
A U.S. official, who also spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to comment publicly, said, “She was contacted multiple times with warnings of the threats against her," including as late as the night before the kidnapping.
Surveillance footage that was obtained by The Associated Press shows what seems to be the moment the journalist was kidnapped in Baghdad. It shows two men approaching a person standing on a street corner and ushering the person into the back of a car. There appears to be a brief struggle to shut the car door before the men get into the vehicle and it drives away.
Iran-backed militias in Iraq have launched regular attacks on U.S. facilities in the country since the beginning of the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran.
Associated Press writer Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report.
A street view shows the street corner in central Baghdad's Saadoun Street where U.S. journalist Shelly Kittleson was kidnapped in central Baghdad, Iraq, Wednesday, April 1 2026. (AP Photo/ Hadi Mizban)
A street view shows the street corner in central Baghdad's Saadoun Street where U.S. journalist Shelly Kittleson was kidnapped in central Baghdad, Iraq, Wednesday, April 1 2026. (AP Photo/ Hadi Mizban)
