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Interesting that you should ask. Just a week or so ago, I ran across a list of Trump’s accomplishments in just 24 months in office. Just to compare, I also looked up Joe Biden’s record of accomplishments made in 44 years of service.I’ll list Joe’s first…1960: “[O]ne of the best pass receivers I had in 16 years as a coach.” — E. John Walsh, football coach at Archmere Academy.1965: Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Delaware in Newark, with a double major in history and political science and a minor in English.1968: Graduated from Syracuse University College of Law with a law degree.1969: Admitted to the Delaware bar.1970-72: Served on New Castle County Council.1972-77: Single parent to two sons, commuting on Amtrak 75 minutes each way between his home in Wilmington, Delaware and Washington, D.C.Joe Biden: Senate accomplishments1973-2009: U.S. Senator from Delaware, initially focussing on consumer protection, environmental issues, government accountability, and arms control. In his 6 terms as a senator, Joe Biden sponsored or co-sponsored 348 pieces of legislation that became law.1981-97: Chairman or Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee for 17 years.1986: Introduced his Global Climate Protection Act, one of the first bills aimed at addressing climate change.1990s: Authored every major piece of crime legislation this decade, including the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994.1992-1995: Strongly guided Balkans policy in the mid-1990s during the Bosnian War, producing a successful NATO peacekeeping effort.1994: Spearheaded the Violence Against Women Act, criminalizing violence against women and creating unprecedented resources for survivors of assault, which was followed by a 64% drop in domestic violence from 1993 to 2010.1997-2009: Chairman or Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for 12 years, leading legislation related to terrorism, weapons of mass destruction, post-Cold War Europe, the Middle East, and Southwest Asia.1997: Led the Senate to approve ratification of the Chemical Weapons Convention.1998: Led the Senate to approve NATO enlargement and passage of bills to streamline foreign affairs agencies and punish religious persecution overseas.1999: Co-sponsored the McCain-Biden Kosovo Resolution, which called on President Clinton to use all necessary force, including ground troops, to confront Milošević over Yugoslav actions in Kosovo.2000: Sponsored the Kids 2000 Act, establishing a public-private partnership to provide computer centers, teachers, Internet access, and technical training to young people, particularly low-income and at-risk youth.Joe Biden: Vice President accomplishments-2017: Vice President of the United States.2009: Implemented and oversaw the $840 billion stimulus package in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.2009: Chaired the Middle Class Working Families Task Force.2010: Fought for Congressional approval of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, which inserted accountability into the financial sector and fortified the stability of the financial system.2011: Led negotiations between Congress and the White House in resolving federal spending levels for the rest of the year and avoiding a government shutdown. Negotiated with Mitch McConnell to agree on deficit-reducing Budget Control Act of 2011.2012: Headed the Gun Violence Task Force in the aftermath of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.2012: Negotiated a deal with Mitch McConnell that led to the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012, averting a fiscal cliff and implementing the largest middle-class tax cut in history.2014: Co-chaired White House Task Force to Protect Students from Sexual Assault.2014: Served as the Obama administration’s emissary to Eastern European governments like Poland, Lithuania, and Ukraine worried over Vladimir Putin’s ambitions in the region.Here’s Trumps list…..Economic Growth4.2 percent growth in the second quarter of 2018.For the first time in more than a decade, growth is projected to exceed 3 percent over the calendar year.Jobs4 million new jobs have been created since the election, and more than 3.5 million since Trump took office.More Americans are employed now than ever before in our history.Jobless claims at lowest level in nearly five decades.The economy has achieved the longest positive job-growth streak on record.Job openings are at an all-time high and outnumber job seekers for the first time on record.Unemployment claims at 50 year lowAfrican-American, Hispanic, and Asian-American unemployment rates have all recently reached record lows.African-American unemployment hit a record low of 5.9 percent in May 2018.Hispanic unemployment at 4.5 percent.Asian-American unemployment at record low of 2 percent.Women’s unemployment recently at lowest rate in nearly 65 years.Female unemployment dropped to 3.6 percent in May 2018, the lowest since October 1953.Youth unemployment recently reached its lowest level in more than 50 years.July 2018’s youth unemployment rate of 9.2 percent was the lowest since July 1966.Veterans’ unemployment recently hit its lowest level in nearly two decades.July 2018’s veterans’ unemployment rate of 3.0 percent matched the lowest rate since May 2001.Unemployment rate for Americans without a high school diploma recently reached a record low.Rate for disabled Americans recently hit a record low.Blue-collar jobs recently grew at the fastest rate in more than three decades.Poll found that 85 percent of blue-collar workers believe their lives are headed “in the right direction.”68 percent reported receiving a pay increase in the past year.Last year, job satisfaction among American workers hit its highest level since 2005.Nearly two-thirds of Americans rate now as a good time to find a quality job.Optimism about the availability of good jobs has grown by 25 percent.Added more than 400,000 manufacturing jobs since the election.Manufacturing employment is growing at its fastest pace in more than two decades.100,000 new jobs supporting the production & transport of oil & natural gas.American IncomeMedian household income rose to $61,372 in 2017, a post-recession high.Wages up in August by their fastest rate since June 2009.Paychecks rose by 3.3 percent between 2016 and 2017, the most in a decade.Council of Economic Advisers found that real wage compensation has grown by 1.4 percent over the past year.Some 3.9 million Americans off food stamps since the election.Median income for Hispanic-Americans rose by 3.7 percent and surpassed $50,000 for the first time ever in history.Home-ownership among Hispanics is at the highest rate in nearly a decade.Poverty rates for African-Americans and Hispanic-Americans have reached their lowest levels ever recorded.American OptimismSmall business optimism has hit historic highs.NFIB’s small business optimism index broke a 35 year-old record in August.SurveyMonkey/CNBC’s small business confidence survey for Q3 of 2018 matched its all-time high.Manufacturers are more confident than ever.95 percent of U.S. manufacturers are optimistic about the future, the highest ever.Consumer confidence is at an 18-year high.12 percent of Americans rate the economy as the most significant problem facing our country, the lowest level on record.Confidence in the economy is near a two-decade high, with 51 percent rating the economy as good or excellent.American BusinessInvestment is flooding back into the United States due to the tax cuts.Over $450 billion dollars has already poured back into the U.S., including more than $300 billion in the first quarter of 2018.Retail sales have surged. Commerce Department figures from August show that retail sales increased 0.5 percent in July 2018, an increase of 6.4 percent from July 2017.ISM’s index of manufacturing scored its highest reading in 14 years.Worker productivity is the highest it has been in more than three years.Steel and aluminum producers are re-opening.Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500, and NASDAQ have all notched record highs.Dow hit record highs 70 times in 2017 alone, the most ever recorded in one year.DeregulationAchieved massive deregulation at a rapid pace, completing 22 deregulatory actions to every one regulatory action during his first year in office.Signed legislation to roll back costly and harmful provisions of Dodd-Frank, providing relief to credit unions, and community and regional banks.Federal agencies achieved more than $8 billion in lifetime net regulatory cost savings.Rolled back Obama’s burdensome Waters of the U.S. rule.Used the Congressional Review Act to repeal regulations more times than in history.Tax CutsBiggest tax cuts and reforms in American history by signing the Tax Cuts and Jobs act into lawProvided more than $5.5 trillion in gross tax cuts, nearly 60 percent of which will go to families.Increased the exemption for the death tax to help save Family Farms & Small Business.Nearly doubled the standard deduction for individuals and families.Enabled vast majority of American families will be able to file their taxes on a single page by claiming the standard deduction.Doubled the child tax credit to help lessen the financial burden of raising a family.Lowered America’s corporate tax rate from the highest in the developed world to allow American businesses to compete and win.Small businesses can now deduct 20 percent of their business income.Cut dozens of special interest tax breaks and closed loopholes for the wealthy.9 in 10 American workers are expected see an increase in their paychecks thanks to the tax cuts, according to the Treasury Department.More than 6 million of American workers have received wage increases, bonuses, and increased benefits thanks to tax cuts.Over 100 utility companies have lowered electric, gas, or water rates thanks to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.Ernst & Young found 89 percent of companies planned to increase worker compensation thanks to the Trump tax cuts.Established opportunity zones to spur investment in left behind communities.Worker DevelopmentEstablished a National Council for the American Worker to develop a national strategy for training and retraining America’s workers for high-demand industries.Employers have signed Trump’s “Pledge to America’s Workers,” committing to train or retrain more than 4.2 million workers and students.Signed the first Perkins CTE reauthorization since 2006, authorizing more than $1 billion for states each year to fund vocational and career education programs.Executive order expanding apprenticeship opportunities for students and workers.Domestic InfrastructureProposed infrastructure plan would utilize $200 billion in Federal funds to spur at least $1.5 trillion in infrastructure investment across the country.Executive order expediting environmental reviews and approvals for high priority infrastructure projects.Federal agencies have signed the One Federal Decision Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) streamlining the federal permitting process for infrastructure projects.Rural prosperity task force and signed an executive order to help expand broadband access in rural areas.Health CareSigned an executive order to help minimize the financial burden felt by American households Signed legislation to improve the National Suicide Hotline.Signed the most comprehensive childhood cancer legislation ever into law, which will advance childhood cancer research and improve treatments.Signed Right-to-Try legislation, expanding health care options for terminally ill patients.Enacted changes to the Medicare 340B program, saving seniors an estimated $320 million on drugs in 2018 alone.FDA set a new record for generic drug approvals in 2017, saving consumers nearly $9 billion.Released a blueprint to drive down drug prices for American patients, leading multiple major drug companies to announce they will freeze or reverse price increases.Expanded short-term, limited-duration health plans.Let more employers to form Association Health Plans, enabling more small businesses to join together and affordably provide health insurance to their employees.Cut Obamacare’s burdensome individual mandate penalty.Signed legislation repealing Obamacare’s Independent Payment Advisory Board, also known as the “death panels.”USDA invested more than $1 billion in rural health care in 2017, improving access to health care for 2.5 million people in rural communities across 41 statesProposed Title X rule to help ensure taxpayers do not fund the abortion industry in violation of the law.Reinstated and expanded the Mexico City Policy to keep foreign aid from supporting the global abortion industry.HHS formed a new division over protecting the rights of conscience and religious freedom.Overturned Obama administration’s midnight regulation prohibiting states from defunding certain abortion facilities.Signed executive order to help ensure that religious organizations are not forced to choose between violating their religious beliefs by complying with Obamacare’s contraceptive mandate or shutting their doors.Combating OpioidsChaired meeting the 73rd General Session of the United Nations discussing the worldwide drug problem with international leaders.Initiative to Stop Opioid Abuse and Reduce Drug Supply and Demand, introducing new measures to keep dangerous drugs out of our communities.$6 billion in new funding to fight the opioid epidemic.DEA conducted a surge in April 2018 that arrested 28 medical professions and revoked 147 registrations for prescribing too many opioids.Brought the “Prescribed to Death” memorial to President’s Park near the White House, helping raise awareness about the human toll of the opioid crisis.Helped reduce high-dose opioid prescriptions by 16 percent in 2017.Opioid Summit on the administration-wide efforts to combat the opioid crisis.Launched a national public awareness campaign about the dangers of opioid addiction.Created a Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis which recommended a number of pathways to tackle the opioid crisis.Led two National Prescription Drug Take Back Days in 2017 and 2018, collecting a record number of expired and unneeded prescription drugs each time.$485 million targeted grants in FY 2017 to help areas hit hardest by the opioid crisis.Signed INTERDICT Act, strengthening efforts to detect and intercept synthetic opioids before they reach our communities.DOJ secured its first-ever indictments against Chinese fentanyl manufacturers.Joint Criminal Opioid Darknet Enforcement (J-CODE) team, aimed at disrupting online illicit opioid sales.Declared the opioid crisis a Nationwide Public Health Emergency in October 2017.Law and OrderMore U.S. Circuit Court judges confirmed in the first year in office than ever.Confirmed more than two dozen U. S. Circuit Court judges.Followed through on the promise to nominate judges to the Supreme Court who will adhere to the ConstitutionNominated and confirmed Justice Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court.Signed an executive order directing the Attorney General to develop a strategy to more effectively prosecute people who commit crimes against law enforcement officers.Launched an evaluation of grant programs to make sure they prioritize the protection and safety of law enforcement officers.Established a task force to reduce crime and restore public safety in communities across Signed an executive order to focus more federal resources on dismantling transnational criminal organizations such as drug cartels.Signed an executive order to focus more federal resources on dismantling transnational criminal organizations such as drug cartels.Violent crime decreased in 2017 according to FBI statistics.$137 million in grants through the COPS Hiring Program to preserve jobs, increase community policing capacities, and support crime prevention efforts.Enhanced and updated the Project Safe Neighborhoods to help reduce violent crime.Signed legislation making it easier to target websites that enable sex trafficking and strengthened penalties for people who promote or facilitate prostitution.Created an interagency task force working around the clock to prosecute traffickers, protect victims, and prevent human trafficking.Conducted Operation Cross Country XI to combat human trafficking, rescuing 84 children and arresting 120 human traffickers.Encouraged federal prosecutors to use the death penalty when possible in the fight against the trafficking of deadly drugs.New rule effectively banning bump stock sales in the United States.Border Security and ImmigrationSecured $1.6 billion for border wall construction in the March 2018 omnibus bill.Construction of a 14-mile section of border wall began near San Diego.Worked to protect American communities from the threat posed by the vile MS-13 gang.ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations division arrested 796 MS-13 members and associates in FY 2017, an 83 percent increase from the prior year.Justice worked with partners in Central America to secure criminal charges against more than 4,000 MS-13 members.Border Patrol agents arrested 228 illegal aliens affiliated with MS-13 in FY 2017.Fighting to stop the scourge of illegal drugs at our border.ICE HSI seized more than 980,000 pounds of narcotics in FY 2017, including 2,370 pounds of fentanyl and 6,967 pounds of heroin.ICE HSI dedicated nearly 630,000 investigative hours towards halting the illegal import of fentanyl.ICE HSI made 11,691 narcotics-related arrests in FY 2017.Stop Opioid Abuse and Reduce Drug Supply and Demand introduced new measures to keep dangerous drugs out the United States.Signed the INTERDICT Act into law, enhancing efforts to detect and intercept synthetic opioids.DOJ secured its first-ever indictments against Chinese fentanyl manufacturers.DOJ launched their Joint Criminal Opioid Darknet Enforcement (J-CODE) team, aimed at disrupting online illicit opioid sales.Released an immigration framework that includes the resources required to secure our borders and close legal loopholes, and repeatedly called on Congress to fix our broken immigration laws.Authorized the deployment of the National Guard to help secure the border.Enhanced vetting of individuals entering the U.S. from countries that don’t meet security standards, helping to ensure individuals who pose a threat to our country are identified before they enter.These procedures were upheld in a June 2018 Supreme Court hearing.ICE removed over 226,000 illegal aliens from the United States in 2017.ICE rescued or identified over 500 human trafficking victims and over 900 child exploitation victims in 2017 alone.In 2017, ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) arrested more than 127,000 aliens with criminal convictions or charges, responsible forOver 76,000 with dangerous drug offenses.More than 48,000 with assault offenses.More than 11,000 with weapons offenses.More than 5,000 with sexual assault offenses.More than 2,000 with kidnapping offenses.Over 1,800 with homicide offenses.Created the Victims of Immigration Crime Engagement (VOICE) Office in order to support the victims and families affected by illegal alien crime.More than doubled the number of counties participating in the 287(g) program, which allows jails to detain criminal aliens until they are transferred to ICE custody.TradeNegotiating and renegotiating better trade deals, achieving free, fair, and reciprocal trade for the United States.Agreed to work with the European Union towards zero tariffs, zero non-tariff barriers, and zero subsides.Deal with the European Union to increase U.S. energy exports to Europe.Litigated multiple WTO disputes targeting unfair trade practices and upholding our right to enact fair trade laws.Finalized a revised trade agreement with South Korea, which includes provisions to increase American automobile exports.Negotiated an historic U.S.-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement to replace NAFTA.Agreement to begin trade negotiations for a U.S.-Japan trade agreement.Secured $250 billion in new trade and investment deals in China and $12 billion in Vietnam.Established a Trade and Investment Working Group with the United Kingdom, laying the groundwork for post-Brexit trade.Enacted steel and aluminum tariffs to protect our vital steel and aluminum producers and strengthen our national security.Conducted 82 anti-dumping and countervailing duty investigations in 2017 alone.Confronting China’s unfair trade practices after years of Washington looking the other way.25 percent tariff on $50 billion of goods imported from China and later imposed an additional 10% tariff on $200 billion of Chinese goods.Conducted an investigation into Chinese forced technology transfers, unfair licensing practices, and intellectual property theft.Imposed safeguard tariffs to protect domestic washing machines and solar products manufacturers hurt by China’s trade policiesWithdrew from the job-killing Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).Secured access to new markets for America’s farmers.Recent deal with Mexico included new improvements enabling food and agriculture to trade more fairly.Recent agreement with the E.U. will reduce barriers and increase trade of American soybeans to Europe.Won a WTO dispute regarding Indonesia’s unfair restriction of U.S. agricultural exports.Defended American Tuna fisherman and packagers before the WTOOpened up Argentina to American pork experts for the first time in a quarter-centuryAmerican beef exports have returned to china for the first time in more than a decadeOK’d up to $12 billion in aid for farmers affected by unfair trade retaliation.EnergyPresidential Memorandum to clear roadblocks to construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline.Presidential Memorandum declaring that the Dakota Access Pipeline serves the national interest and initiating the process to complete construction.Opened up the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge to energy exploration.Coal exports up over 60 percent in 2017.Rolled back the “stream protection rule” to prevent it from harming America’s coal industry.Cancelled Obama’s anti-coal Clean Power Plan and proposed the Affordable Clean Energy Rule as a replacement.Withdrew from the job-killing Paris climate agreement, which would have cost the U.S. nearly $3 trillion and led to 6.5 million fewer industrial sector jobs by 2040.U.S. oil production has achieved its highest level in American historyUnited States is now the largest crude oil producer in the world.U.S. has become a net natural gas exporter for the first time in six decades.Action to expedite the identification and extraction of critical minerals that are vital to the nation’s security and economic prosperity.Took action to reform National Ambient Air Quality Standards, benefitting American manufacturers.Rescinded Obama’s hydraulic fracturing rule, which was expected to cost the industry $32 million per year.Proposed an expansion of offshore drilling as part of an all-of-the above energy strategyHeld a lease sale for offshore oil and gas leases in the Gulf of Mexico in August 2018.Got EU to increase its imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the United States.Issued permits for the New Burgos Pipeline that will cross the U.S.-Mexico border.Foreign PolicyMoved the U.S. Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem.Withdrew from Iran deal and immediately began the process of re-imposing sanctions that had been lifted or waived.Treasury has issued sanctions targeting Iranian activities and entities, including the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods ForceSince enacting sanctions, Iran’s crude exports have fallen off, the value of Iran’s currency has plummeted, and international companies have pulled out of the country.All nuclear-related sanctions will be back in full force by early November 2018.Historic summit with North Korean President Kim Jong-Un, bringing beginnings of peace and denuclearization to the Korean Peninsula.The two leaders have exchanged letters and high-level officials from both sides have met resulting in tremendous progress.North Korea has halted nuclear and missile tests.Negotiated the return of the remains of missing-in-action soldiers from the Korean War.Imposed strong sanctions on Venezuelan dictator Nicholas Maduro and his inner circle.Executive order preventing those in the U.S. from carrying out certain transactions with the Venezuelan regime, including prohibiting the purchase of the regime’s debt.Responded to the use of chemical weapons by the Syrian regime.Rolled out sanctions targeting individuals and entities tied to Syria’s chemical weapons program.Directed strikes in April 2017 against a Syrian airfield used in a chemical weapons attack on innocent civilians.Joined allies in launching airstrikes in April 2018 against targets associated with Syria’s chemical weapons use.New Cuba policy that enhanced compliance with U.S. law and held the Cuban regime accountable for political oppression and human rights abuses.Treasury and State are working to channel economic activity away from the Cuban regime, particularly the military.Changed the rules of engagement, empowering commanders to take the fight to ISIS.ISIS has lost virtually all of its territory, more than half of which has been lost under Trump.ISIS’ self-proclaimed capital city, Raqqah, was liberated in October 2017.All Iraqi territory had been liberated from ISIS.More than a dozen American hostages have been freed from captivity all of the world.Action to combat Russia’s malign activities, including their efforts to undermine the sanctity of United States elections.Expelled dozens of Russian intelligence officers from the United States and ordered the closure of the Russian consulate in Seattle, WA.Banned the use of Kaspersky Labs software on government computers, due to the company’s ties to Russian intelligence.Imposed sanctions against five Russian entities and three individuals for enabling Russia’s military and intelligence units to increase Russia’s offensive cyber capabilities.Sanctions against seven Russian oligarchs, and 12 companies they own or control, who profit from Russia’s destabilizing activities.Sanctioned 100 targets in response to Russia’s occupation of Crimea and aggression in Eastern Ukraine.Enhanced support for Ukraine’s Armed Forces to help Ukraine better defend itself.Helped win U.S. bid for the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.Helped win U.S.-Mexico-Canada’s united bid for 2026 World Cup.DefenseExecutive order keeping the detention facilities at U.S. Naval Station Guantanamo Bay open.$700 billion in military funding for FY 2018 and $716 billion for FY 2019.Largest military pay raise in nearly a decade.Ordered a Nuclear Posture Review to ensure America’s nuclear forces are up to date and serve as a credible deterrent.Released America’s first fully articulated cyber strategy in 15 years.New strategy on national biodefense, which better prepares the nation to defend against biological threats.Administration has announced that it will use whatever means necessary to protect American citizens and servicemen from unjust prosecution by the International Criminal Court.Released an America first National Security Strategy.Put in motion the launch of a Space Force as a new branch of the military and relaunched the National Space Council.Encouraged North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) allies to increase defense spending to their agree-upon levels.In 2017 alone, there was an increase of more than 4.8 percent in defense spending amongst NATO allies.Every member state has increased defense spending.Eight NATO allies will reach the 2 percent benchmark by the end of 2018 and 15 allies are on trade to do so by 2024.NATO allies spent over $42 billion dollars more on defense since 2016.Executive order to help military spouses find employment as their families deploy domestically and abroad.Veterans affairsSigned the VA Accountability Act and expanded VA telehealth services, walk-in-clinics, and same-day urgent primary and mental health care.Delivered more appeals decisions – 81,000 – to veterans in a single year than ever before.Strengthened protections for individuals who come forward and identify programs occurring within the VA.Signed legislation that provided $86.5 billion in funding for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), the largest dollar amount in history for the VA.VA MISSION Act, enacting sweeping reform to the VA system that:Consolidated and strengthened VA community care programs.Funding for the Veterans Choice program.Expanded eligibility for the Family Caregivers Program.Gave veterans more access to walk-in care.Strengthened the VA’s ability to recruit and retain quality healthcare professionals.Enabled the VA to modernize its assets and infrastructure.Signed the VA Choice and Quality Employment Act in 2017, which authorized $2.1 billion in addition funds for the Veterans Choice Program.Worked to shift veterans’ electronic medical records to the same system used by the Department of Defense, a decades old priority.Issued an executive order requiring the Secretaries of Defense, Homeland Security, and Veterans Affairs to submit a joint plan to provide veterans access to access to mental health treatment as they transition to civilian life.Increased transparency and accountability at the VA by launching an online “Access and Quality Tool,” providing veterans with access to wait time and quality of care data.Signed legislation to modernize the claims and appeal process at the VA.Harry W. Colmery Veterans Educational Assistance Act, providing enhanced educational benefits to veterans, service members, and their family members.Lifted a 15-year limit on veterans’ access to their educational benefits.Created a White House VA Hotline to help veterans and principally staffed it with veterans and direct family members of veterans.VA employees are being held accountable for poor performance, with more than 4,000 VA employees removed, demoted, and suspended so far.Signed the Veterans Treatment Court Improvement Act, increasing the number of VA employees that can assist justice-involved veterans.

Indigenous groups look to ancient DNA to bring their ancestors homeLocal communities and geneticists are working together to sequence DNA from remains that were taken from their homelands decades ago.Indigenous groups look to ancient DNA to bring their ancestors homeLocal communities and geneticists are working together to sequence DNA from remains that were taken from their homelands decades ago.https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-01167-w#author-0David Edwards, a Mutthi Mutthi elder, welcomes the return of remains that had been taken long ago. Credit: Lisa Maree Williams/GettySeveral years ago, Gudju Gudju Fourmile welcomed back several members of his Yidinji community who had been taken from their homes in northern Australia almost a century ago. Like many other Indigenous communities in Australia, the Yidinji have worked for decades to bring the bodies of their ancestors home — which Aboriginal communities describe as returning to Country.Many of the ancestors are off Country as a result of the dehumanizing practices of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, when it was common for white collectors to loot graves and sell the remains of Aboriginal people to museums in Australia, the United Kingdom and other countries. “When our remains are off Country, we try to make sure they come back,” says Fourmile, an elder in the community who lives in Cairns. “They need to be comfortable. That’s a big thing for many tribal groups.” And when his community finally reburied its ancestors in 2014, “everybody was so happy. And the Country felt good again,” Fourmile says.Before the Yidinji elders laid their ancestors to rest, they received a request from scientists who had been analysing the DNA of living community members: could they sequence the ancestors’ genomes, too? With permission granted, a team led by evolutionary geneticist David Lambert at Griffith University in Brisbane extracted DNA from the remains of one individual, and confirmed that the ancient person was closely related to Yidinji people alive today. “When you find something out like that, you jump for joy,” says Fourmile. The event also marked a turning point in the mindset of the community, he says, when members started to realize the potential of DNA analysis to help bring their people back home.In the past 30 years or so, museums have responded to complaints by repatriating thousands of human remains and sacred objects to Indigenous Australian groups such as the Yidinji. But many more — possibly thousands — lack the information necessary to return them to one of the dozens of distinct Indigenous groups in Australia. That is a source of great distress for communities. Lambert’s team published a study in 2018 showing that ten remains, including those of one ancient Yidinji individual, could be linked to specific Indigenous communities through genetics.Now, two teams in Australia, including Lambert’s, are partnering with Indigenous communities to create genomic maps that connect ancient and historical remains with present-day groups. Such catalogues could eventually be used to help return remains to the right communities.Facing up to injustice in genome scienceResearchers from under-represented groups are making genomics more inclusive by working with communities that have been overlooked or abused.https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-01166-xAustralia is one country where this approach is being trialled. DNA research is confirming that many Indigenous groups have lived on the continent for tens of thousands of years. In some places, it has established that ancient individuals are closely related to present-day groups living in the same region1. Drawing such links in other regions, such as North America, has proved more difficult, because ancient populations there seem to have moved around more.One of these projects could eventually be used by Indigenous people who are still suffering from past government actions, particularly a racist Australian policy lasting until 1970 that removed thousands of Aboriginal children from their families. These children became known as the ‘Stolen Generations’, and many of them are alive today. A DNA database of Indigenous groups could help some individuals to understand their genetic heritage and identify their homeland.But such efforts raise concerns. As a result of the history of mistreatment, some Indigenous people fear that unscrupulous governments or scientists might misuse their genetic information. And there are tensions over who should control the data and whether scientists can freely share genomic sequences.Fourmile says that Yidinji people agreed to the study because they had control of the data. “We’ve done a flip, and now we’re wanting them to study us for our own benefit to bring our people home,” he says.Going back to CountryThe arrival of European colonizers in Australia in the late 1780s marked the beginning of a scientific grave-robbing era there, when white people collected Indigenous human remains for research — including now-discredited ‘racial science’ theories linking intellect with anatomical differences. By the end of the nineteenth century, most major museums around the world housed Indigenous Australian remains.The collection of such remains was part of the broader subjugation of Indigenous Australians by Europeans, which has led to generational trauma. Authorities determined where people could live and work, whom they could marry and whether they could keep their children. Tribal groups were also systematically moved off their land and placed on reserves and missions, where their movements were restricted. “They were trying to get us away from our traditional lands,” says Michael Young, a member of the adjoining Paakantyi and Parrintyi tribal groups, which stretch across a large swathe of southwestern New South Wales.Aboriginal groups began fighting for the return of their ancestors in the 1970s, as part of a wider movement against the ongoing discrimination against them. By the 1980s, the growing pressure prompted some museums to introduce policies to return human remains and sacred objects to their communities.Tracking down the traditional owners of ancestral remains is important for Aboriginal people because it is part of reclaiming their identities after being forced to assimilate into white Australia, says Young. “Repatriation is healing some of that wrong that has been done to us over the last 230 years,” he says.So far, Indigenous communities have regained custodianship of more than 2,500 sets of ancestral remains from Australian museums, according to the government’s repatriation programme (see ‘Mapping ancestors’). And in the past 30 years, more than 1,500 sets of ancestral remains have been returned to Australia, mostly from the United Kingdom, but also from the United States, Canada and half a dozen European nations, although some museums still refuse to repatriate remains and cultural objects.But there are probably several thousand sets of remains in Australian museums whose origin remains unknown, says Deanne Hanchant-Nichols, an anthropologist in Adelaide with experience in trying to identify unprovenanced remains and a member of the Tanganekald and Barkindji (or Paakantyi) communities. Many of the bodies are simply labelled ‘Aboriginal’, with no other identifying details, she says.In 2016, Lambert laid the groundwork for ways to solve this problem, as part of a team that was charting the continent’s genetic history. Lambert worked with elders to collect DNA samples and shared the team’s findings about the ancestry of some contemporary Indigenous Australians. During these conversations, the elders and Lambert discussed whether DNA could also reveal where ancient remains in museums had come from. Lambert said it was possible, but he was cautious not to predict the result before they did the analysis. “We’ve got to be careful about this kind of research,” he says.Lambert got permission from the elders of 11 Aboriginal groups, including the Yidinji and the Paakantyi, to test the idea; several members of Indigenous communities, including Fourmile and Young, joined the study as co-authors.” His team sequenced DNA from 27 sets of human remains — mostly bones, but also teeth and hair — from individuals who died before British settlers arrived and whose burial location was known1. Most of these remains have been repatriated.Despite Australia’s sweltering heat, which degrades DNA in remains, the team, co-led by Lambert and evolutionary geneticist Eske Willerslev at the Natural History Museum of Denmark in Copenhagen, obtained mitochondrial genomes from all 27 remains and full or partial nuclear genomes from 10 of them1 (see ‘Mapping ancestors’).The DNA in mitochondria — cells’ power plants — is generally inherited maternally and is present in many more copies in cells than nuclear DNA. But Lambert’s team — which included Joanne Wright, then a PhD student at Griffith University — found it was of limited use in linking remains to contemporary groups: 11 of the remains had no conclusive match in a database of more than 100 mitochondrial genomes from Indigenous Australians, and two were linked to the wrong geographic area.Nuclear DNA proved a much richer source of ancestry information for matching remains to present-day communities. Lambert’s team compared the 10 ancient nuclear genomes to those of 100 Indigenous Australians living across the country. In all ten cases, the ancestral remains were most closely related to the Indigenous people in their study who came from the same geographical area.For instance, one of the ancient individuals is estimated to have lived at least 2,000 years ago, and their remains were excavated from a well-known Aboriginal burial ground in the Willandra Lakes region in far western New South Wales in 1974. The closest relatives of that person are members of the Willandra groups who live in the area today.Lambert is now negotiating with the Queensland Museum and its board of Indigenous advisers to sequence about 300 unprovenanced remains housed at the museum, to test whether their place of origin can be identified. Young agrees that genetic matching could be a powerful tool for repatriating ancestors to the right community. But he would like to see more proof of its accuracy before the approach is applied to unprovenanced remains. The risk of repatriating remains to the wrong community could be reduced, he adds, by combining genomic analysis with anthropological evidence. Incorporating cultural knowledge from communities and information from museum archives could also help.Moreover, Young says that such efforts should include more Indigenous scientists, who are aware of the culture and can discuss with communities how the research can help to reinforce their connection to Country. He is working with Lambert and others to set up scholarships for Aboriginal people to study genetics. “I’d love more Aboriginal people to get into that area,” he says.A map of the pastIsabel O’Loughlin has spent the past six years building trust with several Indigenous communities. She is one of two community consultants working on the Aboriginal Heritage Project, another effort to look at DNA from remains of Indigenous Australians.The group is sequencing hair samples that were collected mostly by ethnologists Norman Tindale and Joseph Birdsell from 1928 to the 1970s in what are today seen as racially motivated studies.The Tindale and Birdsell teams drew family trees that name more than 50,000 people, including some who lived before British settlers arrived in 1860. The collection, which is held at the South Australian Museum in Adelaide, also contains photographs, sound recordings, films and drawings. More than 5,000 hair samples are stored in a restricted area in the museum.Elders from Indigenous communities from the Willandra Lakes region visiting the ancient DNA laboratory at Griffith University in 2008.Credit: Renee ChapmanWhen ancient-DNA researcher Alan Cooper at the University of Adelaide first heard about the collection a decade ago, he wondered whether it could be used to determine where Aboriginal Australian communities lived before British settlers arrived and spread throughout the country. Although the hair samples were collected from the 1920s — when Aboriginal people were already being forced from traditional lands — the detailed family trees meant that the team would be able to trace some people’s families back to these locations. So, in 2014, Cooper’s team started reaching out to Indigenous communities to get permission to analyse the remains.Lewis O’Brien, an adviser to the Aboriginal Heritage Project, remembers Tindale visiting Point Pearce, the mission where his aunt lived in 1938. Tindale interviewed O’Brien, aged 8, and his brother, and measured their heights and the length of their arms, among other things. Tindale also snipped a lock of O’Brien’s hair. “I felt like a guinea pig,” says O’Brien, an elder with the Kaurna people, who is now 89 and lives in nearby Adelaide. O’Brien didn’t like how Tindale studied Aboriginal people, but he can see that the collection is a valuable resource for unravelling history for some communities.The project’s data could also be the starting point for creating a service for present-day Indigenous people to compare their DNA against the reference map built from the hair samples. The service could allow some people — including members of the Stolen Generations — to explore whether genetics can reveal anything about where they might have come from, when conventional methods of finding such information fail, says Ray Tobler, a population geneticist at the University of Adelaide. But more work to reduce uncertainties is needed before such a service would be possible, he says. Hanchant-Nichols thinks a broad discussion among Indigenous people is needed, too. O’Brien supports a genetic-comparison service. He is often approached by Aboriginal people who were removed from their families and are desperate for information about their ancestry. “I want to be able to say, ‘we’ll get you tested and help you find out where you come from’,” he says.Cooper and Tobler also visit communities to explain their efforts. Families whose records form part of the Tindale collection then have private meetings with the team to ask questions and raise any concerns. Some worry that their family’s genetic results could be misused, for instance, by government agencies to test their status as an Aboriginal person, says Cooper. But he says that status is based on community recognition and cannot be defined genetically. There is currently no DNA test of Aboriginality (despite claims to the contrary by some conservative politicians in Australia). The geographical information accompanying the genetic data is not specific enough to resolve land-title claims — another concern. “To boil someone’s identity down to their DNA is unethical and scientifically flawed,” adds Tobler.O’Loughlin says the project has been embraced by the communities largely because Aboriginal people retain control. Of almost 180 families that the team has approached, only two decided not to participate in the project, she says.After performing the analysis, the team returns with results. The community learns about the history of Australia and the relationships of different Indigenous groups. And individuals get information about their ancestor who provided the hair sample. O’Loughlin and her colleague Amy O’Donoghue also alert families in advance if the results show that biological relationships differ from families’ known relationships.In 2017, Cooper and Tobler’s team published its first map of Aboriginal groups, based on mitochondrial DNA from 111 hair samples from three Indigenous communities3. The genetic analysis suggests that the first Australians arrived from Asia by about 50,000 years ago. This is broadly in line with most archaeological evidence and previous genome studies(see ‘Mapping ancestors’). Australia’s Indigenous groups also say their connection to the continent is ancient. Within a couple of thousand years, this founding group split into populations that expanded west and east — and then largely stayed put. On the basis of mitochondrial lineages, at least, there hasn’t been a lot of movement around Australia over broad geographical and time scales, says Tobler. “That’s remarkable because you don’t really see that anywhere else.”Cooper and his team have now sequenced the nuclear genomes of about 150 hair samples. They plan to seek permission to sequence DNA from up to 1,000 hair samples.However, the project has been on hold for almost a year while the team has worked to comply with state laws on conducting research with Aboriginal participants. The project is set to resume this month.Although the hair samples are not being repatriated to the families, the map that is based on their DNA could help to match unprovenanced remains in museums to present-day groups, enabling their return.Tales of the Ancient OneIn the United States, the 1990 Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) and similar state legislation oblige museums to audit their collections and return what they can in the way of ancestral remains and sacred objects to Native American communities.So far, NAGPRA has led to the return of hundreds of thousands of culturally affiliated ancestral remains and artefacts. And in the past few years, the US government has cited ancestry information gleaned from ancient DNA in returning some unaffiliated remains to tribes.One of the most contentious is the 8,500-year-old skeleton of ‘Kennewick Man’, which was uncovered by teenagers in 1996 in a riverbank near Kennewick, Washington. Several Native American groups claimed the remains of the individual, whom they call the Ancient One, as ancestral and demanded their return under NAGPRA. But a coalition of archaeologists argued that the person lived too long ago to be culturally linked to present-day Native Americans under the law, and won a 2002 federal lawsuit to block their repatriation.The remains were stored out of view in a Seattle museum, available to scientists and Native American groups, for over a decade. But several years ago, the US government asked Willerslev whether his lab could test the remains for DNA. After consulting with all of the Native American groups seeking Kennewick Man’s return, Willerslev’s team obtained enough DNA to generate a low-quality genome sequence.Comparisons with DNA from present-day individuals confirmed that Kennewick Man was more closely related to Indigenous groups in North and South America than to other global populations4. They also determined that Kennewick Man was closely related to members of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville, who had participated in the study — one of the five communities seeking repatriation — but also to other groups in the Pacific Northwest and even to some in Central and South America. On the basis of the DNA tests, the US government determined that Kennewick Man was Native American, and therefore eligible for repatriation under NAGPRA. The remains were reburied in 2017 by members of the Yakama Nation, the Wanapum Band and the Nez Perce, Colville and Umatilla tribes.The US government again cited ancient DNA evidence generated by Willerslev’s team when repatriating remains from Nevada in 2016, including a 10,600-year-old male human skeleton known as the Spirit Cave Mummy. As with Kennewick Man, the DNA analysis determined that the remains were Native American, but the study did not link them to any specific groups5.Linking ancient remains to present-day groups is challenging because of huge gaps in scientists’ understanding of the population history of the Americas. Few genetic data are available for ancient remains in the Americas, says population geneticist Rasmus Nielsen at the University of California, Berkeley. The preliminary analysis of DNA from remains such as Kennewick Man and Spirit Cave Mummy suggests that ancient populations in the area moved around, so the ancient inhabitants of a region are likely to be the ancestors of many different Native American groups.Drawing connections between ancient remains and modern groups is even more difficult, because there are relatively few genomes from present-day Native Americans against which to compare ancient remains, Nielsen adds. “Genetic results are only going to be as good as your comparative database,” says Ripan Malhi, a molecular anthropologist at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, who works with Indigenous groups in North America. The paucity of contemporary Native American genomes is a legacy of the poor treatment of Indigenous groups by non-Indigenous scientists, he adds.In one case, researchers collected DNA from members of the Havasupai Tribe in Arizona, for health research. But they failed to seek permission when the samples were later used for other kinds of studies, so many Native Americans are now reluctant to share their details.Some scientists in Australia have also failed to give Indigenous groups proper control over their own data. Such incidents have led to agreements where Indigenous groups decide how their information can be used. For instance, Indigenous communities involved with Lambert’s study permit their data to be shared with other groups wishing to verify the results, but only if the scientists get ethics approval. If researchers want to use the data for other purposes, they must get consent from the participants.Some researchers have criticized such restrictions, saying that they could prevent Indigenous groups from seeing the benefits of future studies using their data. But Lambert and Indigenous groups say it is about time that non-Indigenous scientists ceded control.And Aboriginal people are starting to embrace the chance to be involved, says Hanchant-Nichols. “For many, many years, science kept us out. We had no role in museums other than for them to steal our stories, steal our artefacts and steal our bones.”

Laugh or Cry…Your comments are utterly partisan, shallow, void of facts, blatant lies, and ignorant and nothing more than paid for narrative to support Democratic agenda.Obviously you don’t like President Donald Trump; just because he is not a career politician and because he is fighting, every day, the Democratic agenda of Socialism, Communism, Liberalism and draining the swamp of corrupt Democracy as propagated by Obama, Biden and Hillary Clinton.Question is stupid… but if you insist, the answer is: “ Donald Trump is a very strong minded man and is very effective as the President of the United States. United States is a Constitutional Republic and Trump is trying hard to keep it that way. He is fighting the battle to keep America Great, and fights everyday the weak minded lying cheating deceitful corrupt Democrats who are pushing their liberal, socialist and communist agenda.NO… no one is laughing at Donald Trump. On the contrary, the politicians in other countries are emulating what Trump does to make their own country a better place for its citizens. If every country took care of its citizens, the world would be a better place for everyone, don’t you think?Trump will be the President of United States for another 5/6 years… deal with it. He will change the American political landscape for ever… just watch it unfold.Trump is bold, brave and fearless… and is multiprocessing to do things that will restore American power (both military and financial) in the world. He is doing things that no other POTUS ever dare think of enacting over the last fifty years.It is sad and hilarious at the same time that timid, shallow and unimaginative people like you are more focused on Trump’s spelling skills and nitpicking on everything he says or does on a daily basis.Trump is changing the geopolitical landscape of the United States and its role as the most powerful nation in the world community… while taking care of it’s citizens first.Having said that; I suggest you read my comments above, item by item, as my response to your comments to expose the shallowness, the lies, doctored facts and fabrications in your comments blowing hot air up Obama stack.When I’m done, you probably blow up like an inflated egotistical balloon.Since Donald Trump announced he was running for president, he has been sliced, diced and scrutinized every which way by Trump haters, feeble supporters, corrupt politicians, fake and biased media and the lying cheating corrupt DemoRats propagating their socialist, liberal and communist agenda.I have followed Trump for over 30 years and here’s my list… take a look, and you decide for yourself:ACTS of Kindness· Trump gave sanctuary to Grammy Award winning singer Jennifer Hudson after three of her family members were murdered.· When airlines wouldn’t help to accommodate a boy who had serious medical issues, so Trump offered his jet to help.· Trump helped save a family’s working farm that was going into foreclosure.· After Sergeant Andrew Tahmooressi was released from Mexican prison, Trump sent him a check for twenty five thousand dollars to help get him on his feet.· Trump sent ten thousand dollars to Darnell Barton (a bus driver) for his humanitarian act, where he stopped the bus and reached out to help a woman to prevent an attempted suicide.After Trump became the President of the United States, his “altruistic” acts have become bigger (affecting hundreds of millions) and better (sustainable and with lasting impact).Here is an old list of what he has done for you, for me, for millions of Americans and for the human race:Trump Compelled Many Talented and Extraordinary People to Run for his AdministrationEconomic Growth· 4.2 percent growth in the second quarter of 2018.·For the first time in more than a decade, growth is projected to exceed 3 percent over the calendar year.Jobs· Currently, there are 7.14 million job openings, the most ever in our history. More openings than people to fill them.·4 million new jobs have been created since the election, and more than 3.5 million since Trump took office.·More Americans are employed now than ever before in our history.·Jobless claims at the lowest level in nearly five decades.·The economy has achieved the longest positive job-growth streak on record.·Job openings are at an all-time high and outnumber job seekers for the first time on record.·Unemployment claims at 50 year low·African-American, Hispanic, and Asian-American unemployment rates have all recently reached record lows.·African-American unemployment hit a record low of 5.9 percent in May 2018.·Hispanic unemployment at 4.5 percent.·Asian-American unemployment at a record low of 2 percent.·Women’s unemployment recently at the lowest rate in nearly 65 years.·Female unemployment dropped to 3.6 percent in May 2018, the lowest since October 1953.·Youth unemployment recently reached its lowest level in more than 50 years.·July 2018’s youth unemployment rate of 9.2 percent was the lowest since July 1966.·Veterans’ unemployment recently hit its lowest level in nearly two decades.·July 2018’s veterans’ unemployment rate of 3.0 percent matched the lowest rate since May 2001.·Unemployment rate for Americans without a high school diploma recently reached a record low.·The rate for disabled Americans recently hit a record low.·Blue-collar jobs recently grew at the fastest rate in more than three decades.·A poll found that 85 percent of blue-collar workers believe their lives are headed “in the right direction.”·68 percent reported receiving a pay increase in the past year.·Last year, job satisfaction among American workers hit its highest level since 2005.·Nearly two-thirds of Americans rate now as a good time to find a quality job.·Optimism about the availability of good jobs has grown by 25 percent.·Added more than 400,000 manufacturing jobs since the election.·Manufacturing employment is growing at its fastest pace in more than two decades.·100,000 new jobs supporting the production & transport of oil & natural gas.American Income· Median household income rose to $61,372 in 2017, a post-recession high.·Wages up in August at their fastest rate since June 2009.·Paychecks rose by 3.3 percent between 2016 and 2017, the most in a decade.·Council of Economic Advisers found that real wage compensation has grown by 1.4 percent over the past year.·Some 3.9 million Americans off food stamps since the election.·The median income for Hispanic-Americans rose by 3.7 percent and surpassed $50,000 for the first time ever in history.·Home-ownership among Hispanics is at the highest rate in nearly a decade.·Poverty rates for African-Americans and Hispanic-Americans have reached their lowest levels ever recorded.American Optimism· Small business optimism has hit historic highs.·NFIB’s small business optimism index broke a 35-year-old record in August.·SurveyMonkey/CNBC’s small business confidence survey for Q3 of 2018 matched its all-time high.Manufacturers are more confident than ever.· 95 percent of U.S. manufacturers are optimistic about the future, the highest ever.·Consumer confidence is at an 18-year high.·12 percent of Americans rate the economy as the most significant problem facing our country, the lowest level on record.·Confidence in the economy is near a two-decade high, with 51 percent rating the economy as good or excellent.American Business· Investment is flooding back into the United States due to the tax cuts.·Over $450 billion dollars has already poured back into the U.S., including more than $300 billion in the first quarter of 2018.·Retail sales have surged. Commerce Department figures from August show that retail sales increased 0.5 percent in July 2018, an increase of 6.4 percent from July 2017.·ISM’s index of manufacturing scored its highest reading in 14 years.·Worker productivity is the highest it has been in more than three years.·Steel and aluminum producers are re-opening.·Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500, and NASDAQ have all notched record highs.·Dow hit record highs 70 times in 2017 alone, the most ever recorded in one year.Deregulation· Achieved massive deregulation at a rapid pace, completing 22 deregulatory actions to every one regulatory action during his first year in office.·Signed legislation to roll back costly and harmful provisions of Dodd-Frank, providing relief to credit unions, and community and regional banks.·Federal agencies achieved more than $8 billion in lifetime net regulatory cost savings.·Rolled back Obama’s burdensome Waters of the U.S. rule.·Used the Congressional Review Act to repeal regulations more times than in history.Tax Cuts· Biggest tax cuts and reforms in American history by signing the Tax Cuts and Jobs act into law·Provided more than $5.5 trillion in gross tax cuts, nearly 60 percent of which will go to families.·Increased exemption for the death tax to help save Family Farms & Small Business.·Nearly doubled the standard deduction for individuals and families.·Enabled vast majority of American families will be able to file their taxes on a single page by claiming the standard deduction.·Doubled the child tax credit to help lessen the financial burden of raising a family.·Lowered America’s corporate tax rate from the highest in the developed world to allow American businesses to compete and win.·Small businesses can now deduct 20 percent of their business income.·Cut dozens of special interest tax breaks and closing loopholes for the wealthy.·9 in 10 American workers are expected to see an increase in their paychecks thanks to the tax cuts, according to the Treasury Department.·More than 6 million American workers have received wage increases, bonuses, and increased benefits thanks to tax cuts.·Over 100 utility companies have lowered electric, gas, or water rates thanks to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.·Ernst & Young found 89 percent of companies planned to increase worker compensation thanks to the Trump tax cuts.·Established opportunity zones to spur investment in left behind communities.Worker Development· Established a National Council for the American Worker to develop a national strategy for training and retraining America’s workers for high-demand industries.·Employers have signed Trump’s “Pledge to America’s Workers,” committing to train or retrain more than 4.2 million workers and students.·Signed the first Perkins CTE reauthorization since 2006, authorizing more than $1 billion for states each year to fund vocational and career education programs.·Executive order expanding apprenticeship opportunities for students and workers.Domestic Infrastructure· Proposed infrastructure plan would utilize $200 billion in Federal funds to spur at least $1.5 trillion in infrastructure investment across the country.·Executive order expediting environmental reviews and approvals for high priority infrastructure projects.·Federal agencies have signed the One Federal Decision Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) streamlining the federal permitting process for infrastructure projects.·Rural prosperity task force and signed an executive order to help expand broadband access in rural areas.Health Care· Signed an executive order to help minimize the financial burden felt by American households Signed legislation to improve the National Suicide Hotline.·Signed the most comprehensive childhood cancer legislation ever into law, which will advance childhood cancer research and improve treatments.·Signed Right-to-Try legislation, expanding health care options for terminally ill patients.·Enacted changes to the Medicare 340B program, saving seniors an estimated $320 million on drugs in 2018 alone.·FDA set a new record for generic drug approvals in 2017, saving consumers nearly $9 billion.·Released a blueprint to drive down drug prices for American patients, leading multiple major drug companies to announce they will freeze or reverse price increases.·Expanded short-term, limited-duration health plans.·Let more employers form Association Health Plans, enabling more small businesses to join together and affordably provide health insurance to their employees.·Cut Obamacare’s burdensome individual mandate penalty.·Signed legislation repealing Obamacare’s Independent Payment Advisory Board, also known as the “death panels.”·USDA invested more than $1 billion in rural health care in 2017, improving access to health care for 2.5 million people in rural communities across 41 states·Proposed Title X rule to help ensure taxpayers do not fund the abortion industry in violation of the law.·Reinstated and expanded the Mexico City Policy to keep foreign aid from supporting the global abortion industry.·HHS formed a new division over protecting the rights of conscience and religious freedom.·Overturned Obama administration’s midnight regulation prohibiting states from defunding certain abortion facilities.·Signed executive order to help ensure that religious organizations are not forced to choose between violating their religious beliefs by complying with Obamacare’s contraceptive mandate or shutting their doors.Combating Opioids·Chaired meeting the 73rd General Session of the United Nations discussing the worldwide drug problem with international leaders.·Initiative to Stop Opioid Abuse and Reduce Drug Supply and Demand, introducing new measures to keep dangerous drugs out of our communities.·$6 billion in new funding to fight the opioid epidemic.·DEA conducted a surge in April 2018 that arrested 28 medical professions and revoked 147 registrations for prescribing too many opioids.·Brought the “Prescribed to Death” memorial to President’s Park near the White House, helping raise awareness about the human toll of the opioid crisis.·Helped reduce high-dose opioid prescriptions by 16 percent in 2017.·Opioid Summit on the administration-wide efforts to combat the opioid crisis.·Launched a national public awareness campaign about the dangers of opioid addiction.·Created a Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis which recommended a number of pathways to tackle the opioid crisis.·Led two National Prescription Drug Take-Back Days in 2017 and 2018, collecting a record number of expired and unneeded prescription drugs each time.·$485 million targeted grants in FY 2017 to help areas hit hardest by the opioid crisis.·Signed INTERDICT Act, strengthening efforts to detect and intercept synthetic opioids before they reach our communities.·DOJ secured its first-ever indictments against Chinese fentanyl manufacturers.·Joint Criminal Opioid Darknet Enforcement (J-CODE) team, aimed at disrupting online illicit opioid sales.·Declared the opioid crisis a Nationwide Public Health Emergency in October 2017.Law and Order· More U.S. Circuit Court judges confirmed in the first year in office than ever.·Confirmed more than two dozen U. S. Circuit Court judges.·Followed through on the promise to nominate judges to the Supreme Court who will adhere to the Constitution·Nominated and confirmed Justice Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court.·Signed an executive order directing the Attorney General to develop a strategy to more effectively prosecute people who commit crimes against law enforcement officers.·Launched an evaluation of grant programs to make sure they prioritize the protection and safety of law enforcement officers.·Established a task force to reduce crime and restore public safety in communities across Signed an executive order to focus more federal resources on dismantling transnational criminal organizations such as drug cartels.·Signed an executive order to focus more federal resources on dismantling transnational criminal organizations such as drug cartels.·Violent crime decreased in 2017 according to FBI statistics.·$137 million in grants through the COPS Hiring Program to preserve jobs, increase community policing capacities, and support crime prevention efforts.·Enhanced and updated the Project Safe Neighborhoods to help reduce violent crime.·Signed legislation making it easier to target websites that enable sex trafficking and strengthened penalties for people who promote or facilitate prostitution.·Created an interagency task force working around the clock to prosecute traffickers, protect victims, and prevent human trafficking.·Conducted Operation Cross Country XI to combat human trafficking, rescuing 84 children and arresting 120 human traffickers.·Encouraged federal prosecutors to use the death penalty when possible in the fight against the trafficking of deadly drugs.·New rule effectively banning bump stock sales in the United States.Border Security and Immigration· Secured $1.6 billion for border wall construction in the March 2018 omnibus bill.·Construction of a 14-mile section of border wall began near San Diego.·Worked to protect American communities from the threat posed by the vile MS-13 gang.·ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations division arrested 796 MS-13 members and associates in FY 2017, an 83 percent increase from the prior year.·Justice worked with partners in Central America to secure criminal charges against more than 4,000 MS-13 members.·Border Patrol agents arrested 228 illegal aliens affiliated with MS-13 in FY 2017.Fighting to stop the scourge of illegal drugs at our border· ICE HSI seized more than 980,000 pounds of narcotics in FY 2017, including 2,370 pounds of fentanyl and 6,967 pounds of heroin.·ICE HSI dedicated nearly 630,000 investigative hours towards halting the illegal import of fentanyl.·ICE HSI made 11,691 narcotics-related arrests in FY 2017.·Stop Opioid Abuse and Reduce Drug Supply and Demand introduced new measures to keep dangerous drugs out the United States.·Signed the INTERDICT Act into law, enhancing efforts to detect and intercept synthetic opioids.·DOJ secured its first-ever indictments against Chinese fentanyl manufacturers.·DOJ launched their Joint Criminal Opioid Darknet Enforcement (J-CODE) team, aimed at disrupting online illicit opioid sales.·Released an immigration framework that includes the resources required to secure our borders and close legal loopholes, and repeatedly called on Congress to fix our broken immigration laws.·Authorized the deployment of the National Guard to help secure the border.·Enhanced vetting of individuals entering the U.S. from countries that don’t meet security standards, helping to ensure individuals who pose a threat to our country are identified before they enter.·These procedures were upheld in a June 2018 Supreme Court hearing.·ICE removed over 226,000 illegal aliens from the United States in 2017.·ICE rescued or identified over 500 human trafficking victims and over 900 child exploitation victims in 2017 alone.·In 2017, ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) arrested more than 127,000 aliens with criminal convictions or charges, responsible for·Over 76,000 with dangerous drug offenses.·More than 48,000 with assault offenses.·More than 11,000 with weapons offenses.·More than 5,000 with sexual assault offenses.·More than 2,000 with kidnapping offenses.·Over 1,800 with homicide offenses.·Created the Victims of Immigration Crime Engagement (VOICE) Office in order to support the victims and families affected by illegal alien crime.·More than doubled the number of counties participating in the 287(g) program, which allows jails to detain criminal aliens until they are transferred to ICE custody.Trade· Negotiating and renegotiating better trade deals, achieving free, fair, and reciprocal trade for the United States.·Agreed to work with the European Union towards zero tariffs, zero non-tariff barriers, and zero subsidies.·Deal with the European Union to increase U.S. energy exports to Europe.·Litigated multiple WTO disputes targeting unfair trade practices and upholding our right to enact fair trade laws.·Finalized a revised trade agreement with South Korea, which includes provisions to increase American automobile exports.·Negotiated a historic U.S.-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement to replace NAFTA.·Agreement to begin trade negotiations for a U.S.-Japan trade agreement.·Secured $250 billion in new trade and investment deals in China and $12 billion in Vietnam.·Established a Trade and Investment Working Group with the United Kingdom, laying the groundwork for post-Brexit trade.·Enacted steel and aluminum tariffs to protect our vital steel and aluminum producers and strengthen our national security.·Conducted 82 anti-dumping and countervailing duty investigations in 2017 alone.·Confronting China’s unfair trade practices after years of Washington looking the other way.·25 percent tariff on $50 billion of goods imported from China and later imposed an additional 10% tariff on $200 billion of Chinese goods.·Conducted an investigation into Chinese forced technology transfers, unfair licensing practices, and intellectual property theft.·Imposed safeguard tariffs to protect domestic washing machines and solar products manufacturers hurt by China’s trade policies·Withdrew from the job-killing Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).·Secured access to new markets for America’s farmers.·The recent deal with Mexico included new improvements enabling food and agriculture to trade more fairly.·The recent agreement with the E.U. will reduce barriers and increase trade of American soybeans to Europe.·Won a WTO dispute regarding Indonesia’s unfair restriction of U.S. agricultural exports.·Defended American Tuna fisherman and packagers before the WTO·Opened up Argentina to American pork exports for the first time in a quarter-century·American beef exports have returned to China for the first time in more than a decade·OK’d up to $12 billion in aid for farmers affected by unfair trade retaliation.Energy· Presidential Memorandum to clear roadblocks to construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline.·Presidential Memorandum declaring that the Dakota Access Pipeline serves the national interest and initiating the process to complete construction.·Opened up the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge to energy exploration.·Coal exports up over 60 percent in 2017.·Rolled back the “stream protection rule” to prevent it from harming America’s coal industry.·Canceled Obama’s anti-coal Clean Power Plan and proposed the Affordable Clean Energy Rule as a replacement.·Withdrew from the job-killing Paris climate agreement, which would have cost the U.S. nearly $3 trillion and led to 6.5 million fewer industrial sector jobs by 2040.·U.S. oil production has achieved its highest level in American history·The United States is now the largest crude oil producer in the world.·The U.S. has become a net natural gas exporter for the first time in six decades.·Action to expedite the identification and extraction of critical minerals that are vital to the nation’s security and economic prosperity.·Took action to reform National Ambient Air Quality Standards, benefitting American manufacturers.·Rescinded Obama’s hydraulic fracturing rule, which was expected to cost the industry $32 million per year.·Proposed an expansion of offshore drilling as part of an all-of-the-above energy strategy·Held a lease sale for offshore oil and gas leases in the Gulf of Mexico in August 2018.·Got EU to increase its imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the United States.·Issued permits for the New Burgos Pipeline that will cross the U.S.-Mexico border.Foreign Policy· Moved the U.S. Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem.·Withdrew from Iran deal and immediately began the process of re-imposing sanctions that had been lifted or waived.·Treasury has issued sanctions targeting Iranian activities and entities, including the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force·Since enacting sanctions, Iran’s crude exports have fallen off, the value of Iran’s currency has plummeted, and international companies have pulled out of the country.·All nuclear-related sanctions will be back in full force by early November 2018.·Historic summit with North Korean President Kim Jong-Un, bringing beginnings of peace and denuclearization to the Korean Peninsula.·The two leaders have exchanged letters and high-level officials from both sides have met resulting in tremendous progress.·North Korea has halted nuclear and missile tests.·Negotiated the return of the remains of missing-in-action soldiers from the Korean War.·Imposed strong sanctions on Venezuelan dictator Nicholas Maduro and his inner circle.·An executive order preventing those in the U.S. from carrying out certain transactions with the Venezuelan regime, including prohibiting the purchase of the regime’s debt.·Responded to the use of chemical weapons by the Syrian regime.·Rolled out sanctions targeting individuals and entities tied to Syria’s chemical weapons program.·Directed strikes in April 2017 against a Syrian airfield used in a chemical weapons attack on innocent civilians.·Joined allies in launching airstrikes in April 2018 against targets associated with Syria’s chemical weapons use.·New Cuba policy that enhanced compliance with U.S. law and held the Cuban regime accountable for political oppression and human rights abuses.·Treasury and State are working to channel economic activity away from the Cuban regime, particularly the military.·Changed the rules of engagement, empowering commanders to take the fight to ISIS.·ISIS has lost virtually all of its territory, more than half of which has been lost under Trump.·ISIS’ self-proclaimed capital city, Raqqah, was liberated in October 2017.·All Iraqi territory had been liberated from ISIS.·More than a dozen American hostages have been freed from captivity all of the world.·Action to combat Russia’s malign activities, including their efforts to undermine the sanctity of United States elections.·Expelled dozens of Russian intelligence officers from the United States and ordered the closure of the Russian consulate in Seattle, WA.·Banned the use of Kaspersky Labs software on government computers, due to the company’s ties to Russian intelligence.·Imposed sanctions against five Russian entities and three individuals for enabling Russia’s military and intelligence units to increase Russia’s offensive cyber capabilities.·Sanctions against seven Russian oligarchs, and 12 companies they own or control, who profit from Russia’s destabilizing activities.·Sanctioned 100 targets in response to Russia’s occupation of Crimea and aggression in Eastern Ukraine.·Enhanced support for Ukraine’s Armed Forces to help Ukraine better defend itself.·Helped win U.S. bid for the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.·Helped win U.S.-Mexico-Canada’s united bid for 2026 World Cup.Defense· Executive order keeping the detention facilities at U.S. Naval Station Guantanamo Bay open.·$700 billion in military funding for FY 2018 and $716 billion for FY 2019.·Largest military pay raise in nearly a decade.·Ordered a Nuclear Posture Review to ensure America’s nuclear forces are up to date and serve as a credible deterrent.·Released America’s first fully articulated cyber strategy in 15 years.·A new strategy on national bio-defense, which better prepares the nation to defend against biological threats.·The administration has announced that it will use whatever means necessary to protect American citizens and servicemen from unjust prosecution by the International Criminal Court.·Released an America first National Security Strategy.·Put in motion the launch of a Space Force as a new branch of the military and re-launched the National Space Council.·Encouraged the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) allies to increase defense spending to their agreed-upon levels.·In 2017 alone, there was an increase of more than 4.8 percent in defense spending amongst NATO allies.·Every member state has increased defense spending.·Eight NATO allies will reach the 2 percent benchmark by the end of 2018 and 15 allies are on trade to do so by 2024.·NATO allies spent over $42 billion dollars more on defense since 2016.·Executive order to help military spouses find employment as their families deploy domestically and abroad.Veterans Affairs· Signed the VA Accountability Act and expanded VA telehealth services, walk-in-clinics, and same-day urgent primary and mental health care.·Delivered more appeals decisions – 81,000 – to veterans in a single year than ever before.·Strengthened protections for individuals who come forward and identify programs occurring within the VA.·Signed legislation that provided $86.5 billion in funding for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), the largest dollar amount in history for the VA.·VA MISSION Act, enacting sweeping reform to the VA system that:·Consolidated and strengthened VA community care programs.·Funding for the Veterans Choice program.·Expanded eligibility for the Family Caregivers Program.·Gave veterans more access to walk-in care.·Strengthened the VA’s ability to recruit and retain quality healthcare professionals.·Enabled the VA to modernize+ its assets and infrastructure.·Signed the VA Choice and Quality Employment Act in 2017, which authorized $2.1 billion in additional funds for the Veterans Choice Program.·Worked to shift veterans’ electronic medical records to the same system used by the Department of Defense, a decades-old priority.·Issued an executive order requiring the Secretaries of Defense, Homeland Security, and Veterans Affairs to submit a joint plan to provide veterans access to access to mental health treatment as they transition to civilian life.·Increased transparency and accountability at the VA by launching an online “Access and Quality Tool,” providing veterans with access to wait time and quality of care data.·Signed legislation to modernize the claims and appeal process at the VA.·Harry W. Colmery Veterans Educational Assistance Act, providing enhanced educational benefits to veterans, service members, and their family members.·Lifted a 15-year limit on veterans’ access to their educational benefits.·Created a White House VA Hotline to help veterans and principally staffed it with veterans and direct family members of veterans.·VA employees are being held accountable for poor performance, with more than 4,000 VA employees removed, demoted, and suspended so far.· Signed the Veterans Treatment Court Improvement Act, increasing the number of VA employees that can assist justice-involved veterans.I have watched Trump for over 30 years… and find him an effective and persuasive speaker and a leader. Thousands of people go to Trump rallies and speeches because these gatherings are informative, inspiring and entertaining.Trump is what America need to drain the swamp in Washington… and restore America’s financial and military power globally.Deal with it…