Corona Virus Response
- On January 31,2020 President Trump declared the corona virus a public health emergency and issued a travel ban from China and later one from Europe to protect the American people, even though he was criticized as a xenophobe
- On March 27, 2020 President Trump signed the bipartisan $2 trillion CARES Act into law, which provided direct assistance to families and workers through recovery checks and expanded unemployment insurance. The Paycheck Protection Program saved millions of jobs and delivered over 4.2 million loans totaling over $670 billion.
- Corona virus vaccine candidates have been fast tracked through “Operation Warp Speed” by cutting red tape while maintaining the FDA gold standard for safety, two of these vaccines are in Phase 2 clinical trials and two are in the final phase 3 trials. The government has provided funding to these 4 companies so that one of the vaccines will hopefully be available before year end.
- President Trump led the largest national mobilization since World War II to deliver Personnel Protection Equipment including N-95 and surgical masks. The president also developed government/private company partnerships to build respirators for the nation’s hospitals. Surgical hospitals were erected in virus hot-spots and hospital ships were moved to New York and Los Angeles.
Economy(Before the Corona Virus Shutdown)
• Since President Trump was elected 7.3 million jobs have been created, over 500,000 of these jobs were in manufacturing
- In December 2019, the country achieved record low unemployment rates for women, African Americans, Latino Americans, and Asian Americans.
• Under President Trump’s leadership, Congress passed historic tax cuts and relief for hard-working Americans. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act is the first major tax reform signed in 30 years. 90% of household earning between $40,000-$64,000 saw an average tax cut savings of $810. The child tax credit was double from $1000 to $2000 . Nearly 9,000 Opportunity Zones in low income communities were created in all 50 states.
• Economic confidence rebounded to record highs under President Trump because his pro-growth policies have and continue to put American workers and businesses first.
• President Trump has rolled back unnecessary job-killing regulations at a historic pace. The Administration has cut 8 regulations for every new rule. Just 20 of these rollback actions will alone save American consumers and businesses over $220 billion per year.
- Over 300 companies and associations of all size and industry have signed the Administration’s Pledge to America’s Workers, promising to create more than 14 million education, training, and skill-building opportunities over the next 5 years.
Immigration
- President Trump is fulfilling his promise to build a border wall, with sizable portions already finished or under construction. It’s expected that 450 miles will be finished by the end of 2020.
• The Administration has instituted a new rule requiring migrants to apply for asylum in a country they pass through (i.e Mexico) before arriving at the US border. This has drastically reduced those asylum applications to the US.
• President Trump was successful in his efforts to get Mexico and the Northern Triangle countries to step up and help stop the crisis at the border. President Trump’s successful negotiations have led to 28% drop in migrants taken into custody in June 2019.
Foreign Policy
• The United States has successfully decimated ISIS by changing the rules of engagement for the military and has eliminated two top terrorist leaders, Al-baghdadi and Soleimani.
• President Trump fulfilled his promise to name Jerusalem Israel’s capital city and moved the U.S. Embassy
• President Trump withdrew the U.S. from the Iran Nuclear Agreement and instituted the toughest sanctions in history to drive the regime’s oil exports to zero. The evidence now shows that the Iranian’s were cheating on the treaty’s provisions related to the number of uranium enriching centrifuges.
• The Trump Administration has imposed sanctions on Russian entities and individuals previously indicted for their roles in Russian interference in the 2016 election.
- President Trump has forced NATO members to live up to their defense spending commitments.
Trade
• President Trump has kept his promise to deliver a modern and rebalanced trade deal to replace NAFTA: The United States – Mexico – Canada Agreement (USMCA). The USCMA will spur economic growth, create 176,000 jobs, add $68.2 billion to the U.S. economy, and raise wages.
• The President and European Union President Juncker agreed to a new trade deal that strengthens and reforms our trade relationship. The agreement: works toward zero tariffs, zero non-tariff barriers, zero subsidies on non-automotive industrial goods.
• President Trump agreed to a phase one trade deal with China that includes strong enforcement mechanisms. Key commitments were made on stopping unfair trade practices and increased purchase of US goods.
Judicial
• President Trump has nominated, and the Senate has confirmed a grand total of 201 judges including 2 Supreme Court Justices – Justice Gorsuch and Justice Kavanaugh. 53 Appeals Court judges, and 146 District Court judges.
- The First Step Act has been widely hailed as the most meaningful criminal justice reform in a generation. This landmark legislation improves our prison system, and prepares inmates for reentry in our communities. As a result more than 3,000 Americans have been released from prison and 90% of those who have had their sentences reduced are black Americans. The First Step Act shortens mandatory minimum sentences for nonviolent drug crimes and provides judges greater liberty to go around mandatory minimums. The law also allows offenders sentenced under racially motivated mandatory minimums to petition for their cases to be re-evaluated.
- President Trump signed the Safe Policing for Safe Communities Executive Order to encourage and incentivize local police department reform while maintaining his commitment to law and order.
Health Care
• The individual mandate penalty has been eliminated.
• Association Health Plans and short-term, limited duration insurance plans have been expanded to bring flexibility back to the healthcare marketplace.
• The President signed an Executive Order to improve seniors’ health care and improve the fiscal sustainability of Medicare. Reforms to expand Medicare Advantage options and Health Reimbursement Accounts have been expanded.
• President Trump mobilized his entire Administration to address the drug addiction and opioid abuse by declaring a Nationwide Public Health Emergency.• President Trump signed the Support for Patients and Communities Act to fight the opioid epidemic.
• Costly healthcare taxes were repealed including the “Cadillac tax” and the Medical Device Tax.
Environment
• Our nation’s environmental record is one of the strongest in the world. From 1970 to 2018, the combined emissions of the most common air pollutants fell 74% while the economy grew over 275%.
• We have the cleanest air on record and remain a global leader for access to clean drinking water. The President has taken important steps to restore, preserve, and protect our land, air, and waters. The Save Our Seas Act was signed into law in 2018. This law reauthorized the NOAA Marine Debris Program, promoting international action to reduce marine debris and authorizing cleanup and response actions that may be needed.
The EPA has taken significant steps to clean up our contaminated sites and hazardous sites. In FY2018, the EPA completed cleanup work on 22 Superfund sites from the National Priorities list. This is the largest number in one year since 2005.
President Trump signed legislation designating 1.3 million new acres of wilderness – the largest public lands legislation in a decade. The US has agreed to join the 1 trillion tree initiative.
Energy
The US is the largest producer of oil and natural gas in the world.
• The Administration acted aggressively to increase exports of energy resources to the global market and allowed financing for coal and fossil energy projects.
• President Trump has approved the infrastructure and provided the resources needed to unleash Oil and gas production in the U.S. The Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines were approved, supporting an estimated total of 42,000 jobs and $2 billion in wages.
Agriculture
• In 2018, the Farm Bill provides support and stability to our farmers, expands crop insurance, doubles how much farmers can borrow and helps open new markets for our farmers.
In 2018, the President signed an Executive Order aimed at increasing responsible forest management and coordinating Federal, State, tribal, and local assets to prevent and combat wildfires.
Education
• President Trump has made Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) a priority, including appropriating more money to HBCUs in one year than any other president and establishing a Presidential Board of Advisors on HBCUs. President Trump signed the Future Act into law which permanently funds HBCUs.
- President Trump issued a presidential memorandum encouraging the Department of Education to promote STEM, especially computer science.
- President Trump directed more than $200 million per year to technology education grants for women and programs that encourage participation in STEM careers.
• Additionally, the Administration proposed a new $5 billion annual tax credit to promote school choice. This move is supported by 2/3rds of black Americans.
Military and Veterans
- In FY2020, the national defense authorization includes a much needed 3.1% pay raise for our troops
• The President signed the V.A. Choice and Quality Employment Act of 2017 to authorize $2.1 billion in additional funds for the Veterans Choice Program (VCP) . The President signed the V.A. Mission Act revolutionizing the VA system, increasing choice, and providing quality care for our nation’s veterans.
• The Administration has secured a record $8.6 billion in funding for mental health services with the goal of ending the tragedy of veteran suicide.
• The President has secured $73.1 billion for the Department of Veterans Affairs – the highest funding for the VA in history.
https://www.loraincountygop.org/images/91080/July_2020_Accomplishments.pdf
