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President Trump Has Kept His Promises -USA Today “The facts are clear: No president has done more in two years to strengthen our military and reform the Department of Veterans Affairs to better serve our nation’s heroes than President Donald Trump,” Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie writes. “Until Trump, no candidate in history had made serving our veterans the centerpiece of a presidential campaign. In office, Trump has kept his promise.”

Trump Embraces Bipartisan Criminal Justice Reform Legislation -USA Today This week, President Trump put his full support behind historic criminal justice reform in an announcement from the White House, USA Today reports. “The ‘First Step Act,’ developed by [Jared] Kushner and a bipartisan group of lawmakers, is designed to improve rehabilitation programs for former prisoners and give judges more discretion in sentencing offenders for nonviolent crime, particularly drug offenders.”

It’s the Right Time to Pass Criminal Justice Reform -New York Post “With President Trump leading the way, the push is on to get serious criminal justice reform done by Christmas. Resisters on the left and right would be fools to stand in the way,” the New York Post editorial board writes. The bipartisan FIRST STEP Act would fund educational and vocational training programs in American prisons while easing certain mandatory-minimum sentencing rules.

Donald Trump Honors Elvis Presley, Babe Ruth in First Medal of Freedom Ceremony -USA Today “President Donald Trump awarded the Medal of Freedom to seven people Friday, including the late rock ‘n’ roll star Elvis Presley. The nation's highest civilian honor, the Medal of Freedom is awarded to individuals who have made significant contributions to the United States' national interests and security, to world peace, or to cultural or other significant public or private endeavors,” Cat Hofacker reports.

Boom: Record High Business Optimism, Need for Employees at 45-Year High -Washington Examiner “The record level of economic optimism among small businesses is continuing, and those firms trying to fill jobs is at a 45-year high,” Paul Bedard reports. “The National Federation of Independent Businesses said the optimism has only been this high three times in the last 43 years and has consistently been high all year long.”

Vice President Pence: Veterans Day – Veterans Have No Better Friend than President Trump -Fox News “President Trump has signed the most substantial veterans’ health-care reform in a generation, making Veterans Choice a permanent part of American law,” Vice President Pence writes in an op-ed for Fox News. “Today our veterans have access to the real-time, world-class care they have earned, whether at a private health-care provider or the Department of Veterans Affairs.”

Sen. Mitch McConnell: Will Dems Work With Us, or Simply Put Partisan Politics Ahead of the Country? -Fox News Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) lays out how the expanded Republican Senate majority plans to help govern in the coming two years. “We’ll keep working to lift the burden on American job creators and small businesses. We’ll stay focused on helping communities across the country seize new opportunities and realize greater prosperity. We’ll seek new ways to make life easier for working families.”

Sen. Mitch McConnell: Will Dems Work With Us, or Simply Put Partisan Politics Ahead of the Country? -Fox News Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) lays out how the expanded Republican Senate majority plans to help govern in the coming two years. “We’ll keep working to lift the burden on American job creators and small businesses. We’ll stay focused on helping communities across the country seize new opportunities and realize greater prosperity. We’ll seek new ways to make life easier for working families.”

Pence, Abe Agree on North Korea Sanctions, New Trade Talks -The Associated Press While visiting Tokyo this week, Vice President Mike Pence joined Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and “reaffirmed the need to keep sanctions on North Korea to achieve its denuclearization as they showcased their bilateral alliance, while Pence also urged Japan to do more to reduce the U.S. trade deficit,” Mari Yamaguchi reports.