WEST WING MHI Daily Brief ;

Vice President Pence: George H.W. Bush ‘Never Failed to Answer the Call to Serve His Country’ As former President George H. W. Bush lay in state at the United States Capitol last night, Vice President Mike Pence offered condolences on behalf of the Nation to the Bush family and honored the 41st President’s extraordinary life. “While he was known as the ‘quiet man,’ it was not for lack of nerve or daring,” the Vice President said of the 41st commander in chief, with former President George W. Bush and other Bush family members in attendance. “Today, on behalf of the First Family, and my family, and the American people, we offer our deepest sympathies and respects to your family. And we thank you for sharing this special man with our nation and the world.”Pence discussed Bush’s life and how he enlisted to fight in World War II on his 18th birthday and became the nation’s youngest naval aviator. During his service, Bush was nearly killed after his aircraft was hit and caught on fire. Bush managed to hit his target and was later rescued by American forces. He went on to fly 58 combat missions. Later in his speech, Pence talked about Bush serving as former President Ronald Reagan’s vice president, before serving as president for one term. “But as history records, during those years he set the standard as a sound counselor and loyal adviser to an outsider who came to Washington, D.C. to shake things up, to cut taxes, rebuild the military. And together, they did just that,” Pence said. “And then, in 1988, he made history again when George Herbert Walker Bush was elected in a landslide as the 41st president of the United States of America, becoming the first sitting vice president to win the presidency in more than 150 years of our history.” “He [Bush] served during an uncertain time in the world, made momentous by his leadership. President Bush oversaw the fall of the Soviet Union, the crumbling of the Berlin Wall, and under his leadership, America won the Cold War,” Pence continued. “He took our nation to war to repel aggression in the Persian Gulf and, through his leadership as commander in chief and the brilliance of our armed forces, the United States won a decisive victory.” Pence then praised Bush’s leadership and dedication to his family and friends. “When President George Herbert Walker Bush left office, he left America and the world more peaceful, prosperous, and secure,” Pence said. “President Bush was a great leader who made a great difference in the life of this nation. But he was also just a good man who was devoted to his wife, his family, and his friends.” Later in his speech, Pence reflected on Bush sending his son, Michael Pence, a first lieutenant in the Marines, a package that included a signed picture of the U.S.S. George H.W. Bush flight deck and a letter after the younger Pence made his first tailhook landing on the aircraft carrier named after the 41st president. “Though we have not met, I share the pride your father has for you during this momentous occasion,” Bush wrote. “And I wish you many CAVU days ahead.” CAVU stands for Ceiling and Visibility Unlimited, an acronym used by Navy pilots dating back to World War II to describe the ideal weather for flying.

President Trump, first lady visit George H.W. Bush’s casket at US Capitol after emotional ceremony “Hours after the body of former President George H.W. Bush arrived at the U.S. Capitol on Monday, President Trump and first lady Melania Trump paid their respects to the 41st president of the United States. Trump visited the late president’s flag-draped casket in the building’s rotunda, where Bush will lie in state until Wednesday morning before being transported to the National Cathedral for a private state funeral, which Trump is scheduled to attend,” Nicole Darrah writes in Fox News. The pair stood in front of the casket with their eyes closed for a few moments on Monday night. The 45th president saluted the casket, before he and the first lady left the rotunda. EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT GEORGE H.W. BUSH’S FUNERAL AND MEMORIAL SERVICES Trump didn’t attend an earlier ceremony that was held to honor Bush at the Capitol. Vice President Mike Pence and other top lawmakers spoke and reflected on Bush’s military record and service. Bush, Pence said, “never failed to answer the call to serve his country.” The current vice president remembered when the elder Bush sent his son — who recently became a Naval aviator, just like Bush once was — a hand-written letter in August, shortly after Pence was told Bush had stopped his practice of signing autographs. “But little to my surprise, just in time for my son’s winging, there not only came a signed photograph but, of course, a letter,” Pence said. Bush was often known for sending handwritten letters to loved ones, friends and politicians, among others. Pence said that within the letter, Bush told his son, “Though we have not met, I share the pride your father has for you during this momentous occasion, and I wish you many CAVU days ahead. All the best, G. Bush.” CAVU is an acronym Navy pilots have used, meaning “ceiling and visibility unlimited.” Bush, according to Military.com, used the term on his 80th birthday. “In the Navy, we young pilots all prayed for CAVU — Ceiling and Visibility Unlimited. But, you see, that is where my life is now,” Bush said. “Thanks to my family and my friends, my life is CAVU.” In addition to serving as president, Bush also served as a vice president for two terms under President Ronald Reagan. Pence said Bush joked that there was “nothing substantive to do at all” going into that job, but that he was “a sound counselor and loyal adviser to an outsider who came to Washington, D.C., to shake things up, cut taxes, rebuild the military, and together they did just that.” Bush’s casket, along with members of the Bush family, arrived on Capitol Hill just before 5 p.m. ET as part of the nation’s formal farewell. A military honor guard marched Bush’s casket into the rotunda. Former presidents or prominent politicians customarily lie in state. Gerald Ford, who died at the end of 2006, was the last president to do so in late 2006 through early 2007. GEORGE H.W. BUSH REMEMBERED BY 3 FORMER PRESIDENTS AS ‘ONE OF THE BEST PREPARED’ IN HISTORY Once Bush lies in state, his casket will be transported by motorcade on Wednesday morning to the National Cathedral, where an invitation-only state funeral will be held. President Donald Trump, who ordered federal offices closed on Wednesday for a national day of mourning, is scheduled to attend with first lady Melania Trump. Bush’s body will then return to Houston, where a public viewing of his casket will be held before a private funeral service on Thursday. He will be buried in a family plot at the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum in College Station. Earlier Monday, Bush, his family, and the late president’s former service dog, Sully, arrived at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, just outside of Washington, D.C., around 3:30 p.m. ET. The casket was flown in from Ellington Field Joint Reserve Base, a Texas Air National Guard base, aboard an aircraft that often serves as Air Force One. Upon their arrival, the former first family was greeted with ceremonial music and a 21-gun salute before Bush’s casket was placed inside of a hearse.

Liz Peek: Trump scores big wins at the G-20 “President Trump scored major successes at the G-20 summit that concluded over the weekend in Argentina. Specifically, the community of nations agreed in their official communique to ‘necessary reform’ of the World Trade Organization, a top White House priority,” financial expert Liz Peek writes in Fox News. “In addition, the Chinese promised to up their purchases of U.S.- made goods and to discuss other demands in exchange for postponing an expected hike in tariffs.” These are not new allegations. In 2013, the National Bureau of Asian Research published the IP Commission Report, which detailed China’s misbehavior – cheating which led them to agree with the “assessment by the Commander of the United States Cyber Command and Director of the National Security Agency, General Keith Alexander, that the ongoing theft of IP is “the greatest transfer of wealth in history.”  Millions of jobs and hundreds of billions of dollars in valuable intellectual property were vanishing into China each year. The relentless quest for technology that allowed China to climb the value chain, to rise from manufacturing t-shirts to fighter jets, has been aided and abetted by our biggest businesses, and by the World Trade Organziation. Multinational corporations have put up with Beijing’s cheating because they wanted access to China’s growing consumer market. Only recently have they become more outspoken about China’s abusive practices. The WTO has put up with it because no one demanded a change. Until now. President Trump is not intent on overthrowing the rules-based order, as critics charge; he wants to make it better. The recent G-20 gathering was a step in the right direction. It could not have happened without the clear threat of punitive tariffs on Chinese exports. The trade skirmish has slowed China’s growth to the weakest level in a decade, damaged their currency, and rocked their stock market. Leading indicators for China’s economy are dropping, with manufacturing and exports weakening. Pressure on President Xi as he traveled to the G-20 was extreme; his leadership has recently been publicly criticized, a rare and unwelcome slap at his increasingly autocratic rule. China cannot be trusted to follow through on its promises. But, Americans can celebrate the determination of the Trump White House to keep the pressure on. In 90 days, if Beijing prevaricates, tariffs will increase. Of that there is no doubt. President Trump will get no credit from the liberal press for the progress being made in our trade relations. But open-minded Americans should consider this: it would have been very easy in the lead-up to the midterm elections for the White House to have announced some sort of deal with Beijing, aimed at pleasing Trump-supporting farmers who have suffered from the trade battles or business leaders who fear for their bottom lines. Such an announcement would have buoyed stock prices and helped GOP candidates tout the strong economy. The Trump White House has instead committed itself to exposing and correcting a serious problem that has hurt American workers and businesses and should be applauded by all; I’m not holding my breath.

Census confirms: 63 percent of ‘non-citizens’ on welfare, 4.6 million households “A majority of ‘non-citizens,’ including those with legal green card rights, are tapping into welfare programs set up to help poor and ailing Americans, a Census Bureau finding that bolsters President Trump’s concern about immigrants costing the nation,” Paul Bedard reports for the Washington Examiner. “In a new analysis of the latest numbers, from 2014, 63 percent of non-citizens are using a welfare program, and it grows to 70 percent for those here 10 years or more, confirming another concern that once immigrants tap into welfare, they don’t get off it.” The Center for Immigration Studies said in its report that the numbers give support for Trump’s plan to cut non-citizens off welfare from the “public charge” if they want a green card that allows them to legally work in the United States. “The Trump administration has proposed new ‘public charge’ rules making it harder for prospective immigrants to qualify for lawful permanent residence — green cards — if they use or are likely to use U.S. welfare programs,” said CIS. “Concern over immigrant welfare use is justified, as households headed by non-citizens use means-tested welfare at high rates. Non-citizens in the data include illegal immigrants, long-term temporary visitors like guest workers, and permanent residents who have not naturalized. While barriers to welfare use exist for these groups, it has not prevented them from making extensive use of the welfare system, often receiving benefits on behalf of U.S.-born children,” added the Washington-based immigration think tank. The numbers are huge. The report said that there are 4,684,784 million non-citizen households receiving welfare. And nearly all, 4,370,385, have at least one worker in the house.. In their report, Steven A. Camarota, the director of research, and Karen Zeigler, a demographer at the Center, said that in census data, about half of those are in the United States illegally. Their key findings in the analysis: In 2014, 63 percent of households headed by a non-citizen reported that they used at least one welfare program, compared to 35 percent of native-headed households. Welfare use drops to 58 percent for non-citizen households and 30 percent for native households if cash payments from the Earned Income Tax Credit are not counted as welfare. EITC recipients pay no federal income tax. Like other welfare, the EITC is a means-tested, anti-poverty program, but unlike other programs one has to work to receive it. Compared to native households, non-citizen households have much higher use of food programs (45 percent vs. 21 percent for natives) and Medicaid (50 percent vs. 23 percent for natives). Including the EITC, 31 percent of non-citizen-headed households receive cash welfare, compared to 19 percent of native households. If the EITC is not included, then cash receipt by non-citizen households is slightly lower than natives (6 percent vs. 8 percent). While most new legal immigrants (green card holders) are barred from most welfare programs, as are illegal immigrants and temporary visitors, these provisions have only a modest impact on non-citizen household use rates because: 1) most legal immigrants have been in the country long enough to qualify; 2) the bar does not apply to all programs, nor does it always apply to non-citizen children; 3) some states provide welfare to new immigrants on their own; and, most importantly, 4) non-citizens (including illegal immigrants) can receive benefits on behalf of their U.S.-born children who are awarded U.S. citizenship and full welfare eligibility at birth.

WEST WING MHI