— 655 —
Department of Veterans Affairs
ENDNOTES
1. U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Division, VHA Directive 1003, “VHA Veteran Patient
Experience,” April 14, 2020, pp. 1 and B-1.
2. S. 2372, VA Mission Act of 2018, Public Law No. 115-182, 115th Congress, June 6, 2018, https://www.congress.
gov/115/plaws/publ182/PLAW-115publ182.pdf (accessed January 30, 2023).
3. U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, VA History Office, “VA History,” last updated May 27, 2021, https://www.
va.gov/HISTORY/VA_History/Overview.asp (accessed January 28, 2023).
4. 38 U.S. Code § 1116, https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/38/1116 (accessed January 28, 2023).
5. S. 3373, Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring Our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act of
2022 (Honoring Our PACT Act of 2022), Public Law No. 117-168, 117th Congress, August 10, 2022, https://www.
congress.gov/117/plaws/publ168/PLAW-117publ168.pdf (accessed January 28, 2023).
6. H.R. 2471, Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2022, Public Law No. 117-103, 117th Congress, March 15, 2022,
Division S, Title I, https://www.congress.gov/117/plaws/publ103/PLAW-117publ103.pdf (accessed March 18,
2023). Known variously as the Department of Veterans Affairs Nurse and Physician Assistant Retention and
Income Security Enhancement Act and the VA Nurse and Physician Assistant RAISE Act.
7. See note 5, supra.
— 657 —
Section Four
THE ECONOMY
The next Administration must prioritize the economic prosperity of ordi-
nary Americans. For several decades, establishment “elites” have failed
the citizenry by refusing to secure the border, outsourcing manufacturing
to China and elsewhere, spending recklessly, regulating constantly, and generally
controlling the country from the top down rather than letting it flourish from the
bottom up. The proper role of government, as was articulated nearly 250 years
ago, is to secure our God-given, unalienable rights in order that we might enjoy
the pursuit of happiness, the benefits of free enterprise, and the blessings of liberty.
Finding the right approach to trade policy is key to the fortunes of everyday
Americans. In Chapter 26, president of the Competitive Enterprise Institute Kent
Lassman and former White House director of trade and manufacturing policy Peter
Navarro debate what an effective conservative trade policy would look like. Lass-
man argues that the best trade policy is a humble, limited-government approach
that would encourage free trade with all nations. He maintains that aggressive
trade policies involve an increased government role that future leftist Administra-
tions will utilize to push “climate change” and “equity”-based activism. Focusing
more on gross domestic product (GDP) growth than on median income, he writes
that “people mistakenly believe that U.S. manufacturing and the U.S. economy
are in decline” when in truth “American manufacturing output is currently at an
all-time high.” Meanwhile, we continue to experience “record-setting real GDP”
despite our “long-run decline in manufacturing employment.”
Lassman does not think that an aggressive U.S. trade policy would lead to more
manufacturing jobs. Rather, he writes, “Federal Reserve research shows” that the