May 9 (UPI) — President Donald Trump on Friday signed three executive orders — establishing a national center for homeless veterans, reducing criminal prosecutions for violations of the Code of Federal Regulations and increasing efficiency of the Federal Register.
Trump directed the Secretary of Veterans Affairs Doug Collins to establish the National Center for Warrior Independence on the West Los Angeles VA campus. Plans are to house as many as 6,000 veterans by 2028.
“Previous administrations have failed veterans by allowing the West Los Angeles Veterans Affairs Medical Center — hundreds of acres in Los Angeles given to the Federal Government more than a century ago to help veterans — to fall apart,” the White House said in a fact sheet. “Parts of the property are leased to a private school, private companies, and the baseball team of the University of California, Los Angeles — sometimes at rock-bottom prices.”
Los Angeles, with approximately 3,000 homeless veterans, the most in the nation, accounts for about 10% of all homeless veterans in America, according to the White House.
“President Trump strongly believes that every veteran deserves our gratitude, and that the federal government should treat veterans like the heroes they are,” the White House said.
Veterans from around the nation can receive care, benefits and services at the center.
“The new National Center for Warrior Independence will help them and other veterans like them rebuild their lives,” the White House said in a fact sheet. “The Center will promote self-sufficiency through housing, substance abuse treatment and support for productive work for the veterans housed there.”
The funds had been previously spent on housing or other services for undocumented immigrants.
“Our Nation’s security, prosperity, and freedom would not be possible without our veterans,” the order reads. “Many service members paid the ultimate sacrifice. Many others bear visible and invisible wounds from their service. Too many veterans are homeless in America. Each veteran deserves our gratitude.
“Yet the Federal Government has not always treated veterans like the heroes they are. During the previous administration, unaccountable bureaucrats treated them shamefully, failing veterans when they needed help most and betraying the taxpayers who rightfully expect better.
Also, homeless veterans will be able to use vouchers from the Housing and Urban Development.
In addition, he ordered a feasibility study at the Manchester VA Medical Center in New Hampshire to expand services to support a full-service medical center.
Code of Federal Regulations
Trump also signed an order “to ease the regulatory burden on everyday Americans and ensure no American is transformed into a criminal for violating a regulation they have no reason to know exists.”
It discourages criminal enforcement of regulatory offenses, saying “this status quo is absurd and unjust.”
“The United States is drastically overregulated,” the order reads. “The Code of Federal Regulations contains over 48,000 sections, stretching over 175,000 pages — far more than any citizen can possibly read, let alone fully understand. Worse, many carry potential criminal penalties for violations. The situation has become so dire that no one — likely including those charged with enforcing our criminal laws at the Department of Justice — knows how many separate criminal offenses are contained in the Code of Federal Regulations, with at least one source estimating hundreds of thousands of such crimes.”
The order said “many regulatory crimes are ‘strict liability’ offenses,’ meaning that citizens need not have a guilty mental state to be convicted of a crime.”
Within 365 days, Trump wants the head of each agency to list all criminal regulatory offenses enforceable by the agency or the Department of Justice and the range of criminal penalties.”
Federal Register
Another executive order will speed publishing new regulatory action.
“The Office of the Federal Register frequently takes days or, in some cases, even weeks to publish new regulatory actions,” according to the executive order. “Such delay is unwarranted. The Office of the Federal Register receives final documents that are fully executed by the relevant decision-makers — all that remains is publication. Yet despite those delays, executive departments and agencies are charged $151-$174 per column of text to publish each rule in the Federal Register. These inefficiencies inhibit my Administration’s deregulatory agenda and waste taxpayer money.”
Trump directed the U.S. archivist, acting through the Office of the Federal Register, to work with the Director of the Government Publishing Office to reduce publication delays, including by modernizing computer systems and “eliminating unnecessary bureaucracy.”
Within 45 days, the archivist shall review the fee schedules for publication in the Federal Register and “take steps to ensure that fees are based on the actual costs of publication and account for increased efficiencies achieved as a result of this order.”
