The Day Ahead

President Donald J. Trump and the First Lady will tour Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio.

The smallest victims of the Crisis Next Door

The opioids crisis touches Americans from all walks of life, responsible for more deaths than either car accidents or gun violence last year. Addiction tears up families everywhere from inner cities along the coasts to rural communities in the heartland.

Some of its victims are the smallest, most vulnerable among us. From 2000 to 2012, America saw a five-fold increase in the share of babies born with Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS)—equivalent to one baby suffering from opiate withdrawal born every 25 minutes, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

Last year, 198 babies were admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, for NAS. Today, President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump will tour that facility, discussing the Administration’s three-part plan to halt the opioid crisis.

The First Lady’s “Be Best” initiative also takes aim at NAS, educating parents on the importance of healthy pregnancies. Last year, the First Lady visited Lily’s Place in West Virginia, where addiction recovery treatment is available to entire families.

See how President Trump is mobilizing our government to end the opioid crisis.

More: Get the latest on First Lady Melania Trump’s “Be Best” initiative.

An update on Hurricane Lane

FEMA is working alongside multiple partners to actively support Hawaii’s efforts as they respond to the potentially devastating impacts of Hurricane Lane.

Hurricane Lane is a Category 3 storm and continues to move westward across the Central Pacific with maximum sustained winds of 120 mph, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Hurricane watches and warnings have been issued for parts of Hawaii.

President Trump urges all Hawaiians to follow the direction of state and local officials, including evacuation orders when given. Local residents are encouraged to visit Ready.gov/hawaii or the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency for more information.

Read the President’s Emergency Declaration for Hawaii.

‘I was an astronaut. We need a Space Force.’

“For more than 50 years, this storied center has been at the forefront of America’s journey to the stars,” Vice President Mike Pence told NASA employees yesterday in a visit to Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. “Here, from the Mission Control Center, you have guided every American-crewed space expedition since 1965.”

“The United States Space Force, we believe, is an idea whose time has come,” the Vice President said. Terry Virts, a retired U.S. Air Force Colonel who served as Commander of the International Space Station, agrees. “It’s hard to overstate the importance of space in our military operations and civilian life,” Virts writes in The Washington Post this week.

“China and Russia have made it clear they are not willing to accept the status quo.”

“I was an astronaut. We need a Space Force.”

Watch: “America will lead mankind to the stars once again,” the VP says.

Photo of the Day

Official White House Photo by D. Myles Cullen

Vice President Mike Pence speaks with astronauts training at the Neutral Buoyancy Lab (NBL) at the NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston | August 23, 2018