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Trump Signs New Law Giving Veterans a Second Chance

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Washington – Retired Army Sgt. Michael Verardo was severely injured in an IED blast while serving in Afghanistan.

"What I was not prepared for was coming home to a broken VA system, I wasn't prepared to wait 57 days for a signature on a piece of paper so that my only prosthetic limb could be repaired," said Sgt. Michael Verardo (RET).

"It was heartbreaking to hear their story because the VA had failed Michael," said Secretary of Veteran Affairs Dr. David Shulkin.

It's stories like this that prompted President Trump to sign a bill aiming to give veterans better care.

"Our wounded warriors have given everything they have to this nation and we owe them everything we have in return and we are taking care of it," said President Donald Trump.

The bill which has bi-partisan support comes after a 2014 scandal at the Phoenix VA Medical Center where some veterans died while waiting months for appointments.

"What happened was a national disgrace and yet some of the employees involved in the scandals remained on the payrolls," said President Trump

The VA Accountability & Whistleblower Protection Act of 2017 will make it easier to fire bad employees by lowering the burden of proof needed to let them go. The bill even allows the VA to take back bonuses paid to workers found guilty of misconduct.

The Department of Veteran Affairs employs more than 300 thousand people who are hired to give those who served our country the care they've earned and deserve.

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About The Author

Ben
Kennedy

Ben Kennedy is an Emmy Award-winning White House correspondent for CBN News in Washington, D.C. He has more than a decade of reporting experience covering breaking news nationwide. He's traveled cross country covering the President and scored exclusive interviews with lawmakers and White House officials. Kennedy spent seven years reporting for WPLG, the ABC affiliate in Miami, Florida. While there he reported live from Kingston, Jamaica, as Hurricane Matthew hit the island. He was the first journalist to interview Diana Nyad moments after her historic swim from Cuba to Key West. He reported