According to the report, this puts the total amount of money that National Dems have transferred in to keep the State Dems afloat this year at $78,145.
Otherwise, in November, State Democrats spent $22.8k, leaving them with $10.1k cash on hand in their federal account moving into December.
And by the way? It’s now two weeks until petitions can be circulated, and they still don’t have an opponent lined up for the US Senate Race.
Noem Seeks Information on Critical Conditions within Indian Health Service Facilities
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Representative Kristi Noem today sought information about the quality of care provided at Indian Health Service (IHS) facilities in South Dakota. In a letter to IHS Principal Deputy Director Robert McSwain, Noem discusses documented instances where patients were put in serious danger when receiving care at an IHS service unit and raises concerns about losing accreditation from the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). Noem also solicits information about what steps are being taken to correct the problems.
This letter comes in the wake of IHS service units in Rosebud and Pine Ridge being notified that they are at risk of losing CMS accreditation, which would force many tribal members to find help miles and miles away from their homes.
“Safe and efficient Indian Health Service medical facilities are critical to the well-being of the more than 100,000 Native Americans in the Great Plains Area. For Tribal members who live in rural areas, IHS hospitals are the only health care facilities within a hundred miles or more. Sadly, the experiences of my constituents in South Dakota indicate that IHS Great Plains Area facilities are failing to provide quality care, and Tribal members are paying the price,” wrote Noem.
Noem further details problems discovered at the IHS Service Unit in Rosebud recently:
Staff washed surgical instruments by hand because the sterilization machine had been broken for six months;
No infection control measures were taken for a patient with a history of an untreated highly infectious disease. When the patient was transferred, no documentation was created to inform the accepting facility of his history with the disease;
Staff left a pregnant patient unattended and she delivered her premature baby on the floor of a hospital bathroom. The baby was initially not breathing. Staff intervened, but when the doctor arrived 20-30 minutes later, staff did not notify the doctor that the baby was premature or that it had been found on the floor. No equipment was available to deal with the situation. While staff obtained equipment, the baby was not placed in a warmer and was not given oxygen.
Noem also outlines problems of Schedule II drug theft that were discovered in a 2010 Senate Indian Affairs Committee report.
In light of this, Noem has requested a robust report from IHS by January 31, 2016, that details:
Which IHS facilities are facing CMS termination notices and why;
What reforms IHS and the Great Plains Area have taken in response to a 2010 Senate report outlining many underlying problems in the Great Plains Area;
Instances of Schedule II drug theft;
Instances where a health care provider offered care while under the influence of drugs or alcohol;
Instances where a health care provider was practicing with a lapsed license, accreditation, or certification; and
The total amount spent in the Great Plains Area on administrative expenses.
A full copy of the letter can be found below.
Mr. Robert G. McSwain
Principal Deputy Director
Indian Health Service
Department of Health and Human Services
The Reyes Building
801 Thompson Avenue
Rockville, MD 20852
Dear Mr. McSwain,
Safe and efficient Indian Health Service (IHS) medical facilities are critical to the well-being of the more than 100,000 Native Americans in the Great Plains Area. For Tribal members who live in rural areas, IHS hospitals are the only health care facilities within a hundred miles or more. Sadly, the experiences of my constituents in South Dakota indicate that IHS Great Plains Area facilities are failing to provide quality care, and Tribal members are paying the price.
The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) recently notified the Pine Ridge and Rosebud IHS service units that they did not meet basic CMS guidelines in terms of quality care. If the hospitals do not fix the problems CMS identified in its review, their agreements with CMS will be terminated. Disturbingly, this is not the first time CMS has raised concerns about Great Plains Area hospitals. These notices come on the heels of CMS’ termination of its agreement with the Winnebago IHS service unit in Nebraska, also located in the Great Plains Area.
The CMS termination notices are not the only urgent problems facing my constituents. Just over a week ago, the people of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe were blindsided with the sudden closure of their hospital’s Emergency Department (ED) on the grounds that it was simply too dangerous to treat patients there. It is my understanding that, the weekend the ED closed, three rape patients and one stabbing patient were forced to travel an hour away to Nebraska for care.
The lack of quality health care for Tribal members in the Great Plains Area is not a new problem. As I visit reservations across South Dakota, my constituents share all manner of anecdotes describing negative experiences with IHS facilities. Their stories are backed by congressional oversight work. In September 2010, Byron Dorgan, then-Chairman of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, convened a hearing titled, “In Critical Condition: The Urgent Need to Reform the Indian Health Service’s Aberdeen Area,” for which your predecessor, Dr. Yvette Roubideaux, provided testimony.[1] At the hearing, and in the subsequent December 2010 Committee report of the same title (see attached), the Committee depicted the frightening reality that Native Americans in the Great Plains Area face when they rely on IHS for medical care.[2]
The Committee’s work detailed the Aberdeen office’s lack of coherent policies and procedures governing even the simplest activities across the Great Plains Area, resulting in bureaucratic paralysis at best and a physical danger to patients at worst. The report contains a litany of instances in which the Aberdeen office’s lack of guidance and oversight facilitated low standards in facilities across its jurisdiction. According to the report, for example, Great Plains Area facilities failed to secure narcotic drugs, which contributed to employee thefts of pills by the thousands and the dispensing of powerful Schedule II drugs almost indiscriminately. Additionally, the Committee found Great Plains Area facilities engaged in substantial amount of diversions or reduced services, resulting in unnecessary costs and potentially affecting health care access for numerous Native Americans. Most shockingly, the Committee found that employees at Great Plains Area facilities put patients in serious danger by conducting surgical procedures under the influence of controlled substances.
Among the more disturbing South Dakota-based anecdotes listed in the report:
The [Rapid City IHS Hospital] pharmacy submitted a report of theft or loss of controlled substances dated March 19, 2008, which indicates that 5,569 Hydrocodone tablets were missing due to employee pilferage. On that same day, the pharmacy issued an amended report indicating the loss of 5,417 Hydrocodone tablets; 965 Darvocet tablets; and 187 Xanax tablets, totaling 6,569 missing controlled substances in one day. The report identified employee theft as the reason for loss [sic] pills.[3]
The [pregnant] patient arrived at the [Rosebud Hospital] ER with contractions every five minutes and was triaged as urgent. One and a half hours later, she was discharged from the ER. The patient proceeded to the outpatient department due to her continued contractions and was told to walk around and go to the bathroom for a urinalysis. Forty-one minutes after the patient was discharged from the ER, she delivered the baby in the outpatient clinic bathroom.[4]
The following is a summary of the key issues identified [at the Rapid City IHS Hospital]:
Two medical doctors with expired state licenses;
Six doctors and family nurse practitioners with expired CPR certifications;
Eight family nurse practitioners and physicians with lapsed ACLS [Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support] certifications; and
One family nurse practitioner with an expired DEA [Drug Enforcement Agency] license.[5]
Five years have passed since Sen. Dorgan released his report, more than enough time for the IHS and the Aberdeen office to make the changes that were desperately needed. Nevertheless, my constituents’ experiences and CMS’ recent findings at the Pine Ridge and Rosebud IHS Hospitals suggest little has changed. For example, among the myriad problems discovered at Rosebud in recent weeks:
Staff washed surgical instruments by hand because the sterilization machine had been broken for six months;
No infection control measures were taken for a patient with a history of an untreated highly infectious disease. When the patient was transferred, no documentation was created to inform the accepting facility of his history with the disease;
Staff left a pregnant patient unattended and she delivered her premature baby on the floor of a hospital bathroom. The baby was initially not breathing. Staff intervened, but when the doctor arrived 20-30 minutes later, staff did not notify the doctor that the baby was premature or that it had been found on the floor. No equipment was available to deal with the situation. While staff obtained equipment, the baby was not placed in a warmer and was not given oxygen.
In testimony at the Senate Indian Affairs Committee’s 2010 hearing, Dr. Roubideaux acknowledged the challenges facing the Great Plains Area, and noted that funding levels are not solely to blame. Rather, she said, “we [IHS] can and we must make meaningful progress toward addressing these issues utilizing the resources we currently have.”[6] I agree with her assessment and hope you do too.
In light of the appalling situation in some of South Dakota’s IHS service units and to help me determine what meaningful systematic changes IHS has made since the 2010 report, please provide the following information by January 31, 2016:
An exhaustive list of IHS facilities that have been served with CMS termination notices for the time period January 1, 2012 to present. In providing this information, please include:
The facilities whose CMS contracts were terminated and of those, the facilities that are currently in good standing with CMS.
Describe in detail the reforms IHS and the Great Plains Area made in response to the Senate Indian Affairs Committee report titled “In Critical Condition: The Urgent Need to Reform the Indian Health Service’s Aberdeen Area,” as well as any supporting documentation;
A list of any instances of Schedule II drug theft from any facility in the Great Plains Area for the time period January 1, 2012 to present. In providing this information, please include:
The kind and amount of drug involved;
Whether an IHS employee was found responsible for the theft;
If an employee was responsible for the theft:
List whether the employee was disciplined;
Describe the nature of the discipline;
A list of any instances in which any health care provider employed by any facility in the Great Plains Area was found to have been under the influence of drugs or alcohol in the conduct of their job for the time period January 1, 2012 to present. In providing this information, please include:
Whether the employee was disciplined;
Describe the nature of the discipline;
A list of any instances in which any health care provider employed by any facility in the Great Plains Area was found to have lapsed in any license, accreditation, or certification for the time period January 1, 2012 to present. In providing this information, please include:
The provider’s job title;
The facility where the provider was posted at the time of the lapse;
The type of license, accreditation, or certification that lapsed;
The amount of time the license, accreditation, or certification had been lapsed before it was reinstated;
Provide a full accounting of funding allotted to the Great Plains Area, as well as the total amount spent by the Aberdeen office on administrative expenses (including administrator salaries and bonuses), each year for the time period January 1, 2012 to present.
Thank you for your assistance in this matter. If you have questions about my request, please contact my staff at 202-225-2801.
Sincerely,
KRISTI NOEM
Member of Congress
CC: The Honorable Sylvia Burwell, Secretary, HHS
Mr. Andy Slavitt, Acting Administrator, CMS
Mr. Ron Cornelius, Great Plains Area Director, IHS
Mr. Gary Cantrell, Deputy Inspector General for Investigations, HHS OIG
###
[1] U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs. In Critical Condition: The Urgent Need to Reform the Indian Health Service’s Aberdeen Area. S. Hrg. 111-873 (September 28, 2010). [2] U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs. In Critical Condition: The Urgent Need to Reform the Indian Health Service’s Aberdeen Area, Report of Chairman Byron L. Dorgan. 111th Congress (December 28, 2010). [3]Report at 18. [4] Id. at 24. [5]Id. at 28. [6]Hearing at 9.
South Dakota Projects Get Bump in
Year-End Funding Bill, Says Noem
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Representative Kristi Noem today supported a bipartisan year-end funding bill that strengthens our national defense, provides more support for South Dakota rural water projects, and offers additional support for school districts that rely on the Impact Aid program, among other things. The legislation passed with broad support, 316-113.
“This package is far from perfect, but I’m confident it’s the best deal we could get given the hand we were dealt,” said Noem. “We fought hard to make sure our national security and defense systems were properly funded and upgraded the Visa Waiver Program to better ensure terrorists couldn’t exploit security gaps. And I’m happy with the outcome we earned on the security front. I’m also pleased that we were able to successfully make the case that several South Dakota priorities were worth a national investment. From support for the Impact Aid program to funding for rural water, this legislation will have a direct impact on many South Dakotans.”
The bipartisan legislation included support for a number of South Dakota priorities, including:
Greater support for Rural Water. The Lewis & Clark Rural Water System was appropriated the full budget request of $2.77 million. Additionally, the fund for ongoing rural water projects, which Lewis & Clark and a handful of other projects are eligible to draw from, was funded at $47 million, a nearly $20 million increase over previously passed levels. The rural water fund was originally created in 2013 as the result of an amendment offered by Rep. Noem to the FY2014 Energy and Water appropriations bill as a way to make the Lewis & Clark project eligible for additional resources.
Continued support for research at the Sanford Lab. The legislation offers added support for the Long Baseline Neutrino Facility, which will be conducted at the Sanford Underground Research Facility in Lead, S.D., and the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in Batavia, Illinois.
Added support for Impact Aid. Through the bill, additional support is offered to the federal Impact Aid program, which provides payments from the federal government to local school districts to make up for lost local taxes.
Flexible funding for IHS facilities that have lost, or are at risk of losing, CMS accreditation. In recent weeks, IHS facilities in Rosebud and Pine Ridge have been notified that they are at risk of losing CMS accreditation, which would force many tribal members to find help miles and miles away from their homes. This legislation includes $2 million in new, flexible funding so the IHS Director can take the actions necessary to ensure CMS accreditation status is reinstated and retained, and, once accreditation has been reinstated, to restore third-party insurance reimbursement shortfalls.
Puts new limits on the EPA. This legislation rejects funding for new or expanded EPA programs that let top-down bureaucrats pick winners and losers. It also holds the agency to the lowest spending levels since 2008.
AFP Thanks Thune for Work on Internet Tax Freedom Act “Repealing Internet Tax Should Be A Top Priority For Lawmakers,” says State Director Ben Lee
SIOUX FALLS – Americans for Prosperity applauds Senator Thune for leading efforts to pass the Internet Tax Freedom Act, which would prohibit states from collecting taxes on Internet access.
State Director Ben Lee released the following statement:
“Repealing the tax on internet access would be a huge boon to consumers and small businesses across the state. The tax costs South Dakotans $15 million a year and it should be a top-priority for our lawmakers. We applaud Senator Thune for his continued commitment to protecting South Dakota taxpayers and for making South Dakota a better place to do business. Fiscally responsible policies like these have enabled South Dakota to keep taxes low and it’s part what has made our state so attractive to new businesses. We thank Senator Thune for his efforts and look forward to working together in the future.”
From FOX News, a software vendor is being blamed for a recent data breach that allowed the Bernie Sanders Campaign to access and potentially download Hillary Clinton voter research data:
Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign reportedly has been punished by the Democratic National Committee (DNC) for improperly accessing voter data compiled by Hillary Clinton’s campaign.
and…
Sanders spokesman Michael Briggs placed the blame for the incident in large part on the vendor, NGP VAN.
“Sadly, the vendor who runs the DNC’s voter file program continues to make serious errors. On more than one occasion, the vendor has dropped the firewall between the data of different Democratic campaigns,” he said in a statement to Fox News. While saying it was “unacceptable” for a campaign staffer to access “some modeling data from another campaign,” he also said they want to work with the DNC and vendor to fix the “software flaws” that could make Sanders’ records vulnerable as well.
Another campaign official told the Post that the Clinton data was never downloaded or printed.
NGP VAN describes itself on its website as “the leading technology provider to Democratic and progressive campaigns.”
NGP VAN? We’ve all heard of that company before! Because that’s the company hosting the website for the South Dakota sacrificial lamb Democrat challenger to Congresswoman Kristi Noem, Paula Hawks. And through their generosity, we all knew she was running long before she was prepared to make an announcement:
It looks like the months-late announcement of Paula Hawks being Democrats’ sacrificial lamb candidate to run against Congresswoman Kristi Noem is nigh.
Tonight I was able to grab these screen captures of her campaign web site (with logo) from http://www.hawksforhouse.com, which much like Hawks herself, is severely in need of substance to go along with her ambition..
My post was dated July 26th, and if you look at the “read the entire bio” link above, you’ll see it was being developed and is still hosted on NGP VAN servers.
How did my “team of hackers” divine this super-secret information? Seriously, I just did a google search on Paula Hawks, and there the links for the development site were there for God and the world to see. NGP VAN’s sloppy posting of the the information, and the information which came out had the Argus Leader editorial staff defining the Hawks campaign roll out as “Amateur Hour,” and gave the impression that her campaign is inept.
And given her performance in fundraising, publicity, and even putting out a message on social media, the label is going to be hard for her to shake. (She’s only had 1 tweet so far for this month, BTW.)
I would not be shocked to hear that the “low level staffer” for Sanders who took the fall for this, didn’t do anything more nefarious than substitute “Clinton” for “Sanders” in some directory listing or website URL, or something as basic as that, and had all their data pop up on the screen.
Sometimes people of good conscience have to agree that they’re going to disagree. This is one of those times:
At least 42 states regulate indoor tanning for minors. Thirteen states, including Minnesota, ban the use of ultraviolet tanning devices by anyone under age 18.
If one lawmaker has his way, South Dakota will be the 14th state to ban indoor tanning for anyone under 18.
Representative Scott Munsterman of Brookings says he is bringing a bill to Pierre in January that would add South Dakota to the list of states that ban tanning to anyone under the age of 18…
Scott, you’re a wonderful person, and true statesman. But seriously, you’re killing me here.
The ‘tan ban’ is a misguided, nanny-state measure that has no place in a free society. Because there comes a point where rules become so draconian and overly altruistic where we’re no longer a free society, but an artificially engineered one designed by liberals who want to dictate every single aspect of our lives.
It is so overly intrusive in a free society that we have to be offended by it. If we’re not, then we need to examine what we believe our definition of freedom is.
Because there will come a point in our future where we’re going to go into our front yards for our government mandated calisthenics (for the sake of our health, of course) and wonder “What in the heck happened?”
I had mentioned this in a previous post, but here’s a copy of the newsletter where District 34 Republicans Rep. Jeff Partridge and Sen, Craig Tieszen noted they’re going to be running for the other’s office in the 2016 legislative elections.
Noem Votes to Protect South Dakotans from Tax Hikes
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Representative Kristi Noem today supported the Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes Act, which shields Americans from pending tax hikes:
“Tax hikes limit growth because they ultimately limit economic opportunities,” said Noem. “With this legislation in place, more of our hard-earned money will stay in the hands of taxpayers, giving families more control over how their money is spent. I’m optimistic this package will also give farmers, homeowners, small businesses and families more certainty about what savings they’ll be able to find during tax time this year and in the years ahead. Leaving what you earn in your wallet is essential to growing a healthy and sustainable economy.”
The bipartisan Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes Act makes a number of temporary tax provisions permanent, delivering predictability, clarity and certainty for families and job creators. Included in the list of permanent extensions are:
Section 179 business expensing limitations, which are important to many South Dakota farmers, ranchers and small businesses
Improvements to 529 college savings plans
Deduction for state and local sales tax
Deduction for certain expenses of elementary and secondary school teachers
Deductions for charitable giving
The legislation also temporarily extends the following through the end of 2016:
Biodiesel tax credit
Deduction for certain tuition and higher education expenses
Indian employment tax credit
Moratorium on Obamacare’s medical device tax (extended through 2017)
Finally, this legislation includes a series of reforms designed to rein in the power of the IRS and better protect taxpayers, such as:
Firing IRS employees who take politically motivated actions against taxpayers
Requiring IRS employees to respect the Taxpayer Bill of Rights
Prohibit IRS employees from using personal email accounts for official business
Click here for a section-by-section summary of the Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes Act.
Thune Proud of Legislation That Will Benefit South Dakota
“I’m particularly proud of some of the legislation we’ve passed this year that will benefit South Dakota families and businesses, as well as families and businesses across the country.”
WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) recently highlighted the numerous accomplishments the Republican-led Senate has achieved since Republicans took the majority in January. Many of those accomplishments will directly benefit South Dakota families and businesses.
Remarks (as prepared for delivery):
“Mr. President, from voting to repeal Obamacare to passing the first long-term transportation bill in a decade and the first joint balanced budget in 14 years, Senate Republicans have worked hard this year to fulfill our promise to get Washington working again for American families.
“And while some of our efforts have been blocked by Senate Democrats or the president, we’ve still managed to get a lot done.
“I’m particularly proud of some of the legislation we’ve passed this year that will benefit South Dakota families and businesses, as well as families and businesses across the country.
“One bill that I’ve been working on for a long time – a bill that will mean a lot to South Dakota farmers and ranchers – is the legislation the House passed last week, the Surface Transportation Board reauthorization bill.
“The Surface Transportation Board is responsible for helping to ensure the efficiency of our rail system by addressing problems and adjudicating disputes between railroads and shippers.
“Unfortunately, it’s been clear for several years now that the Surface Transportation Board needs to work better.
“This became particularly apparent in 2013 and 2014, when a sharp increase in shipping demand and harsh winter weather conditions combined to create massive backlogs in the availability of rail cars for grain shipping, which in turn caused storage issues for farmers across the Midwest.
“The U.S. Department of Agriculture found that the rail backlog lowered the price of corn, wheat, and soybeans in the Upper Midwest and forced shippers to pay record-high railroad car premiums – 28 percent to 150 percent above the average previous levels – for roughly 65 consecutive weeks.
“The Surface Transportation Board legislation Congress sent to the president last week will help prevent another situation like this in the future.
“The bill, which I spearheaded, makes a number of significant reforms to the board.
“For starters, it expands the number of board members and establishes a more collaborative process that will allow members to work together to identify and solve problems as they emerge.
“The bill also provides the board with the investigative authority to address rail service issues even if an official complaint has not been made.
“This will allow and encourage the board to be more proactive when it comes to addressing problems in our nation’s rail system.
“The bill also increases transparency by requiring the Surface Transportation Board to establish a database of complaints and provide quarterly reports with key information to facilitate the effective monitoring of service issues.
“Finally, the bill improves the current process for resolving disputes between railroads and shippers.
“Right now, disputes can take multiple years and millions of dollars to resolve, which puts a tremendous burden on shippers and on railroads as well.
“The legislation we developed improves this process by setting timelines for rate reviews, expanding voluntary arbitration procedures, and requiring the Surface Transportation Board to study alternative rate review methodologies to streamline and expedite cases.
“It requires that the Surface Transportation Board maintain at least one simplified, expedited rate review methodology.
“These changes will increase efficiency throughout the rate review process.
“Mr. President, South Dakota farmers and ranchers depend on our nation’s railroads to bring their goods to market, and they also depend on our nation’s highways.
“This year I was proud to work with my colleagues in the Senate on the first long-term transportation bill in a decade.
“Over the past several years, Congress made a habit of passing numerous short-term funding extensions for federal transportation programs.
“That was an incredibly inefficient way to manage our nation’s infrastructure needs, and it wasted an incredible amount of money.
“It also put a lot of transportation jobs in jeopardy.
“When Congress fails to make it clear how transportation funding will be allocated, states and local governments are left without the certainty they need to authorize projects or make long-term plans for addressing various transportation infrastructure needs.
“And that means that essential construction projects get deferred, necessary repairs may not get made, and the jobs that depend on these projects and repairs are put at risk.
“The transportation bill we passed this month changes all that.
“It reauthorizes transportation programs for the long term and provides five years of guaranteed funding.
“That means states and local governments will have the certainty they need to invest in big transportation projects and the jobs they create.
“And that in turn means a stronger economy and a more reliable, safe, and effective transportation system.
“As chairman of the Commerce Committee, I spent a lot of time working with committee members on both sides of the aisle to develop the transportation bill’s safety provisions.
“Our portion of the bill includes a host of important safety improvements, including enhancements to the notification process to ensure that consumers are informed of auto-related recalls and important reforms at the government agency responsible for overseeing safety in our nation’s cars and trucks.
“Mr. President, another important success for South Dakota this year was the final approval of the expansion of the Powder River Training Complex – the military training airspace over South Dakota, North Dakota, Montana, and Wyoming.
“The expanded air space approved by the Air Force and the Federal Aviation Administration will allow our airmen and women to carry out critical training in conditions that more closely resemble combat missions.
“After working with the Air Force on this project for nearly nine years, I was proud to see this expansion finally completed and even more delighted to see the first large-force training exercise take place at the expanded Powder River Training Complex this month.
“Forty-one aircraft took part in the exercise, including the B-1 bombers from Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota.
“The expanded training complex will save Ellsworth $23 million per year in training costs by reducing the need for the B-1 bombers to commute to other states like Nevada and Utah for training.
“Mr. President, supporting our men and women in uniform – like our airmen at Ellsworth – is one of our most important jobs as members of Congress, and this year I’m proud to report that the Senate passed a national defense authorization bill that incorporates a number of critical reforms that will expand the resources available to our service members and strengthen our national security.
“The National Defense Authorization Act for 2016 tackles waste and inefficiency at the Department of Defense and focuses funding on our warfighters, rather than the Pentagon bureaucracy.
“The bill also overhauls our military retirement system.
“Before this bill, the system limited retirement benefits to service members who had served for 20 years or more, which means huge numbers of military personnel, including many veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, retired after years of service without having accrued any retirement benefits.
“The National Defense Authorization Act replaces this system with a new retirement system that will ensure that the majority of our nation’s service members receive retirement benefits for their years of service to our country, even if they have not reached the 20-year mark.
“Mr. President, the bills I’ve discussed today are just a few of the accomplishments of the Republican-led Senate.
“Over the course of this year, we’ve passed a number of significant pieces of legislation that will benefit Americans for years to come.
“We’ve worked hard to help our nation’s veterans by expanding access to mental health resources, reducing wait times for medical care, and increasing the number of providers who can serve veterans.
“We voted to repeal Obamacare and start the process of moving toward the real health care reform Americans are looking for: an affordable, accountable, patient-focused system that puts individuals in control of their health care decisions.
“We’ve passed legislation to contain the out-of-control bureaucracy at the EPA and legislation to begin the process of safeguarding Medicare and Social Security by putting them on a more sustainable financial footing going forward.
“And we’ve passed cybersecurity legislation to protect Americans’ privacy and a major education reform bill that puts states, parents and teachers, and local school boards – not Washington bureaucrats – in charge of children’s education.
“But while we may have accomplished a lot this year, we know there’s still a lot that needs to be done.
“Americans are still suffering in the Obama economy, and our nation continues to face terrorist threats at home and abroad.
“Whether enacting pro-growth policies at home or ensuring our military has the resources it needs to protect us from threats abroad, Republicans will redouble our efforts to make sure Washington is meeting the needs of American families and addressing the American people’s priorities.
“We plan to spend the second year of the 114th Congress the way we’ve spent the first: fighting to make our economy stronger, our government more efficient and more accountable, and our nation and our world safer and more secure.”
Noem Seeks Information on Critical Conditions within Indian Health Service Facilities
AFP Thanks Thune for Work on Internet Tax Freedom Act
Thune Proud of Legislation That Will Benefit South Dakota 
