Author: @SoDakCampaigns

Weathering the South Dakota Weather
By Sen. John Thune

Our farmers and ranchers carry a huge burden on their shoulders. They work day in and day out, in heat and frost, to help feed billions of people across the world. It is only because of farmers and ranchers that our grocery store shelves stay stocked. Even through an unprecedented global pandemic, while other industries shifted or slowed, our producers pushed forward to keep Americans fed.

On top of this burden, farmers face unimaginable stress just keeping their operations going through unpredictable weather, trade uncertainties, challenging market conditions, burdensome government regulations, and much more.

Currently, almost every corner of South Dakota is facing a drought. In fact, more than half of our state is officially classified as experiencing severe or extreme drought.

Drought can have devastating impacts on farmers and ranchers. Right now, cattle producers are quickly running out of hay to feed their livestock. Without adequate forage, some cattle producers are being forced to sell off their herds. This is devastating for many of our producers who’ve spent years building their herds.

Thankfully the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has tools in its arsenal to help producers through damaging weather conditions like the ones we’re facing today. Allowing emergency haying and grazing of Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) acres, of which there are more than 1 million in South Dakota, can help alleviate forage shortages for cattle ranchers during drought years when it’s allowed in a timely manner.

I am a longtime advocate of CRP, which supports both production agriculture and outdoor recreational activities like hunting in South Dakota. These acres provide critical habitat for pheasants and other wildlife, contributing significantly to our state’s economy. But haying and grazing CRP acres can also provide a lifeline for South Dakota agriculture producers during droughts like this one.

I’ve been urging USDA to make as many additional CRP acres available as possible for emergency haying and grazing to help South Dakota producers, many of whom are in desperate need of assistance. And I continue pressing the department to provide ranchers with more flexibility on when they can use these acres for these emergency purposes.

I recently led many of my ag-state colleagues in introducing legislation that would improve USDA’s ability to allow for timely emergency haying. Right now, emergency haying on CRP acres is not allowed until after the primary nesting season, which ended on August 1 in South Dakota. My CRP Flexibility Act would address this by allowing emergency haying on CRP acres earlier than August 1 if certain conditions are met and in a manner that ensures CRP vegetative cover is maintained.

Agriculture is a tough business, and our producers have had to endure a tremendous amount over the past few years, from bad weather conditions to the COVID-19 pandemic. No matter the hardship, I’m always in their corner. I will keep doing everything I can to ensure their needs are met so they can continue to help feed our state, nation, and world.

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Governor Kristi Noem sent out a text message fundraising appeal today with a strong message against those who would see South Dakota shut down and mandates imposed during the coronavirus pandemic.

“Kristi Noem: I don’t care how much pressure we get from the Left, our corrupt media, or public health ‘experts’ who call Republicans ‘super-spreaders’ but support ‘peaceful protesters’ who tear down statues and burn down our cities.”

It’s not a gentle message, but it plays to the Governor’s conservative base on issues that ever increasingly strike home for Republicans in the face of pandemic restrictions possibly coming back as the Sturgis Rally kicks off, and kids prepare to go back to school with some school districts requiring masks.

Back-to-School for students, teachers, and parents
By Gov. Kristi Noem
August 6, 2021

It’s back-to-school season; a busy time filled with excitement for students and teachers, as well as parents eager to snap those “first day of school” photos. The outpouring of positivity for students at every grade level has always been a great way to kickstart the school year.

With that positivity also comes a heightened sense of responsibility. Now, more than ever, parents have a greater understanding of how and what their children are learning. From school safety to the important benchmarks for curriculum, every aspect of how we educate the next generation is under new scrutiny.

As a mother, I know the importance of engaging children and their teachers throughout the school year. Educators train students on the tools to excel in the future, including the skills required for math, reading, writing, sciences, and the arts.

These tools are bolstered when parents or guardians lay a strong foundation of core values taught within a family unit. Where these values play a crucial role is in the learning, comprehension, and study of civics and history. Until recently, civics and history classes across the United States focused on the study of major events, including the leaders who shaped our country. That remains the focus in South Dakota. I am fighting to ensure the study of historical facts and figures remains free of ideological influence. We also are improving standards that add context to enhance a student’s understanding of historical events.

As governor, I have become increasingly concerned about a growing movement throughout the country to reject patriotic education and downplay the positive revolution in human affairs set in motion by our Founders. This is why I support resisting Critical Race Theory and action civics from our schools. That’s also why I recently signed an executive order to block federal grants for Critical Race Theory and action civics in our state.

Fortunately, it does not appear that this revisionist history is being taught in South Dakota, and I intend to work with lawmakers in the next legislative session to keep it that way. This week, the South Dakota Board of Regents issued guidance consistent with my position, calling for a series of actions to ensure our public universities remain places for learning, study, and exploration, and not platforms to advance ideological or political agendas.

History is an important piece of the educational puzzle — our triumphs and failures have shaped this nation and allowed America to become a beacon of freedom and democracy around the world.

As we prepare for the start of school, I encourage parents to talk with their children daily about what they are learning. Engage with teachers about the progress you are seeing at home and ways to improve your child’s learning capabilities. And approach every engagement with positivity so the focus remains on strengthening our children’s self-worth, in part, through academic achievement.

When parents, teachers, and our children work together, we ensure a brighter future for all of South Dakota.

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Rounds to Introduce USA Beef Act, Restoring Integrity to “Product of USA” Label
Bill outlaws foreign beef from receiving “Product of USA” label, which is allowed under current USDA rules

 WASHINGTON –U.S. Senator Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) and a bipartisan group of his colleagues announced the introduction of the USA Beef Act. This Rounds-led bill limits the use of the “Product of USA” label only to beef products that are born, raised and slaughtered in the United States. Current United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) rules allow for foreign beef raised in other countries to receive this label. This bill outlaws this current practice and restores integrity to a currently misleading, but ultimately valuable tool for consumers and cattle producers.

“It’s pretty simple – only beef born, raised and slaughtered in the United States should receive the ‘Product of USA’ label,” said Rounds. “As I continue to work with my colleagues on re-establishing mandatory country of origin labeling, we must fix the current labels to protect consumers and producers. For far too long, South Dakota producers have suffered as their high-quality, American-raised beef has lost value as it’s mixed with foreign beef, raised and processed under different standards. This is wrong. Consumers deserve to know where their beef comes from and accurate, transparent labeling supports American farmers and ranchers. It’s long past time we fix this once and for all.”

“South Dakota cattle ranchers work hard to produce some of the highest quality beef in the world, and they deserve to proudly showcase their products with accurate labeling,” said Thune. “I’m proud of this straightforward legislation that will ensure that consumers know they are getting their beef from cattle that were born right here in the U.S.A.”

This legislation is endorsed by US Cattlemen’s Association, R-CALF, South Dakota Farmers Union and the South Dakota Stockgrowers Association.

This bill is cosponsored by Senators John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), John Thune (R-S.D.), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.) and Steve Daines (R-Mont.). Representative Matt Rosendale (R-Mont.) is introducing companion legislation in the House of Representatives.

Background:

At the urging of Senator Rounds and hundreds of ranchers in South Dakota and around the country, USDA announced in July a full-scale review of the Product of USA label. In conjunction with USDA’s announcement, the Federal Trade Commission finalized a ruletightening the use of the “Made in the USA” label. The rule does not require specific actions be taken regarding beef labeling.

Since he was elected to the Senate, Sen. Rounds has led numerous efforts to provide solutions to the problems faced by independent cattle producers and beef consumers. Most recently, he:

·         Introduced the Meat Packing Special Investigator Act with Sens. Tester and Grassley to give the U.S. Department of Agriculture the tools to investigate anticompetitive practices in the cattle market.

·         Led a group of 26 colleagues with Sen. Tina Smith (D-Minn.) in calling on the attorney general to investigate the meatpacking industry to determine if antitrust violations exist.

·         Addressed cattle producers during a virtual town hall focused on meatpacker concentration in the cattle industry.

·         Reintroduced legislation with Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) to allow meat and poultry products inspected by state Meat and Poultry Inspection (MPI) programs to be sold across state lines.

·         Introduced bipartisan legislation to foster more competitive cattle markets by requiring that a minimum of 50 percent of a meatpacker’s weekly volume of cattle purchases take place on the open or spot market.

·         Introduced legislation which would outlaw foreign beef from being labeled as a “Product of the U.S.A.” and make certain that label only goes on beef and beef products exclusively derived from animals born, raised and slaughtered here in the United States.

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Governor Noem Statement on Board of Regents Draft Policy Restricting CRT in Colleges, Universities  

PIERRE, S.D. – Today, Governor Kristi Noem released the following statement in response to the South Dakota Board of Regents’ approval of a draft policy restricting the teaching of Critical Race Theory at state colleges and universities:

“I am grateful the Board of Regents is taking steps to address this divisive subject and limit its application in our university classrooms. Critical Race Theory, the 1619 Project, and the works of Ibram Kendi divide students, distort their understanding of history, and seek to indoctrinate them with anti-patriotic rhetoric. Additionally, I am glad to see that so-called diversity offices, which have unfortunately become less about serving students and more about advancing leftist agendas, are being replaced by Opportunity Centers that will focus on students as individuals, rather than members of groups. The policies put forth by the Board of Regents are a step forward in our quest to resist the harmful effects this ideology can have on students and preserve honest, patriotic education throughout South Dakota. I look forward to continuing the conversation with our legislators and education leaders in the coming months.”

In May, Governor Noem sent a letter to each member of the Board of Regents asking them to examine whether state funds were being used to support Critical Race Theory and its cohorts in post-secondary public institutions, as well as the operations of diversity offices. The draft policy released today by the Board took steps to align with the requests from that letter, which can be read here.

In July, the governor signed an executive order banning the state Department of Education from applying for federal grants tied to Critical Race Theory and action civics. In the order, Governor Noem signaled her intent to work with the legislature in the upcoming session to address further resistance to Critical Race Theory being taught in public schools.

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The Pennington County Republican Party just sent out an e-mail blast with an announcement on their speaker for the 9/11 Pennington County Lincoln Day Dinner. But it may not necessarily be a message that you would expect from the Rapid City GOP, as their speaker may be telling the party to come back from the fringe if they want to attract more young people to the party.

A short time ago the Pennington County Republican Party sent out a notice earlier this afternoon announcing their speaker of the Lincoln Day Dinner, announcing that their speaker would be Rikki Schlott, a researcher and an intern at The Megan Kelly Show, Contributing writer at the NY Post, Reason Magazine & the Epoch Times, etcetera.

 

Interestingly, and in what might be a shift for Pennington County Republicans, one of Schlott’s more recent articles in the New York Post is a message of how the Republican Party can attract more young people to join and be active in the party by compromising on social and environmental issues and by standing up to extremism.

Young Republicans want a more dynamic party that meets them in the middle on two major concerns: environmental and social. While the Democratic party champions progress on both, the GOP remains lukewarm on the issues and, as a result, risks breeding a generation of Democrats by default.

and..

Pushing for innovation and offering economic incentives to businesses fighting climate change is just one way the GOP could show it’s on team green.

and..

Meanwhile, Gen Z Republicans say society does not do enough to accept gender non-conforming people at a rate three times higher than some older Republican generations. Many Gen Z voters imagine Republicans as rigid, evangelizing traditionalists. By adopting a more live-and-let-live philosophy in favor of cultural conservatism, the GOP would appeal to more young people.

and..

In short, the GOP should work on rebranding as the modern, reasonable, solutions-oriented party. If Republicans succeed in crafting this new identity, it will make enormous strides with young voters and secure its future.

Read the entire story here.

I don’t know that this is a new message in many circles on how to attract younger voters to the party of Lincoln, but it might signal a shift in the wind.

Especially in Pennington County Republican politics, in that they are willing to feature a speaker at their largest event of the year who has a message of encouraging the party to grow the GOP tent by coming back from the hard right and accepting those with different views on the environment and gender conformity.

If they’re not careful, they might learn something.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:  Thursday, August 5, 2021

Regents Issue ‘Opportunity for All’ Statement

 PIERRE, S.D. – The South Dakota Board of Regents today adopted a statement and action plan that strongly positions its public universities as places of opportunity for all students to benefit from higher education, preparing them to live and work in South Dakota or anywhere in the world.

The statement, reaffirms and doubles down on the board’s commitment to providing the resources and services necessary to ensure all students have an opportunity to succeed at its universities. “We treat each person as an individual, not as a member of a group, and offer services and supports for each person’s individual situation,” the board’s statement says.

The board’s statement frames its position around four central tenants: (1) offering opportunity for all students; (2) proudly supporting the United States of America; (3) safeguarding the rich tradition of American universities; and (4) offering curriculum based upon widely held and accepted knowledge and thought.

The statement recognizes the importance of teaching public university students in South Dakota about America’s history, the system of individual liberty in a democratic republic, and the free enterprise system. “Part of that instruction is to acknowledge and discuss America’s flaws and mistakes, so that we can learn from them and improve,” it says. “Critical Race Theory is not the basis for instruction in our state universities and it’s not going to be. But this is a label that means different things to different people,” said Regent Tony Venhuizen. “That’s why our board today is taking a step back and stating the American values that will continue to guide the university system.”

“We are committed to programs that enhance a wide ranging knowledge of American government and its traditions,” said Regent Jeff Partridge. “As part of that, we are prepared to offer new opportunities for students to increase their civic engagement and develop skills in communication, critical thinking, civility, and dispute resolution.”

Regents recognize that South Dakota’s public universities are part of the rich tradition of American universities, a tradition built upon free speech, scientific discovery, and academic freedom. “As our students expand their understanding in a field of study, we encourage that students be exposed to a variety of viewpoints, ideas, and theories, so that they can be debated and critiqued,” the statement says.

Progress toward goals outlined in the board’s statement will be discussed at the next regular Board of Regents’ meeting, scheduled for October 6-7 in Rapid City. The Board of Regent’s full statement on “Opportunity for All” can be accessed at this link https://www.sdbor.edu/the-board/agendaitems/2014AgendaItems/2021%20Agenda%20Items/August3_21/7_A_BOR0821.pdf

With recent appointments from Governor Kristi Noem, the South Dakota Board of Regents appears to be taking proactive steps for our state’s colleges to more closely remember what their purpose is as incubators of debate and free thinking, as well as for them to pay more attention to American exceptionalism.

Today the board passed on an 8-0-1 vote (with one abstaining) a measure to “provide clear direction on the Board’s position and approach to addressing and managing various areas garnering recent attention on the national stage, ensuring our institutions remain places of learning, study and exploration, built upon free speech, scientific discovery and academic freedom.”

And you can read it below:

7_A_BOR0821 by Pat Powers on Scribd

Best part? as you’ll read in the document..

South Dakota’s state universities are public, taxpayer-funded institutions. It is inherent in the missions of our universities to proudly support the United States of America. Our students will learn about America’s history, our system of individual liberty in a democratic republic, and our system of free enterprise. Part of that instruction is to acknowledge and discuss America’s flaws and mistakes, so that we can learn from them and improve. We celebrate, though, America’s role in recent world history, as the nation most responsible for expanding liberty, prosperity, and equality across the globe.

Heck yeah!