Category: Washington DC News

US Senator Mike Rounds’ Weekly Column: My First 100 Days

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My First 100 Days
By Senator Mike Rounds
April 17, 2014

MikeRounds official SenateMy first 100 days working as a U.S. Senator have been full of activity. When the people of South Dakota elected me to the Senate, I made them a promise to help get things working in Washington again. For too long, our federal government has been mired in dysfunction and lack of accountability. The new Republican majority in Congress has been working hard to get government back on track. Already, we have made significant progress.

In the senate, we have passed many important bipartisan bills, including veterans’ suicide prevention legislation, the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA), a bill authorizing construction of the Keystone XL pipeline, and most recently, a bill that will strengthen Medicare for patients and their providers. We have opened up the amendment process on the Senate floor, allowing for full, robust debate on every issue. In the three and a half months since taking office, we have held roughly seven times as many amendment roll call votes as were conducted all of last year under Democrat leadership. Our goal is to make the Senate work as it was intended, with an open legislative process to help end the gridlock that has defined Washington for far too long.

The new Republican majority also passed a budget this year— something that rarely happened under previous leadership. Additionally, our budget balances in 10 years, something that neither the President nor previous leaderships’ budgets accomplished. Our budget plan offers a responsible path forward to corral our fiscal problems and reflects a number of my top priorities: growing our economy so folks have more take-home pay each month, creating new jobs, repealing Obamacare, funding our military at proper levels and reining in our national debt. We will now have twelve opportunities in twelve different appropriations bills in which we can impact how money at the federal level is being spent, making sure it is spent responsibly and that middle class Americans are protected from burdensome taxes and regulations.

My offices in South Dakota have been busy during our first 100 days as well. They serve as my eyes and ears while I am in Washington, talking to constituents and helping them with their federal government-related issues. We have helped dozens of South Dakotans by expediting delayed passports in critical moments and helped veterans obtain overdue benefits they have been promised. We can step in when people are having problems with any federal government agency, acting as a liaison for the constituent. The ability to make a real difference in the lives of individual South Dakotans is one of the best parts of serving in the Senate.

The American people deserve a government that is effective, efficient and accountable. Government ought to be working for the people, not against them. When I was elected to the Senate, I made a promise to the people of South Dakota that I would help get government working again. I remain as committed as ever to fulfilling that promise. It won’t get done overnight, but if these first 100 days are any indication, we are on the right path.

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Congresswoman Noem’s Weekly Column: Taxing Tragedies

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Taxing Tragedies
By Rep. Kristi Noem
April 17, 2015

kristi noem headshot May 21 2014When I was 21 years old, I got a call late one afternoon from Joanie, who worked with my family on our farm. She said, “Kristi, your dad is stuck in a grain bin.” I knew instantly what she meant by that. I told her to turn on the fans and I was on my way.

By the time I got there, neighbors and friends had taken payloaders and ripped down the grain bin trying to find him. When they finally did, they started doing CPR. I followed the ambulance to the hospital with my family and the doctors fought to save him for hours into the evening. After he passed away, I remember opening the door to the little room they’d kept our family in and there was a crowd of people standing in the emergency room. It wasn’t just a tragedy to me and my family. It was a tragedy to our entire community. Their support is something I’ll never forget.

We were a family that grew up with a man who could do anything. To me, he was invincible. It was impossible to imagine how we were going to pick up the pieces.

My dad’s number one dream in life was to pass his family farm onto us kids. That’s why he got up at 5:00 almost every morning. He wanted to give us the opportunity to farm together, if we wanted to.

Shortly after the accident, my family got a letter from the IRS telling us that we owed the death tax because we had experienced a tragedy. We could see that we had land that my dad had started buying while he was still in high school and land that my grandpa had bought. We had cattle. We had machinery. And we had a family that needed to make good decisions.

What we didn’t have was enough money in the bank to pay the IRS the death tax. All I could hear in my head was my dad saying, “Kristi, don’t sell the land. God isn’t making any more.” We were fortunate to get a loan. It kept our family’s American Dream going, but it also impacted nearly every decision we made for a decade.

I have never understood why the federal government thought it was appropriate to go after families with this double tax – especially in a time of crisis. My dad had already paid taxes on the equipment, the land, and any other assets. Now, we had to pay taxes on it again because he had died. It’s not right.

On April 16, the House passed a full and permanent repeal of the death tax – the first time we had done so in a decade. The administration has already threatened to veto it if the Senate decides to put it on his desk, however, which saddens me. No family should have to go through what ours did.

Through the death tax, the IRS is jeopardizing the American Dream for just two days’ worth of government spending each year. They’re doing so at a time when a family is still grieving and trying to figure out how they’ll move forward without this person in their lives. It’s wrong and I’m committed to repealing it.

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Thune Statement on Bipartisan Trade Promotion Authority Legislation

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Thune Statement on Bipartisan Trade Promotion Authority Legislation

“Enacting TPA will be a boon to the economy, expanding opportunities for American workers and giving American farmers, ranchers, and manufacturers access to new markets for their goods.”

WASHINGTON, D.C.—U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), member of the Senate Finance Committee, which has jurisdiction over trade-related matters, issued the following statement on today’s announcement of bipartisan trade promotion authority (TPA) legislation introduced by U.S. Sens. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.):

“Today’s announcement is much-needed good news for American workers and businesses. Enacting TPA will be a boon to the economy, expanding opportunities for American workers and giving South Dakota farmers, ranchers, and manufacturers access to new markets for their goods,” Thune said. “The challenges facing our nation are best solved when members of both parties come together to find solutions for the American people, and I commend Sens. Hatch and Wyden and Chairman Ryan for their efforts on TPA and other trade-related issues.”

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Thune Praises House Repeal of Death Tax

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Thune Praises House Repeal of Death Tax

“This legislation will finally give farmers, ranchers and family business owners the peace of mind of knowing that they no longer have to spend substantial sums on planning to minimize their death tax liability.”

WASHINGTON, D.C.—U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) today praised the House of Representatives bipartisan passage of a bill to permanently abolish the estate tax, more commonly referred to as the death tax. The Death Tax Repeal Act of 2015, which Thune introduced in the Senate, passed the House by a vote of 240 to 179. Thune offered the following statement regarding today’s vote:

“The death of a loved one should not be a taxable event. Imposing yet another layer of taxation, as high as 40 percent, on a family’s life savings is not just bad for the economy, it’s unfair to those who have spent their entire lives building job-creating small businesses, farms, and ranches in their local communities. This legislation will finally give farmers, ranchers, and family business owners the peace of mind of knowing that they no longer have to spend substantial sums on planning to minimize their death tax liability. I applaud the House’s bipartisan approval of this bill and look forward to the Senate taking it up later this year.”

The Death Tax Repeal Act of 2015 will now be sent to the Senate for further consideration. Last month, the Senate adopted Thune’s amendment to the Fiscal Year 2016 budget resolution to create a deficit neutral reserve fund to eliminate the death tax.

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Noem Helps Lead House on Permanent Death Tax Repeal

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Noem Helps Lead House on Permanent Death Tax Repeal

Washington, D.C. – Representative Kristi Noem today helped lead the House in passing a full and permanent repeal of the death tax with bipartisan support.  Noem’s family farm was hit by the death tax after her father passed away.

“Shortly after my dad passed away in a farming accident, my family got a letter from the IRS telling us that we owed a tax because he had died,” said Noem.  “I have never understood why the federal government thought it was appropriate to go after families with this double tax – especially in a time of crisis.  My dad had already paid taxes on the equipment, the land, and any money we had in the bank.  Now, we had to pay taxes on it again because he had passed away.  It’s not right.  No family should have to go through that.  I am committed to repealing the death tax and today we took a big step toward accomplishing that.”

A member of the House Ways and Means Committee, Rep. Noem joined Reps. Kevin Brady (R-TX), Sanford Bishop (D-GA) and Devin Nunes (R-CA) in introducing H.R.1105, the Death Tax Repeal Act of 2015, on February 26, 2015.  The bill fully repeals the estate and generation-skipping transfer taxes – more commonly known as the “death tax.” The legislation will now be sent to the Senate.

Watch Rep. Noem’s Powerful Testimony on the Death Tax
(Ways and Means Committee Hearing, 3/25/15)

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Thune: Tax Day Not a Happy Time for Hard-Working Americans

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Tax Day Not a Happy Time for Hard-Working Americans

“We need to cut rates for families so that Americans can spend more of the year working for themselves, and less of the year working for the federal government.”

John_Thune,_official_portrait,_111th_CongressWASHINGTON, D.C.—U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) marked Tax Day, April 15, by delivering the following remarks (as prepared for delivery) on the Senate floor:

“Mr. President, it’s been said that April is the cruelest month.

“I think that pretty much captures how Americans feel as Tax Day approaches each year.

“This year, Americans will spend 114 days working to pay for their federal, state, and local taxes.

“In other words, Americans may have submitted their federal tax returns – or be getting ready to submit them tonight – but they’re still not done working off all their taxes.

“In fact, Americans won’t start earning a dollar for themselves until April 25, almost one-third of the way through the year.

“Americans spend 6.1 billion hours every year trying to comply with the tax code.

“That’s an average of 19 hours for every man, woman, and child in the United States – or an average of 76 hours for a family of four.

“Almost half of small businesses spend more than $5,000 each year on tax compliance – that’s $5,000 on top of their tax bill.

“Mr. President, paying taxes is never going to be at the top of Americans’ list of favorite activities, but it does not have to be the torturous process it has become.

“The tax code takes too much time to comply with, and it takes too much money from hard-working Americans.

“Comprehensive tax reform is long overdue.

“Unfortunately, instead of tax reform, under the Obama administration Americans have just gotten more taxes.

“The president’s health care law created or raised taxes to the tune of more than $1 trillion over its first decade.

“And several of those taxes have hit families making less than $250,000 a year, despite the president’s campaign pledge not to raise taxes on families making less than $250,000.

“Take the Obamacare medical device tax.

“Thanks to this tax, families are now facing higher prices on life-saving medical equipment like pacemakers and insulin pumps.

“Obamacare taxes are also driving up prices for families on essential drugs like EpiPens and asthma medications.

“Other Obamacare taxes are costing American families in other ways:

“The Obamacare employer mandate tax is discouraging employers from expanding and hiring, which means fewer jobs and opportunities for American workers.

“Then there’s the individual mandate tax that last year began hitting American families without government-approved insurance.

“For 2015, the individual mandate tax penalty is $325 per person, or 2 percent of household income, whichever is greater.

“In 2016, that tax penalty will rise to $695 per person, or 2.5 percent of household income, whichever is greater.

“But that’s not all Obamacare is bringing to tax season.

“This year, a full half of Americans receiving Obamacare health insurance subsidies discovered that they have to pay back some or all of their subsidies because they didn’t estimate their income correctly.

“Ultimately, just 4 percent of households receiving subsidies had the correct subsidy advanced to their insurance companies.

“Unfortunately, the confusion and mistakes are par for the course for Obamacare.

“The administration apparently finds the law so confusing that it sent out incorrect Obamacare forms to more than 800,000 people.

“And yet the administration wants us to believe that Obamacare is working.

“Mr. President, we need to repeal this broken law and its trillion dollars’ worth of taxes.

“And we need to reform our bloated tax code.

“We need to cut rates for families so that Americans can spend more of the year working for themselves, and less of the year working for the federal government.

“And we need to cut rates for businesses large and small.

“The U.S. currently has the highest corporate tax rate in the developed world.

“That puts American businesses at a huge disadvantage compared to their foreign competitors, and American workers suffer the consequences: lower wages and fewer opportunities.

“Reforming both corporate and individual tax rates would go a long way toward making American businesses more competitive and opening new opportunities and higher-paying jobs for American workers.

“And of course, any tax reform measure should include reforms to the IRS.

“From mishandled customer service to the agency’s most serious offenses – the First Amendment violations involving the deliberate targeting of groups for extra scrutiny based on their political beliefs – this agency is long overdue for reform.

“The IRS commissioner himself, John Koskinen, was quoted in Monday’s Washington Post as saying “We certainly can’t afford to have taxpayer service be any worse than it is, although it’s hard to imagine it being much worse than it is.”

“When even the IRS commissioner admits that the agency’s taxpayer services can’t get much worse, that’s a signal that the agency is ripe for reform.”

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Rounds Opening Statement at Subcommittee Hearing on Management of EPA, Fish and Wildlife, Chemical Safety Agencies

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Rounds Opening Statement at Subcommittee Hearing on Management of EPA, Fish and Wildlife, Chemical Safety Agencies

WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Subcommittee on Superfund, Waste Management, and Regulatory Oversight, today provided the following opening statement at a hearing entitled “Oversight of the Management of the Federal Environmental Protection, Chemical Safety, and Fish and Wildlife Agencies.”

Remarks as Prepared for Delivery

The Environment and Public Works Subcommittee on Superfund, Waste Management, and Regulatory Oversight is meeting for the first time today to conduct a hearing on “Oversight of the Management of the Federal Environmental Protection, Chemical Safety, and Fish and Wildlife Agencies.  I’d like to thank our witnesses, Inspector General Arthur Elkins of the Environmental Protection Agency, and Deputy Inspector General Mary Kendall of the Department of the Interior for taking time out of their schedules to be with us today.

I am honored to be chairing this Subcommittee in the 114th Congress with my friend from Massachusetts, Senator Ed Markey, as Ranking Member.  As Subcommittee Chairman, I plan to conduct thorough oversight over the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of the Interior.  The Inspectors General from these Agencies can and should serve as a resource for these reviews and today’s hearing serves as a starting point for this Oversight plan.

Inspectors General are tasked with independently conducting audits and investigations relating to agency actions and programmatic mismanagement.  Not only are they an asset to Congressional oversight, but their recommendations are effective at correcting mismanagement, waste, fraud, and abuse, at the EPA and Department of the Interior.  It is essential the Inspectors General view Congress as a partner in this oversight process.

Throughout this Congress we will be focusing chiefly on good governance and making certain the agencies are operating transparently, responsibly managing taxpayer dollars and working to achieve their core missions without the regulatory overreach so prevalent in agency actions today.  More than ever we are seeing agency regulatory regimes expanding federal jurisdiction beyond their statutory limits, encroaching into private businesses, landowner’s rights, and the States’ ability to manage and regulate the environment and land within their own borders.

Additionally, the EPA and the Department of the Interior are moving forward with implementing major environmental regulations impacting every sector of the U.S. economy and affecting hundreds of thousands of American jobs.

We must make certain that the regulations these agencies implement are being written in an open, transparent process that allows for full public participation taking into account all views regardless of the agencies’ notions of their goals.  The EPA and Fish and Wildlife Service owe it to the American people to not only provide a thorough, transparent and honest analysis of how regulations will affect them but also to base these regulations on the most current and reliable economic data and sound science.

Notably, these IG’s have conducted recent investigations on mismanagement of the Chemical Safety Board, grant management, and administrative management issues.  I look forward to hearing a review of the work the IG’s have done regarding management of the EPA, CSB, and Fish and Wildlife Service along with an update of the reviews the IG’s are currently undertaking.  Again, I’d like to thank our witnesses for being with us today and for presenting their testimony.

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Noem Q1 2015 fundraising – over $360k raised, 1.04 Million COH, 3 months early.

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An early fundraising report out of the Noem camp informed me this morning that South Dakota’s Republican Congresswoman took in more than $360,000 for the quarter; resulting in raising her cash on hand to $1,040,000 – officially moving the needle past that million cash on hand figure.

But there’s more to it. According to a post election story:

The result, he said, is her campaign finished with $800,000 in remaining cash and “is well-positioned to surpass” $1 million by mid-2015. All of which seems like a message to any possible challengers considering 2016: I am ready and waiting.

Noem anticipated passing the million mark by the second quarter.

And that didn’t happen. She did it in Q1, fully three months ahead of schedule.

US Senator John Thune’s Weekly Column: Working Toward Repealing Destructive and Unnecessary Death Tax

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Working Toward Repealing Destructive and Unnecessary Death Tax
By Senator John Thune

John_Thune,_official_portrait,_111th_CongressFor any family, the death of a loved one is a difficult and grievous time. Now add the federal government to this painful period, and the situation becomes a nightmare. The federal government shouldn’t force grieving families to pay a tax on their loved one’s life savings, built from income that has already been taxed by Uncle Sam. Many South Dakotans have witnessed this injustice firsthand – a friend, neighbor, or acquaintance who fell victim to the estate tax, also known as the death tax. Death shouldn’t be a taxable event, which is why I’m glad the Senate recently adopted my amendment to the Senate budget resolution calling on Congress to finally eliminate this destructive tax. I also recently introduced the Death Tax Repeal Act of 2015, which would permanently eliminate the death tax, with 27 of my colleagues.

Here in South Dakota, we are land rich and cash poor, leaving roughly one-third of South Dakota farms vulnerable to the death tax, based on cropland values provided by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The death tax imposes a tax rate as high as 40 percent on family farms, ranches, and small businesses, which hurts economic growth by discouraging savings and development. A recent study by the non-partisan Tax Foundation found that repeal of the death tax would increase the U.S. capital stock by 2.2 percent, boost economic growth, and create 139,000 jobs.

We work hard daily to build a better life for our children, but the death tax only burdens them. It violates the basic premise of the American dream. Ninety-eight percent of farms in South Dakota are family owned and operated, and according to the South Dakota Department of Agriculture, over 2,500 South Dakota farms have been in the same family for more than 100 years. In some cases, families have to sell land just to pay the death tax, which punishes farmers and entrepreneurs for a lifetime of hard work.

By keeping more money in the hands of hard-working Americans, they will have a better opportunity to build a stronger economic future for their families and our country. In the U.S. Senate, I will continue to promote common-sense policies, like repealing the death tax, that give South Dakota farmers, ranchers, and small business owners the peace of mind of knowing that their hard-earned money will stay with their families, and not end up in the federal government’s coffers.

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US Senator Mike Rounds’ Weekly Column: Introducing the Payments Innovation Caucus

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Introducing the Payments Innovation Caucus
By Senator Mike Rounds
April 9, 2015

MikeRounds official SenateIn 1914, Western Union began issuing metal cards to the company’s top customers. For a subscription fee, “preferred” customers could use their “metal money” to defer payments on various goods and services. This was the first step in a series of monetary advances which revolutionized access to capital and credit. It has significantly changed the way commerce is conducted around the globe today. In the 101 years since metal money was first distributed, the credit card – and now the payments industry – has moved from metal to plastic to virtual transactions. Today, payments can be made with the simple tap of a smartphone.

South Dakota has been a leader and an innovator in the payments industry. As technology has expanded the reach of mobile payments, South Dakota’s role in this world economy has grown substantially. To help educate the Senate and others about the enormous potential of this industry and the dangers that could result if it is compromised, I have partnered with Senator Gary Peters from Michigan to form the bipartisan Senate Payments Innovation Caucus. The caucus is an opportunity for the Senate to understand the critical nature of the payments industry, to see what the industry has done for our state and to make certain South Dakotans have a voice in any changes to the industry moving forward.

The payments industry is growing at lightning speed. Last year, the Boston Consulting Group found that by 2023, the total world volume of electronic payments would hit an astonishing $780 trillion in transactions worldwide. These electronic payments already allow us to click, swipe or tap to purchase countless items. Yet the industry continues to grow. New technologies such as the Starbucks app and ApplePay make it easier than ever before to purchase goods and services.

But mobile transactions have benefits far beyond simplifying our lives. They can be important tools for facilitating economic development throughout the world that can help lift nations out of poverty. Take Kenya for example. Today, 25 percent of the nation’s gross national product flows through mobile payment networks. These networks help Kenyans transfer money quickly, safely and with little cost. When Kenya was engulfed in violence after the 2008 election, mobile payments played a critical role, helping Kenyans trapped by rioting access cash to buy needed food and supplies.

While we should celebrate the many benefits of mobile purchases, the larger and more interconnected the industry becomes, the more our enemies seek to attack it. Already, cyber hackers have attacked banks, merchants and payment intermediaries causing billions of dollars in damages, threatening our national security. To help keep these networks safe and reliable, it is important for Congress to take these threats seriously and understand how to best protect consumer financial data amid ever-changing technologies.

Payments innovation is a diverse industry that continues to grow and change each day. I’m proud of South Dakota’s leading role in it and look forward to working on the Payments Innovation Caucus to inform others of its needs and keep consumer data safe from hackers.
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