WASHINGTON–U.S. Senator Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) voted today to approve legislation authorizing the Keystone XL pipeline. It passed the Senate 62-36.
“The Administration’s approval of the Keystone XL pipeline is long overdue,” said Rounds. “I’m pleased Congress took matters into its own hands and we were able to come together in a bipartisan manner to finally get this accomplished,” said Rounds. “This project will create jobs for hard-working South Dakotans and free up our railways to get more of our farmers’ grain to market. It’s a commonsense piece of legislation that the President should sign into law as soon as it hits his desk.”
The Keystone XL pipeline will run through South Dakota and connect with an existing pipeline in Nebraska, carrying nearly 830,000 barrels of crude oil to U.S. refineries along the gulf coast. Rounds is one of 60 cosponsors to the legislation.
Noem Questions U.S. Trade Representative on Agriculture Interests
Rep. Kristi Noem questioned U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman about agriculture interests involved in ongoing trade negotiations during yesterday’s Ways and Means Committee hearing.
Thune Holds Commerce Committee Hearing on Freight Rail Challenges
“As 2013 and 2014’s freight rail delays and service challenges highlighted, rail service is absolutely critical to our nation’s economy…Thankfully, this winter’s relatively mild weather and better service have provided some improvements, but there’s still work to be done.”
WASHINGTON, D.C.—U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, today held his second hearing as chairman entitled, “Freight Rail Transportation: Enhancing Safety, Efficiency, and Commerce.” The hearing focused on challenges facing our nation’s freight rail network created by higher demand, pending and proposed rules and regulations, and infrastructure needs. Today’s hearing continued Thune’s work to improve freight rail service for ag producers and shippers and prevent future rail service disruptions from occurring.
Thune also invited Dave Brown, Chief Operating Officer of Genesee and Wyoming, parent company to South Dakota’s Rapid City, Pierre, and Eastern line (RCP&E), to testify before the hearing. Dave spoke about the opportunities and challenges that RCP&E and other shortline railroads face. Video of Mr. Brown’s statement is available here.
Last Congress, the Commerce Committee held various rail related hearings, including a hearing on the rail service challenges facing shippers across the country, which included agriculture producers in South Dakota who struggled with access to reliable freight rail service during a record harvest. In addition, on September 17, 2014, the Commerce Committee passed the bipartisan Surface Transportation Board (STB) reform bill that Senator Thune and former Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller (D-W.V.) introduced to institute common-sense reforms regarding how the STB works and to address rate disputes and service complaints. For a complete outline of Thune’s work to address last year’s rail service backlog, visit his website.
Video of Thune’s opening statement is here and text is below:
“As 2013 and 2014’s freight rail delays and service challenges highlighted, rail service is absolutely critical to our nation’s economy. South Dakota farmers scrambled to find rail cars and watched as rail turn times worsened, delaying shipments and creating grain storage challenges for the record breaking wheat, corn, and soybean crops.
“However, those delays were not just limited to the north central United States, they also extended across the country and impacted every shipping sector and industry.
“Thankfully, this winter’s relatively mild weather and better service have provided some improvements, but there’s still work to be done.
“I am pleased that Genesee and Wyoming, the parent company of South Dakota’s Rapid City, Pierre, and Eastern Railroad (RCP&E) has joined us for today’s hearing. I look forward to hearing from Dave Brown, the Chief Operating Officer of Genesee and Wyoming, which is the largest Class II railroad in the country with over 100 shortline and regional railroads, about the opportunities and challenges the RCP&E and other shortline railroads face.
“From automobiles, to coal, to ethanol, to agriculture, rail service moves goods from farm and factory to consumer marketplaces across the country and across the globe. The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) notes that freight rail moves roughly 40 tons per person each year. As a nation, we rely on cost efficient, timely service to move food, consumer products, and energy resources on a daily basis.
“The private infrastructure that makes up our nation’s freight rail system is costly, as old tracks and equipment require ongoing maintenance and investment. Our nation’s railroads continue to invest in new track, sidings, locomotives, and car resources with the goal of serving their customers. Class I railroads and shortlines alike face increasing demands for prompt, reliable, and safe service.
“In 2014 freight traffic increased nearly five percent over 2013 levels, and we should seek solutions that foster an even stronger freight rail network to meet this increasing demand.
“The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) has proposed or finalized over 15 new freight rail safety rules since the passage of the Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008, and many of these regulations will take effect in 2015.
“Not only is the Positive Train Control (PTC) mandate looming, with its December 31st deadline, but the DOT has announced that it expects a crude-by-rail regulation to be published around May of this year.
“Although the PTC deadline is quickly approaching, it remains unattainable. Through the end of 2014, railroads have invested over $5 billion in PTC, and they expect to spend billions more in the coming years.
“They have begun installation of the radio towers, locomotive technology, and other PTC infrastructure, but full compliance with the statutory requirements cannot be achieved by the end of this year. The FRA and the Government Accountability Office have documented the immense technical and programmatic challenges with implementing PTC.
“As a result of these challenges, the DOT has reported that the deadline will not be met and has offered a proposal to ensure the benefits of PTC are realized. I look forward to working with my colleagues on a legislative fix to ensure that we can set a more realistic implementation timeline for this important safety improvement.
“I am also closely monitoring the proposed crude-by-rail requirements.
“I have expressed concerns to the Office of Management and Budget as well as the DOT about the unintended harms that could result from the proposed rule. The DOT estimates its proposed crude-by-rail rule could cost nearly $6 billion, and it acknowledges the rule would increase network delays and out-of-service time for rail equipment.
“Without question, we must improve the safety of our nation’s rail system, but I am concerned about the unattainable deadlines the rule proposes. Like the PTC mandate, there are very real impacts when federal agencies set unreasonable and, many times, unachievable deadlines.
“Among other things, the DOT issued this proposed rule without analyzing the potential tank car shop capacity needed to retrofit or replace over 100,000 DOT-111 tank cars. Shippers have raised concerns about a tank car shortage, with a disruption in energy supply transportation, if DOT finalizes this rule with an unattainable deadline. I look forward to working with my colleagues, stakeholders, and the Secretary of Transportation on a realistic timeline for such a phase-out.
“While safety can and should be improved, we certainly do not need to build in system-wide delays and congestion like we have witnessed during the past year and a half.
“Our transportation network connects port to rail to truck. Delays, burdensome regulations, and failing infrastructure disrupt our nation’s economy and cost jobs. So, we must work together to find workable solutions.
“In addition, we must ensure that the Surface Transportation Board, which is tasked with resolving railroad rate and service disputes and reviewing proposed railroad mergers, can provide effective and efficient oversight of the rail industry.
“This committee has a great deal of work to do in addressing freight rail service and safety in addition to passenger rail reauthorizations. I hope members will bring forward thoughtful solutions as we address these challenges.”
Rounds Introduces SDDOT Secretary Bergquist as Witness at Senate EPW Hearing
WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), a member of the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee, today introduced South Dakota Transportation Secretary Darin Bergquist as a witness at an EPW hearing to discuss America’s transportation needs.
“I’ve known Darin for years and I had the opportunity to actually appoint him as Secretary of Transportation when I was Governor,” said Rounds. “I can share with you that he has seen the ins and outs of trying to work with limited funding and in a rural state in which there’s always a challenge in how you take the dollars and spread them out, and literally deliver the best you can.”
Rounds went on to emphasize the importance of passing a long-term transportation bill that recognizes the needs of rural states as well as urban ones.
“The federal highway program is vital to making sure South Dakota has the funds that we need to manage our state’s highways and bridges, thereby providing for economic growth so that all South Dakotans can travel safely.”
Delegation Meets with Foxx, Huerta to Outline Powder River Expansion Timeline
WASHINGTON, D.C.—U.S. Sens. John Thune (R-S.D.) and Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) and Rep. Kristi Noem (R-S.D.) today met with U.S. Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx and Federal Aviation (FAA) Administrator Michael Huerta to reiterate the importance of finalizing the Powder River Training Complex (PRTC) expansion.
“We had a productive meeting today and underscored to the secretary and administrator the importance of finalizing this expansion,” said the delegation. “This project has been nine years in the making, with the FAA having coordinated with the Air Force for nearly five of those. We were pleased to hear that the FAA will prioritize the review of the expansion, and we will continue to stay in close contact with the FAA as it moves forward. It is time to finalize this training space, which will increase national security, save taxpayer dollars, and ensure that our airmen and women have the training they need to come home safely after defending our nation abroad. We appreciate the FAA’s efforts to realize these benefits.”
On January 16, 2015, the Air Force announced that it finalized its Record of Decision to approve the PRTC. Now that the Air Force has completed its portion of the process, the FAA will complete its review before the training airspace can be utilized.
Uncle Sam Can’t Tax Us into Prosperity By Senator John Thune
Every State of the Union address includes at least one or two “buzz” words. For the past six years under President Obama, one of the phrases that has stuck out to me in his annual address to Congress is the term “restore prosperity.” The president usually follows these words with his laundry list of ways he believes Congress should act, usually by growing the size of government, to “restore prosperity” for millions of Americans. What the president always seems to forget is that Uncle Sam can’t tax us into prosperity.
This year, the president called yet again for higher taxes on individuals and families, ranging from South Dakota middle class families saving for their kid’s college education, to small businesses and ag producers who are creating jobs and stimulating the economy. This top-down approach to “restoring prosperity” is precisely what the American people rejected in the last election, yet the president continues to promote the same stale, failed policies of big government.
The president is proposing $320 billion in new taxes on top of the more than $1.5 trillion in higher taxes already forced upon the American people during his administration. Under his plan, South Dakotans who have their assets invested in a farm operation or small business would get hit with a new capital gains tax when assets that have appreciated in value are passed on to the next generation. This is especially damaging to the family farm, the assets of which are often comprised largely of farmland that can appreciate considerably in value over time. And this new tax is in addition to the federal estate tax, better known as the death tax, which already imposes an unnecessary tax burden on family farms and businesses.
Without question, these tax proposals would make it more difficult for South Dakota families to pass land and other capital assets along to the next generation. We need to move in the opposite direction, by eliminating the death tax and making certain that family farms and business are not targeted with new, punitive tax increases.
South Dakota middle class families planning ahead for their kid’s college educations through tax preferred 529 college savings plans would also feel the pinch under the president’s plan. Right now the earnings in these accounts are tax-free, but the president would subject them to tax, meaning there would be fewer funds available for education expenses. We’re not talking about the ultra-wealthy; we are talking about middle class families trying to do right by their children by saving for an investment in their educations. If anything, we should make it easier for families to save for a college education, not make it more difficult.
These are not the ways in which we will restore prosperity for the American people. It’s time for Washington to stop putting forward proposals that would penalize job-creators and middle class families and instead work to make our outdated tax code simpler and fairer, ensuring we reduce Americans’ tax burdens while also making U.S. businesses more competitive in the global economy.
I believe in tapping into the potential of the American people, not the government. I will continue to work with my colleagues in Congress to oppose ill-conceived tax hikes and to create a simplified tax system that works better for all Americans.
Weekly Column
State of the Union Address a Missed Opportunity
By Senator Mike Rounds
Jan. 23, 2015
The State of the Union address fulfills a constitutionally mandated duty that calls on the President to periodically update Congress on the state of our nation. In recent history, the State of Union is an annual event in which the President addresses both chambers of Congress in person at the U.S. Capitol. President Obama’s 2015 address was no different. I sat with my colleagues no more than 50 feet from the President, listening in earnest for ways to work together to find areas of agreement or opportunity. As many of you have expressed, I too was disappointed.
Given the challenges we face as a nation, I had hoped the President would have used this opportunity to set a bipartisan, positive tone for 2015 and focus on our shared vision for moving the country forward. Republicans have wasted no time getting to work this year. In the Senate, we’re currently considering legislation to authorize construction of the Keystone XL pipeline. We are working on a number of bills that will help our economy grow, providing for private sector jobs and beginning to reduce government red-tape that is slowing down our recovery. We will not forget about the American taxpayers. We are already beginning our work. In the Senate, we’ve already voted on more amendments this year than all of 2014 under Democrat leadership.
Unfortunately, the President showed no signs of wanting to work with us on these issues. He told us again during the State of the Union that he plans to veto our Keystone pipeline bill, despite widespread support in Congress and among the American people. He also used the State of the Union to propose a tax plan he knows is dead on arrival in Congress because it calls for hundreds of billions of dollars in tax increases. We know this hurts farmers, ranchers and small business owners. Our plan is to get the federal government out of the way so the economy can begin to grow again.
The President also used his speech to double down on his record, touting failed policies such as Obamacare, and took credit for a ‘strong’ economic recovery. It’s hard to take this rhetoric seriously when evidence of these successes is so scarce. We know that health care premiums have skyrocketed for many South Dakota families and many others lost the coverage they enjoyed all together because of the health care law. We also know that the median household income is weak. Since the President has taken office, median household annual income has dropped by $3,000 and the labor force has continued to shrink. That’s why few Americans are actually feeling the economic recovery he claims to have led us through.
The ideas laid out in the President’s speech may have excited the left wing of his political base, but it proved he has turned a deaf ear to the majority of Americans. By continuing to put politics first and promote the same old policies that have failed him in the past, he ignores the loud cries of voters who made clear they are tired of the same old ideas and practices in Washington.
Americans want us to work together to make government more efficient and effective. I, along with my Republican colleagues, remain committed to American priorities: jobs, the economy and government efficiency. We’re already rolling up our sleeves and getting to work again. Hopefully Congress and the President can find a way to put politics aside to remove the bureaucratic hurdles and unnecessary regulations that hardworking South Dakotans have to deal with every day. It’s time the President realizes that more government isn’t the right answer to the problems facing our country.
Why We Need an Opportunity Economy
By Rep. Kristi Noem January 23, 2015
During last week’s State of the Union address, President Obama intended to make the argument that his economic approach was “middle-class economics.” We ought to be investing in growing the size and strength of middle-class America – as well as its pay – but the President’s policies have failed to do that.
On his watch, only top earners have seen their incomes rise, but middle-class Americans are earning less on average than they did in 2009 – by about two thousand dollars a year. While jobs have been added at the top and bottom of the wage scale, those positions sought by the middle class have been shed.
A house divided against itself cannot stand – and neither can an economy. This administration’s policies have divided our nation by class and income. That’s never been the American way – and it never should be. I believe we ought to seek opportunities for every citizen. We ought to be bringing folks out of poverty and making sure wages increase across the board. We ought to be fighting so that every South Dakotan has the opportunity to succeed – so long as they work hard and play by the rules. We ought to be aiming for an Opportunity Economy.
In many cases, opportunity is a product of education, whether that is a traditional university, community college or vocational school. I believe in the importance of receiving a higher education, but I also understand the obstacles life can throw in your way when you’re trying to get that education. I worked multiple jobs after high school to support my own education.
When my dad passed away and I came home to help run the farm, I had to put that education on hold. I finally finished my degree almost 20 years later. Needless to say, I understand the challenges. That’s one of the reasons why I’ve been so supportive of 529 savings plans, which hundreds of South Dakota families currently take advantage of. The President proposed increasing taxes on these savings accounts as part of his State of the Union pitch. But this is money hardworking Americans have earned and saved for their kids’ education. The government doesn’t deserve to take a bigger piece of that money than it already gets.
I’ve also been looking to increase opportunities for working moms. For many, finding the right work-life balance is a constant struggle. I’d like to see working families get a little more flexibility. If you work overtime, you should have a choice: take the overtime pay or get that time back by receiving an equal amount of extra time off. I helped pass a bill through the House to accomplish this last year, and I’ll be working with the new Republican Senate to try to get it over the finish line this year.
Achieving an Opportunity Economy will also require some changes to the tax code and regulatory environment to make it more fair and affordable. We’ve done it in South Dakota and it’s produced real results. Rosenbauer America, a company that manufactures fire rescue vehicles in Lyons, offered almost every employee a dollar-an-hour raise about a year ago, according to the Argus Leader. They also made it easier to earn vacation days. This wasn’t something that was mandated by the federal government; it was a decision the company made. Why? Our unemployment rate in South Dakota is the third lowest in the nation. Tax rates are kept low. And smart regulatory policies have made us one of the nation’s top states to do business. Now, companies have to compete for workers. That drives pay and benefits up. It works.
I am committed to securing more opportunities and freedoms for South Dakotans so you can seize every promise the American Dream has always provided. We can and must do better.
WASHINGTON—Yesterday, U.S. Senator Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) cosponsored the Working Families Flexibility Act, which would allow employees to choose between traditional overtime pay or additional comp time when they work overtime hours.
“This bill would benefit hard-working families across South Dakota and throughout the country,” said Rounds. “It would offer private sector employees a win-win option when they work overtime: they could select either monetary compensation or paid time off to spend at their leisure. Government employees currently have this option, so it makes sense to give private sector workers the same opportunity and flexibility.”
Introduced by Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), the Working Families Flexibility Act amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to provide employers with the necessary flexibility to allow their employees to choose either the traditional overtime pay or paid time off for any overtime hours worked. Employers would be able to offer this option to their employees on a voluntary basis.
Rounds Meets with Nominee for Secretary of Defense, Dr. Ashton Carter
WASHINGTON—U.S. Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) met yesterday with Dr. Ashton Carter, President Obama’s nominee to succeed Chuck Hagel as Secretary of Defense.
“I had a productive meeting with Dr. Carter yesterday,” said Rounds. “We talked about the strategic needs of our country, among other issues. As a former Deputy Secretary of Defense he is familiar with the confirmation procedures, and I look forward to an informative and productive confirmation process.”
Rounds is a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
WASHINGTON–U.S. Senator Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) voted today to approve legislation authorizing the Keystone XL pipeline. It passed the Senate 62-36.
