The Weekly Windup
By Rep. Dusty Johnson
There Needs to Be Common Ground – This week was a split ticket with some bipartisan wins and some bipartisan failures. The first vote of the week was on disaster funding. States like South Dakota need this funding to move forward from the unprecedented and ongoing flooding, so I was grateful to see the House pass that bill with more than 300 votes.
There was also legislation on the floor that I could not support. I voted against legislation that would have led to amnesty for millions of individuals, but didn’t contain resources to secure our border or fix our immigration system. This was not a serious proposal by my colleagues on the other side of the aisle. Their approach didn’t have any compromise or common ground. We need to put forth serious proposals that can solve our immigration problems.
Constituent Spotlight – I enjoy when constituents from back home make their way to Capitol Hill, especially the young people of our state. This week I was able to meet with students from Patrick Henry Middle School on the House floor to answer questions about what it’s like to work in Congress.
Weekly Windup – I introduced several new bills this week, one being the Farm and Ranch to School Act, which would amend the National School Lunch Act, Farm to School Program, to include funding to make local livestock and meat procurement for school lunch programs a priority.
Currently, the USDA doesn’t prioritize existing funding for local farm to school meat product sales. The Farm and Ranch to School Act will give South Dakota producers a fair shake at serving their product in the lunchroom. South Dakota’s students deserve the best and freshest quality meat in their lunches and this legislation will make that a reality.
Back Home – On Thursday, I traveled to Madison to speak at the Hugh O’Brian Youth Leadership camp where over 100 of South Dakota’s best and brightest rising juniors are spending the next couple of days exploring what it means to be a leader. The students had great questions. For more information, check out my social media pages.
I’ll join the South Dakota American Legion and American Legion Auxiliary on Saturday for their annual conventions. Seventy-five years ago, thousands ventured into cold waters and through the air at Normandy on a mission to free the world from tyranny. It’s unlikely these young men knew their act of duty would turn into an extraordinary act of bravery, which makes me wonder – what can we do today that will be extraordinary tomorrow?
###