The Miracle of Adoption
By Rep. Kristi Noem

Not every family’s path to parenthood is easy.  Many people struggle in ways that can be devastating for a family to endure.  Pat and Julie Schneider of Turton are one of those couples.  They struggled with infertility for nearly a decade before looking into adoption as an option for their family.  Because November is National Adoption Month, I wanted to share a piece of their journey through adoption, hoping it can serve as encouragement and inspiration to others.

For Pat and Julie, it took mountains of paperwork and numerous in-home visits, heartbreaks and setbacks, until finally a birth mother chose them and the couple became parents to a baby girl, Caycee.  A few years later, the family expanded once again with the adoption of their second daughter, Jadyn, and four years after that, their son Gavin was welcomed into the family through adoption.

Each of the Schneider family’s three adoptions has been open.  Pat and Julie have even collaborated with the respective birth mothers to help select names for their children.  The arrangement has also enabled both them and their children to build relationships with the birth mothers, all of whom are from South Dakota. 

Today, the Schneider family serves as tremendous advocates for adoption, often acting as mentors to those going through the emotional ups and downs of the adoption process.  Because of the inspirational example this family sets, I was honored to nominate Pat and Julie as this year’s “Angels in Adoption,” a national recognition offered to those who have made a lasting impact on the lives of children through adoption. 

About one in 10 couples struggle with infertility like Pat and Julie did.  While some are eventually able to build their families with the help of medical innovations, many take the Schneider family’s path and turn to adoption. 

For these families, the emotional trials of the adoption process are often times only part of the challenge.  The financial strains can be significant as well.  Since 1997, the federal government has offered some degree of tax relief to these families in order to help offset adoption and attorney fees, court costs, travel expenses, and re-adoption expenses for intercountry adoptions.  We’ve helped many families through this credit, but I believe improvements can still be made.  One of the reforms I’ve been supportive of would make the tax credit fully refundable, meaning families who may have limited tax liabilities would be able to receive a greater benefit.

Outside of working toward policy reform, my congressional office serves as a resource for families – especially those looking to adopt internationally – when they run into trouble navigating the various federal bureaucracies that are involved in the adoption process.  If you or your family is having issues with an adoption, I encourage you to reach out to our nearest office location. For more information, please visit noem.house.gov.

My husband and I have always tried to teach our children that family is more about what is in your heart than in your bloodstream.  Today, I have two spunky, kind, and beautiful nieces who were brought into our family through adoption.  Our world wouldn’t be the same without them.

I encourage you to take time in the coming weeks to consider how adoption has changed your life or the life of a family around you.  Understanding more about the process, struggles and joys these families face often times shows just how much of a miracle adoption can be.

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The Real Heroes
A column by Gov. Dennis Daugaard:

Politicians have a tendency to try to take credit for things, especially in an election year. They talk about how many jobs they’ve created, how they’ve kept our cities safe and how they’ve assisted the less fortunate. Our veterans, on the other hand, don’t seek the spotlight. They don’t expect recognition – even though they are the ones who really deserve the credit for our way of life.

That’s why we celebrate Veterans Day. To give credit to those who seek it least and yet deserve it most. It’s also an opportunity to remember those who fought in our earliest conflicts.

Next year will mark the centennial of the United States’ official involvement in World War I. This “war to end all wars” was a global affair which lasted from 1914 to 1918, but the United States did not officially enter until 1917. In 1915 and 1916, while the U.S. was still contemplating its level of engagement, groups of American men made the decision to enlist with foreign armies to fight against the Central Powers.

On their own accord, they volunteered to fight abroad, joining the British Army, French Foreign Legion and other Allied services. These men were citizen soldiers. They were farmers, machinists, dock workers and blacksmiths who left their day jobs to fight for freedom. They joined the struggle before it was even asked of them.

Now, as much as any time in history, we depend on our citizen soldiers, the men and women of our National Guard, to step up and defend our country. We count on them to defend our freedom abroad, and then to come back home safely to pick up where they left off with their families and their jobs.

This Veterans Day, 165 of South Dakota’s citizen soldiers are deploying to Kuwait. Volunteers all, the men and women of the 153rd Engineer Battalion and Forward Support Company are leaving their jobs and their loved ones to serve their nation abroad. They will be providing command, logistical, mechanical and transportation support to U.S. forces in the area. For more than one-third of the group, this is their second or third deployment.

Elected officials do the important work of fine tuning our laws and guiding public policy. Still, we should never forget who the real heroes are. Though they don’t usually make the front page news, our men and women in uniform are the ones to thank for our way of life. Without them, there would be no freedom.

Take a moment this week to pray for the men and women of the153rd as they head to Kuwait and for all of our soldiers who are deployed. Pray also for the families who are serving their country by bearing the burden of a loved one’s absence. And this Veterans Day, give credit where credit is due by thanking someone who has served to keep us free.

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In a move that a friend called “zimbeckian” after Dave Zimbeck who sent all of his donations back after his loss in the GOP Primary, the Mark Mickelson letter, where he announces his withdrawal from the 2018 GOP Primary for Governor, also notes his return of the nearly million dollars account he raised for that effort.

Okay – here’s the inside track for the results of the SD Senate GOP Caucus Elections.

President Pro Temp – Brock Greenfield
Majority Leader – Blake Curd
Asst Maj Leader – Ryan Maher
Whips – Kris Langer, Bob Ewing, Al Novstrup.

Any thoughts?

According to their facebook page, the Prairie Country PAC has apparently sent out a postcard attacking Republican Leadership in the lead-up to tomorrow’s caucus elections:

Maybe it’s just me, but I’m not sure what exactly this accomplishes.

First, given that several Senators, including President Pro Tempore Corey Brown have been termed out of office or resigned, such as Majority Leader Tim Rave and Assistant Majority Leader Dan Lederman both did in 2015, with a new crew of people after the election, the Senate Caucus is nearly starting from scratch in the elections.

The antagonistic nature of the card seems completely misplaced, as it attacks “Republican Leadership” on many measures while ignoring that these measures required a majority vote – and in some cases a 2/3 vote to pass. Effectively, they’re attacking everyone, while blaming leadership. And, of course, on the reverse side they’re asking people to vote for their favored candidates.

Just a bit of cognitive dissonance for legislators who will be asked to make a choice as to who their leadership would be.

Aside from that, we get into some of the technical aspects of the card.  There’s a few problems with it that will probably cause Prairie Country PAC some headaches.

Mistake #1 – As I spoke with Senator Elect Lance Russell himself yesterday, he wasn’t running for Assistant Majority Leader, and was predisposed to defer to Senator-elect Ryan Maher, who was. So, here’s a card promoting someone for the office who didn’t ask for it, much less was actively running for it.

Mistake #2 – The address side of the card appropriates the SDGOP’s logo for a Political Action Committee’s independent mailing. A PAC which includes in it’s leadership Ken Santema, Chairman of the South Dakota Libertarian Party.  I think it’s rather presumptuous for a PAC to appropriate the party’s logo for a piece of campaign literature attacking members of the party’s leadership.

Mistake #3 – Where exactly does it say “paid for by?”

12-27-15.   Printed political communications to contain certain language–Exceptions–Violation as misdemeanor.Any printed material or communication made, purchased, paid for, or authorized by a candidate, political committee, or political party which expressly advocates for or against a candidate, public office holder, ballot question, or political party shall prominently display or clearly speak the statement: “Paid for by (Name of candidate, political committee, or political party).” This section does not apply to buttons, balloons, pins, pens, matchbooks, clothing, or similar small items upon which the inclusion of the statement would be impracticable. A violation of this section is a Class 1 misdemeanor.

Read that here.

I see a logo & return address for the PAC, but not the three magic words; “Paid,” “For” and “By.” Considering their omission carries criminal penalties, you’d think people would pay more attention to it.

Probably the worst thing of all is that I don’t believe this or the nonsense with Citizens for Liberty sending e-mails is being done on behalf of the candidates. If it was, you’d think they would have noted that they weren’t sure they were running before all the nonsense went out.

The danger it poses is that it could have the opposite effect on Senators who are deciding who they want to lead them for the next two years, and harden their hearts. Which would be unfortunate.  I think Brock would do a good job as caucus leader, and shouldn’t be sandbagged by the misguided efforts of others.

I did find a graphic out on the internet which represents the Democrat bench for the statewide political races in South Dakota for 2018:

With all the news about 2018 that’s been going on today, I thought I’d update you with a handy chart of who is looking at what, and what rumors are out there.  Don’t consider all of this as Gospel as it’s likely to get even crazier in coming months.

From the updated story on Mickelson getting out of the race:

Noem’s chief of staff, Jordan Stoick, confirmed Thursday the Congresswoman was considering a bid for governor.

“Kristi’s main focus right now is on the position she was just re-elected to, but she’s received encouragement from across the state to run for governor in 2018 and is giving it serious consideration,” Stoick said.

Read that here.

Looks like someone got ahold of a letter before I did. As teased earlier today, Mark Mickelson has decided to take a pass on running for Governor:

Mark Mickelson, the Sioux Falls lawmaker who has been considered a favorite to be the state’s next governor, says he has decided not to run for the job when it’s open in 2018.

Mickelson, 50, had been actively fundraising and gearing up against potential GOP primary rivals, raising about $1 million for the campaign. But the commitment it takes to run a large statewide race was taking him away from his wife and three boys, who range in age from 17 to 13.

and..

Mickelson notified his supporters with letters and phone calls this week. He said he will return money to donors.

Read it all here.

In the aftermath of Tuesdays’ election, Todd Epp at KELO AM Radio received a copy of Ann Tornberg’s ridiculous self-congratulatory letter to Democrats about how great of a job they did this past year. And he wasn’t buying any of it:

..don’t get me started about the South Dakota Democratic Party.

They issued a release yesterday saying how wonderful they were and their candidates were, though they got their butts handed to them. There are now fewer Democrats in the state legislature since 1954.

1954. Let that sink in. Eisenhower was President. Cars had fins. Telephones were the size of Volkswagens.

State Democratic chair Ann Tornberg and executive director Susan Jones Pranger instead should have done the honorable thing and resigned. If the state Democratic Party were an actual, functioning business or non-profit, everyone associated with this debacle would be on the street.

The state Democratic Party lost because they have no plan for voter registration. They lost because they have no plan to recruit candidates. They lost because they are beholden to the South Dakota Farmers Union, which has its own ongoing issues with its own members and transparency. They lost because they did not have a message that resonates with regular, hardworking South Dakotans.

Read it here.

I think that sums it up well. The Democrats lost because they really don’t have a party to support their “impressive slate of legislative candidates” as Ann called them. Instead, they recruited them and left them to twist in the wind.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m ok with that. But it does seem like a crappy thing to do to someone you talked into being a candidate.