Thank a Rancher
By U.S. Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.)
April 19, 2021

Calving season is the time of the year our South Dakota ranchers look forward to until: they have headlights out in the pasture at two in the morning; they are trying to tag 1202’s calf without finding out if she’s bluffing; or they are bringing heifers to the barn and out of the blizzard. There are a lot of variables in this industry. Whether you know a rancher or you are one, one thing is for sure – it’s tough work.

Most people wouldn’t work a job without knowing what their paycheck will be at the end of the month. They probably wouldn’t take a job without any vacation or sick days, either. There are no days off for our local producers. Despite not knowing how many calves they will have come sale day or what the markets will do, they continue to get the job done just as they have for decades. It’s a job of integrity. It’s a way of life that has been and will continue in the family for generations.

Every generation of ranchers face challenges, and this generation has been especially tested. But one of these challenges should not be government bureaucrats telling them what’s best for their operation. Suits and ties don’t feed the world – ranchers do.

As it stands today, the four largest meat packers control over 80 percent of the cattle market. We have to increase competition for local producers if we want our small towns and operations to survive. For years, ranchers have seen immense price discrepancies between the price they receive per head of cattle and the price of beef on the shelf at the grocery store. The COVID-19 pandemic brought to light that reform is necessary. I am working for our independent South Dakota ranch families, not the packers who continue pushing the bureaucrats around. Their grip on government has been going on for years, weakening and preventing policies that help ranchers.

Last month, I reintroduced bipartisan legislation with Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) known as the “50-14” bill. The bill would require that a minimum of 50 percent of a meat packer’s weekly volume of cattle purchases take place on the open or spot market. It would apply to meat-packing facilities that slaughter more than 125,000 head annually. These facilities would also be required to slaughter cattle purchased under this requirement within 14 days.

South Dakota ranchers produce some of the highest-quality beef in the world. Without a mandated amount of cash trade, our ranchers don’t have a level playing field. We won’t give up trying to get our ranchers a fair price in a competitive market.

Regardless of what happens in Washington, our ranchers will continue facing the variables head on and with grit. They will finish out calving season and do the work it takes to get ready for it all over again next year. Some years are harder than others, but they always show up. I am grateful for the work our ranchers do every day, and I am proud to represent them.

And, if you haven’t already, thank a rancher.

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Rounds, Shaheen Reintroduce Bipartisan Bill to Alert Veterans & Service Members Exposed to PFAS Contaminants

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) reintroduced legislation that would create a national database for service members and veterans experiencing health problems possibly due to contamination from per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). PFAS chemicals are byproducts of aqueous firefighting foam and have been found in drinking water at 600 military installations. Initial analyses have linked PFSA contamination with birth defects, various forms of cancer and immune system dysfunction.

The PFAS Registry Act would require the Department of Veterans Affairs to maintain a registry of those likely impacted by PFAS contamination, and require the VA to update military personnel and veterans on recent scientific developments on the effects of PFAS exposure and the availability of possible treatment options.

“As the military continues to clean up PFAS contamination around our bases, we owe full transparency to the individuals likely impacted,” Rounds said. “Our bipartisan legislation will create a national PFAS registry and hold the VA accountable for regularly updating our service members and veterans on the latest information and treatments related to PFAS contamination.”

“After dedicating their lives to serve our nation, our service members deserve every resource available to stay healthy after being exposed to PFAS contamination,” said Shaheen. “The federal government has a duty to ensure access to information and treatment so families can stay safe, and establishing a national database for service members is crucial to that mission. Our service members and their families deserve nothing short of the best care available – especially after being exposed to potentially harmful PFAS chemicals.”

The VA has established registries for veterans who may have been exposed to environmental contaminants, including Agent Orange and emissions from open burn pits. This act would support these existing efforts, and the legislation specifically:

• Requires VA to establish/maintain a PFAS registry that provides relevant metrics on exposure

• Directs VA to educate eligible individuals about the registry and notify of significant developments

• Requires an independent organization to evaluate the registry and issue a report to Congress

• Directs the VA in consult with the DOD and EPA to continuously provide recommendations to Congress on additional chemicals that should be included in the registry

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On this day in 1993, an airplane crash claimed the lives of South Dakota Governor George Mickelson, Ron Becker, David Hanson, David Birkeland, Angus Anson, Roger Hainje, Roland Dolly and Ron Reed.

— SouthDakotaMagazine (@SDMagazine) April 19, 2021

Another Day, Another Liberal Power-Grab Attempt
By Sen. John Thune

In what is fast becoming a theme of his presidency, President Biden caved to the demands of the far left and officially established his court-packing commission. Yes, court-packing. An idea that had been consigned to the ash heap of history almost a century ago has been given new life by the far left, who are upset that a duly elected Republican president was able to get his justices confirmed to the Supreme Court.

The terrible crisis we’re facing is that a Republican president was able to fill three vacancies on the Supreme Court. I confess I had missed the part in the Constitution that said the Supreme Court is only legitimate if a majority of its members were nominated by a Democrat president – or at least reliably deliver liberals’ preferred outcomes. But Liberals didn’t. Now they’re eager to “restore balance” to the Supreme Court by expanding the number of Supreme Court justices and ensuring that a Democrat president fills the new spots.

President Biden – the same man who once called President Roosevelt’s failed court-packing proposal a “bonehead idea” and a “terrible, terrible mistake to make” – is apparently falling in with the far left’s demands. His commission – composed largely of left-leaning scholars, Democrat operatives, and a few conservatives as bipartisan window-dressing – will consider court-packing and other structural “reforms,” like term limits for Supreme Court justices.

Republicans – and a lot of independent and Democrat voters as well – will see this for exactly what it is: an attempt by Democrats to undermine an essential institution to ensure that Democrats get the Supreme Court rulings they want. Democrats can dress up their openness to court-packing proposals in lofty language and faux expressions of concern for the institution, but no one is fooled. This is about power, pure and simple. Democrats want power. They want to be able to impose the policies they want, when they want them. Justice Breyer, a reliable liberal vote on the Supreme Court, recognizes the extraordinary damage court-packing would do to the legitimacy of the Supreme Court, recently stating that “[i]t is wrong to think of the Court as another political institution. And it is doubly wrong to think of its members as junior-league politicians.  Structural alteration motivated by the perception of political influence can only feed that perception, further eroding that trust.”

Let’s suppose Democrats actually succeed in expanding the Supreme Court and adding more Democrat nominees. What do they think is going to happen next time there’s a Republican president and a Republican Congress? I can tell you. Republicans would make their own move to “restore balance” and add some more Republican Supreme Court nominees. Then I imagine when Democrats retook power they’d do the same thing. In a decade or so, the Supreme Court could be expanded to laughable proportions.

This may seem like all talk and no action from a few radical fringe Democrats, but recently, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee and senior Senate Democrats stood on the steps of the Supreme Court to announce they had introduced legislation to expand the court from nine to 13. History will not look kindly on those who seek to intimidate the Supreme Court by threatening to pack it with partisans, in much the same way history does not look kindly on President Roosevelt’s effort to do the same thing back in 1937.

I understand Democrats’ passion for their political beliefs, as I’m also pretty passionate about advancing my political principles, but I believe we should be advancing our principles the democratic way, by persuading people to vote for us – not by undermining our democratic institutions to give our party an advantage.

I am deeply disappointed that President Biden found himself unable to stand up to pressure from the radical left. I hope that at least some Democrats will find the courage to oppose these dangerous attempts to undermine our system of government. The Biden court-packing commission is a solution in search of a problem – and an attempt at a raw power grab by Democrats. I will work to ensure it fades into the obscurity it deserves.

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Congratulations to the new South Dakota College Republican executive board on their selection this afternoon:

Mary Mowry, one of the anti-Thune candidates who has sprung forth from the closed “Primary John Thune in 2022” facebook group to run in the 2022 Republican Primary declared in a facebook forum this morning to the group that from what he could see “we are not a fringe group.”

Which was all well and good.. until people in the group watching his presentation started claiming that mass shootings were staged, with the candidate agreeing that they “sure could be.”

So much for anyone dispelling the notion that they’re not a fringe group.

RNC Regional Co-Chair Announcement

WASHINGTON —Today, Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel announced four new RNC Regional Co-Chairs who will play key roles in supporting Chairwoman McDaniel as she continues her successful leadership of the party. Their duties will also include providing local support to RNC initiatives and advising RNC Chair of Chairs Jessica Patterson.

“I am proud to announce Caleb Heimlich, Dan Lederman, Demi Kouzounas, and Michael Whatley as our new Regional Co-Chairs,” said Chairwoman McDaniel. “They are excellent, highly qualified additions to our team, and each of them boasts a wealth of experience as effective leaders at the grassroots and regional level. These Co-Chairs represent red and blue states alike, and possess unique knowledge about their respective regions that will be invaluable as we head into the 2022 midterms and beyond.”

Regional Co-Chairs:

Caleb Heimlich, Western Region
One of the youngest State Republican Party Chairmen in the country, Caleb has successfully helped many Republican candidates win elections in Washington State. Caleb graduated from Hillsdale College Magna Cum Laude with a degree in Political Economy. Upon graduation, he worked for Americans for Prosperity in Washington DC and then for AFP in Washington State organizing grass roots activists. That led to being hired as the Political Director of the WSRP in 2011, promoted to Executive Director in 2013 with the additional title of Chief of Staff in 2016. In January of 2018 he was elected Chairman of the State Republican Party with over 70% of the vote.

Dan Lederman, Midwest Region
Dan Lederman serves as the Chair of the South Dakota Republican Party. Prior to his service for the State Party, Dan served in the State Senate as Assistant Majority Leader and in the House of Representatives. Dan currently holds the Chair position for his home county, Union County and has been the county chair since 2005. Before his entry into politics, Dan served in the Army National Guard as a Combat Medic.

Demi Kouzounas, Northeast Region
Demi Kouzounas serves as chair of the Maine Republican Party. She is a graduate from University of Maine at Orono and graduated in 1981 from Tufts University School of Dental Medicine. She and her husband (Joseph G. Penna, DMD) then joined the U. S. Army, serving in the 86th Medical Detachment in Giessen, Germany from 1981-1984. They have practiced dentistry together for over 30 years and own two dental practices.

Michael Whatley, Southern Region
Michael Whatley currently serves as the Chairman for the North Carolina Republican Party. In addition, he is a partner at HBW Resources. Whatley previously served as Chief of Staff for Senator Elizabeth Dole (R-NC), Subcommittee Staff Director and Chief Counsel for the U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Energy and Counsel to the U.S. Senate Republican Conference Secretary Paul Coverdell (R-GA).

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A Safer South Dakota
By: Governor Kristi Noem 
April 16, 2021

One of my main responsibilities as Governor is to keep South Dakota safe. It’s something that I take very seriously. After all, I love this state. I love the people who live here. In a small state like ours, we’re all really neighbors. We get to know one another. And we work together to take care of each other.

Part of that responsibility means calling out when other people are making our state less safe. If you look at our nation’s southern border right now, that’s exactly what’s happening. President Biden has undone years of progress securing our border, and it’s led to a massive surge of illegal immigration into our country.

We can’t possibly know who all these people are. In fact, media outlets have reported that Border Patrol has apprehended several individuals on the terrorism watch list coming into our country. The number of illegal drugs like fentanyl crossing the southern border are up by 233% compared to previous years. Border Patrol needs more help, and they aren’t able to catch everything, so we have no idea what else may be getting through.

When President Biden started asking states to take some of these illegal immigrants and house them, I told him “No way” before he asked South Dakota. Those illegal immigrants can call us when they’re an American. I wanted to make sure he got that message loud and clear. We don’t know who these individuals are, so taking them would make South Dakota less safe.

Over the past four years, President Trump took decisive action to make America safer. He worked to secure the border. He built hundreds of miles of border wall. And he improved the vetting of people coming into our country, especially in the refugee resettlement program.

In fact, I took some criticism two years ago for taking in refugees to our state. But I did so because I was confident that President Trump and his administration had vetted these people.  They’d weeded out the bad actors. We had a good idea who these folks were, and having them here would not make our state less safe.

Another part of keeping our state safe is attracting high quality law enforcement officers to protect and serve our communities. Over the past year, law enforcement has been attacked and demeaned in other communities across the country. We responded to these attacks by recruiting more law enforcement officers to move to South Dakota, and we’ve had tremendous success in those efforts.

In the wake of the recent riots in Minneapolis and other places, I am going to be relaunching that campaign to recruit law enforcement officers to move to our state. In South Dakota, we respect them. We won’t defund them. Instead, we’ll work with them to make South Dakota safer.

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Sisters and Conservative folk duo Camille & Haley are apparently big fans of Governor Kristi Noem, and they’re expressing it in song with a version of Country Roads tailored for South Dakota’s Governor:

You can follow Camille and Haley here at their website!