All business on first day for Rounds

WASHINGTON - As Republicans officially took control of Congress on Tuesday, South Dakota’s newest senator was ready for the pomp and circumstance to be over so the real work could begin.

“We’re going to try to hit the ground running,” Sen. Mike Rounds of Pierre said while sitting inside his sparsely decorated temporary office located next door to the Capitol.

With the halls of the Capitol filled with journalists, eager politicians and small armies of family members, Rounds was joined by his own family as he took part in Tuesday’s ceremonial swearing in.

Rounds’ day was filled with both business and celebration as he officially joined the 114th Congress.

As many as 21 members of Rounds’ family, including his father, Don, traveled to Washington, D.C., to see the former governor be sworn in as the junior senator from South Dakota. The group posed for a photo opportunity with Vice President Joe Biden after Rounds ceremoniously took the oath of office while standing next to his wife, Jean, who held his Bible.

After the swearing in, Rounds headed to a committee meeting in hopes of getting down to business.

“It’s only day one,” Rounds said. “I think the former members that are still here are very serious about changing the way we do business in the Senate.”

That will likely include some lively debates on issues on the Senate floor.

“We’ll have some real disagreements,” Rounds said.

One issue that Republicans have been pushing has been the passage of the TransCanada Keystone XL pipeline. The party has made it clear the 1,179-mile oil pipeline is a top priority, and both the House and the Senate are set to discuss the oil pipeline this week.

Rounds, who signed on as a sponsor to the bill, called the pipeline legislation a “jobs bill” that he would like to see passed this session. But even as members of the new Congress were still being sworn in, the legislation took a hit when the White House said the president would not sign the bill if passed by both chambers.

Prior to President Barack?Obama’s announcement, Rounds had said the president could go one of two ways.

He could decide that the political fight that could take place would not be worth it or he could actually engage.

“If he vetoes it, he puts Democrats at risk, because we will likely bring it to a vote.”

Rounds said bringing it to a vote would be fine. He believes the XL pipeline has popular support throughout the country.

“Democrats will have to either say we’re going to stand behind the president’s veto and then go back home and defend it or they may abandon him,” he said.

Beyond the XL pipeline, Rounds said Congress is set to discuss a number of issues including the Affordable Care Act, Dodd-Frank and the Environmental Protection Agency.

“We’ve got a whole series of overreach issues that I think the new majority in the U.S. Senate has an interest in addressing.”

While thinking about his current transition from being a former governor to a current U.S. senator, Rounds said it hasn’t quite hit him yet but he’s sure it will come soon.

“There’s an excitement in the air right now. It’ll hit me more as my family heads home and as we get down to the day-to-day grind that this can become. I don’t have any expectations that it’s all going to be fun, but I think it’s the place where the action’s at right now and we’ll make the best of it.”

Rounds said he is well aware of the fact that not many people get to serve in the Senate and he is fully invested in using the office in the way that it was intended.

“Which is to get things done,” he added.

Rounds said he will use skills he learned as majority leader of the South Dakota Senate. “You bring your team with you and develop a consensus. If you do that, you can get some things accomplished.”

While making no promises as to how productive the 114th Congress will be, Rounds said it will become evident in the days and months ahead.

“Time will tell if we are successful or not. But we know the way they did it last time around did not work. It’s time to go back to finding areas of agreement for a while, while at the same time maintaining a protection of our principles.”