Rounds Announces Committee Memberships for 119th Congress

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) today announced his membership on five committees for the 119th Congress:

• Appropriations
• Armed Services
• Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs
• Intelligence
• Indian Affairs

“I am grateful for the opportunity to serve on five key committees on behalf of the people of South Dakota and for the national security of our nation,” said Rounds. “These committees will be particularly important as we work to confirm President-elect Trump’s nominees and begin implementing his agenda in January.

“This Congress, I am beginning a new role on the Senate Committee on Appropriations. As we saw earlier, the debate over government spending is a mess. It has been almost 30 years since Congress passed all of its required appropriations measures on time. I look forward to working with my colleagues on Appropriations to promote returning to regular order for our budgeting process and return to commonsense fiscal conservatism under a Republican trifecta in the 119th Congress.

“Real, collaborative work to defend our country is done in the Senate Armed Services Committee. We have worked to strengthen our military, improve our nation’s cybersecurity capabilities and provide much-needed modernization of the nuclear triad, which has deterred our nation’s adversaries for over 60 years. Ellsworth Air Force Base, the future home of the B-21 Raider, will have an important role in defending the United States and will have a significant economic impact on the Black Hills area for generations to come.

“I will once again serve as a member on the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. South Dakotans deserve easy access to credit, housing that is affordable and traditional financial services. Our state is home to financial institutions of all sizes and charters that significantly add to our economic base. I look forward to promoting commonsense public policy that encourages economic growth, capital formation and consumer protection while also providing much-needed oversight to heavy-handed bureaucrats.

"I am pleased to continue my work on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. For the past two years, I’ve been able to work alongside our Intelligence Community to learn how they operate and hear from leaders on how Congress can best work with them. Intelligence gathering is a critical piece of our national security puzzle and by working together, we can keep America safe and ahead of our adversaries.

“The Native American population is an integral part of South Dakota. Too often, the federal government has failed to uphold its treaty and trust obligations to Native American tribes. I am pleased to remain on the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs and will continue working with tribal leaders to uphold tribal sovereignty. By working together, we can make certain their unique circumstances and challenges are being properly addressed.”

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