Weekly Round[s] Up: July 22-28, 2024

Welcome back to another edition of the Weekly Round[s] Up. Along with meeting with constituents and casting votes, the main event of the week was an address from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He made the trip to the United States to thank our country for the continued support of our ally Israel. I also introduced three pieces of bipartisan legislation with my colleagues. More on all of those below. Here’s my Weekly Round[s] Up:

South Dakotans I met with:  Leaders from Missouri River Energy Services; the South Dakota Agri-Business Association’s class of 2024 Future Ag Leaders; South Dakota members of the Renewable Fuels Association; and South Dakota’s delegates to Boys and Girls Nation. I was also able to meet virtually with the South Dakota FFA state officers and Community Support Providers of South Dakota. 

Met with South Dakotans from: Beresford, Brandon, Britton, Brookings, Groton, Harrisburg, Ipswich, Lake Norden, Miller, Mitchell, Onida, Pierre, Rapid City, Spearfish, Twin Brooks, Viborg and Wallace.

Other meetings: Sammons Financial Group; and Jack Clark, co-founder of Anthropic AI. I also attended our weekly Senate Prayer Breakfast.

I spent part of last Monday at Fort Eisenhower in Augusta, Georgia to visit Army Cyber Command. I was joined by the Army’s Principal Cyber Advisor, Dr. Michael Sulmeyer, who has been nominated to be the nation’s first Assistant Secretary of Defense for Cyber Policy, and Lieutenant General Maria Barrett, the Commander of Army Cyber Command. We discussed operations and training, along with the ongoing partnership between Dakota State University and Army Cyber.

Netanyahu address: This past week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke to both the Senate and the House in a joint session of Congress. PM Netanyahu reaffirmed the need for U.S. support for Israel as they continue to defend their nation against Hamas in the wake of the October 7 terrorist attacks. It’s critical to Israel’s success that America continues to stand with their nation, our strongest democratic ally in the Middle East. I spoke with Keloland after the address, which you can view a clip of here.

Votes taken: 5 – these were all on nominations to positions within the Federal Labor Relations Authority, the United States Tax Court and the Department of State.

Legislation introduced: This past week, I introduced three pieces of bipartisan legislation. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and I introduced the BRAIN Act, legislation that would strengthen research and treatment development for brain cancers. As many of you know, the fight against cancer is personal for me. When my late wife Jean was courageously battling cancer a few years ago, we were already seeing encouraging progress in the development of new treatments for many cancers. I firmly believe we are years, not decades, away from seeing cures to many of the most deadly cancers. The BRAIN Act will allow us to continue capitalizing on the progress we have made so far by implementing programs and funding that will advance research and treatments for brain tumors. You can read more about this legislation here.

I also introduced legislation with Senator Gary Peters (D-Mich.) that requires the Federal Emergency Management Agency to accept requests from tribal governments to receive a Fire Management Assistance Grant Declaration. You can read more about this bill here.

Last, I introduced the Federal Cyber Workforce Training Act. This bill would help advance the development of the federal government’s cyber workforce. You can read more about it here.

Classified briefings: I had one classified briefing on Ukraine with the Senate Armed Services Committee.

My staff in South Dakota visited: Aberdeen, Chamberlain, Deadwood, Leola, McIntosh, Mission, Murdo, Rapid City, Rosebud, Summerset and Timber Lake.

Steps taken this past week: 53,018 steps or 25.99 miles

Photo of the week:

Meeting with South Dakota’s Boys and Girls Nation delegates. They all had great questions about the Farm Bill, internships and service academies!