Weekly Round[s] Up: June 17-23, 2024

We had a short week out in Washington due to the Juneteenth holiday, but we still packed it full of meetings and votes. I was happy to see so many South Dakota students from all across the state with the South Dakota Rural Electric Association. I also was able to speak with a group of Capitol Hill interns. In addition, as promised, you can find more about the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) in this week’s edition as well. It includes several wins for South Dakota and Ellsworth Air Force Base, as well as our men and women in uniform and our national defense. Here’s my Weekly Round[s] Up:

South Dakotans I met with: South Dakota students in town as part of the South Dakota Rural Electric Association’s Youth Tour; and students from Highmore and Miller.

Met with South Dakotans from: Aberdeen, Alexandria, Bison, Brookings, Buffalo, Centerville, Clear Lake, Custer, Elk Point, Ethan, Faulkton, Garretson, Highmore, Hill City, Kadoka, Kimball, Martin, Miller, Murdo, Oldham, Philip, Pierre, Platte, Sioux Falls, Sisseton, Spearfish, Tabor, Tyndall, Wall and Woonsocket.

Other meetings: Tobias Lindner, Germany’s Minister of State at the Federal Foreign Office; Jens Stoltenberg, Secretary General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization; and Christy Goldsmith Romero, nominee to be chair of the FDIC. I attended our Senate Bible Study where our verse of the week was Ephesians 5:33. I also spoke with interns from across Capitol Hill as part of the 2024 Intern Lecture Series. They had lots of great questions about everything from public service to free speech to tribal relations.

Votes taken: 5 – most of these were on nominations to positions in the Department of State and judge positions in Illinois and the District of Columbia. We also voted on the Fire Grants and Safety Act, a bill to authorize appropriations for the U.S. Fire Administration. This legislation extends funding for local fire departments that they use for staffing and equipment. I voted yes on this bill.

NDAA: In the last week’s Round[s] Up, I mentioned the Fiscal Year 2025 NDAA that passed through the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC). This is the tenth NDAA that I’ve helped to author as a member of SASC. This past week, I released a list of some of the biggest wins for South Dakota that made it into the committee version of the bill. This includes $282 million in military construction projects to support the B-21 Raider housed at Ellsworth, as well as over $2.6 billion for B-21 Raider procurement. I had a number of other provisions that made it into the bill as well, including my Military Personnel Confirmation Restoration Act, legislation to provide backpay for military officers whose promotions were delayed because of Senate holds. You can read more about the NDAA and view a full list of wins here.

Legislation introduced: I introduced a bill with my colleague Senator Angus King (I-Maine) to establish an Office of Falls Prevention at the VA. This program would follow the best practices that have already been successful at other non-VA hospitals. America’s veterans deserve access to the preventative care solutions that evidence-based slip and fall prevention programs offer. It’s our responsibility to make certain veterans have access to these programs so they can live safely and comfortably after their service and sacrifice to our great nation. You can read more about the SAFE STEPS for Veterans Act here.

Letter to CBP and ICE: I joined my colleague Senator Jim Risch (R-Idaho) in sending a letter to the Biden administration demanding answers for Custom and Border Protection's (CBP) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) failure to share information about the apprehension and subsequent release of suspects on the terror watchlist into the U.S. The letter outlines a case in which CBP apprehended an illegal immigrant at the southwestern border, received an inconclusive match to the terror watchlist and released the illegal immigrant into the U.S. You can read more about this letter here.

Classified briefings: I had our bi-weekly cybersecurity education seminar. I also received current situational updates through the Select Committee on Intelligence.

My staff in South Dakota visited: Agency Village, Deadwood, Madison, Milbank, Parker, Sioux Falls and Sisseton.

Steps taken this past week: 44,982 steps or 22.25 miles

Photo of the week:

Speaking at the intern lecture series this past week.