Weekly Round[s] Up: November 18-22, 2024
Last week was another busy week out in DC! We took 48 votes on the Senate floor as Democrats attempted to confirm as many of President Biden’s nominees as possible before they lose their majority in January. With leadership elections over, we also returned to more regular activity in terms of meetings, hearings and briefings. I had the opportunity to meet with South Dakota groups, including leaders from several tribes in South Dakota. I also attended a few events to discuss advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) as well. All this and more in my Weekly Round[s] Up:
South Dakotans I met with: Leadership from the Oglala Sioux Tribe, including President Frank Star Comes Out; leadership from the Rosebud Sioux Tribe, including newly-elected President Kathleen Wooden Knife; leadership from the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, including Chairwoman Janet Alkire; Dr. Julie Thorstenson, Executive Director of the Native American Fish and Wildlife Society and member of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe; Dr. José-Marie Griffiths, President of Dakota State University and Dr. Ashley Podhradsky, Vice President for Research & Economic Development at Dakota State University; and Chris Baumgartner and Ryan Norrell from Basin Electric Power Cooperative.
Met with South Dakotans from: Eagle Butte, Lantry, Madison, Mission, Onida, Pine Ridge and Watertown.
Other meetings: Christopher Waller, member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve; Adriana Kugler, member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve; Sam Feist, CEO of C-SPAN; Dr. Jon Kosloski, Director of the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO); Henry Schuck, CEO of ZoomInfo; Ian Bremmer, President of Eurasia Group; Brian Anderson, President of the Coalition for Health AI; Thomas Tull; Gregory Allen, Director of the Wadhwani AI Center at the Center for Strategic and International Studies; and Ana Botin, Executive Chairman of Santander Group. I spoke at the American Fintech Council’s Policy Summit and at FinRegLab’s AI Symposium. I also hosted an AI Visionaries dinner where I had the opportunity to sit down with leaders from all across the field and discuss the future of AI in the United States.
I hosted our Senate Bible Study in my office, where our verse of the week was 2 Corinthians 5:20. I also attended a prayer breakfast with Mathilde Mukantabana, Rwanda’s Ambassador to the United States.
Halifax International Security Forum: This weekend, I joined a group of my colleagues in attending the Halifax International Security Forum in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. This conference is always a good opportunity to connect with our allies from around the world to discuss our international security priorities. I spoke on a panel regarding the challenge we face in supporting Ukraine’s defense of their homeland against Russia. You can watch the clip of that here.
Votes taken: 48 – almost all of these have been on nominations to judicial positions across the country.
Legislation Introduced: I introduced the “Returning Education to Our States Act” which would eliminate the U.S. Department of Education and redistribute all critical federal programs under other departments. Despite the Department spending $16,000 per student per year, standardized test scores have been dropping over the past ten years, further displaying the federal Department’s ineffectiveness on the quality of education for American students. Local school boards and state Departments of Education know best what their students need, not unelected bureaucrats in Washington, D.C. My legislation would redirect critical programs like Title I, special education and tribal programs to Departments of Interior, Treasury, Health and Human Services, Labor and State. Most importantly, there would be NO cuts to current funding levels. Read more here.
Floor Action: I delivered remarks on the Senate floor requesting passage of the Wounded Knee Massacre Memorial and Sacred Site Act. This legislation would place 40 acres of land at the site of the Wounded Knee Massacre, purchased by the Oglala Sioux Tribe and the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe in 2022, into restricted fee status. Unfortunately, my attempt to pass this bill was blocked by Senator Thom Tillis (R-N.C.). I will keep working to get this legislation across the finish line.
Hearings: We had two closed hearings in the Select Committee on Intelligence.
Classified briefings: I attended two classified briefings this week: one on biotechnology as part of my work on the Select Committee on Intelligence and the other on Ukraine as part of my work on the Senate Armed Services Committee.
My staff in South Dakota visited: Aberdeen, Madison, Mitchell, Wall and Watertown.
Steps taken this past week: 51,269 steps or 25.73 miles.
Video of the week: I joined Fox News on Thursday to discuss my new bill “Returning Education to Our States Act” as well as President-elect Trump’s cabinet picks:
