Rounds Praises Trump’s Action to Undo Waters of The U.S Rule

February 28, 2017

WASHINGTON D.C. – U.S. Senator Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) today praised President Trump’s executive order that will begin to undo the Obama administration’s overreaching Waters of the U.S. (WOTUS) rule. The executive order will require the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Army Corps to review the WOTUS rule to make certain it promotes economic growth and minimizes regulatory uncertainty. It also requires agencies to rescind or revise aspects of WOTUS that are incompatible with this new policy guidance.

“If implemented, the WOTUS rule would be one of the largest federal land grabs in the history of our country,” said Rounds. “It would give the Army Corps and the EPA control of nearly all water, including man-made water management systems, farm ponds, drainage ditches and any other water that the EPA decides has a ‘significant nexus’ to downstream water. Under WOTUS, farmers, ranchers and landowners would be forced to spend hours filling out burdensome paperwork to get permits from the EPA and Army Corps just to conduct normal agricultural activities or spray for weeds along our county roads. I applaud President Trump for taking steps to undo this unnecessary, misguided overreach.”

Noem, Rounds and Thune Leading the Charge to Dismantle Affordable Care Act

January 9, 2017

SIOUX FALLS – The South Dakota Democratic Democratic Party released the following statement in response to the eagerness with which South Dakota’s congressional delegation is joining their fellow Washington establishment Republicans in pursuing the repeal of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), also know as Obamacare, without any plan to replace it:

“Instead of fulfilling their promise to “repeal and replace” the Affordable Care Act, Republicans are going to make America sick again by offering no health care plan to the American people and actually dismantling Medicare, Medicaid as well as the ACA. Congressional Republicans, including Kristi Noem, Mike Rounds, and John Thune, are leading the charge.

“The Republican health care repeal bill will make America sick again by putting insurance companies back in charge of health care, ripping health care away from 30 million people, raising premiums, and creating chaos throughout our whole economy. Independent experts say this will take us back to the old days when insurance companies could discriminate against people, like individuals with pre-existing conditions. Health care costs for all Americans will skyrocket at the same time big corporations get a tax break.

“In South Dakota alone, repeal would mean:

• 74,000 South Dakotans could lose health care coverage
• 22,005 South Dakotans would lose financial assistance to cover heath care costs
• 346,000 South Dakotans with pre-existing conditions (including asthma, diabetes, and cancer) could lose affordable coverage and women in South Dakota could be charged more for coverage due to their gender
• 392,000 South Dakotans with private insurance, including 86,000 children, and 156,000 South Dakota seniors on Medicare will lose guaranteed access to free preventive care – including recommended cancer screenings and vaccinations
• The Medicare “donut hole” will open once again, meaning South Dakota seniors and people with disabilities will be forced to pay thousands more for their prescriptions (South Dakotans have saved about $49 million in prescription costs thanks to the ACA closing this “donut hole”)
• South Dakota health care providers would be faced with $260 million more in uncompensated care costs
• South Dakota would lose 7,000 jobs, $4.2 billion in state domestic product, $7.5 billion in business productivity, and $108.4 million in state and local tax revenue

“If Kristi Noem, John Thune, Mike Rounds, and their friends in Washington have a plan to replace the ACA and avoid these disastrous effects of its repeal, they have a responsibility to tell the American people what it is. Given that they have had over 6 years to unveil an ACA replacement plan and have failed to do so we can only conclude that one does not exist. Until such a plan is released for the people of South Dakota, and the rest of America, to examine and compare with the ACA, even considering repealing the ACA is completely irresponsible, dangerous, and frankly cruel. The people of South Dakota deserve better.”

An Update on the USS South Dakota By United States Senator Mike Rounds

August 5, 2016
By United States Senator Mike Rounds

 In August 2018, just two years from now, the new USS South Dakota is expected to make its debut in the Navy’s fleet. Not only will the next generation, Virginia-Class nuclear submarine play an important role in the mission of our sailors, it will also serve as a new symbolic link forged between our state and the Navy.

I had the honor of representing South Dakota at the keel laying ceremony of the USS South Dakota in Rhode Island earlier this year. Joined by former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Martin Dempsey, his wife Deanie, Rhode Island Governor Gina Raimondo and members of the Rhode Island Congressional delegation, the ceremony formally marked construction of the submarine. However, the new Virginia-Class attack vessel has been many years in the making. The contract to build the submarine was awarded in December 2008 and construction began in 2013. Once complete, the USS South Dakota will include state-of-the-art technology designed to increase stealth, as well as a revised bow and sonar panels that will allow it to better detect and track other submarines in its area. The 370 foot long submarine, which weighs 7,800 tons, will be manned by 132 crew members and can stay at sea for up to three months at a time. It is armed with four torpedo tubes and can hold six Tomahawk missiles that are capable of hitting targets over 1,000 miles away.

It has been nearly seven decades since the last USS South Dakota, a battleship, was recognized with this honor. I am confident the new USS South Dakota will follow proudly in the tradition of its forebearer, which had such a distinguished history during World War II. The lead ship of her class, the USS South Dakota (BB-57) first served in the Pacific theater, where it fought two battles before returning to the United States for repairs. It later returned to the front lines, first in the North Atlantic and Artic Oceans and then again to the Pacific in the fall of 1943.

This June, a celebration was held at the USS South Dakota Memorial in Sioux Falls to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the USS South Dakota (BB-57). Seventy-five years ago, in June 1941, then-First Lady Vera Bushfield, wife of South Dakota Governor Harlan Bushfield, christened the battleship and soon after it was sent to war. It retired in 1947 after many noble years of service. South Dakotans can be proud of that history, as well as the history that will be written by the new USS South Dakota when construction is complete.  I look forward to following that history far into our Navy’s future.

As a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and the Subcommittee on Seapower, it is truly a privilege to witness the progress being made on the USS South Dakota. As we celebrate this progress, we must also pause to recognize the brave sailors who served on the USS South Dakota in decades past, as well as those who will serve on her in the years and decades to come.

In two short years, the USS South Dakota will play a significant role in our national security efforts. It will also serve as a tribute to South Dakotans’ long history of service in our armed forces, to include service which continues today throughout our Navy. I look forward to tracking its successes.