For South Dakota’s Delegation, Recess Time Is Travel Time
PIERRE, S.D. (AP) — South Dakota’s federal lawmakers are still discussing Planned Parenthood and the Iran nuclear deal during their August break, but at county fairs and coffee shops rather than in the halls of Congress.
The all-Republican delegation — Rep. Kristi Noem and Sens. John Thune and Mike Rounds — have dozens of events scheduled from Buffalo to Parker over the congressional recess. Lawmakers say the break allows them to hear concerns from regular South Dakotans and to get feedback about where members’ priorities should be when they return to Washington in September.
“It’s like I’m in rehab,” Rounds said, sitting in his Pierre office after a recent meeting with state officials and tribal veterans service officers. “It feels so good to be back where things are normal and common sense is found in people around you.”
Rounds, the newest member of the delegation, said he’s hearing from residents that they’re fed up with a federal government that’s bloated and unresponsive. Thune said he hears about local issues like storms and disaster relief, but both he and Noem named the Iran deal as a major topic in discussions with residents. Noem said she’s also hearing about trade and tax policy.
At the Turner County Fair in Parker, 68-year-old Judy Harig followed a loudspeaker announcement to find Noem at the Republican booth. Speaking with the third-term congresswoman, Harig recounted her dismay about recently released undercover footage in which Planned Parenthood officials discuss fetal tissue from abortions being used for medical research
The Sioux Falls resident talked about her sense the Democratic Party has shifted left over the last quarter-century and asked Noem if she ever wonders why she’s in Washington and not back on her ranch.
“She said, ‘That’s why it’s important to come back and connect with the people, and … hear what they have to say,’ so she can go back and represent better, which is wonderful to hear,” Harig said.
Marlyn and Rose Waltner of Marion came to the county fair to speak with Thune and Noem. They asked Thune what concerns him most, and the three discussed Iran.
“He asked what (our concerns) were, and I felt that he had kind of hit on what was bothering me,” Rose Waltner said. “We’ve been watching the political issues quite closely, and I think our next presidential nominee is going to be very important. It’s going to be a tide-shifting moment.”
“Are you out here campaigning for Trump?” Gordon Ludens, a farmer from Viborg, joked to Thune.
The state’s senior senator, like Noem, has so far declined to wade into the presidential race. Rounds has endorsed former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee.
Noem and Thune have their own re-election campaigns to worry about, but so far only Democratic state Rep. Paula Hawks has announced a challenge to Noem. State Democratic Party Chairwoman Ann Tornberg said the party is working to run a candidate against Thune, and she said Republicans aren’t listening to South Dakotans on issues such as education.
“I think their views are representative of the class that funds their campaigns, and those huge war chests that they’ve put together with corporate backing are indicative of the voices that they’re listening to,” she said.
Aside from events with the public and businesses, the three sitting lawmakers said they’re enjoying time with family members during the recess. Eating pie at a diner in Murdo with his wife and father, Thune said by the time the August break is over “we’ll pretty much touch down most places” in South Dakota.
Rounds said he plans to travel to coffee shops to talk to “normal people.” Noem also said she plans to spend a lot of time “crisscrossing our state.”
“It’s one of my favorite times of the year because the reason I serve South Dakota is for the people,” Noem said.
Harig, who spoke to Noem at the Turner County Fair, said she values that her representatives are accessible.
“It’s nice to see them here,” Harig said. “These are their people. We all are.”
