Seeking to bolster foreign policy knowledge, Johnson makes first trip to Israel
U.S. Rep. Dusty Johnson, R-S.D., recently returned from a trip to Israel, where he said he met with residents and officials of all walks of life about the country's relationship with the United States.
Johnson, of Mitchell, said that while he's not involved with committee work that is directly related to Israel, he said Middle East issues come up in Congress on a weekly basis.
"Whether it's the administration's announcement that they're pulling out of Syria or dealing with the Gulf Coast countries or military aid packages to those countries and Israel … as a matter of Congress, it's a weekly part of my job," he said in a conference call with reporters Wednesday.
Johnson said he's tried to be honest about his strengths and weaknesses and said he wants to improve his understanding of foreign policy matters as much as possible to best represent South Dakota and cast his vote in the state's best interest.
Johnson's trip also included meetings with former Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Sallai Meridor and current U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman. He said he made a point to meet with "real people," as he phrased it, whether they were Muslims, Christians or Jews.
"They know that the long-term prospects of peace in that region will be a difficult and multi-year process," he said.
Johnson said it was "plainly evident" that Israel is understanding of the threat of Iran and Turkey in the region and is concerning both for Israelis and for Americans who care about the area. He said the security ties and relationships between the U.S. and Israel have been important for 70-plus years but came into focus on the trip for him.
Johnson said the trip was paid for by Torah Umesorah, which is a national Jewish education group. He said it was his first trip to Israel.
Aside from discussion about his trip to Israel, Johnson said it seems likely that funding the government will remain an issue for the remainder of the year. A continuing resolution has funded the government through Nov. 21, and he said he expects Congress to "kick the can once again" with a resolution for funding through Dec. 20. From there, he said he expects another short-term extension to avoid a government shutdown into February.
"I'm very disappointed," he said. "We seem unable to make progress on a basic building block of governance. It is hard to get many of my colleagues to focus, with impeachment hearings going on (Wednesday). … We've got some members of Congress that don't want to take their medicine now, and they'll take their medicine when they don't have any other options."
Johnson also stumped for the passage of the United States-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement, which has gone one year without congressional action. He said impeachment proceedings are also slowing that process from taking place.
"It's frustrating to have the three-ring circus of impeachment when I know there are legislative layups that could do more than anything in front of us to make progress," he said. "We're going to continue to push."