Weekly Column

Tuesday, September 11, 2001. It was like every other day working for then-Congressman John Thune on Capitol Hill. I was a staff assistant at the time and our office, the Longworth House Office Building, was located adjacent to the Capitol.

The events that unfolded in Afghanistan over the last few weeks have been a tragedy.

This week, the House was called back for a special session. However, it was not to vote on legislation related to the heart-wrenching humanitarian and military crisis unfolding in Afghanistan. Instead, Speaker Pelosi called us back to vote on a $3.5 trillion budget blueprint.

Summer is coming to an end and students across South Dakota are heading back to school. I was home to see my three boys off to start the 2021-2022 school year this week.

Like many South Dakotans, I grew up in a working-class family where the value of hard work was instilled in me at a young age. The ability to earn an income and support your family is one of the greatest opportunities America has to offer.

Just like any school-aged kid, I love recess. But recess in Congress looks a little different than recess in elementary school.

In a country where every year there are more than forty thousand suicides and sixty thousand drug overdose deaths, mental health matters.

Our nation has overlooked mental health for too long. Suicide is one of the leading causes of death for South Dakotans, which is heartbreaking, unacceptable, and why we must do more.

Some of my favorite memories growing up was when school closed for a snow day. But watching the snow pile up outside while waiting for news from the Pierre school district was agonizing as a young kid.

Thanks to Samyok Nepal, a student from Brookings High School, he and his fellow classmates do not have to wait with the same anticipation.