Weekly Column

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.

The COVID-19 pandemic hindered this opportunity as businesses and schools closed across the country and many families found themselves hard-pressed financially.

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.

That's because Samyok designed Bobcat Notify, an app to alert students of snow days.

In Congress, hardly anything is perfect. But just because it's not perfect, doesn't mean there's not progress.

This past week we made progress for South Dakota.

The first comes following the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) decision to walk back plans to change the city status of Rapid City.

In January, OMB began toying with the idea to increase the Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) qualification from 50,000 to 100,000 people. This set off the alarm bells in smaller cities across the country, including ours.

Crime is on the rise across America.

Since the beginning of 2021, cities have faced surging levels of violence. The most staggering statistics have emerged in Portland, where homicides and shootings have jumped by a disturbing 533% and 126% respectively, compared to 2020.

Rates are not likely to slow either, as summer is known to be the most violent time of year.

We all know 2020 was an unprecedented year given the COVID-19 pandemic and the protests that swept the nation last summer, but there are several factors contributing to rising crime rates in our nation.

Identifying bills to cosponsor, writing memos on proposed legislation, answering constituent calls, and compiling news stories – this is a day in the life of an intern in my Congressional office.

With only 15 full-time staffers among our four offices, it requires a full team effort to optimally serve over 880,000 constituents across South Dakota and our interns play an integral part in making that happen.

As much as the internship program helps our offices run efficiently, it also provides our interns with a valuable educational experience.

Earlier this month marked the 32^nd anniversary of Tiananmen Square, a tragic day in which the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) forced the silence of thousands of pro-democracy activists and killed hundreds.

Unfortunately, no Chinese citizen will find mention of that day in their history books. That's because the CCP continues its suppression of democratic values.

This past week, China forced Apple Daily, Hong Kong's pro-democracy newspaper to shut down, citing violation of its year-old national security law.