Weekly Column

I got your letter and I wanted to thank you for the invite to your high school grad party. I'm going to try my best to make it.

When Professor Sean Flynn, a member of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe, released his book Without Reservation: Benjamin Reifel & American Indian Acculturation, I was quick to snag a copy. I was fascinated by the story of the first Congressman of Lakota Sioux descent, Ben Reifel.

Throughout Ben Reifel's career at the Bureau of Indian Affairs and for a decade in Congress, he worked tirelessly to further economic opportunity for American Indians. He celebrated education, hard work and self-determination.

Our nation's immigration problems are not new, and frankly, they're getting worse. I had the opportunity to cut through the noise and travel to our southern border last week to see what's going on for myself.

For as long as I can remember, immigration reform headlines have frequented the front pages of our newspapers. It's a tough system to understand, and an even tougher system to legislate. Many of the world's greatest leaders have tried and failed over the years, and even some successes have resulted in failure years later.

Many people are familiar with the work I do in D.C., which ensures South Dakota's voice is heard on a national level about the issues that matter most to our state. However, I believe the most effective work gets done right here at home. I have offices in Sioux Falls, Aberdeen and Rapid City, where my staff works every day to help folks who are having issues with the federal government. We call it casework.

Over the last several weeks, South Dakota and our surrounding states have endured record level flooding. This has been a dire situation for the families and communities across the Midwest. Our state has barely begun to recover from dramatic flooding, and now we are seeing blizzard conditions in mid-April. More than a foot of snow on already saturated ground may only make matters worse for families already suffering from flood damage.

An average summer day in South Dakota is 82 degrees. While I am in the state for the August work period, I want to make sure I get face time with as many of you as possible. To help beat the heat and hear from South Dakotans at the same time, I'm making stops at ice cream shops throughout the state to get the "Inside Scoop." I am always looking for more opportunities to sit down with constituents and have a conversation. What better way than over ice cream?

Every week I travel back and forth from South Dakota to Washington, D.C., to represent our great state. I'm impressed by how many South Dakotans I've come across in D.C. over the last few months. Spring has sprung and families and school groups are headed to D.C. for spring break. While my time here has focused on congressional work, I've enjoyed exploring some of the historical and cultural experiences D.C. has to offer.