Stopped Democrats’ Tax-and-Spend Agenda
- Negotiated the most significant tax cut package since President Reagan was in office
- Delayed Obamacare’s Health Insurance Tax, which could increase a family’s insurance premiums by as much as $400 annually
- Reversed the Democrats’ spending splurge, saving nearly $1 trillion
- Permanently extended Section 179, which is critical for farmers and ranchers
Protected South Dakotans from Federal Intrusion
- Supported President Trump in repealing more than 1,600 Obama-era regulations
- Eliminated Obamacare’s costly individual mandate
- Pressured the Labor Department to rescind a proposal banning kids from working on family farms in certain circumstances
- Forced OSHA to reverse course when they attempted to overregulate small family farms
- Pushed the EPA to back down on an attempt to expand dust regulations
- Dramatically reduced the federal government’s role in education, returning more decision-making authority to states and school districts and eliminating pressure on states to adopt Common Core
- Required better communication between the Army Corps of Engineers and the public after the 2011 flood
- Prohibited the Army Corps of Engineers from charging South Dakotans for water taken from the Missouri River
- Wrote and passed legislation to transfer ownership of nine historic Black Hills cemeteries from the federal government to local communities
Defended South Dakota Values
- Cosponsored legislation President Trump signed empowering states to pull certain family-planning funds from Planned Parenthood
- Drove the U.S. House to pass the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act as well as the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act
- Ushered one of history’s most comprehensive anti-trafficking legislative packages through to passage, allocating more resources for survivors and more tools to go after traffickers
- Led the U.S. House in passing national right-to-carry legislation
Fought to Keep South Dakota Safe and Healthy
- Supported the No Sanctuary for Criminals Act, which would withhold federal grants from sanctuary cities
- Voted to fully fund President Trump’s border wall and supported allocating additional personnel and new technologies to help secure the border
- Cosponsored legislation allowing governors to deny refugee resettlements in their states
- Defended President Trump’s ban on immigration from certain terrorist-held areas
- Authored legislation to close a dangerous loophole that allows fugitives to hide on Indian Reservations in the state where were charged with a major crime
- Backed legislation to help stop drug trafficking and better support law enforcement
- Introduced legislation to strengthen families during drug addiction treatment and better prevent the child abuse and neglect that can result from drug use
- Shaped major reforms to the mental healthcare system, including advances in tele-psychiatry to better reach underserved and rural communities
- Earned support for new provisions that prioritize Native American anti-suicide programs
Met South Dakota’s Economic Priorities
- Successfully negotiated the 2014 Farm Bill, which included a strong safety net for farmers and a meaningful livestock disaster program
- Included sodsaver provisions in the Farm Bill to protect South Dakota’s hunting habitats
- Won additional support for the Lewis & Clark Rural Water Project
- Gave Black Hills foresters more tools to combat the pine beetle epidemic, which was declared “over” by the National Park Service in 2017
- Protected the D.C. Booth Fish Hatchery from closure
- Passed into law the first long-term highway bill in more than a decade, which returned more control to state and local governments
Supported the Military and Veterans
- Protected the Hot Springs VA Hospital from closure, a fight that still continues
- Authorized and funded the largest pay raise for troops in eight years
- Defeated a push to delay development of the B-21 bomber, which is now expected to arrive at Ellsworth Air Force Base as early as the mid-2020’s
- Held the VA accountable, expanding whistleblower protections and streamlining the process required to fire any VA employee
- Authored three provisions to combat sexual assault in the military - all of which became law
Championed Tribal Issues
- Brought the Indian Health Service crisis to the forefront of congressional dialogue, advancing real reforms that help attract a better medical and managerial workforce, get more mileage out of every dollar IHS spends, and hold the agency accountable for the service it provides
- Secured additional mental health resources for Indian Country
- Established a permanent Office of Tribal Relations within the USDA
- Led efforts to declare the bison the National Mammal as a symbol of our Native American heritage
- Introduced legislation, which the House passed, to protect tribal sovereignty on labor issues
- Worked to expand tourism opportunities in tribal areas through the NATIVE Act, which was signed into law in 2016
- Made sure individuals who receive assistance, such as school supplies, from tribal governments are treated the same as if they were receiving similar state or federal benefits
- Passed the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECV) Program through the House to help make parenting education and similar services more affordable to tribes