{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.rounds.senate.gov/newsroom/weekly-column/celebrating-america", "Celebrating America", "2019-06-28", "2019", "2019-06", "Republican", "Senate", "SD", "Mike Rounds", "R000605", "www.rounds.senate.gov", "rounds", "https://www.rounds.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases", "scraper", "On July 4, Americans celebrate our country\u2019s independence. Like many families in South Dakota, Independence Day is a special holiday that our family looks forward to each year.\n\nFor decades, we\u2019ve spent the Fourth of July boating and camping on Lake Oahe, just north of Pierre. It\u2019s a fun time for the big Rounds crew to get together with our kids and grandkids to celebrate America\u2019s birthday. We cherish this special time together even more so this year, since Jean is currently undergoing treatment for cancer at the Mayo Clinic. We are grateful to be back from Rochester over the Fourth of July holiday to spend this time together.\n\nOf course, the reason that any of us are able to enjoy Independence Day is because of the men and women who have fought\u2014and continue to fight\u2014for our freedoms. It is through their sacrifices that we remain the strongest, freest country in the world. The Fourth of July is a time of celebration, but it\u2019s also a time to honor those who have sacrificed so much in defense of our liberties.\n\nIn the Senate, I work with my colleagues to advance policies that continue to make the United States the greatest nation in the world. The Senate recently passed the National Defense Authorization Act\u2014or NDAA\u2014a bipartisan bill we pass each year that supports the men and women who wear the uniform of the United States. This important legislation makes sure our troops have everything they need to keep our country safe. President Trump has been a strong supporter of our military, and I look forward to continuing the decades-long tradition of sending the president a strong, bipartisan NDAA to sign into law again this year.\n\nSouth Dakotans have a long history of supporting our military and our veterans. I\u2019m proud to live in a state as patriotic as South Dakota. If you ask me, there\u2019s no better place in the country to celebrate Independence Day than South Dakota. No matter where you go, communities across the state organize special festivities to celebrate our freedom and the servicemembers who fight every day to preserve it.\n\nIf you\u2019re already making plans for next year\u2019s Fourth of July, be sure to add Mount Rushmore to your list. Thanks to President Trump and his administration, fireworks will once again be displayed over the national memorial for Fourth of July 2020. We haven\u2019t had fireworks over Mount Rushmore since 2009, and if you haven\u2019t had a chance to see them, I\u2019d highly recommend visiting next year. It\u2019s a truly spectacular sight.\n\nNo matter where or how you spend the holiday, Jean and I wish you a safe and happy Independence Day!\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:29:15Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.rounds.senate.gov/newsroom/weekly-column/celebrating-america"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 3.042536322027445, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}