{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://noem.house.gov/index.cfm/in-the-news?ContentRecord_id=F2779A8E-39F2-4BA5-A42F-D08563F45D54", "State's congressional delegation aims to enact GOP wish list", "2016-12-12", "2016", "2016-12", "Republican", "House", "SD", "Kristi Noem", "N000184", "noem.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Associated Press \r\n\t\r\nSouth Dakota\u2019s all-Republican congressional delegation will head to Washington next year eager to repeal the Affordable Care Act, overhaul taxes and cast aside reams of government regulations.\r\n\r\n\r\nAfter clashing with Democratic President Barack Obama for years while solidifying their own control of South Dakota\u2019s congressional seats in 2014, the state\u2019s three Republican lawmakers are eyeing 2017 as a year of rapid reversal.\r\n\r\n\r\n\u201cThis is a big opportunity. We know we have to deliver, and we fully intend to deliver,\u201d said Sen. Mike Rounds, who was elected in 2014. \u201cWe\u2019re not going to make excuses. We\u2019re going to get the job done.\u201d\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nThe 115th Congress that begins in January will bring a period of one-party rule that only Sen. John Thune has known. Him, Rounds and U.S. Rep. Kristi Noem are looking to encourage economic growth, job gains and higher wages with President-elect Donald Trump\u2019s incoming administration.\r\n\r\n\r\nBut South Dakota Democrats were unimpressed with a legislative itinerary that until now has only been an unattainable wish list.\r\n\r\n\r\n\u201cIt\u2019s an agenda that leaves no doubt who South Dakota\u2019s members of Congress really serve: elite special interests in Washington, not the working families of South Dakota,\u201d Democratic Party executive director Suzanne Jones Pranger said in a statement.\r\n\r\n\r\nRepublicans\u2019 first major move next year will be a measure to roll back President Barack Obama\u2019s health overhaul, said Thune, the third-ranking Senate Republican. A recent study says nearly 30 million people have coverage under the Affordable Care Act.\r\n\r\n\r\nAlso on the docket, Thune said, will be confirming a ninth justice to the U.S. Supreme Court. Obama nominated U.S. Circuit Court Judge Merrick Garland after Justice Antonin Scalia died in March, but Republicans have put off holding a confirmation hearing; Trump will get to nominate someone when he takes office.\r\n\r\n\r\nAnother top priority for South Dakota\u2019s senior senator is overhauling the tax code, a move that could also allow for a package of infrastructure investment, which Trump emphasized throughout his campaign.\r\n\r\n\r\n\u201cI think it\u2019s realistic that some sort of infrastructure proposal hitches a ride on tax reform, but the particulars of it will be a lot of heavy lifting to try and get there,\u201d he said.\r\n\r\n\r\nThune plans to push for the package to encompass digital infrastructure as part of a technology-focused agenda that also includes encouraging the rollout of 5G wireless service, which he said would affect health care, education and business.\r\n\r\n\r\nHe is set to continue leading the chamber\u2019s Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, which has jurisdiction over more than 100 posts that need confirmation, such as the secretaries of Transportation and Commerce and the chair of the Federal Communications Commission.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nAs for Rounds, he believes lawmakers will likely take apart the Dodd-Frank Act, passed in response to the 2008 financial crisis. Dismantling the legislation would help community banks in South Dakota, he said.\r\n\r\n\r\nRounds said he\u2019d also pursue bills to give Congress more authority over major executive branch regulations and to repeal outdated statutes related to Native Americans, such as provisions that allow for children to be taken from home and forced into boarding schools.\r\n\r\n\r\nAmong Noem\u2019s priorities are working on the 2018 farm bill and pursuing legislation to overhaul the Indian Health Service.\r\n\r\n\r\nPlus, Republicans plan to focus on removing environmental and air quality regulations that cause detrimental economic effects, Noem recently told KELO-AM. Noem also said she\u2019s looking forward to an overhaul of tax policy, which is one of the reasons she ran for Congress in 2010.\r\n\r\n\r\n\u201cFor the last six years, we\u2019ve been talking about all the problems that we\u2019ve got and the people and families that are struggling, and nothing\u2019s changed,\u201d she said. \u201cSo that\u2019s what we see as a new hope \u2014 to really make their lives better again.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "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": ["http://noem.house.gov/index.cfm/in-the-news?ContentRecord_id=F2779A8E-39F2-4BA5-A42F-D08563F45D54"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.1166599579155445, "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"}