Weekly Round[s] Up: June 9-22, 2025
Welcome back to another Weekly Round[s] Up. As a United States Senator, each year I have the opportunity to nominate South Dakota students to attend our nation’s service academies. I recently announced that nine students I’ve nominated will be attending service academies this fall. After receiving a top-notch education, these South Dakotans will serve our country as active-duty military members. We’re proud of these students and their desire to answer the call of duty to serve our nation. Read more about these nominees here, and read more about what I’ve been up to in my Weekly Round[s] Up:
South Dakota groups I met with: Members of the South Dakota Alzheimer’s Association; members of the South Dakota Health Care Association; Bill Brown, CEO of 3M, which has operations in South Dakota; Children’s Advocacy Center of South Dakota; Don Haggar, State Director of South Dakota’s chapter of Americans for Prosperity; a group of leaders from South Dakota State University, including President Barry Dunn; the South Dakota Music Education Association; leaders from Solventum, which has a manufacturing plant in Brookings; South Dakota members of the National Association of Home Builders; leaders from Empirical Foods and Empirical Innovations; Anna Lent, a South Dakota student who is participating in the International 4-H Youth Exchange Program and will be studying in Taiwan this summer; Cash Martinez, a student from Bridgewater-Emery’s Future Farmers of America chapter; South Dakota members of the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition; Chloe Beltrand, co-host of WNAX’s Drive Time radio show (which I go on with monthly!); Steve Elliott, President of Black Hills State University, and his daughter Ava; a group of students in town with the South Dakota Rural Electric Association; a group of South Dakota FFA members; and a group of South Dakota 4-H members.
I attended the dedication ceremony for the Veterans Honor Park in Madison. We were honored to have Medal of Honor Recipient Michael Fitzmaurice in attendance as well. I spoke at conference hosted by the Joint Commission, the nation’s leading healthcare accrediting body, titled “Operationalizing a Responsible Use of AI in Healthcare.” Leaders from two South Dakota health care systems, Monument Health and Sanford Health, were in attendance.
South Dakota towns represented: Bonesteel, Box Elder, Brandon, Brookings, Burke, Dakota Dunes, Estelline, Harrisburg, Hartford, Kimball, Marion, Mitchell, Parker, Pierre, Rapid City, Sioux Falls, Spearfish, Vermillion and Yankton.
Other meetings: Jerome Powell, Chairman of the Federal Reserve; Dave Limp, CEO of Blue Origin; Richard Haworth, CEO of Barclays America; the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America; leaders from the Embassy of the United Arab Emirates; Dennis Nixon, CEO of IBC Bank; and leaders from Starcloud.
I spoke at an AI policy dinner hosted by Amazon and a housing summit hosted by the Bipartisan Policy Center. I also attended our weekly Senate Bible Study twice, where our verses of the week were Proverbs 12:22 and Genesis 12:3, and Senate Prayer Breakfast, where Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia was our speaker.
Hearings: I attended eight different hearings. We had two hearings in the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC). In one hearing, we heard from leaders with the Navy and Marine Corps. In the other SASC hearing, we heard from Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and other leaders within the Department of Defense.
I discussed AI and China in a hearing of the Senate Banking Committee – specifically my legislation, the Stop Stealing Our Chips Act, which would establish a whistleblower incentive program within the Bureau of Industry Security aimed at increasing actionable intelligence on illegal exports. I also attended two closed hearings of the Select Committee on Intelligence.
We had three different Appropriations Subcommittee hearings. We heard from National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director Jay Bhattacharya in a hearing of the Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services and Education. We had a hearing in the Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development, where I asked about last year’s disastrous flooding at McCook Lake. We also had a hearing in the Subcommittee on Interior and Environment where we discussed ways to U.S. Forest Service can mediate minor resource disputes between the federal government and producers.
Classified briefings: I attended two classified briefings. One was part of my work on the Select Committee on Intelligence. The other was our bi-weekly cyber education seminar, which I host as part of my work on SASC’s Subcommittee on Cybersecurity.
Letter to Secretary Rollins: I sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins asking her to develop a framework for reinstating Mandatory Country of Origin Labeling (MCOOL) for beef. A majority of American consumers support requiring country of origin labeling for fresh meat. It’s past time that we reinstate this rule and deliver transparency to American consumers. Read more about this letter here.
Legislation Introduced: I reintroduced the USA Beef Act, legislation to limit the use of the “Product of USA” label only to beef products that are born, raised and slaughtered in the United States. The legislation would also codify the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) rule addressing the same issue. While the USDA rule is a win, our next priority is delivering Mandatory Country of Origin Labeling (MCOOL) for American producers and consumers.
Votes taken: 25 – many of these votes were on more executive branch nominees, all of which I supported. We also voted to pass the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act of 2025. This legislation will establish a regulatory framework for stablecoins, which are a type of cryptocurrency backed by a sovereign like the U.S. dollar. I voted yes on this legislation.
My staff in South Dakota visited: Centerville, Eagle Butte, Hartford, Mobridge and Wall.
Steps taken: 60,775 steps or 28.93 miles in week one, 45,472 steps or 21.36 miles in week two.
Video of the week: I joined NewsNation on Sunday to discuss the strikes in Iran:
