No Business Representing South Dakota
South Dakota Democratic Party Chair Ann Tornberg sent the following letter to the editors of the daily newspapers of South Dakota last week:
Members of South Dakota’s congressional delegation have historically made great efforts to stay connected to the people of South Dakota through town halls or community meetings. Senators Tom Daschle and Tim Johnson, for example, were back in South Dakota as often as possible and held town hall meetings all over the state to hear the concerns of voters. Sometimes the questions were friendly, sometimes not, but they felt holding these meetings was an important part of their duties as our elected representatives.
That’s why it is so disappointing that Representative Noem and Senators Rounds and Thune did not schedule any public town halls during February’s congressional recess and seem to have no plans to do so in the future. Our congressional delegation has a responsibility as our representatives to meet with their constituents, answer our questions, and give reasons for their votes and actions in Washington. There’s such a great interest in attending town halls that citizen groups scheduled town halls themselves and invited our delegation to show up; unfortunately, none did. If Kristi Noem, Mike Rounds, and John Thune are afraid of tough questions, they have no business representing the people of South Dakota in Congress.
Ann Tornberg
Chair, South Dakota Democratic Party