August 2, 2024
Dear John,

BIG Update

This week, I held another telephone town hall to hear from South Dakotans. I hop on the phone and thousands of people join to ask questions and hear from me. We covered a host of topics like the assassination attempt on President Trump, the Olympics, the border, government spending, and so much more.

I host these tele-town halls regularly, so if you’d like to be added, click the survey below to be invited to the next one.

Do you want to be invited to the next telephone town hall?

Yes No

Submit

Click here to take Survey

BIG Idea

Fentanyl is destroying lives and families. We know most of this fentanyl is coming from China and we must put policies into place to stop it from flowing across our border. During the Select Committee on China’s Fentanyl Policy Working Group meeting this week, I heard from experts on how the United States has used sanctions to address the fentanyl epidemic in the past, and how Congress can strengthen and use sanctions to target the root cause of the epidemic.

The “Achilles Heel” of the fentanyl epidemic is the legitimate commercial interests of many Chinese fentanyl manufacturers. Unlike the cartels that operate in a solely illegal way to bring fentanyl across the border, the Chinese chemical companies that produce and export fentanyl precursors do so as a “side hustle.” Many of these companies have real businesses that sell legal chemicals to customers around the world. These businesses are uniquely vulnerable to sanctions and would suffer from any economic pressure the United States applies. Congress must take action to stop the flow of Chinese fentanyl into our country. 

BIG News

The floods that devastated southeastern South Dakota in June and July were a once-in-a-thousand-year event. Communities experienced catastrophic flooding after heavy rainstorms. This flood destroyed homes, businesses, and public infrastructure in the North Sioux City and Dakota Dunes areas. The damage is expected to cost tens of millions of dollars to repair, and spans 25 counties in South Dakota. The lives of about six thousand residents have been affected. This is an issue that deserves national assistance.

Last week, Governor Noem submitted the official request for a Presidential major disaster declaration. Immediately following Governor Noem’s request, I joined U.S. Senators John Thune and Mike Rounds to urge President Biden to issue a major disaster declaration. We must do what we can to remedy the destruction and assist those who are faced with repairs.

Governor Noem and Johnson look at the June flood in North Sioux City

Please do not reply to this email; this address is not monitored. Please use my contact page.