Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Rep. Herseth-Sandlin sets priorities for 2010

From here, where there's more:

As the Congress continues to work through critical legislative priorities, I'm committed to finding solutions that do right by South Dakota. Recently, I supported a bill to reform regulations of Wall Street and our financial system in response to the events of last fall that led to massive bailouts of financial firms and other companies, bailouts that I opposed. The House also passed major legislation related to energy and climate change and health care this year. While each of these bills include good provisions, and seek to address urgent issues, they are not the right mix of policy for South Dakota. Going forward, I will evaluate legislation related to these issues for their effect on my constituents – individuals, families and businesses in South Dakota, as well as their impact on the future we leave to our children. I remain optimistic that we will find a way forward on these critical issues.

At the top of my list for 2010 is a focus on spending and the deficit. I’ve been working with the administration and House and Senate leaders to push for a legislative package early next year that will include pay-as-you go rules and a fiscal commission to tackle some of the hard questions about entitlement spending.

While we’ve made great progress in many areas, everyone acknowledges that we’ve got a lot of unfinished business as well. With two wars, tens of thousands of troops serving overseas, an economy in recovery, and other priorities at home, our work is clearly not done. In the New Year, I'm looking forward to continuing my work on behalf of our great state to enact meaningful solutions to the challenges we face. I wish you and your family a happy and safe new year.

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