Since my time in Congress, I’ve had a good relationship with President Trump and his administration. We worked on tax reform together, he helped bring back fireworks to Mount Rushmore earlier this month, and he and his team have been instrumental in helping us secure the supplies we have needed to battle COVID-19.
In many ways, it’s fair to say that South Dakota has developed a unique relationship with the Trump administration. Earlier this week, I had the opportunity to continue to develop our common bond with a visit to Washington, D.C. On Wednesday, I sat down with Vice President Pence, Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar, as well as senior officials at the Department of Treasury and the Department of Justice.
Our conversations included the shared lessons that we have learned from our unique approaches to the virus, what the outlook is for further development of treatment as well as a potential vaccine in the coming months, how best we can tackle the rebuilding that will need to take place as we look to overcome the challenges that COVID has left in its wake, among many other things.
This last point about rebuilding is one that we are all especially zeroed in on at this point. Even before COVID hit, I got up every day looking for ways to improve our state so it can be stronger today and for the next generation. And now in the wake of this global pandemic, whether it’s education or business growth and development or finding more ways to protect our most vulnerable, the challenges in front of us are real, and yet also very feasible. The reason I continue to be very optimistic about our future is because of our people – the finest in the nation.
Though there is still some unknown about where this year will take us, I firmly believe that our state is in the best position of any in the country.
We will continue to provide all the information we have about our situation as quickly as possible to you all. Then, we will continue to trust the people of this great state to take that information and make the best decisions for themselves, their families, and – in turn – their communities. Though we’re not out of the woods yet, I wholeheartedly believe our future is very bright.
As always, for all the latest information about COVID-19 in South Dakota, please visit COVID.SD.Gov.
