State of the Union: Interview with Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD)

Interview

"Yes, I spoke with Mitch yesterday afternoon and told him I was going to be doing an interview, and I wanted to personally touch base with him before I did that.

And he was in good shape. He was direct. He said he fell. He said: "I had that concussion." And he said: "They warned me that I would be lightheaded in the future and that I have got to be aware of it." He said: "It happened twice." He said: "It just so happens I'm doing it in front of reporters."

But he felt good yesterday. He said he's got to watch his hydration levels.

Dr. Monahan, who is also my physician there at the Senate, he's sharp. He says it exactly the way that it is. And if he says that Mitch is ready to go, then Mitch is ready to go. But Mitch will come back in front of us, and he will discuss it with the entire team. He's been busy. He's been working around his own state.

But he's also been doing the fund-raising that is required of a leader. And I think that's been a big job for him as well during this break.

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Mitch is sharp, and he is shrewd. He understands what needs to be done.

I will leave it up to him as to how he wants to discuss that with American public. But there's no doubt in my mind that he is perfectly capable of continuing on at this stage of the game. And he's got a good team around him. He's done a good job of developing that leadership team. They have been supportive of him.

During the time in which he was out of the center for a while, the team did a great job.

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My seatmate, John Thune here in South Dakota, picked up the reins and worked it well. And he had a great team around him as well.

So I'm not worried about that at all. We have got a good team in place, and Mitch is there, and I think Mitch will be able to answer any questions that may come up.

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Oh, yes, no question.

And, look, there's a lot of folks out there that would like to see him go, but that's because he is a very capable leader. And he's one of these kind of guys that, if you could take him out of the leadership role in advance, you might end up in a better position if you were a competitor of his.

But on the Republican side, we all understand that he's good. He's good for our party. He sees the long road ahead. He looks a long ways ahead. And when all the rest of us are sitting back, he's the guy that takes the spears and the arrows, so that we don't have to.

So, no, he's the right guy, the right spot.

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And at this stage of the game, I think he will continue on.

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I can't speak for all Republicans. I'm a former governor. I can tell you that, when it comes to emergencies, that's when the government needs to be there.

So, personally, I intend to take a look at what they're requesting, but I'm inclined to support it. And the reason is, is because, look, constitutionally, we have a responsibility for our national defense, but we have also got a responsibility to take care of those that are most in need during an emergency situation.

People judge us as to how we respond in those emergencies. And a serious emergency like what you saw in Florida or in Hawaii, those are issues that all of us should come together on. And that's something that the leader -- the president has to take a leadership role on.

But the rest of us have to be supportive in making sure that the resources are there for those that are most impacted during a time of need.

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Well, to begin with, the Senate has, for the first time since 2018, we have passed all 12 of our appropriation bills out of the Senate Appropriations Committee. They're ready for floor action.

That's a great step forward on the Republican -- or on the Senate side. And this is on a bipartisan basis. We have those coming out of the Appropriations Committee. Now the House has got their own process in place. I'm not going to comment right now on the process. I think Speaker McCarthy should have the independence to be able to make and negotiate with his team on that side and to bring together enough votes to pass it.

What we do know is, is a government shutdown is not good for anybody. We want to avoid that. And that means Republicans and Democrats are going to have to come together to get a consensus in divided government. Let's not have a government shutdown, but let's begin the process of talking about our spending.

And spending -- we have been spending way over what we have been bringing in for a long time. It's not going to get fixed overnight. But we should be making some positive steps in the right direction to start slowing down the spending. And we have got to start bringing back the revenues back into government again because of a growing economy.

That's got to happen as well, or we will never get this under control.

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Well, I have heard the secretary speak on several different occasions, and she is correct when she says that dialogue is very important and that we should be talking as much as we can.

But you also have to take the reality into account that it does not appear that the Chinese communist government necessarily wants to do more than simply talk. Actions are critical. And, at this stage of the game, the Chinese government does not seem to be too concerned about what could happen to their economy if they are not willing to bend some of the rules that they most certainly have put in place.

And let me just give you an example. 2017, their version of Congress passed what they call the national intelligence law. Two of the sections of that particular law are extremely dangerous.

The first part was -- I believe it's Section 7 -- basically requires that any company that is registered in China or that does business in China must cooperate with their national intelligence agencies, and they have to keep that cooperation secret.

But, furthermore, Section 10 of that same code requires that if those same companies come outside and they're doing business out of China, that they have to -- particularly the tech companies, that they have to provide users' data to the Chinese Communist Party.

That's wrong. And that's one of the biggest issues that we have got right now in dealing with this particular government in China. It's not that we don't want to be on good relations with China, but it's a two-way street. And, right now, it's only running one direction.

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I'm pleased to say that I am supporting Tim Scott. And there's a reason why I'm supporting Tim Scott.

Number one, he's a guy that will unite the country. Not a lot of people know him yet, but he's a guy that you can trust. He's a guy that you will never be embarrassed about supporting. I want to be able to tell my kids, when they -- when they're there now or my grandkids, that I supported a guy who I thought would be good for the entire country.

Tim Scott's my guy. I'm going to stick with him.

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I think he's the best in the field. And he's the -- that's the direction that I want to see go.

He's only got 3, 4 percent of the popular vote right now, but he's working behind the scenes. He's got resources in the bank.

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I think he's going to be able to make the appropriate moves, and I think he will do a good job in the debates coming up, as more and more people take a look at him and see what he can do.

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I'm hoping truly that we get to the point where I don't have to make that type of a decision.

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For me, personally, I was there -- I was there on January 6. I saw what happened. I'm not happy about what happened. I was not happy with his performance on that particular day.

So, for me, I'm hoping that we're going to be able to look at other candidates. For mine, it's Tim Scott. Tim is the guy that I think can unite this country. And, once again, I'm going to come right back down to it. He's not well-known right now.

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So he's not polling as high as some of the other folks are, but we need to bring this country together. Tim Scott's the guy that can do it.

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Long way to go yet, Dana.

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Long way to go yet.

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We don't know. We don't know.

That's one of the concerns that a lot of people have got, me as well. It's the reason why I think, if we bring in a uniter, rather than a divider, I think we have got a better shot at doing what's right for this country long term. And that's what I want.

Look, right now, Joe Biden, I know he calls Bidenomics. Let's take a look at what it does for people that actually have to live with it. South Dakota is a good example.

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From the time that Joe Biden took office until right now, living expenses for an average household in South Dakota are up $917 a month. That's over $11,000 more in living expenses per year.

Across the entire country, it's about $912 a month, well over $11,000 a year.

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Energy prices are up. Gas prices are up over 54 percent.

That's something that we have got to do something about. And you can't do it with this approach to the economy.

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Thanks, Dana. Bye-bye.

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