Bart Pfankuch
South Dakota News Watch
South Dakota U.S. Rep. Dusty Johnson has a front-row seat in Congress to all the changes accompanying the new White House resident down the street on Pennsylvania Avenue.
During a visit to the Black Hills Stock Show in Rapid City recently, the Republican weighed in on the top issue constituents want to talk about, why he sponsored a bill to buy back the Panama Canal, his thoughts on the presidential pardons of Capitol rioters and other issues.
Here, in his own words, are Johnson's answers, which have been edited for length.
Question: What are you hearing from your constituents in Rapid City today?
Answer: "It's still a lot about the border. I mean, really, in the last two years, that has been the dominant policy topic. People have seen how quickly things have changed. They saw that in the House. We passed the Laken Riley Act (that requires detainment of illegal immigrants who commit crimes) and then we got it signed into law by President (Donald) Trump. They have seen that border crossings are fallen by two-thirds in a relatively short span of time. So I think there's some optimism around the idea that we can actually solve some of these public policy problems that were, really, the referendum that the November election turned on."
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