Noem takes oath of office

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Rep. Kristi Noem, center, takes the oath of office Wednesday with her family by her side. Noem’s mother, Corinne Arnold, and her husband, Bryon Noem, held the family Bible during the ceremonial swearing-in. Also pictured is House Speaker John Boehner, second from left in front. (Submitted Photo)

Talk about it

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• Kristi Noem's conference call on January 5, 2011

Rep. Kristi Noem took office Wednesday as the Republican-controlled House of Representatives took aim at the health-care reform law enacted last year.

Noem, R-S.D., said the House will pass a package of bills in an effort to repeal the health-care law, which was bitterly opposed by Republicans and used as a campaign tool last year.

“We will do it the right way. We will repeal the bill,” she said in a teleconference with South Dakota journalists. “We’re going to do this in as clean a manner as we possibly can. We’re going to ask for a full repeal of ‘Obamacare.’”

Noem said the House will work to repeal the bill but said she doesn’t know what the Senate, which is controlled by Democrats, will do. President Obama has said he would veto a bill to overturn the health-care law he guided through Congress in his first year in office.

It would take a two-thirds vote in both houses of Congress to overturn a veto. But Noem said the House could not worry or wonder what the Senate or the president will do. She insisted the House would be acting in good faith and not playing politics with the law.

“Certainly not,” Noem said. “Certainly not a ceremonial act.”

She said members of both parties have called for repealing the act and the public is also in favor of tossing the law out.

She said the bill has “put government between patients and doctors” and was passed too quickly by Democrats, who controlled both houses when the bill was approved.

“A lot of this debate has been had for the past year, year and a half,” she said. “We’ve debated this healthcare bill and its lack of merits and higher taxes and higher costs.”

Noem said the House will vote to repeal the law, which she termed “huge and lengthy,” and not try to change it. She said she favors “real reforms” to provide quality health care for everyone.

A bill needs to be crafted that is not a detriment to small businesses and families, Noem said, and not a huge bill that cannot be understood by most people.

On other issues:

• Noem said the House will publicly read the Constitution on the floor today and noted that had never happened before.

“This is a great starting point for our government, a great start for our year,” she said.

House leaders will look into the constitutionality of every bill that comes before the body, she said.

“This document is our country’s foundation. It’s going to be our guide through this year. The first question we should ask of any policy that comes before this House is, ‘What does the Constitution say about this issue?’” Noem said.

Every bill must explain how it is constitutional, she said. “That will be a key part of every bill that comes forward,” Noem said.

• She said the House has an ambitious schedule.

“The job is big and our to-do list is long, but I am confident we can make headway,” she said. “The House will do the work that needs to be done. Today is an exciting day for South Dakota and for the United States.

“Voters in our state and across the United States sent a clear message on November 2: No more wasteful spending, no more massive, ineffective government programs, no more excessive taxation and regulation on small business,” she said. “So today is the day when a new Congress and a historic freshman class will be sworn in.”

The House is dedicated to stopping “wasteful spending,” Noem said, and will demonstrate that by cutting its own budget 5 percent this week. Every week a proposed reduction in federal spending will be made, she said.

“We will also be asking for more openness and transparency from this administration for the policies they are pushing through the back door,” she said. “We’ll curb the excessive growth in government. We have a government that is growing out of control.”

The House will also pursue a “comprehensive oversight” of all of Obama’s policies while focusing on jobs and reviving the economy.

• She said the Environmental Protection Agency will be held accountable and won’t be able to impact government and ordinary citizens based on the “hopes and dreams of the extreme environmentalists on the left.”

• Noem said the new House leadership will be very open.

A new House rule will place all legislation online for three days before any action is taken, she said, saying the new House leaders will operate in a “very palms up” manner. They want to hear from voters, she said.

She said Americans have “suffered” during the Obama administration and the new Congress has an obligation to correct overreaches by the 11th Congress and Obama.

“That is why I was elected,” Noem said.

• Noem, 39, said she was excited but ready to go to work.

She was officially sworn in with other representatives at about 1:30 p.m. Central time.

A ceremonial swearing-in occurred later in the afternoon. During the ceremony, Noem was accompanied by her husband, Bryon, and their three children, her mom, Corinne Arnold, and her three siblings and their families. Bryon Noem and Corinne Arnold held the Arnold family Bible, which originally belonged to Kristi Noem’s late father, Ron Arnold.

“I feel the heavy weight of responsibility on me,” she said during the teleconference. “I will work hard and I am extremely honored.”

She said she wasn’t sure if she would introduce a bill during this session of Congress.

“We will see how that goes,” Noem said. “I’m not going to propose a bill just for the sake of proposing a bill.”

She said if a bill is needed for the state, she would have no problem introducing one.

• Noem, a partner in a family-owned ranch in northeast South Dakota, said she will work to prevent the EPA from imposing regulations that hamper agricultural businesses from prospering.

“We have a new farm bill that will be debated, and I expect to be very active in that debate and working on behalf of South Dakota farmers,” she said.

• The conference call got off to a rough start. Noem’s staff sent the wrong number to the media. When the first number was called, they were greeted by a recording from Physicians Support telling them a nutritional specialist would be with them shortly.

A corrected phone number was sent out a few minutes after the call was supposed to start — the first number had an 800 area code, not the correct 888 — and Noem thanked callers for their patience.

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