HURON — South Dakota’s U.S. Representative Dusty Johnson spent much of Wednesday in the Heartland Region.

He began the afternoon at the Sanborn County Veterans Memorial near the courthouse in Woonsocket for a Vietnam veteran pinning ceremony.

He then visited the Albrecht Farm south of Huron to view their honey production and finished his afternoon at Lewis Pharmacy in Huron. He then attended the Bull Bash Wednesday night at the South Dakota State Fair.

Johnson spoke of the importance of doing the pinning ceremonies to recognize veterans of the Vietnam era, referencing back to one of the veterans who told the gathered crowd about his experience being spat on when he returned to the U.S. after his tour of duty in Vietnam.

“There were a number of those veterans who were moved by the ceremony,” Johnson said. “It’s not unusual after one of those ceremonies for one of the family members to tell me that they heard things about their father’s or grandfather’s service that they had not heard before. I think there is incredible power in telling their stories.”

He continued, “These guys are not looking for glory. They’re not looking for attention. They’re incredibly thankful that a representative of their government finally will look them in the eye and thank them for their service.”

Johnson also identified pharmacies in the state and nationwide as facing challenges from many directions.

“Right now, independent pharmacies are under a tremendous amount of stress,” Johnson stated. “There have been quite a few rural pharmacies in South Dakota that have closed. Quite frankly, the system for how they get reimbursed is insane.”

He spoke on the subject of the Farm Bill and expressed his frustration that it’s not already done.

“I just cannot believe that we’re not in position to get a farm bill done,” Johnson shook his head. “In the House, we’ve done our work. We passed a strong, bipartisan bill out of committee that we feel puts the ‘farm’ back in the farm bill by taking care of America’s farmers and ranchers.”

“The Senate has not released text from that bill and Senator (Debbie) Stabenow (D-MI) has not marked it up in committee or brought it up for a vote,” Johnson relayed. “If we’re going to get something done by the end of the year, it takes two to tango. We in the House stand ready to negotiate once the Senate has their version.”

Johnson also feels that China is a significant issue right now.

“I spend a lot of time on agriculture issues. I spend a lot of time on economic issues. I also spend a lot of time on issues related to the Chinese communist party,” Johnson explained. “China is really working to destabilize this country. That’s why I’ve been part of the push to get China from purchasing agricultural land in this country and we have tried to make sure Taiwan has the ability to defend itself from a potential Chinese invasion.”