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(3/26/2006)
Governor Rounds Headlines Republican Lincoln Day Dinner Governor Mike Rounds, U.S. House candidate Bruce Whalen, others speak
By Bob Ellis Dakota Voice
Governor Mike Rounds was the keynote speaker at the Pennington County Republicans Lincoln Day Dinner in Rapid City Saturday night. Rounds spoke on the origins of the Republican Party, in the days prior to the Civil War when a group of people came together to rid the country of slavery. “There are some things that simply have to change,” he said the party founders decided. Rounds said that states rights have always been important to the Republican Party, and that was certainly the case at the beginning, too. However, “the absolute right of every man to be free stood taller,” he told the crowd. Rounds said these beliefs still hold true today, and drew parallels that many have long believed mirror the abortion debate and the rights of the unborn. A number of pro-life people have for years held that, just as America once came to understand that black people were human beings with rights, so this country may someday accept that the unborn are people with rights, too. “Every individual has value and worth,” Rounds said. The governor said he knew the abortion ban, HB 1215, would never go into effect unless the U.S. Supreme Court reverses itself, but he said that’s just what the bill was intended to provide: a chance for the Supreme Court to reverse itself. This is something the court has done often, with Brown v. Board of Education and Lawrence v. Texas, among others. Rounds also told the crowd of Republicans about ongoing efforts to bring a neutrino lab to the Black Hills in the former Homestake Gold Mine in Lead. He said he expects to have an agreement within days with Barrick Gold Corp, the owners of the mine, for the property transfer that could pave the way to bring the science lab to South Dakota. Rounds recounted the hard-fought battle last year to keep Ellsworth Air Force base open, and credited the widespread community effort which led to the success of that effort. He spoke again of how in South Dakota, “We’re not afraid of mountains; we carve mountains in this state,” referring to the Mount Rushmore memorial. Governor Rounds also announced the September 2006 dedication of a memorial to Vietnam-era veterans in Pierre. He said there will be a two-day celebration of the sacrifices of those veterans who served anywhere in the world from 1961-1975 to be held September 15 and 16 at the state capitol. Rounds said there will be Huey helicopters, famous for their role in the Vietnam war, on hand to provide free rides for the veterans; others may be able to take a ride for a fee. There will also be aerial flyovers, and a huge parade to the Vietnam era veterans with more than 100 entrants, including over 1,000 motorcyclists from the Rolling Thunder motorcycle association. Each evening there will be a rock concert featuring groups like the Beach Boys, Credence Clearwater Revival, the Steve Miller Band and South Dakota’s own Red Willow Band. There will also be a bronze statue dedicated to those veterans who didn’t receive the welcome home they so greatly deserved back then.
Rounds capped off his speech by calling all veterans present to stand for a thunderous ovation given to them by the other attendees. Senator John Thune of South Dakota had also been scheduled to speak at the dinner. However, Thune’s West River director Qusi Al-Haj said he had gone to Iraq with Senator John McCain (R-AZ) and his itinerary would not allow him to attend or to phone in. A video from Thune which had been prepared in advance was played, detailing some of the successes of the past year, including the Ellsworth BRAC victory. Bruce Whalen, Republican candidate for the U.S. House seat currently occupied by Democrat Stephanie Herseth, also spoke at the dinner, introducing his wife and children to the attendees. Whalen has served as Shannon County Republican chairman, and was instrumental in getting out the Native American vote for Republicans in 2004.
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