Emilie, like so many Americans, works in the backbone of our nation's economy: small business. It was cost prohibitive for her employer to purchase a companywide plan, so Emilie needed to obtain an individual health care plan. Emilie found a plan that was affordable for both her and her employer. Since 2006, Emilie has called it "stellar and affordable" and it has helped her cope with the high costs of numerous trips to the emergency room and several major surgeries. Like Julia and millions of other hard-working Americans, Emilie was looking forward to keeping her current health care plan.

As the president prepares to deliver his State of the Union speech tonight, he will do so following the worst jobs report in almost three years.

During my time back home in Raleigh, North Carolina, I was given the opportunity to tour IBM's Research Triangle Park facility. During my visit, I sat down with a group of women at IBM for an insightful and eye-opening discussion our experiences in the workforce. The women I met are contributing to our country's economic success and competitive edge through their education and raw talent, but they are only a small portion of the many brilliant women nationwide

South Dakota has a unique problem: We have "Help Wanted" signs up all over the state. While most areas of the country are struggling to attract enough jobs to keep their citizens employed, South Dakota is working to attract more workers to fill the many jobs we have available.

Do we have a problem with our immigration policies? Regardless of where you stand on this issue, my guess is you would say yes. This, like so many important issues facing our country, requires a dedicated approach focused on facts and how the laws we enact impact our security, our economy and the lives of millions of people in America.

It's Groundhog Day yet again for the Obama Administration. In the heat of the 2009 Obamacare debate, Nancy Pelosi famously stated that "we have to pass the bill so you can find out what's in it." That same heavy-handed philosophy was at work again with the Obama Administration's long awaited release of the final "Volcker Rule" on December 10, 2013. According to the Obama Administration, the rule will prevent banks from making "speculative bets that threaten the entire financial system."

October 31st is known to Americans as Halloween but to an agency at the United Nations, it is also a day it chose to trick the U.S. taxpayers by admitting a non-existent state of "Palestine." That act triggered current U.S. laws that precludes us from funding UNESCO or any other body at the U.N. that recognizes a Palestinian state.

Over the past few weeks, we have heard President Obama and Congressional Democrats talk at length about our country's weak jobs numbers and slow economic growth. I agree with them – too many people remain out of work in the Obama economy and our labor force participation rate remains at its lowest level since the Carter era. For every Tennessean unable to find a job, it is a personal crisis for them and their family. They should be able to trust that their elected leaders in Congress would advocate on their behalf during these difficult times.

The debacles are adding up. Whether it's the botched website rollout, the skyrocketing cost of insurance premiums or the cancellation notices millions of insured Americans have received, my colleagues and I are hearing from people who feel betrayed by President Obama's broken promises on healthcare.?As we cautioned, the problems surrounding ObamaCare are about much more than a broken website: This is a broken law that is breaking the healthcare system in our country.

On December 1, the Obama Administration sought to reassure Americans about the technological problems that plagued the Obamacare rollout, announcing that healthcare.gov would now be operating at "private sector velocity and effectiveness." While it's somewhat admirable for this administration to seek to emulate the private sector, the dangerous reality is that when it comes to protecting Americans' personal information from data breaches and hacks, the federal exchange is not playing by the same rules as private businesses.

Flying back and forth to Washington almost every week, I spend as much time as anyone at Miami International Airport, or MIA. MIA has benefitted from steady leadership and guidance. Emilio Gonzalez and his expert team have worked diligently to secure federal funds and increase efficiencies in a place that many would consider ungovernable. One only needs to stand at a terminal for five minutes to appreciate the breadth of their task.

Issues that exist in dozens of countries and on nearly every continent become easy to pass off as an international problem rather than a local one, so it's understandable that when most South Dakotans hear the words "human trafficking," our focus goes across the border. Sadly, the issue exists right in our backyard. I-90 is known as the "Midwest Pipeline" and is used to transport victims of human trafficking across the country. Traffickers use places like Sioux Falls as a base to gain access to demand from the Twin Cities, North Dakota's Bakken Oil Field, the Sturgis motorcycle rally, and areas that draw in thousands of out-of-state hunters.

As we begin the new year, I wanted to share with you five major items that you will want to follow in 2014: Obamacare oversight, how Washington operates with a budget, the farm bill, the future of our military, and dealing with our nation's debt.

Our nation's military is the most respected in the world, yet the serious issue of sexual assault within our military ranks persists. We witnessed a troubling reminder of this problem just recently when Maj. Gen. Gary Patton – the director of the Defense Department Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office – stepped down in shame after it was revealed he had intimidated potential whistleblowers and tried to silence witnesses in a military investigation. In other words, the person supposed to lead the charge to find justice and shine light on military sexual assaults was obscuring facts and thwarting transparency.

Monday, January 4, 2014 When it comes to enacting President Obama's second-term agenda, nothing stands in the way more than his own administration. By serially flouting our nation's laws, this administration has ignored its constitutional duties and completely discredited itself, losing good will along the way from members of Congress.