Sen. Mike Rounds Reflects on Personal Loss, Faith, and Fixing America in CBN News Interview

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Nearly a month into President Trump's second term, with the 119th Congress in full swing, South Dakota Sen. Mike Rounds is rolling up his sleeves and getting to work. He recently sat down with CBN News Capitol Hill Correspondent Michelle London to talk about his top priorities on and off the Senate floor.

Michelle London: "What would you say about Mike Rounds, the man? What's something that people don't know about you?"

Sen. Mike Rounds: "I'm a family man. I can't imagine not having family. It's very important to me. I come from a family of 11 to begin with, so family is very important. I've got four kids and 11 grandkids now, so it's great."

The South Dakota senator describes it as the driving force behind everything else. Four years ago, though, family as Rounds knew it, would never be the same.  

Rounds: "I lost my wife in November of '21 to sarcoma, a cancer, which is something that I think, you know, none of us, none of us can ever plan for. But it makes a difference in terms of who you are, and, you know, it's, it's a challenge... We had hope right up until the very end for Jean, but we also knew that, as she said, she's going to be in a better place. So for the rest of us, it's a matter of we still move on, you regroup, you provide support to one another and you hope that as time goes on, you begin to heal a little bit."

London: "You were married to her for 43 years. You've described her as your soul mate, your rock, a void impossible to fill. How has it been just, dealing with grief?"

Rounds: "It has to do with faith. and first of all, you recognize that the loss is there, but you also know that you have a role to play moving forward." 

Rounds says healing is slowly taking place and that fellowship with other believers has been a key component.

Rounds: "Our Bible study and also our prayer breakfast on a weekly basis has been special. It brings people close together and it tells us that we really, even among party lines, there are some things that we all agree on. And up here that's very important."

London: "Transitioning over to your role as senator, now, let's talk about the first 100 days of Congress. You are such a big part of impactful decision making. Does your faith play a role in, guiding your decisions, especially under the new administration?"

Rounds: "I think part of it goes back to asking for wisdom and asking for the ability and the help to do what's right, to make the right decisions. A lot of decisions are not black and white. It's a matter of making the right decision long term. That saves lives. I think that's something that all of us as Christians should be doing."

London: "You just reintroduced the Whole Home Repairs Act."

Rounds: "In a lot of cases, the people that need those services don't have a one-stop-shop where they can go and learn about all of the different types of services that could be offered."  

Rounds says his proposal would address repairs quickly and help those who need it most. That would include homeowners on a fixed salary, or small landlords renting affordable units.

Rounds: "If we can repair a roof, fix windows, perhaps fix a heating system or a plumbing system, those are the types of things that could actually maintain that house for somebody that doesn't have a lot of money."

If passed, Rounds says the next step would be a pilot program spreading about $25 million in grants across the U.S.

London: "Let's talk about Department of Education. You recently called to eliminate that. Some parents, taking to social media, are expressing concerns about funding certain programs like special ed."

Rounds: "Our goal was not to hurt people. We want our state agencies to take the lead role, not the federal government. What we've tried to do is to eliminate a department that has this authority to issue new rules and regulations regularly to the states in terms of how they should be teaching kids. We know that the federal department has done nothing to teach any kids, and most certainly we have not seen grade, level, academics improve since the department was created. Let's take that money that would normally come through the Department of Education and send it back as block grants to the States."

London: "What's one piece of advice you would give new incoming senators? 

Rounds: "Don't assume that just because a person is of one party that that they're the enemy. I think sometimes as people come in here after having partisan elections and so forth, I think they come in thinking that, you're either you're either on the right side or on the wrong side here in the Senate. What you find is the Founding Fathers put together a group of people who are supposed to sit down with one another. Sometimes people think that compromise is a dirty word. It's not. It's what this country was founded on in the first place."

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