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recordings and read transcripts to determine the attendance -- there isn't always an official roll call -- and found that Noem has spoken just once at an agriculture committee meeting.
• "When she was given that seat, she said she was going to be a vigorous advocate for agriculture," Democratic Chairman Ben Nesslhuf told the newspaper. "By no definition has that been true. ... We expect our representatives to be working for us. When they're not, we're going to point that out."
• The newspaper first wrote about the Democrats' allegations on May 13, prompting swift response from Noem's office.

• "The Democrats' assertions on her attendance record are dangerously inaccurate," spokeswoman Andrea McCarthy wrote in an email to The Associated Press.
• In one highlighted instance, Noem missed an agriculture committee meeting on June 23, 2011 -- the first meeting after her appointment. Transcripts show she was at the Natural Re

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