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but would end tax cuts for people earning high incomes.
• Noem has said she missed some Agriculture Committee meetings because of conflicts with other committees and meetings with South Dakota constituents.
• She said Friday she has voted with House Republicans to overhaul Medicare because it will go broke in nine years unless something is done. Republicans have proposed converting Medicare into a system that mainly relies on private health insurance plans to cover future retirees. Beneficiaries would get a fixed payment from the government, with low-income seniors in poor health receiving more.
• Noem said she and the other Republicans elected to the House two years ago have started the process of cutting federal spending.
• "Before, everyone was talking about how much more could we spend. We have changed that to how much do we need to cut, how much do we need to tighten our

belt," she said.
• Noem said she also is working to make sure the new farm bill will retain a livestock disaster program, encourage land conservation and cut red tape that has hindered efforts to fight the pine beetle infestations.
• Noem, a former state lawmaker who defeated Democratic Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin two years ago, starts with an advantage over Varilek because South Dakota is a heavily Republican state and her campaign has raised more than Varilek.
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• SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) -- The Secretary of the Navy is coming to Sioux Falls Saturday to host a ship naming ceremony in honor of a submarine being dubbed the next USS South Dakota.
• Ray Mabus announced in April that one of the next five Virginia-class submarines to be built will be the third to bear the name of the Rushmore state.
• The first USS South Dakota was an armored cruiser that served in World War I.
• The USS South Dakota battleship that served in the Pacific theater during World War II was commissioned 70 years ago and served the Navy until 1947. The 680-foot-long vessel nicknamed "Battleship X" spent the next years 15 berthed at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard until it was sold for scrap.
• Saturday's ceremony is at a museum honoring the battleship.
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