Senate Commemoration 816
Introduced by: Senator Larson and Representatives Emery, Healy, Muckey, Uhre‑Balk, and Wittman
A LEGISLATIVE COMMEMORATION, Honoring the life of former United States
senator, United States representative, and state legislator Tim Johnson.
WHEREAS, Tim Johnson died on October 8, 2024, at age 77, after a career in state and
national politics; and
WHEREAS, Tim Johnson's thirty-six years holding state and federal elected office is the
longest such span in South Dakota history; and
WHEREAS, Tim Johnson, a Democrat, never lost an election in his years serving South
Dakota, winning two terms in the state House of Representatives, two terms in the state
Senate, five terms in the United States House of Representatives, and three terms i n the
United States Senate; and
WHEREAS, Tim Johnson chaired the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs
from 2011 to 2015, and also served on the Appropriations Committee, the Energy and Natural
Resources Committee, and the Indian Affairs Committee; and
WHEREAS, Tim Johnson worked closely with, and was an advocate for, the nine Native
American Tribal Nations in South Dakota, and was given the Lakota name Wacante Ognake,
or Holds the people in his heart; and
WHEREAS, Tim Johnson was a champion of rural water projects, the ethanol industry,
farmers and ranchers, country-of-origin labeling on meat products, Ellsworth Air Force Base,
the underground science laboratory in the former Homestake Mine, and similar pro jects to
help South Dakota; and
WHEREAS, despite suffering stroke-like symptoms in 2006 from a congenital defect called
a cerebral arteriovenous malformation, Johnson easily won re-election in 2008 and continued
to serve the people of South Dakota;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT COMMEMORATED, by the One Hundredth Legislature of the State
of South Dakota, that the late Senator Tim Johnson is an outstanding example of a lawmaker
who built on what he learned as a state representative and state senator when he went on to
serve this state with distinction in the United States House of Representatives and the United
States Senate.