Gov. Noem bans "evil foreign governments" from South Dakota government contracts

Gov. Kristi Noem signed a bill Wednesday banning South Dakota's government and local governments from contracting with six foreign governments seen as enemies of the United States.

The "Evil Foreign Governments" bill codifies an executive order Noem signed in January. It prohibits the state and local governments from working with the People's Republic of China, the Republic of Cuba, the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the Russian Federation, and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.

"These nations try to destroy us and will stop at nothing to do so. And that's why it's critically important that we don't give them a foothold here in South Dakota," Noem said.

The governor said she believes the Biden administration hasn't done enough to keep Americans secure.

"But we can do all that we can to ensure that we are being proactive on this national security issue," Noem said. "America is the greatest experiment in democracy. It is an experiment in self-governance and it is something that does need to be defended each and every day and passed on to our children. I'll do everything in my power that I can to ensure that our people stay as free as possible."

Noem referenced other areas where her office has taken action, including banning TikTok from all state devices in November.

"We've seen other states follow South Dakota's leads many times over. We were the state that started the action to ban TikTok and its application when it comes to the state and also we saw dozens of states take action after that – and Congress now," the governor said. "I think even this week Congress is having hearings on that application and other apps that may be collecting data on citizens and we need to make sure that we're continuing to engage in those conversations to ensure that communist China does not gather information they can use to harm us and to destroy the United States of America."