Dakotas lawmakers react to supercommittee failure

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — Members of Congress from the Dakotas say the failure of a special deficit-reduction supercommittee highlights the need for Democrats and Republicans to work together on the nation's financial challenges.

South Dakota Republican Rep. Kristi Noem says the supercommittee was designed to help break gridlock, but compromise seems to have “taken a back seat to partisanship.” Democratic South Dakota Sen. Tim Johnson says Congress can't afford to “keep putting ideological purity ahead of common sense.”

North Dakota Republican Sen. John Hoeven says the two parties need to work together to reduce the debt and put the nation “on a sound financial footing.”

The supercommittee failed to reach agreement on how to cut deficits by $1.2 trillion or more over 10 years.

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