Senator John Thune today sent a letter, signed by a bipartisan group of Senators, urging the Office of Management and Budget to include $35 million in funding for the Lewis and Clark Rural Water System. This request is being made as the Administration works to finalize the President’s Fiscal Year... Continue Reading
Senator John Thune praised a study released today by the American Coalition for Ethanol, which finds that certain non-flex-fuel vehicles can have better fuel economy with higher ethanol blends than with regular gasoline. The study also found that higher ethanol blends reduce tailpipe emissions. The study was jointly funded by... Continue Reading
Acting U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Chuck Conner has informed U.S. Senator John Thune that the USDA would immediately modify an eligibility requirement for the Livestock Compensation Program (LCP). This policy change will make additional livestock eligible for disaster assistance. Last week Senator John Thune sent a bipartisan letter... Continue Reading
Today, Senator John Thune sent a letter (attached below) signed by over 20 U.S. Senators to Acting U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Chuck Conner requesting that USDA correctly administer a livestock disaster program authorized by Congress according to its intended purpose. The Livestock Compensation Program (LCP) was one of... Continue Reading
Senator John Thune today sent a letter to Kip Hawley, the Administrator of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) requesting that the passenger screening equipment at the Brookings Airport not be relocated seeing that Congress is working to restore commercial air service. “Moving the screening equipment from Brookings to another location... Continue Reading
Senator John Thune announced today that the Federal Communications Commission has selected two South Dakota hospital networks, Avera Health and Sanford Health, to participate in a pilot telehealth program. The program will award up to $4.7 million to Avera and its partners and up to $812,152 to Sanford. “Telehealth will... Continue Reading
Senator John Thune yesterday met with former North Dakota Governor Edward Schafer, whom President Bush recently nominated to serve as the Secretary of Agriculture. The meeting took place in Senator Thune’s Washington office where the two discussed the 2007 Farm Bill, the importance of ethanol and other agriculture issues important... Continue Reading
The U.S. Senate today passed legislation by a vote of 95-0 reauthorizing the Head Start program, which provides comprehensive, early childhood development services to low income children. “The early years of any person’s life are extremely important in their development,” said Thune. “Head Start gives low income families the opportunity... Continue Reading
Late last night, the U.S. Senate passed the Defense Appropriations Conference Report which lays out defense spending for Fiscal Year 2008 which began on October 1, 2007. The Defense Bill includes $459.3 billion for the Department of Defense. Senator John Thune was successful in securing defense funding for projects that... Continue Reading
Senator John Thune (R-SD) along with Senators Pete Domenici (R-NM) and Ben Nelson (D-NE) today introduced a bipartisan 36 billion gallon Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) amendment to the 2007 Farm Bill currently being debated in the U.S. Senate. The RFS requires that gasoline sold in the United States contains a... Continue Reading
Senator John Thune today met with officials of the National Science Foundation and scientists from across the country to discuss the future of the Deep Underground Science and Engineering Laboratory (DUSEL) at the Homestake Mine outside of Lead, South Dakota. “We need to take the next step in establishing the... Continue Reading
Senator John Thune today announced that the United States Department of Transportation has released $378,748 in emergency transportation funding to the South Dakota Department of Transportation. The funds will be used to repair roads damaged by flooding earlier this year. “The floods this spring were a powerful reminder that forces... Continue Reading
