Senator John Thune today voted for Kids First, a comprehensive proposal to reauthorize the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) through 2013. SCHIP was created in 1997 to help states provide health coverage to the children of working-poor families who did not qualify for Medicaid. “We created SCHIP when I... Continue Reading
Senator John Thune today voted against confirmation of Treasury of Secretary-designate Timothy Geithner. The Senate confirmed Mr. Geithner 60-34. Prior to the vote, Senator Thune spoke on the floor regarding the confirmation. The following is the text of Senator Thune’s floor remarks: “Madam President, our country is going through some... Continue Reading
Senator John Thune will present Alvina Pettigrew, a veteran of the Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service (WAVES) organization during World War II, with an oil painted portrait of her by artist Cynthia Berry, of Great Falls, Virginia. A digital version of the portrait decorates a historic emergency call box... Continue Reading
Senator John Thune on Thursday introduced legislation designed to block a recent environmental proposal which could regulate many South Dakota farms and ranches. Thune’s legislation would exempt farms and ranches from the onerous regulatory requirements of the Clean Air Act. Specifically, the legislation calls for an exemption for any emission... Continue Reading
Senator John Thune today commented on the Wind-Hydro Integration study released by the Western Area Power Administration (WAPA). The study analyzes the potential integration of wind power in central South Dakota and the use of hydroelectric power generated by the Missouri River. “South Dakota has tremendous energy resources in the... Continue Reading
With the state of South Dakota’s preliminary damage assessment from the severe winter storm that occurred November 5-7, 2008, conducted in conjunction with FEMA completed, U.S. Senators Tim Johnson (D-SD) and John Thune (R-SD) and U.S. Representative Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (D-SD) today called upon President George W. Bush to declare... Continue Reading
United States Senator John Thune (R-SD) today announced that the Department of the Interior finalized updated regulations regarding the possession of firearms in national parks and wildlife refuges. The ruling allows an individual to carry a concealed weapon in a national park or wildlife refuge if that person is permitted... Continue Reading
Senator John Thune, along with other Senate colleagues, yesterday sent a letter to President Bush requesting that as federal agencies prepare their budgets for Fiscal Year (FY) 2010, they should include funding authorized for tribal justice, health care, and water projects under Senator Thune’s amendment to the foreign aid bill... Continue Reading
Senator John Thune made the following statement today in response to the U.S. Department of Justice filing a civil antitrust lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Chicago to block the proposed merger of JBS-Swift, S.A., the third-largest beef packer in the United States, and the National Beef Packing Company, the... Continue Reading
Yesterday, Senator John Thune was recognized by the Beacom School of Business at the University of South Dakota with the 2008 Outstanding Alumnus Award. Senator Thune completed a Master’s Degree in Business Administration at USD in 1984. “I am sincerely honored to receive this award,” said Thune. “The Beacom School... Continue Reading
Senator John Thune today issued the following statement in response to an interim report from the U.S. Department of Energy concerning on-going tests of higher blends of ethanol. “E10, the mixture of 90 percent gasoline and 10 percent ethanol is currently saving consumers money and reducing our dependence on imported... Continue Reading
The U.S. Senate last night passed S. 3109, Senator John Thune’s bipartisan bill to modernize the way the federal government and states track the shipment of hazardous waste. For over 25 years, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has required carbon copy paper manifests to accompany waste materials from their origin... Continue Reading
