Press Releases - Senator John Thune

Thune Requests Immediate Assistance for Producers Affected by Cottonwood Fire

WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), a member of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, today wrote to Tom Vilsack, secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), encouraging him to provide immediate disaster assistance to ranchers who have been affected by the Cottonwood Fire. The fire... Continue Reading

Thune, Hatch Lead Colleagues in Encouraging Administration to Abandon Proposed Estate Tax Regulations

Led by U.S. Sens. John Thune (R-S.D.), a member of the tax-writing Senate Finance Committee, and Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, 41 Senate Republicans today wrote to Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew encouraging the Treasury Department to abandon proposed regulations that would significantly increase the estate tax... Continue Reading

Thune-Schumer Bill to Eliminate Team USA Victory Tax Set to Become Law

U.S. Sens. John Thune (R-S.D.) and Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) issued the following statements after the Senate passed the USA Olympians and Paralympians Act (H.R. 5946), companion legislation to the Senate bill they introduced earlier this year that will exempt Team USA athletes with an adjusted gross income of $1 million... Continue Reading

Thune’s Surface Transportation Security Bill Addresses TSA Vulnerabilities

U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, today announced the introduction of S. 3379, the Surface Transportation and Maritime Security Act. The legislation addresses deficiencies in the Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA’s) efforts to protect rail, transit, highway, and maritime passenger and freight... Continue Reading

Thune: We Need A Common-Sense Approach to CRP

U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) today questioned U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack during a Senate Committee on Agriculture hearing on the state of the agriculture economy. Thune discussed the lack of common-sense guidance and policy for the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), which is critical to South Dakota agriculture... Continue Reading

Thune’s IHS Reform Bill Approved By Committee, Heads to Full Senate

Today the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs approved the Indian Health Service (IHS) Accountability Act of 2016, introduced earlier this year by U.S. Sens. John Thune (R-S.D.) and John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), chairman of the Indian Affairs Committee. Thune’s bill, which is cosponsored by U.S. Sens. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), John McCain... Continue Reading

Thune Amendment to Aid Community Banks Clears Finance Committee

U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), a member of the tax-writing Senate Finance Committee, today applauded the Finance Committee’s approval of his provision that would make it easier for community banks to become S corporations by allowing S corporation bank shares to be held in individual retirement accounts (IRAs). In 2004,... Continue Reading

Thune’s Office Now Accepting Spring Internship Applications

U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) is currently seeking intelligent, hard-working college students to serve as spring interns in his Senate offices located in Aberdeen, Rapid City, Sioux Falls, and Washington, D.C. Interns in Thune’s state offices will participate in constituent service and state outreach activities, while students in the Washington,... Continue Reading

Thune: Obama’s Foreign Policy Failures Have Made the World Less Safe

U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) today discussed the president’s foreign policy failures — from the growing threat of ISIS to a flawed deal with Iran that resulted in a multi-million dollar ransom payment — and called on the president to take action against growing threats around the world. Thune and... Continue Reading

Schatz-Thune Bill to Improve and Grow Tourism in Native Communities Heads to the President’s Desk

The U.S. House of Representatives passed the Native American Tourism and Improving Visitor Experience (NATIVE) Act, bipartisan legislation introduced by U.S. Sens. John Thune (R-S.D.) and Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) that will enhance and integrate native tourism, empower native communities, and expand unique cultural tourism opportunities in the United States. The bill,... Continue Reading

Thune Provision Would Help Prevent Out-of-Control Federal Prescribed Burns

U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) today offered an amendment to the Emergency Wildfire and Forest Management Act of 2016 that would address the way prescribed burns are handled by federal agencies. Thune’s amendment, which was adopted by unanimous consent during today’s Senate Agriculture Committee markup, would require the federal government... Continue Reading

We Will Never Forget

U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) released the following video ahead of the 15th anniversary of the deadly terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and Flight 93. Excerpts from Thune’s video: “I remember talking to our youngest daughter, Larissa, and she had two questions on that... Continue Reading