U.S. Sens. John Thune (R-S.D.) and Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), a member of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, and U.S. Rep. Kristi Noem (R-S.D.) today commented on the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA’s) release of its draft environmental impact statement (EIS) with respect to the Black Hills Health Care System... Continue Reading
U.S. Sens. John Thune (R-S.D.) and Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) and U.S. Rep. Kristi Noem (R-S.D.) today received an important project planning update from U.S. Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz on the Long-Baseline Neutrino Facility (LBNF). LBNF will facilitate the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE), which will be conducted at the Sanford... Continue Reading
U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) today released the following statement after he and 48 of his colleagues introduced resolutions of disapproval with bipartisan support to stop the regulatory overreach of President Obama’s Clean Power Plan rule: “Yet again, President Obama has circumvented the role of Congress by issuing this mandate,... Continue Reading
U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) issued the following statement after the Air Force announced it has awarded its Long-Range Strike Bomber (LRS-B) contract: “The Air Force has been extremely diligent in its review process,” said Thune. “Now that the contract has been awarded, I hope we can move forward in... Continue Reading
U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), a member of the tax-writing Senate Finance Committee, which has jurisdiction over the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), today urged IRS Commissioner John Koskinen to institute a top-to-bottom culture change at the beleaguered tax-collecting agency. Thune’s primary recommendation was to implement the Taxpayer Bill of Rights... Continue Reading
U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) issued the following statement after the Obama Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) final rule to lower the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for ground-level ozone, or smog, was published in the Federal Register. The new standard is an unprecedented 70 parts-per-billion (ppb), down from the... Continue Reading
WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) released the following statement after Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx announced that the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) has approved $6 million in Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant funding for two South Dakota rail projects. Thune led the South Dakota congressional delegation in... Continue Reading
U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) today released the following statement after President Obama vetoed the bipartisan National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA): “Today the president demonstrated he is willing to put politics ahead of the security of our nation by vetoing this bipartisan bill. This veto jeopardizes funding for the Long... Continue Reading
U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) today requested an update from Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell on a pending Indian Health Services (IHS) regulation that would extend access to IHS contract care. The pending regulation would expand Medicare-like rate payment methodologies to all health care services contracted under... Continue Reading
WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) today released the following statement after Senate Democrats blocked a bill that would protect families and communities from the dangers posed by sanctuary cities, which harbor criminals who are in this country illegally. “Sanctuary policies have allowed thousands of dangerous criminals to return to... Continue Reading
U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) issued the following statement in response to a nationwide stay of the implementation of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule: “The Obama EPA’s WOTUS rule – one of the largest federal land grabs in history – was dealt... Continue Reading
This week, in a bipartisan vote, the Senate Indian Affairs Committee advanced the Native American Tourism and Improving Visitor Experience (NATIVE) Act, legislation introduced by U.S. Sens. John Thune (R-S.D.) and Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i). The bipartisan NATIVE Act would enhance and integrate native tourism, empower native communities, and expand unique... Continue Reading
