U.S. Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and John Thune (R-SD) today introduced bipartisan legislation that increases the transparency of healthcare costs in Medicare—helping doctors, health systems, private insurers and research institutions provide more efficient, higher quality healthcare and better patient outcomes. “Medicare is the single largest payer of healthcare services... Continue Reading
U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) today sent a letter to U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary (DHS) Jeh Johnson and U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) Secretary Thomas Perez calling on the agencies to reach an immediate agreement on issuing important seasonal employment work visas (H-2B) critical to the South Dakota... Continue Reading
U.S. Sens. John Thune (R-S.D.) and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) today commented on a newly released report that they called for from the U.S. Department of Agriculture examining the rail service challenges in the Upper Midwest in 2013 and 2014 and the implications these issues had on the region’s agricultural sectors.... Continue Reading
Today, U.S. Sens. John Thune (R-S.D.) and Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) and Reps. Kristi Noem (R-S.D.) and Rick Larsen (D-Wa.) introduced their bipartisan, bicameral legislation to modernize and streamline the federal Impact Aid program, which provides payments from the federal government to local school districts to make up for local taxes... Continue Reading
U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) issued the following statement on the Senate’s failure to override President Obama’s veto of a bill that would approve the Keystone XL pipeline: “The American people are behind us on this issue – and so is a bipartisan majority of the U.S. Senate and... Continue Reading
U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) today introduced a bill to prevent the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) from listing the northern long-eared bat under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). In 2011, the FWS reached a secret sue-and-settle agreement with two radical environmental groups to require listing determinations on more... Continue Reading
Today, the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation approved Chairman John Thune (R-S.D.) and Ranking Member Bill Nelson’s (D-Fla.) bipartisan Motor Vehicle Safety Whistleblower Act by voice vote. “While I believe most manufacturers are dedicated to putting vehicle safety first, there have been disappointing examples where that did not... Continue Reading
U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, issued the following statement on the FCC’s 3-2 vote to regulate the Internet: “Despite the Federal Communication Commission’s partisan action to approve a 317-page power grab over the Internet, the fight to keep the Internet unburdened from... Continue Reading
WASHINGTON, D.C.—U.S. Sens. John Thune (R-S.D.) and Mark Warner (D-Va.), both members of the Senate Finance Committee, today introduced the “Better Efficiency and Administrative Simplification Act,” which would allow Medicare beneficiaries to receive important Medicare benefit notices electronically and improve the way the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS)... Continue Reading
Following a February 10 letter from the South Dakota delegation to U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Secretary Robert McDonald urging the Obama administration to withdraw its budget proposal plans to reconfigure the Hot Springs VA, U.S. Sens. John Thune (R-S.D.) and Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), member of the Senate Veterans’... Continue Reading
WASHINGTON, D.C.—U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), chairman of the Senate Republican Conference, issued the following statement on President Obama’s veto of the bipartisan bill to approve the job-creating Keystone XL pipeline, which is supported by 62 senators and 270 representatives: “It’s disappointing but not surprising that the president has yet... Continue Reading
U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) today questioned U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack at a 2014 Farm Bill implementation hearing before the Senate Agriculture Committee about Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) Mid-Contract Management policies and a backlog of undetermined wetlands in eastern and northeastern South Dakota. Video of Thune’s... Continue Reading
