Press Releases

U.S. Senator John Thune (R-S.D.) made the following remarks regarding President Obama’s State of the Union address: “The president has called for a year of action, yet tonight he failed to mention common-sense, bipartisan measures that would actually make it easier and less expensive to create jobs, like approving the... Continue Reading

Senator John Thune (R-S.D.), Ranking Member of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, which oversees the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), today commended the agency’s decision to issue an Emergency Declaration for South Dakota and North Dakota due to propane shortages which have been magnified as a result... Continue Reading

Senator John Thune (R-S.D.), Ranking Member of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, which oversees the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), today sent a letter to the FMCSA requesting the agency issue an Emergency Declaration for the Western Service Center due to propane shortages, which have been magnified... Continue Reading

U.S. Senators John Thune (R-S.D.) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), members of the tax-writing Senate Finance Committee, today led a bipartisan group of senators in a letter to Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and Ranking Member Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) underscoring the importance of maintaining the charitable tax deduction as... Continue Reading

U.S. Senator John Thune (R-S.D.), Chairman of the Senate Republican Conference, today issued the following statement regarding U.S. Senator Tom Coburn’s (R-Okla.) decision to leave the Senate at the end of the year: “The American taxpayer has never had a better friend than Tom Coburn. Tom has been a courageous... Continue Reading

Senators Tim Johnson (D-S.D.) and John Thune (R-S.D.), and Representative Kristi Noem (R-S.D.) today sent a letter to Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA) Eric Shinseki expressing disappointment that the Secretary is proceeding on the path to potential realignment of the VA Black Hills Health Care System (BHHCS).  The delegation continues... Continue Reading

U.S. Senator John Thune (R-S.D.) today signed onto Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s (R-Ky.) Congressional Review Act resolution of disapproval, which, if successful, could stop expensive and unnecessary Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations on new power plants. “Nearly 350,000 Americans simply stopped looking for work in the month of December, leading... Continue Reading

Senator John Thune (R-S.D.) today issued a statement on his vote against the omnibus appropriations bill (H.R. 3547), which is the funding vehicle for the federal government for the remainder of Fiscal Year 2014: “In 2011, Congress and the president made a promise to the American taxpayers that we would... Continue Reading

Senator John Thune (R-S.D.) has learned that the Black Hills National Forest will receive $1.5 million for additional timber harvest this year. Thune and other Rocky Mountain Region members of Congress sent a letter on October 29, 2013, to Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack urging an increased investment in the... Continue Reading

Senator John Thune (R-S.D.), in a meeting today with Michael Huerta, the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), continued to call on the FAA to expedite the expansion of the Powder River Training Complex (PRTC) near Ellsworth Air Force Base. “I appreciate Administrator Huerta’s understanding and consideration of the... Continue Reading

Senator John Thune (R-S.D.) and Senator Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.) today led a bipartisan group of 14 senators in sending a letter to the Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB), the association representing over 70 medical and osteopathic boards, applauding their efforts in advancing solutions toward allowing doctors to practice medicine... Continue Reading