United States Senator John Thune (R-SD) today was elected by his fellow Republican Senators to the position of Vice Chairman of the Republican Conference, the fifth-highest Republican leadership position in the United States Senate. “I’m grateful for the support I received today from my colleagues. I appreciate the trust and... Continue Reading
Senator John Thune today sent a letter to Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Ranking Member Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) requesting a full committee hearing to evaluate the impacts of the current credit crisis on agricultural production, renewable energy production, and rural agricultural based businesses. “The credit crisis is... Continue Reading
Senator John Thune announced today that the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) has made disaster assistance loans available for small businesses and small agricultural cooperatives that are unable to secure credit in their designated counties. These loans are intended to help those small businesses impacted by lost revenues to farmers... 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
Senator John Thune today announced that President Bush has signed the Code Talkers Recognition Act of 2008 into law, thereby directing the issuance of medals to honor the dedicated and valorous service of Native American code talkers during World War II. “While long overdue, this honor is very well deserved.... 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
Senator John Thune made the following comments tonight after the Senate passed (74 -25) the Economic Recovery Package: “It would have been easy to do the `politically popular’ thing and vote against this bill, but for me it would not have been the responsible thing to do. I’m sure those... Continue Reading
On Saturday, September 27th the U.S. Senate passed the final version of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2009, which authorizes funding for the Department of Defense and the national security programs of the Department of Energy, including several South Dakota defense related projects. Senator Thune’s statement on... Continue Reading
Senator John Thune today announced that the Senate has approved legislation to fund the Departments of Defense, Veterans Affairs, and Homeland Security for the entirety of Fiscal Year 2009, which begins on October 1st. In addition, the measure ensures that all other government agencies are funded through a six month... 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
The U.S. Senate today passed H.R. 6049, a bill to extend several tax provisions relating to energy production, including the production tax credit for wind energy through 2009. The measure passed by an overwhelming bipartisan vote of 93 to 2. “The investors who are going to make large-scale wind energy... Continue Reading
