U.S. Senators John Thune (R-South Dakota), Ranking Member of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minnesota) today sent a letter to U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack calling on USDA to conduct an economic analysis of the rail service challenges facing agricultural shippers. Thune... Continue Reading
U.S. Senator John Thune (R-South Dakota), Ranking Member of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, today praised the committee’s bipartisan passage of his Surface Transportation Board (STB) reform bill, which he introduced along with Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller (D-West Virginia). Thune and Rockefeller’s bill, the STB Reauthorization Act... Continue Reading
U.S. Senator John Thune (R-South Dakota), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, delivered the following prepared remarks at today’s “Freight Rail Service: Improving the Performance of America’s Rail System” hearing: I appreciate the chairman agreeing to hold this hearing to elevate the profile of various... Continue Reading
U.S. Senator John Thune (R-South Dakota), Ranking Member of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, submitted the following comments to the Surface Transportation Board (STB) for its public hearing in Fargo, North Dakota this morning focused on the region’s rail service issues that continue to negatively impact agriculture producers,... Continue Reading
Following months of rail service delays and backlogs U.S. Senator John Thune (R-South Dakota), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, today announced the committee will hold a hearing on U.S. rail service issues on Wednesday, September 10, 2014, entitled “Freight Rail Service – Improving the... Continue Reading
U.S. Senator John Thune (R-South Dakota) sent a letter to the Surface Transportation Board (STB) today calling for the inclusion of two new metrics on the weekly grain order reports required by the board from Canadian Pacific (CP) Railway and Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) Railroad. Following increased concerns from... Continue Reading
Senator John Thune (R-S.D.), Ranking Member of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, today issued a statement following the announcement by the Canadian Pacific Railway to sell certain portions of its rail holdings in the United States: “This news caps a year-long process since Canadian Pacific announced its intention... Continue Reading
Today U.S. Senators Susan Collins (R-Maine), John D. Rockefeller IV (D-W. Va.), John Thune (R-SD), and Mark Udall (D-Colo.), introduced and passed legislation (S. 853) that would provide the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) the authority to utilize unspent Airport Improvement Program (AIP) funds and additional flexibility to transfer other funding... Continue Reading
A bill spearheaded by Senator John Thune (R-S.D.) that would prevent the European Union (E.U.) from adding a unilateral tax on flights traveling through U.S. and international airspace passed today in the House of Representatives by voice vote. Similar legislation (H.R.2594) introduced in the House by Transportation and Infrastructure Committee... Continue Reading
U.S. Senator John Thune (R-S.D.), ranking member of the Senate Commerce Committee’s Aviation Operations, Safety and Security Subcommittee, this morning praised the Senate’s passage of his bill, the European Union Emission Trading Scheme Prohibition Act (S.1956), to prevent the European Union (E.U.) from adding a unilateral tax on flights traveling... Continue Reading
The Surface Transportation Board Reauthorization Act of 2009, co-sponsored by U.S. Senator John Thune, the ranking member of the Surface Transportation Subcommittee of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, was passed out of the Commerce Committee today by unanimous consent. “This is a crucial first step forward for... Continue Reading
Senator John Thune, as Ranking Member of the Senate Commerce Surface Transportation Subcommittee, will conduct a Committee hearing on Monday, August 10th, on the subject of improving surface transportation systems in rural areas. The hearing, which is open to the public, will begin at 9:30 AM Central Time in the... Continue Reading
