Press Releases

U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) today discussed the upcoming vote on the Democrats’ partisan bill that attempts to federalize elections and re-write election laws in all 50 states. Thune believes that protecting the right to vote and preserving the integrity of our election systems are essential, but this legislation is nothing more than an attempted power-grab from the left to publicly finance political campaigns and overturn... Continue Reading

 U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), ranking member of the Subcommittee on Communications, Media, and Broadband, today discussed an upcoming subcommittee hearing on building resilient broadband networks. Thune announced that Denny Law, CEO of Golden West Telecommunications, will join him at the hearing to discuss the challenges of deploying strong and... Continue Reading

U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), ranking member of the Subcommittee on Communications, Media, and Broadband, today discussed his two bipartisan bills that would increase internet transparency while preserving the light-touch approach to regulation that has allowed the internet to flourish: the Filter Bubble Transparency Act and the Platform Accountability and Transparency Act. Thune... Continue Reading

U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), a longtime member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, issued the following statement after the Senate Agriculture Committee agreed to hold a hearing on June 23, 2021, to examine the cattle market, including potential manipulation by meatpackers. This hearing announcement follows a letter that Thune sent to Agriculture Committee Chairwoman Stabenow and Ranking Member Boozman requesting... Continue Reading

U.S. Senators Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i), John Thune (R-S.D.), Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), and John Kennedy (R-La.) today introduced the Unsubscribe Act. The bipartisan bill would require companies to be more transparent about their subscription-based business model and make it easier for consumers to cancel their subscriptions once their free or reduced... Continue Reading

U.S. Sens. John Thune (R-S.D.) and Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) today introduced the Metropolitan Statistical Area Preservation Act, legislation that would protect more than 140 Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs), including Rapid City, South Dakota, from losing their MSA classifications. Losing this classification could, among other things, harm communities’ access to certain federal funding opportunities and... Continue Reading

U.S. Representative Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.) and U.S. Senators John Thune (R-S.D.) and Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) today urged U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Vilsack to utilize his administrative authority to release Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) acres for emergency haying and grazing prior to August 1. The most recent U.S. Drought Monitor... Continue Reading

U.S. Senators Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA), Tina Smith (D-MN), John Thune (R-SD), and Ben Cardin (D-MD) introduced the bipartisan Telemental Health Care Access Act of 2021 to remove barriers to telemental health services for Medicare beneficiaries. “Over the pandemic, we’ve seen an increased need for telehealth services whether it’s for substance use... Continue Reading

U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) today discussed the negative effects of the massive partisan spending bill Democrats pushed through Congress earlier this year. Inflation reached its highest level in nearly 13 years, with consumer prices up 5 percent from a year ago. Core inflation, which excludes food and energy prices, soared to... Continue Reading

U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) today discussed yesterday’s announcement from the U.S. Air Force that Ellsworth Air Force Base in western South Dakota has been officially named Main Operating Base 1 for the future B-21 bomber. This designation not only means that Ellsworth will be the first base to host... Continue Reading

U.S. Sens. John Thune (R-S.D.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), and Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), members of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, which has jurisdiction over the internet and consumer protection, and Mark Warner (D-Va.) today reintroduced the Filter Bubble Transparency Act. The bill would require large-scale internet platforms... Continue Reading