Recent Press Releases

“I’m pleased to be able to be here today to introduce our great governor and to thank you for your consideration. I look forward to this committee acting on her nomination, and I look forward to voting for her on the floor of the United States Senate to be the next secretary of the Department of Homeland Security.”

 

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WASHINGTON — U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) today introduced Gov. Kristi Noem (R-S.D.) at the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs’ confirmation hearing for secretary of homeland security.

Thune’s remarks below (as delivered):

“Well, thank you, Mr. Chairman and Ranking Member Peters and members of the committee.

“I’m very pleased to be able to be here today to introduce South Dakota’s outstanding governor, who has been nominated by President Trump to serve as the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security.

“I’ve known Kristi Noem for a long time.

“She has a very compelling personal and family story which inspired her entrance into the public arena and I’m sure you’ll hear a little bit more about that from her.

“But I’ve observed as she has gone through the state legislature as a leader there, state House of Representatives; the U.S. House of Representatives, where she was our only member from South Dakota, representing our state’s interests there for eight years; and now currently as South Dakota’s governor.

“And I think she brings to this job a number of things that are going to be really essential, and one is obviously a skillset when it comes to managing hard problems.

“She led our state through the pandemic, managed what were extraordinary circumstances all across this country in a way that made South Dakota, frankly, a magnet for people from other states who were trying to flee or get away from some of the heavy-handed requirements that were imposed in other states around the country.

“Our state stayed open, stayed free, and that was largely due to her leadership.

“And I would say, too, as we tackle what is an enormously complicated and hard issue, which is our southern border, it’s going to require a skillset which I believe she possesses; it’s going to require a tremendous amount of persistence and determination, which I think she has; an enormous amount of energy, which she has in abundance; and frankly, what I would say is just absolute toughness.

“It’s going to take some tough and hard leadership to get things back in order.

“And I want to refer to something she said in her State of the State address earlier this week to South Dakotans, and that is that over the past four years, we’ve seen a complete disregard for the security of our borders and the safety of the American people, to say nothing for the rule of law.

“Chaos at our southern border under the Biden administration has left our country vulnerable to a whole host of security concerns, from terrorist entries to cross-border criminal activity like drug trafficking.

“I think it’s well-documented, and I think it’s high time that it gets fixed, and we have somebody nominated by the president that I believe has the capabilities, the qualities, the experience, and again, frankly, the determination and toughness to solve what is a very, very tough issue and one which is desperately in need of solutions.

“So I’m pleased to be able to be here today to introduce our great governor and to thank you for your consideration.

“I look forward to this committee acting on her nomination, and I look forward to voting for her on the floor of the United States Senate to be the next secretary of the Department of Homeland Security.

“Thank you, Mr. Chairman.”