U.S. Sens. John Thune (R-S.D.) and Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) today reintroduced the Tribal Veterans Health Care Enhancement Act, legislation that would improve tribal veterans’ access to health care. The bill, which was first introduced in the 114th Congress and again in the 115th Congress, would allow the Indian Health Service (IHS) to cover... Continue Reading
U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) today discussed Senate Democrats’ historic obstruction of noncontroversial, qualified nominees, simply because they were nominated by President Trump. For context, during President Obama’s first two years in office, his nominees were only subjected to 12 cloture votes. During Trump’s first two years in office, his... Continue Reading
U.S. Sens. John Thune (R-S.D.), Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), John Hoeven (R-N.D.), Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), and Jon Tester (D-Mont.) today urged U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Sonny Perdue to provide Livestock Indemnity Program (LIP) assistance as quickly as... Continue Reading
U.S. Sens. John Thune (R-S.D.) and Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) today reintroduced the Rural Hospital Regulatory Relief Act (S. 895), legislation that would permanently prohibit the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) from enforcing its direct supervision policy for certain outpatient therapeutic services, a harmful regulation that would jeopardize access... Continue Reading
U.S. Sens. John Thune (R-S.D.) and Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), U.S. Rep. Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.), and Gov. Kristi Noem (R-S.D.) today issued the following statements after the U.S. Air Force announced that Ellsworth Air Force Base has officially been selected to receive the new B-21 training and operational squadron, which means... Continue Reading
U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) released the following statement today after Senate Democrats failed to support their own Green New Deal agenda on the Senate floor. “Weeks ago, Democrats in Congress were practically tripping over themselves to support the costly, ineffective Green New Deal. But today, they banded together in... Continue Reading
Last week, the state seal of South Dakota was added to the ceiling of Sen. John Thune’s (R-S.D.) majority whip office. This carries on a tradition that the occupant of the Republican whip office add his or her home state’s seal to the space. The South Dakota state seal was... Continue Reading
U.S. Sens. John Thune (R-S.D.), a member of the Senate Finance Committee, and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, today reintroduced legislation to prevent discriminatory and duplicative taxes on digital goods and services, including online downloads of music, literature, movies, mobile apps, and cloud computing services.... Continue Reading
U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), chairman of the Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, Innovation, and the Internet, today convened the subcommittee’s first hearing of the year titled, “The Impact of Broadband Investments in Rural America.” The subcommittee discussed opportunities and investments to support carriers in rural America, efforts to prevent overbuilding... Continue Reading
U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), a longtime member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, today applauded Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) proposal to permit the year-round sale of E15 fuel (15 percent ethanol-blended fuel) in the United States, a win for consumer choice and energy security that Thune has sought for nearly... Continue Reading
U.S. Sen. John Thune this week joined Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) in reintroducing the National Prisoners of War (POW)/Missing in Action (MIA) Flag Act, which would require the POW/MIA flag to be displayed whenever the American flag is displayed on prominent federal properties, including the U.S. Capitol,... Continue Reading
U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), a member of the tax-writing Senate Finance Committee, today reintroduced the New Economy Works to Guarantee Independence and Growth (NEW GIG) Act (S. 700), legislation that addresses the classification of workers – independent contractors versus employees – and creates a safe harbor for those who... Continue Reading
