Category: US Senator John Thune

Where’s the Meat?
By Senator John Thune

Many of us recall the popular 1980s ad campaign by the fast food chain Wendy’s with its slogan, “Where’s the beef?” The ad poked fun at many fast food establishments for the sometimes small size of the hamburger patty compared with buns. Wendy’s gained attention for their clever ad that touched on the frustrations of many patrons who wanted more for their money. While the campaign is now a famous slogan in the advertising world, a slight modification of the slogan could highlight concerns about the new Obama administration report on 2015 dietary guidelines for Americans—“Where’s the meat?”

Every five years, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services review the dietary guidelines for American food consumption. A recent advisory committee report recommends to the agencies what should be included in the new dietary guidelines. The nearly 600-page report leaves lean red meat out of what it considers to be a healthy diet, which is not only a great concern to dietitians who support consumption of lean red meat but is also concerning for the South Dakota livestock industry.

This isn’t the first time the Obama administration has promoted limiting meat consumption. As you may recall, in 2012, USDA sent an in-house newsletter encouraging employees to participate in “Meatless Mondays” while dining in USDA cafeterias. The newsletter went on to attack the production of meat in the U.S., saying that meat production has “a large environmental impact,” and that an employee should “help yourself and the environment” by not eating meat.

It is hard to believe that the very agency tasked with promoting agriculture would encourage people not to eat meat. From the short-lived Meatless Mondays, to misguided dietary guidelines, farmers and ranchers deserve more of an ally in USDA, rather than an adversary. Misleading dietary guidelines would not only confuse consumers but would also harm South Dakota’s livestock industry.

I urge the Obama administration to reconsider the recommendations in the report. As a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, which oversees USDA, I will continue to closely monitor the guidelines as they move forward. As Kimberley and I continue to do our best to maintain a healthy diet, we’ll be supporting the products of farmers and ranchers across the state, including lean red meat, and I encourage South Dakotans to join me.

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Thune’s Office Accepting Summer Internship Applications

WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) is currently seeking intelligent, hard-working college students to serve as summer interns in his office in Washington, D.C., as well as in his offices in Aberdeen, Rapid City, and Sioux Falls.

Interns in Thune’s state offices will participate in constituent service and state outreach activities, while students in the Washington, D.C., office will have the opportunity to witness the legislative process, give Capitol building tours, and attend Senate votes and hearings. Both in-state and Washington, D.C., internships will allow students to work closely with constituents, hone their research and writing skills, and learn a multitude of valuable office skills.

“Students have a unique opportunity to experience democracy in action as interns in a Senate office,” said Thune. “Interns gain valuable knowledge about both state and national issues and an understanding of the inner workings of a Senate office. I encourage all students to consider applying for this rewarding experience.”

Thune is chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, and a member of the Senate Committees on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, and Finance.

College students who are interested in interning in Senator Thune’s Washington, D.C., office should submit a resume and cover letter by March 10, 2015, to:

Senator John Thune
Attn: Logan Penfield
511 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510

By Fax to: 202-228-5429

Or by E-mail to:
[email protected]

College students who are interested in interning in Senator Thune’s Sioux Falls, Rapid City, or Aberdeen offices should submit a resume and cover letter, by March 10, 2015, to:

Senator John Thune
Attn: Robin Long
5015 South Bur Oak
Sioux Falls, SD 57108

Or by E-mail to:
[email protected]

For more information, please call 202-224-2321.

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Port Disruptions Causing Challenges for South Dakota Ag Producers and Retailers
By Senator John Thune

A reliable and efficient supply chain is critical to our nation’s global competitiveness. Our ports are a vital link in that chain, but unfortunately, some of the biggest challenges at our ports are self-imposed and are having major repercussions across the country, including South Dakota. The current delays and disruptions caused by labor disputes in the West Coast ports have directly harmed exports, product availability, and jobs in South Dakota. In particular, South Dakota’s farmers, ranchers, retailers, and households are bearing the costs of these labor slowdowns.

On February 10, 2015, the Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Surface Transportation and Merchant Marine Infrastructure, Safety, and Security held a hearing about the challenges the ports slowdown are causing across the country. As chairman of the Commerce Committee and as a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, I’ve been monitoring the ports disputes and have heard from a number of South Dakotans about how the disruptions in service continue to directly impact their businesses.

At the hearing, Cargill testified that lost sales and unnecessary port charges are costing our nation’s meat and poultry industry over $40 million per week and jeopardizing relationships with international customers. I have also heard from Tyson Fresh Meats, based in Dakota Dunes, which shared with me that its beef and pork is sitting in freezers near the ports instead of heading to Asian markets, while 30 to 40 large container ships are sitting off the coast waiting to export our nation’s premium products. Tyson Fresh Meats has 41,000 team members, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture reports that agricultural exports support over one million full-time U.S. jobs. These delays, which have been going on since last summer, are having a real impact on jobs and our economy.

The disruption is also hurting consumers and retailers, which often import a substantial portion of merchandise through the West Coast ports. Outdoor Gear Inc., a family-owned winter apparel wholesaler based in Sioux Falls, moves about 95 percent of its inventory through West Coast ports and has been forced to miss deadlines, pay late-delivery penalties, and pass up important sales opportunities, including in December during the peak holiday season. In fact, BNSF railroad testified at the hearing that they have been forced to cut weekly train service to ports in half from 60 trains per week to 30 trains. This dramatic reduction in service underscores the ripple effects that are being felt across the country.

While our nation’s businesses are dynamic and adaptable, this situation cannot go on indefinitely, and we cannot continue to expect our businesses and households to absorb the unnecessary costs of delays. Congestion and labor disputes in our ports are causing a large drain on our nation’s economy and will take months to unwind.

While this has been on-going since late last summer, I urge all sides in the dispute to come together and find a long-term solution as soon as possible. This also requires the president and the administration to get actively involved to resolve this impasse. As chairman of the Commerce Committee, I will continue to highlight the direct impact this slowdown is causing businesses in South Dakota and across the country and I am committed to working with all parties to get this vital link in our nation’s supply chain back on track.

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Thune Reintroduces Bill to Offer ObamaCare Relief to Schools, Colleges, and Universities

-Bill would shield schools from employer mandate, help save jobs and cut costs for students-

WASHINGTON, D.C.—U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) today introduced legislation to help America’s students by exempting schools, colleges, and universities from the ObamaCare employer mandate, which is already cutting education jobs and driving up tuition costs across the country.

“School budgets should enhance students’ educations—not pay for the president’s health care law,” said Thune. “ObamaCare’s employer mandate is not only destroying jobs in the education system, but it also continues to drive up tuition prices for students suffering in the sluggish Obama economy. I hope my colleagues will join me in putting teachers and students first by supporting my bill to prevent tuition increases and job loss due to ObamaCare and help our country’s K-12 schools and universities provide high quality education.”

According to reports, some schools across the country are eliminating teaching positions and others are reducing the number of hours teachers and staff can work in order to comply with the health care law’s 30-hour work week. In addition to jobs lost, the law includes higher prices for government-approved health care plans. These higher costs for colleges and universities are inevitability passed along to students in the form of higher tuition prices.

According to one witness who testified before the House Committee on Education and the Workforce last Congress, his university was contemplating tuition increases of nearly 20 percent due to the increased costs and mandates associated with ObamaCare. In K-12 education systems, these costs cannot be passed along to students in the form of higher tuition, but will be absorbed by eliminating teacher positions or cutting funding for extracurricular activities.

Thune’s bill is cosponsored by Sens. Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), and Rob Portman (R-Ohio).

Thune’s bill is endorsed by the South Dakota Associated Schools Boards and the School Administrators of South Dakota

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Thune Bill to Stimulate Agricultural Research Passes Finance Committee

“…Congress needs to enact innovative legislation, such as this bill, which will encourage private donors to help bolster agricultural research funding.”

WASHINGTON, D.C.—U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), member of the tax-writing Senate Finance Committee, today ushered three provisions through the committee, including his bipartisan bill to stimulate new agricultural research by leveraging private dollars to create charitable partnerships between universities and private entities. Thune’s bill, which he introduced last Congress with Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), would amend the tax code to allow for the creation of new tax-exempt agricultural research organizations, which are similar to medical research organizations that have been successfully supporting innovation in medical sciences since the 1950s.

“As we seek to stimulate ag research to better equip our producers with the tools needed to meet the demands of a growing global market, Congress needs to enact innovative legislation, such as this bill, which will encourage private donors to help bolster agricultural research funding,” said Thune. “I am pleased the Finance Committee has moved swiftly on this common-sense legislation to provide a new tool for those wishing to dedicate their own resources to agriculture research. Production agriculture’s current economic strength is a direct result of research that, among other things, has increased crop yields, made livestock healthier, and made food safer. My bill will facilitate the transfer of much-needed private investment to agricultural research.”

Over the last 60 years, agricultural research has expanded food production significantly. According to the USDA Economic Research Service, farm productivity has risen 158 percent since 1948. This increase is attributed to research, by implementing new changes in the efficiency of farming practices and the use of agricultural technology.

However, agricultural scientists warn that failing to invest in agricultural research could jeopardize the future of American food security and safety. The Charitable Agricultural Research Act seeks to address these challenges by creating agricultural research organizations (AROs) that work in conjunction with agricultural and land-grant colleges and universities to conduct research in the field of agriculture.

The Senate Finance Committee also approved Thune’s bipartisan Philanthropic Enterprise Act, which he introduced last year with Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.). Thune’s bill would recognize and encourage a new type of philanthropy that combines private sector entrepreneurship with charitable giving. Finally, the committee passed a Thune provision to tax propane used as transportation fuel on an energy content basis, rather than a volumetric basis, thus ensuring propane is taxed in a more equitable manner.

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Thune Highlights Challenges of South Dakota Businesses and Ag Producers Due to West Coast Port Disruptions

“…it has a profound impact on the economy, not just on the West Coast but all across the country. Workers in South Dakota and other places are reliant upon…a reliable supply chain.”

WASHINGTON, D.C.—U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, today at a hearing before the Commerce Subcommittee on Surface Transportation and Merchant Marine Infrastructure, Safety, and Security highlighted the frustrations and challenges South Dakota agriculture producers, businesses, and shippers are facing due to the self-imposed worker slowdowns at various West Coast ports. Thune highlighted two South Dakota stories and called for all sides to come together to find a resolution in the port dispute that has been going on for roughly nine months.

Video of Thune’s remarks and questions can be viewed here.

“We greatly appreciate Senator Thune highlighting these critical issues before the Commerce Committee,” said Jodie Anderson, Executive Director of the South Dakota Cattlemen’s Association. “The port strike limits the ability of ranchers throughout South Dakota to move fresh meat to Asian markets. This means lost revenue, unnecessary port charges, and severe consequences for our customer relationships. We thank Senator Thune for his call for greater urgency and intensity in ending these delays.”

Port inefficiencies impacting South Dakotans:

“I’ve talked with and Tyson’s [Fresh Meats] in my state in South Dakota and they have shared with me that we’ve got beef and pork sitting in freezers near the ports instead of heading to Asian markets, while we’ve got large container ships sitting off the coast waiting to export our nation’s premium products. That affects jobs. Tyson’s employs 41,000 people and the USDA estimates there a million jobs associated with agricultural exports in this country and so it has a profound impact on the economy, not just on the West Coast but all across the country. Workers in South Dakota and other places are reliant upon…a reliable supply chain.

“Outdoor Gear Inc., a family-owned business in South Dakota, they are a wholesaler, and it receives 95 percent of its inventory from West Coast ports and has been forced to miss deadlines, pay late-delivery penalties, and pass up important sales opportunities, including in December, which of course is the holiday peak season.”

Need for resolution:

“This is an issue that just really needs our focus. It’s a huge drain on the economy and I just urge all sides to come to a resolution in this dispute, and find a solution as soon as possible. We just can’t afford to drag this on and have our economy pay this kind of price. If we can get this behind us we can start focusing our energy and creativity on a lot of the other long-term infrastructure challenges that desperately need our attention as well.”

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Thune, Wyden Reintroduce Bill to Permanently Block Taxes on Internet Access

WASHINGTON, D.C.—U.S. Sens. John Thune (R-S.D.), chairman of the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee and member of the tax-writing Senate Finance Committee, and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, today reintroduced the bipartisan Internet Tax Freedom Forever Act, the House companion to which passed the U.S. House of Representatives by voice vote last Congress.

“For successful 21st century innovators and entrepreneurs, the Internet is their lifeblood,” said Thune. “We should be celebrating their success, not taxing the tools they use to achieve it. Our bill, which would permanently ban Internet taxation, would encourage more American innovators and entrepreneurs to use broadband to develop the next big thing, while keeping the Internet open and accessible to consumers across the country. Senator Wyden and I look forward to working with Leader McConnell to bring this bill to the Senate floor.”

“I co-wrote the Internet Tax Freedom Act to protect the openness and viability of the Internet as a platform for commerce, speech, and the exchange of ideas,” said Wyden. “Without ITFA, access to information would no longer be tax-free. Access to online communication would no longer be tax-free. Access to the global marketplace so crucial to America’s economic future would no longer be tax-free. The cost to consumers could easily be hundreds of dollars a year per household. Now is the time to make this law permanent.”

The original ITFA, which Wyden co-authored in 1998, put in place a moratorium preventing state and local jurisdictions from imposing new taxes on the Internet and multiple and discriminatory taxes on e-commerce. While Congress has reauthorized the law five times since its enactment, the Thune-Wyden bill would make the moratorium permanent.

Thune and Wyden’s Internet Tax Freedom Forever Act is also supported by 39 other senators: Senators Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.), John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), John Boozman (R-Ark.), Richard Burr (R-N.C.), Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Christopher Coons (D-Del.), Joe Donnelly (D-Ind.), Dan Coats (R-Ind.), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), Cory Gardner (R-Colo.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Dean Heller (R-Nev.), Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.), Mark Kirk (R-Ill.), Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Edward Markey (D-Mass.), John McCain (R-Ariz.), Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Gary Peters (D-Mich.), Rob Portman (R-Ohio), Pat Roberts (R-Kan.), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Tim Scott (R-S.C.), Jon Tester (D-Mont.), Pat Toomey (R-Pa.), and David Vitter (R-La.).

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Defending Religious Freedom
By Senator John Thune

I always look forward to Sunday mornings. Faith, family, and community take the focus as thousands of families across South Dakota and throughout our country gather with the freedom to worship under the religion of their choice without fear of persecution. The American values of religious freedom and liberty are woven into the very fabric of who we are as a country and a distinct part of what makes America great.

In the U.S., we view it as incumbent upon us to question the decisions of government and businesses that may infringe upon an individual’s religious freedoms. In 2014, the U.S. Supreme Court considered the conscience rights of individuals in the case Burwell v. Hobby Lobby. Under our system of checks and balances, the Supreme Court found that ObamaCare was constitutionally overreaching into Americans’ lives and forcing many to violate their conscience. It was a victory for religious freedom.

With these most basic religious freedoms, comes the responsibility to protect and preserve these liberties not only for Americans, but also for the millions across the globe who are imprisoned, persecuted, and even killed because of their faith. Which is why, on February 5, 2015, I joined my colleagues in introducing a resolution defending religious freedom and calling for the protection of religious minorities worldwide.

Religious freedom forged by our founding fathers sought to protect an individual’s rights of conscience, even if their particular theological convictions differed from the majority. This was especially important to the protestant and later Catholic Christians escaping persecution in Europe who went on to form many of the denominations with which we are familiar in South Dakota.

These same principles are equally important to the Christian and Rohingya Muslim minorities in Burma who face persecution from a Buddhist majority, as well as the ancient Christian and Yezidi communities of Iraq, fleeing almost certain death at the hands of ISIS. The constant struggle can also be seen in individual cases, such as that of Saeed Abedini, a Christian pastor with duel Iranian and American citizenship arrested and imprisoned in Iran based solely on his Christian faith.

It was Ronald Reagan who famously said, “…We must remember the most distinctive mark of all in the American experience: To a tired and disillusioned world, we’ve always been a New World and, yes, a shining city on a hill where all things are possible.” It is our responsibility to not only provide an example of religious freedom in our own lives, communities, and government, but to also speak out for those around the world who want nothing more than the right to worship according to their conscience without fear of persecution.

This is what we are called to as a nation, and as a people who believe in defending the intrinsic value of human life. I will continue to fight for these essential and most basic values as a member of the U.S. Senate, and I hope South Dakotans will join me in lifting their voices in support of religious freedom around the globe.
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