Republican News

April 3, 2014
Press Release

WASHINGTON, D.C.—U.S. Senator John Thune (R-S.D.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, commended the members of the European Parliament on their decision to extend the moratorium on aviation emission taxes from being collected on flights into and out of the European Union (EU) through 2016. “This action by the European […]

April 2, 2014
Press Release

WASHINGTON, D.C.—U.S. Senators John Thune (R-S.D.) and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and 33 of their Senate Republican colleagues today sent a letter to Assistant Secretary of Commerce Larry Strickling, head of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), seeking clarification regarding the recent announcement that NTIA intends to relinquish responsibility of the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority […]

March 26, 2014
Press Release

WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senator John Thune (R-SD), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, will submit for the record the following prepared remarks at today’s “Protecting Personal Consumer Information from Cyber Attacks and Data Breaches” full committee hearing: Thank you, Chairman Rockefeller, for holding this afternoon’s hearing on data breaches and […]

March 16, 2014
Press Release

WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senator John Thune (R-SD), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, released the following statement on the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) announcement that it plans to transition certain Internet oversight to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN): “The U.S. helped create the […]

March 13, 2014
Press Release

WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senator John Thune (R-SD), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, submitted for the record the following prepared remarks at today’s “The U.S. Aviation Industry and Jobs: Keeping American Manufacturing Competitive” Aviation Operations, Safety, and Security Subcommittee hearing: I would like to thank Subcommittee Chairwoman Cantwell and Ranking Member […]

March 6, 2014
Press Release

WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senator John Thune (R-SD), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, submitted for the record the following prepared remarks at today’s “Enhancing our Rail Safety: Current Challenges for Passenger and Freight Rail” Surface Transportation and Merchant Marine Infrastructure, Safety, and Security Subcommittee hearing: Thank you Senator Blumenthal, and […]

February 19, 2014
Press Release

WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senator John Thune (R-SD), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, released the following statement on Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Tom Wheeler’s announcement today: “Chairman Wheeler’s announcement today is a bit of déjà vu and is an unnecessary overreaction to the D.C. Circuit striking down most […]

February 12, 2014
Press Release

WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senator John Thune (R-SD), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, today introduced bipartisan legislation (S. 2026) to exempt Olympic and Paralympic medalists from being taxed by the Internal Revenue Service on the medals and cash prizes they win at the Olympics. “Too often the U.S. tax […]

February 12, 2014
Press Release

WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senator John Thune (R-SD), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, released the following statement on the Cybersecurity Framework developed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) today: “I applaud the work NIST has done over the past year to solicit input from private sector […]

February 12, 2014
Press Release
WASHINGTON, D.C.—Chairman John D. (Jay) Rockefeller IV (D-WV) and Ranking Member John Thune (R-SD) today introduced legislation to help preserve and restore fishing habitats for the Nation’s sport fishermen, while creating jobs in the recreation industry. The Sport Fish Restoration and Recreational Boating Safety Act of 2014 would direct funding to state agencies for support of fisheries management, habitat conservation, and boating safety programs. Wildlife recreation supports tens of thousands of jobs across the country. In West Virginia, for example, 1.2 million people spent $1.16 billion in 2011 on fishing, hunting, and wildlife watching – money which directly supports local