John Thune

We cannot talk this thing to death.

We cannot tread lightly on what we do on national security.

We have to do better protecting our families, safeguarding our communities, and securing our Nation.

I think Secretary LaHood said it best: both work, and the issue ultimately is a policy one left to the Congress.

I think the approach works a lot better when you're not threatening, but using a carrot, rather than a stick.

I have joined with Chairman Rockefeller, Ranking Member Hutchison, and several other members of this Committee to introduce S. 1938, the Distracted Driving Prevention Act of 2009.

I'm much more comfortable with the type of approach that is incentive-based, uses the carrot, rather than the stick.

I think there's a big difference between that and commuting from Seattle, you know, to a flight that departs from New York.

The other issue I wanted to mention--I think Senator Johanns touched on it--is the issue which came into play on Flight 3407.

I guess I'm just suggesting that there is a point at which quantity does matter where you have enough experience and enough hours operating some of these aircraft.

This legislation would rededicate the District of Columbia memorial as the 'National and District of Columbia World War I Memorial.'

It is a great honor to be able to be here today, in the presence of the lone survivor of that great conflict.

The Frank Buckles World War I Memorial Act would rededicate the existing District of Columbia War Memorial as the National and District of Columbia World War I Memorial.

I think it's fitting that all the great wars of the 20th century have their place on the National Mall.

For far too long, the sacrifices of American World War I veterans have gone unrecognized on the National Mall in Washington, DC.

I think the reason that the President and Members of Congress on both sides and the American people are willing to commit to this mission, to this effort, is because they have such a high level of confidence in your leadership.

Last night, the President said that we will support efforts by the Afghan Government to open the door to those Taliban who abandon violence.

It seems to me, at least, that, you know, when you start sort of veering into these other areas, and people now are describing the TARP program as a political slush fund, and taxpayers are--they did not like it in the first place. They…

Our interest in this piece of this at this Committee, of course, is CFTC, and with regard to the markets, I represent agricultural producers.

I hope so. That is one of the questions I get probably more than anything else from constituents that I represent, is this issue of too big to fail.

Corn farmers, soybean farmers, all want to manage their risk, and what they need to know is that they are going to have markets that are fair, transparent, effective, not manipulated by speculators.

We hope that the Senate will promptly ratify a START Follow-on Treaty.

The Obama administration will make every effort to conclude the Treaty before the expiration of the START Treaty in December 2009.

I think we need to understand the scope of the impact that that kind of a treaty could have on our defense and U.S. defense programs.

It is clear that the ground-based missile defense system and the U.S. missile defense system proposed for Europe require challenging and realistic testing before Congress and the Administration can determine if those systems can be…