John Thune

I hope one of the takeaways today is the importance of forest management timber harvest and replanting to maintain healthy, resilient forests.

I hope the Forest Service here in Washington, DC. is listening to the needs that many of our forests have around the country.

I am a long-time supporter of proactive forest management to help mitigate the risk of wildfires, maintain healthy forests, and support rural economies.

I just could not agree more, and I just think those management practices that maintain a healthy forest are so essential.

Any day that is spent talking about re litigating the 2020 election is a day that Republicans are losing to press sort of a more policy focused message against the Biden administration and what he called the radical left wing agenda of the…

There are some of our members who I think obviously have an interest in seeing a commission go forward, others who I think believe it will be counterproductive because of the work that`s already been done, and that it could be weaponized…

It is one of the most important acts, especially in the space of rural health care.

The embrace of telehealth across the Nation is certainly one.

I think when asked in February whether you support TPA renewal, you stated in your QFR responses that you would consult closely with Congress and work to pursue trade policies that receive bipartisan support.

What is the administration doing to prioritize a new softwood lumber agreement between the U.S. and Canada?

No one at any income level should believe they are safe in cheating on their taxes.

According to the latest official IRS estimates--the gross tax gap is $441 billion.

No one at any income level should believe that they are safe in cheating on their taxes.

We should pursue bipartisan measures to reduce the tax gap and better enforce our tax laws.

The tax gap is real. Republicans on this committee support closing it.

I think that would be good for them to answer.

I am looking forward to working with you on the subcommittee.

I would echo what my colleague from Delaware has said about the Chaplain's Bible study on a weekly basis. That, I think, is the highlight for many of us throughout the week. I would also say that the Senator from Delaware also has a very…

I would hope that, as everybody gets vaccinated, you can start getting folks operating again in a normal work environment.

I know that the chairman covered the issue of mailing in sensitive documents at the top of the hearing.

I think it is probably just inconvenient.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

I expect there are things about it we can keep in place moving forward.

The U.S. has moved from being a net importer of most forms of energy to a declining importer and, as of 2019, a net exporter of energy, a truly remarkable transformation.

The decision led to the loss of good-paying jobs in South Dakota and across the country and set the Nation back in terms of modernizing our energy infrastructure.