John Thune

I just want you to know how important this is to agriculture across this country.

These waivers that have been granted by EPA are a backdoor way to reduce the renewable fuel standard and the RVO.

Thank you, Secretary Perdue, for being here today and sharing your thoughts with us about the State of agriculture.

We appreciate your interest in this important issue.

Unwanted, abusive, and illegal robocalls have got to stop.

It has been a sad chapter for Olympic athletes, but our recently enacted legislation does send a message to adults in positions of authority that nothing you ever do in athletics is as important as how you respond when an abused child asks…

Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and both you and Senator Blumenthal, for holding the hearing and for your continued work to protect American athletes.

I just hope the intention of the work that this Committee is doing is to make it unambiguous and clear, that it is part of the USOC's responsibility, and that protecting athletes is a priority.

I was disturbed to learn that in legal proceedings involving another National Governing Body, the USA Taekwondo, the USOC took the position that the Committee did not have a responsibility to protect athletes because, and I quote, 'The…

On behalf of the Consumer Bankers Association (CBA), I would like to commend the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation's for holding the hearing on 'Abusive Robocalls and How We Can Stop Them.'

We need a Coast Guard that is able to protect our borders, project U.S. interests, and ensure the free flow of international commerce.

The Coast Guard is vital to both the physical and economic safety of our Nation.

I appreciate your many years of service to our Nation and your willingness to accept this new responsibility.

Even a modest amount of economic growth could cover the cost of this bill.

This bipartisan legislation was the first reauthorization of the Board since its creation in 1996.

I am committed to faithfully executing the law and fulfilling its objectives.

I think it is going to be hard for us to fashion solutions to solve some of this stuff until we have some of those answers.

Can you assure us that when you are improving tools to stop bad actors that you will err on the side of protecting speech, especially political speech, from all different corners?

Most of us understand that, whether you are using Facebook or Google or some other online services, we are trading certain information about ourselves for free or low-cost services.

I know Facebook has taken several steps and intends to take more to address these issues.

The idea that for every person who decided to try an app, information about nearly 300 other people was scraped from your services, to put it mildly, disturbing.

We are here because of what you, Mr. Zuckerberg, have described as a breach of trust.

Today's hearing is extraordinary. It is extraordinary to hold a joint committee hearing.

I am very concerned about the fact that too little attention is being given to the collateral effect that many of these actions could have on other sectors of the economy, particularly the agricultural sector, which is critically important…

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And by the way, happy birthday, Mr. Chairman.