John Thune

Obamacare continues to wreak havoc on our economy and on job creation.

Please do something about this. There has to be a better way.

I feel the Federal Government has stolen over $5,000 [per year] from me.

Oh, boy, did they do that. A coalition of health insurance companies, agents, and broker groups, and industry friendly insurance commissioners fought this law at every step of the way.

We have to do this nationally. We have to make sure that it is fair for everybody.

The Minimum Medical Loss Ratio has been a success for consumers.

Are people going to pay more? The answer is 'yes.'

If you are going to raise a certain amount of revenue and it is going to be paid for by a certain number of people, if that pool shrinks, the people who are left in the pool are going to pay more.

In the interest of transparency, though, some of these things, these waivers and delays, would you agree to submit...

There is no more important domestic policy issue, in my view, than dealing with the debt and deficit challenge that we are facing.

But it is a tool. It has been available to Congress, but it's very difficult to feature a bill passed by Congress if the Administration has taken a hard stand saying I'm not going to sign a bill or entertain a financing mechanism that…

We're unable to pass long-term funding transportation bills rooted in bold ideas.

We need a fix on this and I hope we can come up with a solution.

The Administration has, in testimony in front of this Committee and others that I've been involved with in my time in the Senate, by your predecessor that that's something the Administration would not support.

This nation, which once dared to dream, dared to lead, has retreated from the legacy of our predecessors.

This short-sightedness has left us with a broken and increasingly second-rate transportation system.

The most important question we must answer is how we will pay for the program going forward.

Since I've been associated with highway bills in the time I've been in the House and Senate, we've done three.

I think we learned a lot during the drought in terms of the need for flexibility.

It would be great if you could reduce litigation.

I was disappointed that you voted on May 6, 2014 against an amendment during consideration of the CPSC's 2014 Mid-Year Review.

I want to thank Mark for being here today and very much helping inform our thinking and help shape an agenda that would be good for rural America and good for our tribes.

I look forward to Mr. Tilsen offering his firsthand knowledge and experience to the Ag Committee as we consider how to advance economic development strategies in small communities.

I appreciate very much your holding this hearing today and providing this Subcommittee with an opportunity to hear from leaders in rural America.

There are a lot of us in Congress, myself included, who have been frustrated by the whole issue of not being able to get the Keystone Pipeline approved.