John Thune

I think it's going to be perceived as a tax.

That sort of contradicts, I think, Ms. Young's testimony.

H.R. 2594 and Senator Thune's bill, S. 1956, would each call for us to 'conduct international negotiations' as well as to 'take other actions' to ensure that U.S. aircraft operators are held harmless from the EU ETS.

Should U.S. airlines and U.S. consumers be paying a tax to European coffers on an extraterritorial scheme?

Well, maybe that could--maybe I'm missing something here then, because, to clarify that point, that may be the suggested use or some sort of understanding, but I don't think there's anything that requires or stipulates that any member…

NBAA also supports S. 1956, The European Union Emissions Trading Scheme Prohibition Act Of 2011.

Taxing any activity beyond the EU borders is a dangerous precedent and a violation of the sovereignty of nations across the world.

This is a violation of international law?

It is unfair. It is discriminatory. It singles out a great American industry for discriminatory treatment.

I believe that ETS is completely separate from the user fees that countries might apply on passengers.

Many other countries, including Argentina, Brazil, China, India, Japan, Korea, Mexico, and Russia have voiced their opposition to the EU scheme.

Senator Thune's bill directs the Secretary to hold the airlines harmless, but doesn't give a path forward for how to do that.

We urge Congress to explore every available option to support the administration's action to exclude U.S. airlines from this harmful and misguided scheme.

It has been 6 months since you and Secretary Clinton sent a letter to the EU urging them to cease and desist on ETS.

I would like to see us pass this bipartisan legislation that addresses the EU's unilateral imposition of ETS in order to protect the U.S. aviation industry.

Any system that includes international and other non-EU airspace must be addressed through the International Civil Aviation Organization, or ICAO.

It is time to intensify and expand our government's response, protect all U.S. aviation operators and their employees.

Unfair and arbitrary.

Social Security is the single largest category of the Federal budget, and the Social Security trustees recently released their annual report on the financial status of the program.

That means that, without reform, Social Security is going to exhaust its trust fund reserves by the year 2033.

Stopping the reforms, I think, would be counterproductive, inconsistent with fiscal responsibility, and unfair to unserved Americans who would benefit from us moving forward, including in South Dakota.

There are places in the country where that's not true.

The technology is remarkable. The innovation is amazing, and, you know, we here in Congress are just trying to keep up with what's going on out there.

Our beef exports have been subject to unwarranted restrictions in some of these important Asian markets, notably China and Japan.

I look forward to continuing to work with the administration on a successful conclusion to the Trans-Pacific Partnership.