John Thune

I think it is instructive to remember the state of the rail industry before the Act was passed.

Many of the Administration's policies, including high-speed passenger rail, will benefit metropolitan areas, but do little, if anything, to assist rural communities.

Secretary Gates in his August 9, 2010, speech said that he was implementing a 10 percent reduction in funding for advisory and assistance contractors in intelligence areas and a freeze in the number of senior executives in the defense…

This Department is awash in taskings for reports and studies.

Consider consolidation or closure of excess bases and other facilities where appropriate.

Judge Sotomayor's judicial record and testimony during the Senate Judiciary Committee hearings clearly demonstrate a hostile view of the Second Amendment and the fundamental right of self-defense guaranteed under the U.S. Constitution.

What that has done is galvanized those at the grassroots level who are very concerned about what they see happening and how it might threaten and put in danger the second amendment right that many of them have enjoyed and believe is…

If I might ask the Senator from Alabama this--because he is the ranking member on the Judiciary Committee. I know he has dealt with numerous nominees to the Supreme Court in the past, as well as probably hundreds of other judicial…

I say to my friend from Nevada, it is troubling--very troubling, and maybe even telling--that the President would ask us to confirm an individual who admittedly has not reviewed the justification for the second amendment in the Bill of…

I heard my colleague say--and I would be interested in having him confirm--didn't Ms. Kagan teach constitutional law and would it not have been appropriate at that time for her to have looked at the Founding Fathers' intent on the second…

If we don't get these agreements signed, we are going to lose significant market opportunities to competitors.

This is an important review, something that I had advocated in the defense authorization bill. I think it has borne out that it was something that needed to be done.

The panel supports an increased investment in long-range strike systems and their associated sensors.

And I'm interested in what you mentioned in your testimony today that would allow consumers to opt-out of tracking and behavioral--at a browser level, as opposed to website-by-website.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

The economic damages that are caused by the Administration's offshore moratorium on oil and gas exploration.

Congress and the Administration should be focused on permanently fixing the leak, on cleaning up the gulf, and restoring the gulf coast economy.

As my colleague from Maine also noted earlier today, I think there is pretty broad opposition to this particular amendment, notwithstanding the support many of us have for the underlying bill. As I said before, there are tax incentives in…

Yes, indeed, Madam Chair, and we look forward to working with you to promote even greater use of biofuels.

Would replacing that definition with the definition of the 2008 Farm Bill result in increased renewable energy production?

I mean, obviously, those we are developing...

Do you believe that the definition of renewable biomass in the 2008 Farm Bill strikes the right balance between meeting our energy needs and also ensuring that we are managing our forests in a responsible manner?

Do you believe that the EPA, if the EPA were to approve E15 that lenders would be more likely to participate in the program to provide financing to some of these cellulosic ethanol plants?

We thought the Farm Bill struck the balance and would like to see that applied more generally and obviously applied to the RFS.

As you know, the EPA is delaying that decision--I mentioned this to Secretary Vilsack when he was in a couple of weeks back, and what is USDA's role in that decision and how actively are you all advocating for getting the higher blends…