John Thune

Mr. President, Anecdote · 339 wordsover the weekend, I headed back to Jones County, South Dakota, for my high school reunion.¹ It has been a few years since high school--just a few--but it is amazing how the years roll away when you head back and see some of the people who shaped your high school years. Some of them are missing now, of course: teachers; coaches; my parents--my dad, who was a teacher at my high school, a coach at my high school, ²and the busdriver at my high school; ³and my mom, who served as the school librarian.⁴ Needless to say, we Thune kids didn’t get away with much in our high school years. My high school reunion this year happened to coincide with the 120th anniversary of the town of Murdo, ⁵where I grew up--current population, roughly, 500.⁶ And being back in Jones County and in Murdo really got me to reminisce about growing up in smalltown South Dakota, about how blessed I was to grow up in a small town in South Dakota. People discuss the loss of community today that can result from the circumstances of modern life. That was never something we had to worry about in Murdo. In Murdo, you knew you were part of a community. Rural South Dakotans are sturdy, independent people, but they also know from experience that you can’t get by in a small town on the prairie without the support of your neighbors. And when someone was in need in Murdo, the whole town rallied around to help, whether it was an unexpected death in the family or the collapse of a barn roof. We celebrated with each other, too, whether it was the harvest, the Fourth of July, or pheasant season. And the whole town swelled with pride at one of its kids’ achievements. I carry the sense of community and belonging I had growing up in Murdo with me to this day, and I carry those smalltown South Dakotans with me in a special way in my work here in Washington.Anecdote Claims · 33 wordsWhen we look at a government regulation, I think about what impact it will have on smalltown South Dakota, on the people in our State, like the ones that I grew up with. Positioning · 39 wordsIs it going to lighten their burden, or is it going to add new challenges on top of those they already face? Agriculture is the life blood of our State. It was the life blood of Murdo as well.Positioning Claims · 25 wordsFarmers and ranchers have a tough job: backbreaking work in all weathers--work that can be destroyed in an instant by a storm or a flood. Promise · 16 wordsI want to ensure that Washington isn’t making their life even tougher than it is already. Claims · 177 wordsThat is why I fought for things like the elimination of the death tax, so that the farmers and ranchers can hand down the family enterprise to their kids and don’t have to spend time and money on costly estate planning. It is also why I fought to ensure that Federal farm programs are actually serving farmers, that they take into account the realities of farm life and keep pace with changes. You can bet that I had smalltown South Dakota in mind when I fought to pass tax relief for hard-working Americans in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, ⁷and then when we made that new tax relief permanent in the Working Families Tax Cut just last year.⁸ I think a lot of my political beliefs have their roots in growing up in Murdo: from the belief that government ought to be limited--and if a matter can be handled at the State or local level, it should be--to my understanding of the importance of freedom, and the individual responsibility that comes with the freedoms we enjoy. Thanks · 31 wordsI am grateful every day, Mr. President, for the blessings of growing up in a small town, in smalltown South Dakota, and I am proud to be a son of Murdo.Thanks Procedure · 11 wordsI yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.Procedure