John Thune

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Mr. President, late summer in South Dakota is one of my favorite times of the year. And as usual, I spent a lot of it crisscrossing the State, talking to South Dakotans and seeing some of the great things that are happening from Sisseton to Spearfish to Sioux Falls. Late summer, of course, is fair season, and I made the rounds of multiple fairs: Brown County, Turner County, Butte-Lawrence Counties, the State fair, Dakotafest. I love the chance to meet so many South Dakota families and to hear what is on their minds. And, of course, if I can eat a little fair food while I am at it, it is even better. I particularly value the opportunity I have at these fairs to hear from the men and women of South Dakota's leading industry, which is agriculture. The Aberdeen Area Chamber of Commerce hosted a terrific agribusiness meeting at the Brown County Fair, and the Dakotafest congressional forum always provides me with a lot of valuable feedback from South Dakota farmers and ranchers. Outside the fair circuit, I also had the chance to talk to South Dakota ag producers at a number of other stops, including the CHS Southwest Grain elevator in Lemmon and the Midwest Agricultural Export Summit. Farmers and ranchers are facing a lot of headwinds right now, and I am committed to do everything I can in Washington to help producers. I am proud that the Republicans' Working Families Tax Cut legislation strengthened a number of programs producers depend on, such as crop insurance and commodity and livestock programs. And while I am disappointed that my Democratic colleagues have chosen to put politics ahead of producers and unanimously opposed the farm bill, which was voted on yesterday at the Senate Ag Committee, I haven't given up. Another big perk of the past few weeks has been the opportunity to visit South Dakota small businesses. I got to tour Gameday Social's new headquarters in Sioux Falls, sit down with ranchers and other community leaders at the Lazy Spurr in Bison, tour Woodland Cabinetry in Sisseton, and more. I love hearing from small business owners about how the Working Families Tax Cut is helping their businesses, and I value the opportunity to hear what else we can do in Washington to help small businesses grow and thrive and create jobs. It is always an honor to get to talk to the men and women who put their lives on the line to protect their fellow Americans. Over the past few weeks, I had the chance to visit with South Dakota sheriffs at a roundtable in Flandreau, chat with members of the Lemmon Volunteer Fire Department, and show the Under Secretary of the Army around Ellsworth Air Force Base. Anticipation is building for the arrival of the B-21 bomber, which is the future of the long-range strike, and we had some great discussions about the preparations that are underway. We also had the opportunity to meet with leaders of the South Dakota industrial base and academia about their contributions to the joint force, like the work that VRC Metal Systems in Box Elder is doing on cold-spray maintenance technology. There were so many other great moments from my travels: getting to tour Spearfish High School's Career and Technical Education Center; visiting Dakota State's Applied Research Corporation to discuss how South Dakota can be a leader in cyber security and national intelligence; interacting with students at Black Hills State University; participating in the groundbreaking of the James Abdnor Center for Advanced Manufacturing at Southeast Technical College, which is a deeply meaningful moment for me as a former Jim Abdnor staffer. Late summer in South Dakota can't be beat, and I am very proud to be from our great State. I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.