Executive Session

Floor Speech

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Mr. THUNE. Madam President, I always find that the end of the July work period in Washington, DC, is a good time to take stock of the year so far.

I am looking forward to getting out of DC in the next few days and heading home to South Dakota. I am lucky enough to get to meet with South Dakotans on most weekends, but congressional recesses provide me with unbroken blocks of time to spend in the State and hear about South Dakotans' needs and priorities.

It has been a busy year here in Washington, DC, so far. In the last 7 months, the Senate has worked to confirm nearly 50 well-qualified judges, has provided funding to address the humanitarian and security crisis at our southern border, has given our military the resources it needs to defend the country, and much more.

I am proud that in May, by an overwhelming bipartisan margin, the Senate passed my bill to address illegal and abusive robocalls. My legislation would increase the financial penalties for making illegal robocalls, and it would give law enforcement more tools to go after these scammers who prey on vulnerable populations. The TRACED Act, which is my bill to address illegal robocalls, is one of more than 80 pieces of legislation I have introduced or cosponsored this year. My robocall bill grew out of the work that I did on the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, which I have served on now for 11 years, including having served four of those years as chairman.

My serving on the Commerce Committee has given me an up-close look at the issue of consumer privacy. Last year, as chairman of that committee, I convened hearings into consumer data privacy and the accessing of millions of Facebook users' personal data by the political intelligence firm Cambridge Analytica. I also led a hearing to discuss the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation and California's new privacy-related law.

This year, as chairman of the Commerce Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, Innovation, and the Internet, I have continued to focus on consumer privacy. I recently convened a hearing to look at the use of persuasive technology on internet platforms like Facebook and YouTube and on how these technologies can be and have been abused. I believe that developing bipartisan consumer privacy legislation needs to be a priority, and it is an issue I will continue to focus on here in Congress.

Another thing on which I have focused on the Commerce Committee is paving the way for 5G technology, which is the next phase of the wireless revolution, and of ensuring that Americans in rural communities have access to the same broadband technology that residents of more urban areas enjoy.

Last year, the President signed my bipartisan MOBILE NOW Act into law, which I introduced to help secure an adequate spectrum for 5G technology. In June, I reintroduced my STREAMLINE Small Cell Deployment Act in order to address the other part of the 5G equation, and that is infrastructure. Among other things, the STREAMLINE Small Cell Deployment Act will make it more affordable to bring 5G to rural areas by addressing the cost of small cell deployment.

I am privileged to represent South Dakota's farmers and ranchers here in the U.S. Senate, and year after year, one of my major priorities has been to make sure that the needs of our Nation's farmers and ranchers have been addressed. One of my priorities right now is to push for the passage of the United States-Mexico-Canada Free Trade Agreement here in Congress. Farmers and ranchers have been through a few tough years, and one of the things they tell me they need the most is market access for their products around the globe. The United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement will preserve farmers' access to two of our Nation's most significant agricultural export markets--Canada and Mexico--and will substantially expand market access for U.S. dairy products in Canada. It will expand market access for U.S. poultry and egg producers, and it will make it easier for U.S. producers to export wheat to Canada.

Senate Republicans are ready to pass this agreement as soon as the President formally submits it to Congress. We are just waiting for the Democrats in the House, who--despite the significant steps that have been taken to address their priorities--have still not indicated they are ready to take up the agreement. I will continue to urge them to take up this agreement so that our Nation's farmers and ranchers can experience the benefits. I will also continue to push for swift conclusions to the other trade agreements the administration is negotiating.

Being a Member of Congress doesn't just allow you to push for legislation. It also gives you an important platform on which to advocate on your constituents' behalf with the President and his administration. This year I was able to help persuade the Department of Agriculture to move the hay and grazing date to September 1 of this year for cover crops on prevent plant acres. This will allow farmers and ranchers in Northern States like South Dakota to sow cover crops without worrying that they will not be able to harvest or graze them before the winter weather sets in.

Both here in Congress and with multiple Presidential administrations, I have been advocating for higher blends of ethanol for more than a decade, and I was very pleased this year to know the Trump administration moved to lift the ban on the year-round sale of E15, which is a 15-percent ethanol blended fuel. This is a big win for American consumers, for our growing energy independence, and especially for U.S. corn producers, including those back home in South Dakota. Corn producers are thankful that the President delivered on his commitment to the year-round sales of E15.

Yet it is still a tough environment for agriculture. That is why we need to update the EPA's emissions modeling to reflect ethanol's 40- percent reduction in life cycle greenhouse gasses, which will boost its export potential. Most pressing, the administration needs to curb the issuance of small refinery waivers, which are, in part, forcing ethanol plants to slow down, idle, or shutter across America's heartland. This is critical to our seeing through the President's commitment to farmers.

Throughout my time in the Senate, I have been proud to advocate for Ellsworth Air Force Base, which is near Rapid City, SD. I have spent years working with the other members of the South Dakota delegation in Ellsworth and with community leaders to build up Ellsworth. Among other things, our efforts have resulted in the expansion of the Powder River Training Complex into the largest training airspace in the continental United States. Undoubtedly, it is partly thanks to this airspace that, this May, Ellsworth was chosen as the first home for the future B-21 bomber, and it will host both training and operational squadrons. I am very proud of Ellsworth for receiving these exciting new missions, and I look forward to there being more great developments for Ellsworth in the future.

I have worked on a lot of other bills this year to make life better for South Dakotans and for the American people. I have introduced tax reform bills to help small businesses, to update the Tax Code for the 21st century economy, to encourage charitable giving, and to permanently protect family farms from the death tax. I have introduced legislation to strengthen the agricultural economy, to support the Second Amendment, to help States like South Dakota--those that have low unemployment rates--to address workforce shortages, and much more. There is a lot more to come.

This fall, I look forward to working with my colleagues to continue building on the economic progress that we have made, to tackle our Nation's infrastructure needs, and, among other things, to lower healthcare costs.

I am proud to represent the people of South Dakota here in the U.S. Senate, and I will continue to do everything I can to address South Dakota's priorities and to expand opportunities for South Dakotans and all Americans.

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Mr. THUNE. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator from Louisiana (Mr. Cassidy), the Senator from Georgia (Mr. Isakson), and the Senator from Kentucky (Mr. Paul).

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