{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.thune.senate.gov/news/press-releases/thune-eulogizes-senator-lindsey-graham-at-capitol-memorial-service/", "Thune Eulogizes Senator Lindsey Graham at Capitol Memorial Service", "2026-07-28", "2026", "2026-07", "Republican", "Senate", "SD", "John Thune", "T000250", "www.thune.senate.gov", "thune", "https://www.thune.senate.gov/news/press-releases/", "scraper", "Click here to watch the video.\n\nWASHINGTON \u2014 U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) today delivered a eulogy at Sen. Lindsey Graham\u2019s (R-S.C.) memorial service at the U.S. Capitol.\n\nThune\u2019s remarks below (as delivered):\n\n\u201cMr. Vice President, Darline \u2013 Senator Graham \u2013 Larry, members of the Graham family, ladies and gentlemen, good morning.\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s difficult to believe that we\u2019re here today to say a final farewell to Lindsey as he leaves the Capitol for the last time.\n\n\u201cMy heart is heavy.\n\n\u201cI feel his absence every day \u2013 and I know so many of my colleagues do as well.\n\n\u201cSenators on both sides of the aisle counted him as a friend.\n\n\u201cAnd Republicans and Democrats alike \u2013 including the Democrat leader \u2013 are here to say farewell.\n\n\u201cLindsey was a towering figure here in the Senate \u2013 and on the international stage.\n\n\u201cHis leadership on national security and on our national defense is well-known.\n\n\u201cI traveled with Lindsey all over the world as part of congressional delegations, and I saw firsthand just how much he was respected by our allies \u2013 and just how well he was able to connect with foreign leaders around the globe.\n\n\u201cStriking too was the instant connection he had with the military men and women that we met.\n\n\u201cThey recognized him immediately as one of their own.\n\n\u201cLindsey\u2019s work on these issues would be enough to cement his place as a leader in the Senate.\n\n\u201cBut he was a leader on many other issues too.\n\n\u201cAs chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee in the 116th Congress, he fought tirelessly to advance well-qualified judges.\n\n\u201cHe was serving as chair of the Budget Committee at the time of his death and was responsible for getting important tax relief legislation to the floor.\n\n\u201cAnd no tribute to Lindsey\u2019s work is complete without mentioning that he was a powerful voice for the pro-life movement.\n\n\u201c\u2018Until my last breath, I will be fighting for this cause,\u2019 he said.\n\n\u201cAnd he was.\n\n\u201cHe was a fierce defender of Ukraine.\n\n\u201cHe was a fierce defender of the unborn.\n\n\u201cAnd on the surface, these might seem like two completely separate issues.\n\n\u201cBut it strikes me that in another way they are both of a piece.\n\n\u201cIn both cases, Lindsey Graham saw injustice. And he spoke up.\n\n\u201cAnd, as was typical of Lindsey, he spoke up fearlessly.\n\n\u201c\u2018I don\u2019t apologize for being pro-life,\u2019 he said in an interview in 2022 \u2013 and probably on a number of other occasions.\n\n\u201cIt didn\u2019t matter to Lindsey whether an issue was popular or unpopular \u2013 whether he had the full support of his colleagues or whether he was standing alone.\n\n\u201cIf he believed he was in the right, he spoke up.\n\n\u201cHe told things the way he saw them.\n\n\u201cAnd he didn\u2019t mince words.\n\n\u201cBut lest anyone think it was all work and no levity with Lindsey \u2026\n\n\u201cLet me just say that there was no one \u2013 no one \u2013 who took his job more seriously than Lindsey Graham.\n\n\u201cBut also no one was more capable of cracking up a room.\n\n\u201cDuring the workweek here in Washington, a lot of us are away from our families, so we often get together in groups for dinner.\n\n\u201cAnd let me tell you, Lindsey was always the first call.\n\n\u201cThe conversation and the laughs always flowed at any meal where Lindsey Graham was present.\n\n\u201cHe was entertaining, always.\n\n\u201cAnd pretentious, never.\n\n\u201c\u2018There are a lot of so-called \u201cself made\u201d people in this world,\u2019 he once said. \u2018I am not one of them. My family, friends, neighbors and my faith picked me up when I was down, believed in me when I had doubts. You made me the man I am today,\u2019 he said.\n\n\u201cLadies and gentlemen, Lindsey will be remembered as a senator and as a statesman.\n\n\u201cBut for me, most of all, I will remember him as my friend.\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s hard to think that there will be no more Senate dinners with Lindsey.\n\n\u201cThat he won\u2019t be dropping by my office to discuss some piece of legislation, or make me laugh with his witty commentary.\n\n\u201cBut I cling to the same faith that Lindsey had.\n\n\u201cTo the sure and certain hope of the Resurrection, and the knowledge that death is not the end.\n\n\u201c\u2018I am the resurrection and the life,\u2019 says the Lord. \u2018The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die.\u2019\n\n\u201cTo Darline and the Graham family, to Lindsey\u2019s beloved staff members, be assured of the prayers of my wife, Kimberley, and I \u2013 and the prayers of so many in this room.\n\n\u201cAnd to Lindsey, rest in peace, my friend.\n\n\u201cI look forward to the days when you make us all laugh again.\u201d", 1, "2026-07-29T07:41:48Z", "2026-07-29T07:42:57Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.thune.senate.gov/news/press-releases/thune-eulogizes-senator-lindsey-graham-at-capitol-memorial-service/"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.9301961399614811, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}