{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.thune.senate.gov/news/press-releases/thune-todays-democrat-party-is-the-proud-home-of-socialism/", "Thune: Today\u2019s Democrat Party Is the Proud Home of Socialism", "2026-09-23", "2026", "2026-09", "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 the following remarks on the Senate floor:\n\nThune\u2019s remarks below (as delivered):\n\n\u201cMr. President, there\u2019s no doubt that the Democrat Party has moved sharply left in recent years.\n\n\u201cBut this election cycle has seen the Democrat Party take a big step further \u2013 toward full-blown socialism.\n\n\u201cNew York City\u2019s new Democrat mayor \u2013 a self-proclaimed democrat socialist \u2013 might be the most notable example.\n\n\u201cBut he\u2019s far from alone.\n\n\u201cAround the country, socialists have been winning Democrat primaries.\n\n\u201cAnd it\u2019s no exaggeration to say that socialism is rapidly gaining a prominent new role in the Democrat Party.\n\n\u201cSo let\u2019s talk a little about socialism, Mr. President, and the platform of the Democratic Socialists of America.\n\n\u201cAnd when you take a look at the platform, right away you see some predictable things \u2013 namely, government control of almost everything.\n\n\u201cHealth care.\n\n\u201cBusiness.\n\n\u201cHousing.\n\n\u201cEducation.\n\n\u201cEnergy.\n\n\u201cAll of these sectors would come under government control in a Democrat Socialist state.\n\n\u201cAnd when I say government control, I don\u2019t just mean they would be hit with a lot of regulations.\n\n\u201cI mean government control.\n\n\u201cGovernment would become the ultimate decision-maker for American families in most aspects of their life.\n\n\u201cTake health care, for example.\n\n\u201cWe often talk about the doctor-patient relationship in medicine.\n\n\u201cWell, under Democrat Socialism, that would be a lot more like the government-patient relationship.\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s the government that would decide what health care Americans are eligible for.\n\n\u201cWhat medications they can take.\n\n\u201cAnd when and where they\u2019re able to access care.\n\n\u201cAmericans, Mr. President, place a high value on choice and freedom.\n\n\u201cBut freedom and choice do not last very long when government takes over.\n\n\u201cAnd under Democrat Socialism, Mr. President, government would be truly taking over.\n\n\u201cI could dedicate a whole speech to what happens when government takes control of the economy and the means of production.\n\n\u201cAnd of health care and education and energy \u2026\n\n\u201cBut there\u2019s more to the Democratic Socialist platform that I want to talk about.\n\n\u201cMr. President, I guess I have to hand it to Democrat Socialists, despite their plan for government takeover of most aspects of American life, they do have a couple of cuts on the table.\n\n\u201cBut the nature of those cuts is a big problem.\n\n\u201cDemocrat Socialists would like to defund the Pentagon.\n\n\u201cThey would like to abolish immigration enforcement.\n\n\u201cAnd they would like to eliminate the police.\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s right, Mr. President.\n\n\u201cThe official platform \u2013 the official platform \u2013 of the Democratic Socialists states that their goal is to, and I quote, \u2018demilitarize police departments, disempower police unions, and redirect funding to public services as steps towards fully abolishing the police and prison system \u2026\u2019\n\n\u201cThink about that.\n\n\u201c\u2018\u2026 as steps towards fully abolishing the police and prison system \u2026\u2019\n\n\u201cThe official platform, Mr. President, of the Democrat Socialists of America.\n\n\u201cMr. President, I don\u2019t think I need to explain to anyone just how unhinged that is.\n\n\u201cIf anyone thinks we can keep our communities safe while fully abolishing the police and prison system, I have some oceanfront property in South Dakota to sell them.\n\n\u201cBut the problem, Mr. President, is that Democrat Socialists do believe this.\n\n\u201cSwept up in their utopian fantasies, they believe that by implementing the right system \u2013 socialism \u2013 they can somehow do away with human evil and remove the need for police or prisons. Or armies for that matter.\n\n\u201cBut of course, no system is going to be able to fully eliminate evil.\n\n\u201cNo matter how many social programs you put in place or how much education the government provides, there are always going to be men and women who choose to harm others for their own ends.\n\n\u201cAnd the idea that we would eliminate the men and women who protect society from these people \u2026 well, Mr. President, again, I don\u2019t think I need to explain to anyone just how quickly the peace and safety that we take for granted would evaporate \u2013 on both a local and a national scale.\n\n\u201cAnd the Democratic Socialist platform doesn\u2019t end there, Mr. President.\n\n\u201cEverything I\u2019ve discussed so far would remake our country on a massive scale, to the point of its being unrecognizable as the free, secure, and prosperous nation that we\u2019ve known over the past 250 years.\n\n\u201cBut Democrat Socialists would take it even further.\n\n\u201cTheir platform calls for officially changing our system of government \u2013 for eliminating the Senate and replacing, and I quote, \u2018the President and Supreme Court with an executive and judiciary chosen by and subordinate to Congress.\u2019\n\n\u201cThose aren\u2019t tweaks around the margin, Mr. President.\n\n\u201cThat is a full abolishment of the American system.\n\n\u201cThat is the elimination of the checks and balances that define our government and help prevent any one branch from exceeding its lawful authority.\n\n\u201cAnd it is the elimination \u2013 the elimination \u2013 of real protection for minority rights.\n\n\u201cI quote again: \u2018\u2026 we know complete victory will require building a new society from the ground up,\u2019 the authors of the platform of the Democratic Socialists of America write.\n\n\u201cAnd that is exactly what they propose to do \u2013 eliminate the American system, and build another in its place.\n\n\u201cAnd this, Mr. President, is the political organization that is currently finding a home in the Democrat Party.\n\n\u201cDemocrats are giving a home to an organization not merely dedicated to the radical expansion of government, but to the actual elimination of our system of government.\n\n\u201cWhy?\n\n\u201cWell, Mr. President, at its worst, socialism moves into a full-blown communism \u2013 the economic system that characterized the Soviet Union and oversaw not merely the exploitation of workers and ordinary people but the complete loss of freedom for millions and the death of millions more.\n\n\u201cAnd just in case you think that has nothing to do with the Democrat Socialists of America, think again.\n\n\u201cThe Wall Street Journal reports that several members of the Democratic Socialists\u2019 National Political Committee are, and I quote, \u2018dedicated Marxists and communists.\u2019\n\n\u201cOne of the organization\u2019s national co-chairs, in fact, is a member of the Democratic Socialists\u2019 Red Star Caucus, whose goal is not merely socialism, but communism.\n\n\u201cCommunism, Mr. President.\n\n\u201cThe hallmark of some of the world\u2019s most repressive regimes.\n\n\u201cAnd so I ask again, Mr. President \u2013 why are Democratic Socialists finding a home in the Democrat Party?\u201d", 1, "2026-09-24T09:44:48Z", "2026-09-24T09:45:52Z"]], "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-todays-democrat-party-is-the-proud-home-of-socialism/"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 2.6703630574047565, "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"}