{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.thune.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=12AD8FDA-97B0-4CF2-9B04-EB0F376152F3", "Thune Discusses Importance of Returning to Regular Order in the Senate", "2023-09-07", "2023", "2023-09", "Republican", "Senate", "SD", "John Thune", "T000250", "www.thune.senate.gov", "thune", "https://www.thune.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases", "scraper", "Click here to watch the video.\n\nWASHINGTON \u2014 U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) today spoke on the Senate floor about the importance of regular order in the Senate, particularly as it relates to the committee process. Thune noted that the Senate Appropriations Committee, for the first time in five years, has processed all 12 appropriations bills through regular order and with bipartisan support. Thune called on Leader Schumer to empower all of his committee chairs to allow for this deliberative process that promotes bipartisanship and increases productivity, transparency, and trust.\n\nThune\u2019s remarks below (as prepared for delivery):\n\n\u201cMr. President, today I want to talk about something that has been going really right here in the Senate.\n\n\u201cAnd that is the use of regular order to consider the annual appropriations bills.\n\n\u201cWhat do I mean by regular order?\n\n\u201cFor starters, regular order refers to allowing bills to go through the committee process \u2013 including hearings and a markup, where members of the committee have a chance to amend and improve the bill \u2013 before being referred by the committee to the Senate as a whole for additional debate and deliberation.\n\n\u201cThe regular order process is key, Mr. President.\n\n\u201cIt provides the time and space for real deliberation.\n\n\u201cIt allows for input from a broad array of members and promotes collaboration and compromise.\n\n\u201cAnd it is a transparent process, one that ensures that both senators and the American people can see how the legislation in question is made, and have ample time to digest it.\n\n\u201cNot to mention the fact that by ensuring the input of more senators, the regular order process helps ensure that a broader swath of the American people is represented in any final legislation.\n\n\u201cMr. President, one of Congress\u2019 most basic responsibilities is funding the federal government.\n\n\u201cAnd for all the reasons I just listed, the way we should be doing that is through regular order.\n\n\u201cBut we haven\u2019t been doing the greatest job of that lately here in the Senate.\n\n\u201cBut this year, for the first time in five years, the Senate Appropriations Committee has processed all 12 appropriations bills through the committee.\n\n\u201cAnd a huge amount of credit goes to Senator Collins, and to her Democrat counterpart Senator Murray, for making this happen.\n\n\u201cAnd I hope that this will not be a one-off, but the start of a new habit for the Senate \u2013 a habit of giving each of the appropriations bills the time, debate, and serious consideration they deserve.\n\n\u201cMr. President, in their press release following passage of all 12 appropriations bills out of committee, Senators Collins and Murray noted that the bills had passed the committee by overwhelming bipartisan margins.\n\n\u201cAnd it\u2019s not surprising.\n\n\u201cWhen you give members time to debate and amend legislation and make their concerns \u2013 and the concerns of their constituents \u2013 heard, you\u2019re a lot more likely to get bipartisan buy-in on the final product.\n\n\u201cMr. President, today we expect the Democrat leader to file cloture on a \u201cminibus\u201d of three appropriations bills \u2013 Agriculture; Transportation and Housing and Urban Development, or THUD; and Military Construction and Veterans Affairs, or MilCon-VA.\n\n\u201cI hope that the hearing these bills got in committee will be matched by a similarly deliberative process on the floor, including ample time for consideration of amendments.\n\n\u201cDebate and amendment on the floor is another key element of the regular order process, and one that also helps promote a bipartisan final bill.\n\n\u201cThe debate on the National Defense Authorization Act in July was a good example of this.\n\n\u201cMembers had the opportunity to file and offer amendments when the bill came to the floor \u2013 resulting in consideration of 131 amendments, including 33 amendment votes \u2013 which helped the bill pass the full Senate by an overwhelming bipartisan margin.\n\n\u201cI\u2019m looking forward to next week\u2019s debate on the minibus, and I\u2019m very pleased that among many other good provisions, this year\u2019s MilCon-VA appropriations bill will continue funding for building out the necessary infrastructure for the B-21 long-range strike bomber at Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota.\n\n\u201cThe B-21 will revolutionize the Air Force\u2019s long-range strike capabilities, and is an important step forward in ensuring that our military is prepared to meet and defeat 21st-century threats.\n\n\u201cAnd I have been working to ensure that the Air Force \u2013 and Ellsworth, the main operating base for the first B-21s \u2013 has everything it needs for the B-21 mission.\n\n\u201cSo as I said, Mr. President, I am looking forward to debate on the Agriculture, THUD, and MilCon-VA appropriations bills.\n\n\u201cAnd I trust that we will continue working through appropriations bills in the coming weeks with full debates on the Senate floor.\n\n\u201cI expect we will need to pass a short-term CR to enable these debates, and allow for time to reconcile the House and Senate versions of these bills and get final versions to the president\u2019s desk.\n\n\u201cMr. President, before I close I do want to mention one troubling thing among the good news about the regular order process.\n\n\u201cAnd that is the Democrat leader\u2019s decision to, in his words, \u2018invent a new process\u2019 to deal with the thorny question of regulating AI, because the committee process, quote, \u2018won\u2019t suffice.\u2019\n\n\u201cI\u2019m not too sure what the majority leader hopes to gain by taking responsibility for oversight and examination of this subject away from the relevant committees of jurisdiction, who consider issues like this day-in and day-out and are well-versed in developing solutions.\n\n\u201cAnd I am definitely worried that this new process will restrict senators\u2019 input into the final product, leading to legislation created by the leader exclusively, without collaboration with other members or relevant committees.\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s a disappointing move, especially considering the progress we\u2019ve made on returning to regular order with appropriations bills.\n\n\u201cAnd I\u2019d like to see the leader show a little more faith in the committee process \u2013 and his committee chairs.\n\n\u201cBut, again, I am very pleased that at least on the appropriations front, we are back where we should be \u2013 processing appropriations bills in committee and on the Senate floor.\n\n\u201cAnd I am looking forward to next week\u2019s Ag, THUD, and MilCon-VA debate.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:35:26Z"]], "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/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=12AD8FDA-97B0-4CF2-9B04-EB0F376152F3"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.594523899257183, "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"}