{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.thune.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=452C9C97-5D6D-47CD-AC8E-F02EE7746403", "Thune Honors Leader Mitch McConnell", "2024-12-19", "2024", "2024-12", "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 to honor Sen. Mitch McConnell for his record-breaking tenure as Republican leader and thank him for his faithful service to the country.\n\nThune\u2019s remarks below (as delivered):\n\n\u201cMr. President, I rise today to pay tribute to the longest-serving party leader in Senate history, Republican Leader Mitch McConnell.\n\n\u201cOver the course of a political career that began with a hard-fought race for student council president in his junior year of high school \u2013 a race, I might add, that he won with what would become his signature blend of hard work, intelligence, and determination \u2013 Mitch has built a legacy that will long, long outlast his time here in the United States Senate.\n\n\u201cMr. President, the day he became the longest-serving party leader in Senate history, Leader McConnell delivered a speech discussing past Senate party leaders and their characteristics \u2013 from the mastery of relationships demonstrated by Lyndon Johnson to the, quote, \u2018tackle football\u2019 of Joseph Taylor Robinson.\n\n\u201cAnd it got me thinking about some of the things that have characterized Mitch\u2019s tenure.\n\n\u201cAnd there are three of them that stand out to me in particular.\n\n\u201cFirst, there\u2019s Mitch\u2019s peerless knowledge of Senate procedure.\n\n\u201cI suspect few who have served in this body have developed the kind of knowledge that Mitch possesses of the most arcane details \u2013 and they are arcane \u2013 of Senate rules.\n\n\u201cBut Mitch recognized early on that knowledge of Senate procedure could play a big part in success as a senator. And he was right.\n\n\u201cAnd so with his signature determination, he set out to acquire it.\n\n\u201cAnd became an undisputed master.\n\n\u201cSecond, Mr. President, to that wealth of knowledge he has added a fierce commitment to the Senate as an institution \u2013 a commitment I hope to emulate when I take the reins as majority leader next year.\n\n\u201cThere are a lot of people out there these days who would like to see the Senate turn into a copy of the House of Representatives.\n\n\u201cBut that\u2019s not what our Founders envisioned \u2013 or what our country needs.\n\n\u201cAnd Mitch has served our entire country by fighting to ensure that the Senate maintains its institutional character.\n\n\u201cFinally, Mr. President, perhaps the aspect of Mitch\u2019s tenure that stands out to me the most is the work that he\u2019s done to protect the rule of law by filling the judiciary with judges and justices who understand what the role of a judge is: to interpret the law, not make it. To call balls and strikes, not rewrite the rules of the game.\n\n\u201cDuring his time as majority leader, Mitch oversaw the confirmation of 234 men and women to the federal bench \u2013 three of them as Supreme Court justices.\n\n\u201cAnd the effects of that will be felt for a long time to come, in decisions up and down the judiciary that respect the law and the Constitution.\n\n\u201cThat, Mr. President, is no small legacy.\n\n\u201cAnd Mitch can step down from his post knowing that no one has done more to preserve our legal system and the essential role that it plays in our republic.\n\n\u201cMitch, it has been a great honor to serve with you.\n\n\u201cAnd I am grateful that while you are stepping down from your role as leader, you will still be here in the Senate \u2013 bringing your mastery of Senate procedure to leadership of the Senate Rules Committee.\n\n\u201cHopefully you won\u2019t mind a few knocks on your door for advice.\n\n\u201cThank you for your long and faithful service to our party, to the Senate, and to our country.\n\n\u201cAnd I look forward to continuing to work with you in the years ahead.\n\n\u201cMr. President, I yield the floor.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:07:19Z"]], "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=452C9C97-5D6D-47CD-AC8E-F02EE7746403"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.3699459377676249, "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"}