{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.thune.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=90CA1C0B-B4D5-44F7-A7E8-4C8B8CD28BD3", "Thune: We Are Forever Indebted to the Service and Sacrifice of America\u2019s Men and Women in Uniform", "2020-11-10", "2020", "2020-11", "Republican", "Senate", "SD", "John Thune", "T000250", "www.thune.senate.gov", "thune", "https://www.thune.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases", "scraper", "U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) today honored the brave men and women of the U.S. military, especially those throughout South Dakota, ahead of the Veterans Day holiday. Thune expressed his gratitude and reverence for the selflessness of devoting one\u2019s life to service and sacrifice on behalf of the American people. Thune also discussed the recent progress with a COVID vaccine and the status of the 2020 presidential election results.\n\nThune\u2019s remarks below (as prepared for delivery):\n\n\u201cMr. President, before I begin, I want to acknowledge the tremendous news released yesterday that early tests of a COVID vaccine are showing a greater than 90 percent rate of effectiveness.\n\n\u201cThis is great news, and a testament to the innovative power of the private sector and the efforts of Congress and the Trump administration to expedite the development of COVID vaccines.\n\n\u201cThe trials for this vaccine will continue, and FDA approval will be required, but these early results are very encouraging.\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s been a rough year for Americans \u2013 and people all over the world \u2013 but hopefully this is a sign that the light at the end of the tunnel is coming.\n\n\u201cMr. President, we\u2019re now a week on from the election, but there are still a lot of outstanding races to determine.\n\n\u201cVotes are still being counted, or will soon be recounted, in many states.\n\n\u201cThe presidential race has yet to be certified (it\u2019s important to remember that while media outlets can predict a winner, official results come later).\n\n\u201cAnd there are still House and Senate races that have yet to be decided.\n\n\u201cOne thing is clear though.\n\n\u201cThe \u2018blue wave\u2019 that Democrats, pollsters, and the media predicted was coming did not arrive.\n\n\u201cAmericans emphatically did not endorse the socialist aims of the far left.\n\n\u201cInstead, they sent a much more moderate message.\n\n\u201cAnd I hope that when all the votes are counted and the outcomes of all the races are determined, Democrats will be able to overcome the virulent partisanship that characterized their behavior over the past four years and actually work with Republicans to deliver results for the American people.\n\n\u201cMr. President, tomorrow we celebrate Veterans Day, the day set aside to honor all those who have served in the United States armed forces.\n\n\u201cThis year, we observed the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II.\n\n\u201cAnd our nation\u2019s World War II veterans \u2013 the veterans of the Greatest Generation \u2013 have been on my mind a lot this year.\n\n\u201c16 million Americans served in World War II.\n\n\u201c16 million.\n\n\u201cAnd these veterans were a fixture of our lives.\n\n\u201cSo many Americans grew up with a dad or grandfather \u2013 or grandmother \u2013 who had served in World War II.\n\n\u201cI was one of them.\n\n\u201cMy favorite veteran \u2013 my dad \u2013 was a World War II pilot who flew Hellcats off the deck of the USS Intrepid in the Pacific.\n\n\u201cI came to know the values of the Greatest Generation through my dad \u2013 humility, patriotism, quiet service.\n\n\u201cThese warriors who helped save the world didn\u2019t brag about their achievements.\n\n\u201cThey deflected praise.\n\n\u201cIf they hailed any exploits, it was those of their comrades.\n\n\u201cMy dad won the Distinguished Flying Cross, but that\u2019s not what he talked about.\n\n\u201cHe did, however, talk about Cecil Harris, one of South Dakota\u2019s aces, whose advice for a deft maneuver saved his life during a dogfight.\n\n\u201cIt was a move straight out of Top Gun, only decades before the movie.\n\n\u201cMy dad always talked about how South Dakota is the only state with two aces with 20 shootdowns.\n\n\u201cAnd he talked about the other pilots in his squadron, and praised their character and their service.\n\n\u201cMr. President, as I said, these veterans of the Greatest Generation have been a fixture in our lives for a long time.\n\n\u201cBut 75 years on from the war, their numbers are dwindling quickly.\n\n\u201cMy dad died in August of this year, at the age of 100.\n\n\u201cAnd we lose more and more of these veterans every day.\n\n\u201cAnd they will be sorely missed.\n\n\u201cBut their legacy lives on in the generations of veterans that followed them.\n\n\u201cIn every age and every era, men and women have stepped forward to answer the call that the Greatest Generation answered.\n\n\u201cAnd in every era, those men and women \u2013 the men and women of the United States military \u2013 have embodied the values that characterized men like my dad:\n\n\u201cHumility.\n\n\u201cCourage.\n\n\u201cLove of country.\n\n\u201cSelf-sacrifice.\n\n\u201cA love for freedom and for their fellow man.\n\n\u201cMr. President, service in the military was once commonplace.\n\n\u201cBut in an age when only a small percentage of the population has served or currently serves, we need to ensure that we don\u2019t forget the vital role of our armed forces and the price our men and women in uniform pay to ensure that all of us can live in freedom.\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s been said ten thousand times, but it\u2019s no less true the ten thousandth and first \u2013 we live in freedom every day because of the men and women of the United States military.\n\n\u201cWe owe them a debt we cannot hope to repay.\n\n\u201cBut on Veterans Day \u2013 and every day \u2013 we can remember to say thank you.\n\n\u201cMr. President, I cannot close without mentioning the men and women I have met who have served and are serving \u2013 in particular, the members of the South Dakota National Guard and Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota.\n\n\u201cRight now, members of the South Dakota National Guard are deployed in support of Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa.\n\n\u201cThe South Dakota Guard also recently served a rotation of deployments to Europe in support of Operation Atlantic Resolve and to the Middle East to support coalition forces.\n\n\u201cLike many of their counterparts across the country, they have also been a part of the domestic coronavirus response.\n\n\u201cAt Ellsworth, the B-1 bombers of the 28th Bomb Wing continue to demonstrate their flexible, global reach through Bomber Task Force deployments.\n\n\u201cThe Bomber Task Force missions strengthen our continued coordination with NATO allies in Europe and assert America\u2019s commitment to security and stability in the Indo-Pacific.\n\n\u201cFrom the Baltics to the South China Sea to the Middle East, the airmen at Ellsworth Air Force Base continue to answer our nation\u2019s call and remain ready to respond to threats anywhere in the world at a moment\u2019s notice.\n\n\u201cMr. President, as I said, we owe our men and women in uniform a debt we cannot hope to repay.\n\n\u201cBut we can resolve to live our lives in such a way as to be worthy of their sacrifices.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-28T00:39:51Z"]], "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": 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