{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.thune.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=B161D177-78D1-49F2-98CD-0C245564ED8B", "Thune: The Senate Must Do More to Protect Our Nation", "2024-07-25", "2024", "2024-07", "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 condemn the lawless, pro-Hamas violence and vandalism that took place yesterday in Washington, D.C. He urged Majority Leader Schumer to schedule a vote on the National Defense Authorization Act, noting that more could be done to ensure the United States meets its security obligations at home and abroad. Thune also encouraged passage of the Kids Online Safety Act, which includes his Filter Bubble Transparency Act, legislation that would give users more awareness around social media algorithms.\n\nThune\u2019s remarks below (as prepared for delivery):\n\n\u201cMr. President, before I begin, I want to take a moment to address the events that transpired yesterday just a few short blocks from where we\u2019re standing.\n\n\u201cThe summer months are busy tourist months here in our nation\u2019s capital, and for some, the view from Union Station is the very first sight they have of Washington, D.C.\n\n\u201cThose who emerged from Union Station yesterday afternoon, however, were confronted not with the beauty of the historic station but with a scene of lawlessness.\n\n\u201cViolent protesters tore down American flags that fly in front of Union Station, lit at least one of them on fire, and raised Palestinian flags in their place.\n\n\u201cOthers defiled the monuments in front of the station with messages including, and I quote, \u2018Hamas is comin\u2019\u2019 and \u2018Globalize the Intifada.\u2019\n\n\u201cImagine being a Jewish person walking to work past those slogans.\n\n\u201cMr. President, we have a proud tradition of public protest in the United States.\n\n\u201cBut there is a difference between exercising free speech rights and the vandalism and violence we saw yesterday.\n\n\u201cIn addition to what we saw in front of Union Station and elsewhere, an anti-Israel protester or protesters released hundreds of maggots and mealworms into the hotel where the prime minister \u2013 and a lot of other people \u2013 were staying.\n\n\u201cThis is not part of the proud tradition of American political discourse.\n\n\u201cThis is pure thuggery.\n\n\u201cAnd I am frankly appalled by how little we have heard in response from Democrats.\n\n\u201cThe president addressed the nation last night \u2013 could he not have added a few words on this disturbing display?\n\n\u201cWhat about the vice president?\n\n\u201cEvery single public official \u2013 and every single American \u2013 should be united in condemning this violence and vandalism, as well as rhetoric that elevates terrorism and foments antisemitism.\n\n\u201cWe are better than this.\n\n\u201cAnd it\u2019s time we started acting like it.\n\n\u201cMr. President, I\u2019m pleased to say that during a summer in which Democrats have focused on show votes, we\u2019re actually going to vote this week on a substantial piece of legislation, the Kids Online Safety Act.\n\n\u201cSenator Blackburn has done a tremendous amount of work to deliver a bill that will take real steps to mitigate the harm social media can do to children, and I\u2019m grateful for her leadership on this issue.\n\n\u201cThe package before us also includes legislation from Senator Cassidy to update the Children\u2019s Online Privacy Protection Act, and I applaud him for his work.\n\n\u201cI\u2019m pleased also that my bipartisan Filter Bubble Transparency Act, which I introduced with Senator Blackburn and others, has been included in the final legislation.\n\n\u201cThe Filter Bubble Transparency Act requires social media companies and other internet platforms to notify users that the content they are seeing has been selected for them by hidden algorithms, which create a unique universe of information for each user \u2013 a phenomenon that\u2019s often referred to as the \u2018filter bubble.\u2019\n\n\u201cPlatforms would also be required to give users the choice to switch to a version of the platform that is filter-bubble-free.\n\n\u201cAnd I am hopeful that along with the rest of the Kids Online Safety Act, this will provide a meaningful way to address some of the more problematic aspects of the internet.\n\n\u201cMr. President, as I said, it\u2019s good to be voting on something substantial here in the Senate.\n\n\u201cWe\u2019ve done essentially nothing for two months other than vote on guaranteed-to-fail legislation that Democrats hope will somehow win them votes in November.\n\n\u201cBut voting on the Kids Online Safety Act is not enough.\n\n\u201cWe have a lot more work we should be doing, starting with action on one of the most important pieces of legislation we consider each year, the National Defense Authorization Act.\n\n\u201cThe Israeli prime minister\u2019s speech to Congress yesterday \u2013 a speech that a number of my Democrat colleagues and Vice President Harris chose to boycott \u2013 was a timely reminder of the dangerous world we face:\n\n\u201cIran-backed terrorist organizations like Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Houthis fomenting terror and instability in the Middle East.\n\n\u201cAn emboldened Russia engaged in a ground war against Ukraine, on the doorstep of NATO allies.\n\n\u201cAn increasingly aggressive China and an increasingly endangered Taiwan.\n\n\u201cAnd the unfortunate truth, Mr. President, is that we are not as prepared as we should be to confront these threats.\n\n\u201cWe have service branches struggling with recruitment.\n\n\u201cWe have ships that can\u2019t sail and planes that can\u2019t fly because of maintenance issues.\n\n\u201cAnd we have shortages of munitions.\n\n\u201cOur colleague Senator Wicker, the ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, recently put forward a blueprint for rebuilding our military.\n\n\u201cHe points out that our defense budget as a share of the economy has fallen to near historic lows, hardly in line with the threats we face today.\n\n\u201cAnd he proposes increasing the defense budget over the next few years alongside important reforms to put our military in a position of strength not just now but well into the future.\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s a call we need to heed.\n\n\u201cLast fall, the Strategic Posture Commission offered a disturbing assessment, and I quote: \u2018Today the United States is on the cusp of having not one, but two nuclear peer adversaries, each with ambitions to change the international status quo, by force, if necessary: a situation which the United States did not anticipate and for which it is not prepared.\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018\u2026 a situation which the United States did not anticipate and for which it is not prepared.\u2019\n\n\u201cThat is a pretty disturbing analysis, Mr. President.\n\n\u201cAnd it underlines the absolute imperative of addressing our military readiness TODAY.\n\n\u201cWhich brings me to this year\u2019s National Defense Authorization Act.\n\n\u201cI\u2019m grateful that our colleagues on the Armed Services Committee have put forward a bill that \u2013 while it does not authorize all the investment our military needs \u2013 does take steps to address the challenges we\u2019re facing.\n\n\u201cThis year\u2019s NDAA authorizes full funding for the European and Pacific deterrence initiatives and takes steps to strengthen our partnerships to counter Russia and China.\n\n\u201cIt takes important steps to modernize our military and authorize financing for the technologies and weapons of tomorrow.\n\n\u201cAnd it authorizes the purchase of new ships, combat vehicles, and aircraft to update our aging fleets.\n\n\u201cI\u2019m particularly pleased to report that this bill includes full funding for the next steps of the B-21 mission, including necessary support facilities.\n\n\u201cThe Air Force calls the B-21 Raider \u2013 its new long-range strategic bomber \u2013 the future backbone of its bomber force.\n\n\u201cAnd I am incredibly proud that this mission will be hosted at South Dakota\u2019s own Ellsworth Air Force Base.\n\n\u201cAnd one of my top priorities here in Congress is ensuring that the Air Force \u2013 and Ellsworth in particular \u2013 has everything it needs for this critical advancement in our nation\u2019s readiness.\n\n\u201cMr. President, the Senate Armed Services Committee passed this year\u2019s National Defense Authorization Act on June 13.\n\n\u201cAnd well over a month later the Democrat leader still hasn\u2019t found time for this critical legislation \u2013 nor is there any indication of when he will.\n\n\u201cIt says a lot about Democrats\u2019 priorities.\n\n\u201cBut I hope that the Democrat leader will take a moment to consider that while he puts our defense on the back burner, our enemies are not delaying their ambitions or their aggressive activities.\n\n\u201cAnd I hope he will bring this legislation to the floor in the very near future.\n\n\u201cMr. President, I yield the floor.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:32:29Z"]], "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=B161D177-78D1-49F2-98CD-0C245564ED8B"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.30338198505342, "source": 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