Thune Joins America’s Newsroom on Fox News

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WASHINGTON
— U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) today joined America’s Newsroom on Fox News.
On Democrats’ preposterous shutdown politics:
“[For] Democrats … it was all about ‘reforms,’ restrictions on ICE and on CBP agents and what they could or couldn’t do. They got none of that. They got zero of the reforms that they were advocating for. In the end, this was all about their left-wing base demanding that no funding be provided. The good news for us is we saw this coming, and we pre-funded this last summer, so ICE and CBP are funded and will be funded to the end of the fiscal year. And then we’ll plus up and add to those accounts to make sure they’re funded in future years.”
On Democrats’ DHS shutdown:
“[ICE and CBP] are funded. Because of the foresight that we had last summer, the president, working with Republicans in Congress, pre-funded ICE [in the Working Families Tax Cuts]. And ICE and CBP are both funded until the end of the fiscal year, ICE well beyond that for multiple years. But the other agencies that are covered by DHS – whether that’s TSA or Coast Guard or CISA or FEMA – those are all agencies that currently aren’t funded.
“We had to get funding to open those up, because the Democrats shut down funding for the entire Department of Homeland Security because they didn’t want to fund law enforcement. They now own the moniker. They are the party of open borders, anti-law enforcement, defund the police. That is the position they have taken.
“Notwithstanding that, those agencies are funded because the work we did last summer and will be funded in the future because of the decision we made to move a budget reconciliation bill that will provide funding for those law enforcement … agencies well into the future.
“This is the plan to move forward. It is a way that takes care of everybody today and into the future and exposes the Democrats for what they are, which is the party of anti-law enforcement.”
On Iran:
“Opening up the strait is going to be a key part of [lowering gas prices]. The president’s made it very clear, whether that happens the hard way or the easy way, it will happen. And things will start to stabilize, Dana. You’ll start to see those gas prices come down to a more normal range.
“This was an important step that the president took. It’s in America’s vital national security interest to ensure that the Iranians don’t have a nuclear capability and that their ballistic missile capabilities are diminished and degraded in a way that they don’t threaten not only that region, but the entire world. And it’s a step that was long overdue.”