THUNE LANDS SEAT ON MAJOR COMMITTEE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Monday, December 20, 2004

THUNE LANDS SEAT ON SENATE

ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator-elect John Thune announced today that he has secured a seat on the Senate Armed Services Committee. The Armed Services Committee is regarded as a “Super A” committee (one of the top four committees in the Senate), and as such is one of the most coveted committee assignments in the Senate.

According to the book “Congress Resurgent: Foreign and Defense Policy on Capitol Hill,” the Senate Armed Services Committee has been and remains one of the most attractive committee assignments in the Senate.  Similarly, Congressional Quarterly’s “Guide to Congress” states that the Senate Armed Services Committee is one of four “elite” committees in the Senate.

“The events of September 11 and the war on terror make this an unprecedented time in our nation’s history, and many of our fellow South Dakotans are wearing the uniform in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere,” Thune said.  “I look forward to using my seat on the Senate Armed Services Committee to ensure that America is strong and safe, and that our men and women in the military have the tools they need to get the job done.” 

By securing a seat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, Senator-elect Thune will renew a South Dakota tradition of having one of its senators sit on the Committee.  Senator John Chandler (Chan) Gurney, who was instrumental in creating Ellsworth Air Force Base, was the first chairman of the Armed Services Committee when it was formed in 1947.  (The Committee, which as now named was created in 1947, traces its history to the Military Affairs Committee and the Naval Affairs Committee, both of which were established in 1816.) Senator Francis Case was also a member of the Committee.  Since Senator Case’s death in 1962, South Dakota has not had a senator on the Committee until Thune’s appointment.

The Armed Services Committee has legislative oversight of the nation’s military, including the pay, promotion, retirement, and other benefits and privileges of members of the Armed Forces.  The Committee is responsible for any activity undertaken by the Department of Defense or by the Departments of the Army, Navy, and Air Force.  The Committee also has oversight of military research and development, national security aspects of nuclear energy, the Selective Service System, and other matters related to national defense policy.

Senator-elect Thune will be officially sworn into the Senate on January 4, 2005.