Thune Joins Bret Baier on Fox News

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WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) today joined Bret Baier on Fox News.

On the SAVE America Act:

"[I]f you look at the substance of the policy, this is about safe and secure elections in this country and making sure that … we have an election process that is actually with the right people, not … the illegals who are in this country, have an opportunity to vote. We want to make sure that if you're in this country, you have to be a citizen of this country, actually, to exercise and cast your vote.

"So I think that's a fairly simple position, and one that Democrats ought to eventually get on board with. But if they don't, we will, I mean, it's obviously an issue that we will be able to use … in the fall elections … The goal is to achieve a policy outcome, and that is to try and get a requirement in law that in federal elections, that you would have to be a citizen in order to register to vote, and you'd have to show an ID in order to vote in our elections."

[…]

"What I've said all along, Bret, is that what we will do is we will guarantee a debate on this issue. Obviously, it's a big priority for the president. There are a lot of people across the country who want to see this voted on. And we will guarantee a vote at the end of that, and we'll see where people stand."

[…]

"In the end, this is about really having a debate about the substance. And the substance of this bill is whether or not people who are in this country illegally, noncitizens, ought to be able to vote in American elections."

On preserving the legislative filibuster:

"On the legislative filibuster right now … it's a … very deeply held view by a lot of Senate Republicans, that if the Democrats want to go there, if at some point they decide they want to steal the car, fine, but we're not going to hand them the keys to do it, and then own all the things that we would enable, all the things that Democrats want to do once they nuke the filibuster.

"But again, that's a hypothetical. We don't know it'll happen. And if they get the majorities in the House and Senate and the White House at some point in the future, maybe they go down that path, we don't know for sure. But I know that right now, there are a majority of Republican senators who don't want to go down that path."

On Democrats' DHS shutdown:

"The Democrats are defending a position that not only were their reforms in the initial bill, which they helped negotiate and then walked away from, but since then, the White House has negotiated a number of subsequent reforms, including body-worn cameras, more money for those, audits for those, limitations on where ICE agents can go … places like hospitals, schools, those sorts of things.

"[The administration has] also made a number of changes with respect to how when they do these, when they're conducting these operations, and how they're identified, and making sure that people know who this is … The one thing that the administration did not want to give on, and I think it's a legitimate concern, is masks.

"As long as you have sanctuary cities and a lot of these locally elected officials who are encouraging doxing of law enforcement officials … these are people who need to be protected, and they need to be able to conduct these operations and do their jobs in a safe way. And clearly … some of the things that Democrats are asking for are non-starters, but I think the White House has come a long ways to address the concerns Democrats have had and suggested a number of reforms, which, frankly, the Democrats in the Senate ought to take."

[…]

"[Democrats] are holding all these agencies of government hostage - including TSA, including the cyber office, which runs all of our cyber operations. And here we are living in a dangerous world where we're worrying about Iranian cyber operations. It's FEMA … [and the] Coast Guard. There are a whole range of DHS functions that are funded by that appropriations bill that the Democrats are choosing not to open. Now, what they'll tell you is … 'We're willing to fund them all, except ICE and CBP.' But I don't know how … you can defend a defund-law-enforcement, defund-the-police argument, which is essentially what they're making."

On President Trump's foreign policy agenda:

"The president was absolutely right to recognize the threat that Iran's nuclear program posed, not only to the region, but to the United States and our national security interests, and then also to recognize the huge advantage they have in conventional munitions, ballistic missiles, that could threaten the region … The president's taking the right steps. This is long overdue.

"If you look at the mission objectives that are being achieved here, you're taking out not only their missiles, their launchers, but also their production facilities. You've also already taken out their leadership.

"And the Strait of Hormuz is the challenge right now. But I think give our military leadership, war planners, and this administration an opportunity to make sure that that strait is open and that the shipping lanes are open to get the oil out of there. I think what you're seeing right now [with] gas prices … [is] a temporary issue, but I think this president is clear-eyed and singularly focused on success and achieving our objectives. And once those have been achieved, I think we'll be out."

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