Thune Joins America Reports on Fox News, The Hugh Hewitt Show

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WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) today joined America Reports on Fox News and The Hugh Hewitt Show.

On the importance of funding the Department of Homeland Security:

"[Democrats] … negotiated a deal to fund the Department of Homeland Security, and then subsequently walked away from it and blew up the package of appropriation bills that [Republicans and Democrats] had carefully put together … Then they wanted a separate funding bill for DHS that was a continuing resolution that would allow for some time to negotiate pieces of a bill that might ultimately pass, and then they walked away from that."

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"But at the end of the day, [Republicans] are not going to do things that are going to undermine law enforcement officials' ability to do their jobs."

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"[Democrats] are so scared of their … base right now that they can't do anything around here. And the Trump Derangement Syndrome is what's driving, ultimately animating, most of their behavior. But if they actually do want to fund … the Department of Homeland Security … that bill includes TSA, it includes FEMA, it includes the Coast Guard, a number of agencies that are really important to our government - then they need to sit down with the White House and figure out what it is they actually want. We haven't seen what that is yet."

On the consequences of a government shutdown:

"If the Senate Democrats … want to make a deal here, they're going to have to sit down with the White House and figure out a path forward. But I don't think the Democrats know what they want … they haven't given us the list of their demands yet, other than these vague categories … But TSA, FEMA, Coast Guard, … CISA, the cyber operations for the country, are all in that bill, and if they decide to shut the government down, I think it's going to be a very hard position to defend."

On the SAVE America Act:

"The issue there really is a very simple one, and that is, should noncitizens be voting in American elections? The answer is no. And the Democrats have taken a hard position that it's okay!

"Now, the law already prevents that, but if that's true, then why wouldn't we want to put into law something that would require, when you go to vote, that you prove you are a United States citizen? And that's all the SAVE [America] Act does … [Democrats] can cry and lament this actually being voted on but I'd be hard-pressed to have to defend a position that doesn't believe that you have to be an American citizen to vote in an American election."

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"[Democrats'] political base is demanding they fight with anything that President Trump wants. It is Trump Derangement Syndrome, it is on steroids around here these days, and even logical, commonsensical things like ensuring that if you're going to vote in an American election, you ought to be an American citizen, they're going to just instinctively oppose."

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