BROOKINGS — “Thank you for all the work you do, day in and day out, year in and year out. The South Dakota National Guard has always delivered, always functioned above its weight .” That was the BRAVO ZULU message delivered to South Dakota Guardsmen by John Thune, South Dakota’s senior U.S. senator, a post he has held since 2005. He’s also the Republican whip, a power-post he has held since 2021.

Talking on Friday afternoon at the 64^th Annual Conference of the South Dakota National Guard Enlisted Association, held at the Wilbert Square Event Center in Brookings, the senator cited the Guard’s “homeland” mission and its deployments as part of America’s military mission abroad.

“We live in interesting times, as they say,” Thune continued.  “(The late Sen.) John McCain used to quote Chairman Mao (Zedong), saying it’s always darkest before it’s totally black. Sometimes people look at Washington, D.C., as looking dark and pretty black at times.

“On the other hand, we’re a great country with a great form of government that allows us all to participate. …  People are willing to step up and participate in our wonderful form of self-government. We have to be thankful for what our Founding Fathers handed us; it’s like nothing we’ve ever seen in the history of the world. We have to make sure it works as efficiently as possible. ” And today our nation faces challenges.

And “first and foremost” is its security,” Thune explained. “I always tell people that if you don’t get security right, the rest is conversation. … Our military must have the tools, equipment and training necessary to get the job done.”

The senator noted that he is “worried a little bit about what we’re hearing, the conversations in Washington; the president’s budget is in my view dramatically underfunded for the military in terms of all the stresses we face around the world. But I’m hopeful that when all is said and done … we’ll get together and resolve our differences. It is important that we get it done and show the rest of the world that we are serious about the job of defending this country. … First and foremost it is national security and you can be sure we’re paying very close attention to that.”

Referencing his “travels around the country and around the world,” Thune said he hears good words about the leadership, professionalism, dedication and skills of the SDNG. And he praided the Guard’s “good, old South Dakota work ethic.”

Good words for Sen. Tim Scott

Following his remarks to the Guardsmen, the senator graciously fielded a few questions from The Brookings Register.

“It’s going to be a wild one. I hope we have some good folks out there this time around,” Thune said, looking to the 2024 elections. “The stakes are really high. The country really is in a lot of ways at a crossroads. We’ve got to get it right and give the people some good quality options.”

In response to a question as to whether the GOP or the Democrats — or both — have “some good, young blood candidates out there,” he responded: “I think there’s some good leaders on the bench, but we’ve got to clear the path for them a bit for them to get out there and show what they can do.

“I don’t think we’re going to have many senators in the hunt this time; but I think there could be Tim Scott, the senator from South Carolina. He’s got a very personal story, a positive guy. I like the way he looks at issues. I think he brings a perspective that a lot of people would welcome. So I’ve been encouraging him. I told him if I could be helpful, I’d like to see him in the conversation.

“And there are some others out there, too. But as you said, Trump and Biden kind of suck all of the oxygen out of the room and it gets a little hard for other people to get noticed when that’s the case.”

Thune, who identifies as strongly prolife, sees abortion as being “clearly a political issue” in the 2024 elections: “It will be debated a lot in the next campaign. Obviously post-Dobbs every state is coming to its conclusion about that. But I think there will be a national conversation; because I think at some point it’s unavoidable. A lot of folks, including people in my party have said it’s a state’s issue. Let the states decide this. I think you have to have to have some solutions out there. The country is grappling with it.”

Contact John Kubal at jkubal@brookingsregister.com