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Senator Banks Leads Indiana Delegation Visit with USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins
WASHINGTON, D.C, – Today, Senator Jim Banks (R-Ind.) led a delegation of Indiana agriculture leaders in a meeting with President Trump’s United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Brooke Rollins to strengthen the collaboration between Indiana’s farmers, producers, and agricultural innovators and the USDA. Senator Banks was joined by representatives from the Indiana State Department of Agriculture, Purdue University, AgriNovus Indiana, Corteva Agriscience, Elanco, and Beck’s Hybrids. Click Here to Download Photos Senator Jim Banks (R-Ind.): “I’m grateful for President Trump and Secretary Rollins’ strong support of Indiana farmers. Indiana’s agriculture industry plays an important role in feeding our nation, and I’ll continue working with the USDA to help
Senator Banks Introduces Bill to Make Visa Overstays a Crime, Increase Penalties
WASHINGTON, D.C, – Today, Senator Jim Banks introduced the Visa Overstay Penalties Act. This legislation closes a dangerous loophole in U.S. immigration law by classifying visa overstays as a criminal offense—on par with illegal border crossings. The bill imposes up to six months of jail time for first-time offenders and up to two years for repeat offenders, while dramatically increasing civil fines from as little as $50 to up to $1,000, with penalties doubling for repeat violations. It ensures that unlawful presence is treated as the serious national security threat it is. Senator Jim Banks (R-Ind.): “The Boulder terrorist and 9/11 hijackers didn’t sneak in, they overstayed visas.
Senators Banks, Hickenlooper Introduce Bill to Streamline Medical Facilities for Veterans
WASHINGTON, D.C, – Senators Jim Banks (R-Ind.) and John Hickenlooper (D-Co.) introduced the VA Design-Build Construction Enhancement Act. This bipartisan legislation directs the Department of Veterans Affairs to use the design-build method where a single contractor handles both design and construction for major medical facility projects. This approach streamlines the building process, reduces delays, and ensures veterans get access to modern, high-quality care faster. The bill also ensures VA includes design-build training in its construction management programs and allows agencies like the Army Corps of Engineers to use the method without interference. Senator Jim Banks (R-Ind.): “The number one obstacle standing between veterans and the care they’ve earned is bureaucracy. This
Sen. Jim Banks lays out his vision for the future of Republican foreign policy
Speaking on Wednesday at an event organized by the Vandenberg Coalition, Sen. Jim Banks (R-IN) attempted to lay out a middle path forward for conservative foreign policy balancing elements of the internationalism that has long dominated the party and the more restrictionist sentiments that have been ascendant in the Trump era. Sen. Jim Banks lays out his vision for the future of Republican foreign policy
EXCLUSIVE: Legislation Would Codify Trump Order Barring Decertifying Colleges Over DEI
Sen. Jim Banks, R-Ind., was set to introduce a bill Wednesday barring accreditors from requiring colleges to adopt race- or sex-based standards for admissions, hiring, leadership, or special commendations. “Accreditation should be about academic quality, not about enforcing woke quotas,” Banks said in a statement. “My bill puts common sense back into accreditation and defends the principles that make American higher education strong.” Senator Aims to Codify Trump Order on Accreditation of Higher Ed
Carmel faces high firetruck costs, delays. Elizabeth Warren and Jim Banks are partnering to help
Carmel is ringing alarm bells on a public safety issue that’s having a national impact. Now U.S. Sens. Jim Banks and Elizabeth Warren, an unlikely duo, are teaming up to look into the issue. Carmel’s fire truck troubles led Banks, an Indiana Republican, to find an unusual partner in Warren, a Democrat from Massachusetts. The two penned a letter on April 15 to the nation’s largest firefighter’s union to ask about the impact of private equity in the rising costs and wait times for fire trucks. “The largest fire truck manufacturers are exploiting their market power to hike truck prices and restrict fire truck