Press Releases

Banks, Hirono Introduce the Delivering Digitally to Our Veterans Act of 2025

WASHINGTON, D.C, – Today, Senators Jim Banks (R-Ind.) and Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) introduced the Delivering Digitally to Our Veterans Act of 2025. More than 600,000 veterans and 275,000 dependents use G.I. Bill education benefits. VA is working to modernize the program through the Digital G.I. Bill, but most communications are still sent on paper.This legislation would allow veterans to opt-out of receiving hard copy G.I. Bill documents in the mail and instead receive electronic correspondence from VA.  Rep. Tom Barrett (R-Mich.) is leading the bill in the House. Senator Jim Banks (R-Ind.): “This is a simple, long overdue way to give veterans the option to go digital. It

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Senator Jim Banks Praises “Trump Bump” in Military Recruitment Numbers

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Senator Jim Banks (R-Ind.) discussed the increase in military recruitment numbers following the November 5th, 2024 election of President Trump with Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth budget before the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC): Click the image above for the full questioning  For the first five months of President Trump’s term, Army recruitment has gone up 26% and Navy recruitment has gone up 47% compared to the same time under President Biden. Under President Trump, Army met and beat its yearly (12-month) recruitment and retention goals in 8 months. Additionally, The Air Force announced it expects to meet its recruitment goals for the year later this month in June. Under President Biden, the U.S. Army fell short by over

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Banks, Slotkin Introduce Legislation to Ban Student Cell Phones at DoDEA

WASHINGTON, D.C, – Today, Senators Jim Banks (R-Ind.) and Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) introduced the Restoring our Educational Focus on Children of U.S. Servicemembers at DoDEA (REFOCUS DoDEA) Act. This legislation will help students at Department of Defense K-12 schools focus more on learning by banning student cellphones in the classroom.  Senator Jim Banks (R-Ind.): “Cell phones in the classroom distract from learning and lead to all kinds of issues for students. My bill with Senator Slotkin will get them out of our schools on military bases.” Senator Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.): “At school students should be able to focus, learn, and build real relationships, and we cannot shy away from taking bold action to

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