The United States has seen record-high illegal border crossings under Joe Biden, leading to increased crime and illegal drugs flooding our communities. Jim is a strong and vocal advocate for securing our border by implementing the successful policies of the Trump administration, including building a physical barrier along the southern border, and reinstating the “Remain in Mexico” program where migrants must wait in Mexico before their asylum claims can be heard in the United States.
As chairman of the Republican Study Committee, Jim led multiple delegations to the southern border to hear directly from law enforcement on the ground about the devastating consequences of this crisis. Following these meetings, Jim hosted a roundtable with lawmakers and parents from Indiana and around the country who lost children to fentanyl to discuss the devastating impact of fentanyl flowing across our border. In the Senate, he’ll continue to fight to secure America’s borders and stop the flow of illegal drugs.
Jim is the proud father of three daughters and his Christian faith informs him of the sanctity of every human life. Jim has always championed the unborn and uses his voice for the voiceless to protect them from the violence of abortion. Jim has received the Family Research Council’s “True Blue” award for his 100% pro-life, pro-family voting record. Jim knows that President Trump was the most pro-life president in history, and generations to come will be well-served by the federal judges and Supreme Court Justices President Trump appointed. Jim’s first initiative as Chairman of RSC was leading over 200 of his House Republican colleagues in a pledge to save the Hyde Amendment which prohibits taxpayer dollars from funding abortion. Jim will continue to fight to ensure the radical abortion group Planned Parenthood does not receive a dime of our tax dollars and will vote for federal judges and justices who respect the Constitution, especially the precious right to life. Like all pro-life advocates, Jim celebrated the end of Roe v. Wade, but he knows that we cannot rest on this victory. There is more that federal and state lawmakers must do to protect life.
Having deployed to Afghanistan during Operations Enduring Freedom and Freedom’s Sentinel , Jim knows the importance of supporting our nation’s veterans when they return home and has made supporting Indiana and America’s veterans one of the hallmarks of his public service.
Jim is acutely aware of the challenges facing the veteran population and works every day to ensure our veterans receive the care and benefits they have earned. He previously served on the House Veterans’ Affairs Subcommittee on Technology Modernization where he oversaw the replacement of VA’s archaic legacy electronic health records with the modern and efficient ones.
In the Senate, Jim will always work to improve care and resources for veterans to honor their service and sacrifice.
As an Afghanistan veteran and member of the House Armed Services Committee and the House Select Committee on China, Jim prioritizes our service members’ ability to defend the nation against potential threats – while also being as fiscally responsible as possible. We owe this to ourselves and the generations of Americans who will inherit our great country. Jim co-chaired the Future of Defense Task Force which reviewed U.S. defense assets and capabilities and assessed the state of the national security innovation base to meet emerging threats.
Under Joe Biden’s failure of leadership, America’s standing on the world’s stage is diminished. Our foreign policy should come from a place of strength, and there must be no question that America will always defend its standing. Jim recognizes that Communist China poses an existential threat to our national security and is committed to investing in our men and women in uniform so that we can maintain our military dominance and protect the American people. Jim will always fight for a national security policy that puts America first.
Jim is the father of three young daughters, and he and his wife are very concerned about what is happening in too many classrooms and sports fields across the country. Jim believes our schools should educate – not indoctrinate – America’s youth and set them up for success in the real world.
Jim is staunchly opposed to Critical Race Theory and other liberal propaganda, like the 1619 Project, being pushed onto elementary school children at the cost of basic subjects like reading and math. Jim firmly believes that all students should have access to a great education that fits their unique, individual needs, and that parents – not government bureaucrats – know what is best for their children.
As a dad of three daughters, Jim knows how critically important it is to protect girls’ sports. When Joe Biden and Democrats rewrote Title IX to force schools to allow biological males to play girls’ sports, they turned their backs on our daughters and robbed them of opportunities to compete and work as a team through athletics. Jim led nearly 200 House Republicans in a discharge petition to force a vote on legislation that would cut federal funding to any school that forces female athletes to compete against biological males. In the Senate, Jim will always stand up for common sense and that includes keeping boys out of girls’ sports.
Jim is committed to supporting pro-growth policies like those that have produced record low unemployment and the strongest wage growth in decades. Jim supported President Trump’s Tax Cuts and Jobs Act that reduced taxes on hardworking Americans and led to the best American economy in a generation.
Serving on the House Education and Workforce Committee, Jim is always looking for opportunities to fill the skills gap between training and available jobs, as well as fighting to ensure our students have the tools, resources and access to quality education they need to succeed.
Jim and his wife work hard to balance their family’s budget, and they think the federal government should be no different. Reckless, runaway spending by Joe Biden & Democrats in Washington has directly led to record-high inflation, and Jim believes we must act urgently to get our country’s fiscal house in order.
Jim led the Republican Study Committee, the largest caucus of conservatives in Congress, which produced the only budget in Congress that cuts trillions in wasteful spending and starts the overdue task of beginning to pay down our over $31 trillion national debt by balancing the budget in 5 years. Additionally, Jim introduced legislation that would require a report on the inflationary impact of any spending bill that passes through Congress.
Ensuring election integrity has been a top priority for Jim with the clear goal of making it easy to vote and harder to cheat. Jim believes it is Congress’s duty to protect and uphold the democratic process and restore public faith in our election system. The American people need to know without a shadow of a doubt that their voices are heard and their votes are counted. Jim has fought back against Democrats’ unconstitutional efforts to federalize our elections, and introduced the Save Democracy Act, which would ensure free and fair elections in 2024 and beyond through common-sense, conservative reforms like voter ID, fair poll watching, and swift counting of ballots.
Jim is a proud supporter of law enforcement and first responders in Indiana and across the country. Jim has forcefully pushed back on the radical “Defund the Police” movement and has championed the needs of law enforcement so they have the resources they require to keep our communities safe. The radical Left treats criminals like heroes, while villainizing our law enforcement officers. That’s wrong. In the Senate, Jim will always back the blue. Jim’s first bill of the 118th Congress was legislation to codify Qualified Immunity and protect law enforcement from costly, frivolous lawsuits. This was supported by the National Fraternal Order of Police, National Association of Police Organizations, the Indiana Association of Chiefs of Police and the Indiana State Police Alliance.
Israel is the United States’ strongest ally in the Middle East and a safe haven for global Jewish community, which is why Jim Banks believes the United States has a moral obligation to protect Israel and that doing so is firmly in our national interest.
Jim strongly supported the Trump Administration’s move of the U.S. Embassy in Israel from Tel-Aviv to Jerusalem, which finally made good on our country’s long promise to do so. Jim also supports continued foreign assistance to Israel, including programs like the Iron Dome, that allows Israel to defend itself from radical terrorists who wish to annihilate the world’s only Jewish state.
Unfortunately, Israel is constantly under the threat of attack in the region, which is why Jim Banks has been aggressive in holding hostile regional actors accountable, particularly the Islamic Republic of Iran. Jim sponsored the Maximum Pressure Act, which codifies the sanctions issued by the Trump Administration on Iran to create and maintain a maximum pressure campaign on the Iranian regime. These are the toughest sanctions ever to be introduced on Iran in Congress, and most importantly would prevent Joe Biden from reentering Barack Obama’s failed Iran nuclear deal.
Jim also firmly opposes anti-Semitism here in America, and has been a vocal opponent of the leftist Boycott, Divest, and Sanction (BDS) movement pushed by campus radicals.
Jim Banks has been a tireless advocate for the Jewish Community and the State of Israel throughout his career and will only continue to do so if elected to the U.S. Senate.
