Jim Banks

Mr. President, reserving the right to object, this is just another attempt after many other attempts by Democrats to stop ICE from doing their job and enforcing our immigration laws.

As you are seeing today, Democrats will do anything that they can to stop

ICE, our men and women who are in Federal law enforcement, from securing our Nation and keeping families safe.

In my State of Indiana just over this last weekend, an illegal with an ICE detainer, drunk and behind the wheel of a vehicle, killed an innocent 33-year-old woman, Tamara Thomas, who was walking near a gas station in downtown Indianapolis. Tamara, unfortunately, is not the first Hoosier who lost her life because of an illegal immigration crisis in this country.

In February, an illegal ran a red light and killed 64-year-old Terry Schultz in Avon, IN, and in the same month, an illegal semitruck driver who entered our country using Joe Biden's CBP One app swerved into oncoming traffic and killed four Amish men near my hometown in Jay County in Northern Indiana.

A couple of months ago, Indianapolis police arrested an illegal from Mexico who now faces 30 separate charges, including rape, sexual assault, and kidnapping; and this illegal came into our country under the Biden administration.

Last year, a 35-year-old illegal who was living in Indianapolis was sentenced to 35 years in prison after he sexually exploited and abused a 15-year-old girl.

Hoosiers are going to keep getting killed and harmed by illegals unless we let ICE officers do their job. The madness has to end, and it needs to end right now. We need to support our ICE officers.

ICE needs to be allowed to do their job without Democrats getting in their way. I have been in the Senate for 2 years, and over and over again, the Democrats have tried to obstruct ICE from doing their job.

This bill that I am about to object to today will prohibit ICE from operating near schoolbus stops, but we know that illegal aliens are often at or near bus stops.

So here is the deal, in Virginia last year, ICE arrested a 36-year- old illegal alien from Mexico, a convicted pedophile who exposed himself to a child at a schoolbus stop.

How can anyone hear a story like that and think that the answer is to block ICE officers from doing their job at a schoolbus stop?

If we prohibit ICE from operating at schoolbus stops, you know what will happen; we will just create sanctuary schoolbus stops. All the illegals, the criminals, the pedophiles will end up at schoolbus stops because they know they will be protected there.

All those illegals in this country--they will hide out at bus stops. And knowing that ICE won't be allowed to touch them, you will see more stories like what you saw happened in Virginia last year.

It is just crazy to me to think that we would prevent ICE officers from going wherever they need to go to do their job, even if that means at a bus stop, in those rare--very rare--circumstances and occasions.

ICE needs to be allowed to operate wherever the job takes them, especially at places where illegal aliens can harm our children.

Look, ICE is not the enemy. Democrats are trying to make our ICE officers out to be the enemy, and they are not. Just a couple of weeks ago, ICE conducted a 5-day operation in my home State, which resulted in the arrest of 426 illegals. These criminals included people who were charged with robberies, drug trafficking, sex crimes, and more.

ICE also arrested an illegal from Guatemala who illegally voted in national elections in Indiana. The Democrats all say that never happens, but they arrested an illegal just a few weeks ago in Indiana who did that.

So here we go again with another attempt by Democrats to obstruct our Federal law enforcement. Instead of giving ICE more resources to do the job that they need to do--not less--instead of doing anything that we can to deport illegals from our country, Democrats are here asking for unanimous consent to tie ICE's hands behind their backs and prevent them from doing their job.

I won't let that happen. That is why I came to the floor today. ICE needs to be allowed to enforce the law and do their job, and for that reason, I object.

Madam President, in a few moments, I am going to ask for unanimous consent for my resolution to designate the month of September as Dystonia Awareness Month.

But before I do, I want to speak a little bit about dystonia, what it is, and how personal the disease is for me and my family. Dystonia is a neurological movement disorder that affects nearly 250,000 Americans. It causes involuntary muscle contractions and repetitive movements. These contractions can affect any part of the body, and they can be very painful. Dystonia affects people of almost any age, and it may develop without any clear cause.

My mom has suffered from dystonia for nearly 40 years, and I have seen firsthand how difficult the disease can be on anyone who has it. But my mom, with the help of good friends and family and some really good doctors, has never let dystonia hold her back from being a great mom, a great grandma, and from someone who goes out and lives her everyday life in the way that she has.

Dystonia is often misdiagnosed, and there is no cure for it yet. That is why it is so important to raise awareness about dystonia, what it is, and what it causes. Greater awareness leads to better research and eventually better treatments and hopefully even a cure.

I urge all of my colleagues to support this simple resolution and draw attention to this painful disease that affects so many.

Madam President, and, with that, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 917, which was submitted earlier today.

I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.

Madam President, I rise today to recognize John McKenzie, who will retire from his role as the President and CEO of the Indiana Credit Union League at the end of this year. Throughout his career, John has led many key initiatives to benefit Indiana's credit unions, their leaders, their employees, and the 2.8 million credit union members in Indiana.

His work has involved strengthening the credit unions' advocacy effectiveness, including the 1991 battle to preserve the independence of the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund, the 1998 effort to protect field of membership expansion for Federal credit unions, protecting Federal tax exemption and interchange income, and State- level work to help pass legislation to expand State-chartered credit union field of membership options.

The Indiana Credit Union League's service capability and commitment to collaboration have grown during John's tenure as a result of many efforts, including building a card services program and establishing a self-insured association health plan, both of which have provided millions of dollars in total cost savings to participating credit unions and, at the same time, built the organization's financial strength. He was also at the forefront of developing the State's shared branching network, where the league continues to provide managerial and operational support for 300 locations statewide.

John came to the league in 1986 after working as executive vice president of the State's corporate credit union, arriving at a time when the organization had under $1 million in retained earnings, and he has overseen the growth to nearly $40 million, reinforcing the financial strength of the league and its ability to support Hoosier credit unions.

His other contributions to the credit union system have included leading fundraising efforts among credit unions to establish the Indiana Military Veterans Hall of Fame and to serve on that board, serving on the Credit Union National Association Board for the benefit of credit unions across the country, and working with the World Council of Credit Unions to host representatives from around the world, which resulted in receiving the Distinguished Service Award.

I am glad that, on October 2, 2026, John will be inducted into the Indiana Credit Union Hall of Fame.

He will retire from the Indiana Credit Union League at the end of this year, after 40 years of legacy building that will benefit Indiana credit unions, the league, and credit union members long into the future.