{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.banks.senate.gov/news/press-releases/exclusive-sen-banks-gary-mayor-melton-talked-to-president-trump-about-storm-recovery-on-monday/", "EXCLUSIVE: Sen. Banks, Gary Mayor Melton talked to President Trump about Storm Recovery on Monday", "2026-08-24", "2026", "2026-08", "Republican", "Senate", "IN", "Jim Banks", "B001299", "www.banks.senate.gov", "banks", "https://www.banks.senate.gov/news/press-releases/", "scraper", "Click here for the full story from The Times of Northwest Indiana or read below:\n\nEXCLUSIVE: U.S. Sen. Jim Banks, R-Indiana, and Gary Mayor Eddie Melton spoke to President Donald Trump over the phone on Monday, providing him with an update about \u201cthe good things going on in Gary,\u201d while also keeping him in the loop about storm damage and the impacts being felt on the ground by residents.\n\nTrump approved a Presidential Emergency Declaration for Indiana at Gov. Mike Braun\u2019s request on Aug. 15.\n\nBanks said on Monday that Trump knows about another request from the Indiana Congressional delegation requesting direct assistance to families, homeowners, renters and others who have been impacted by the Aug. 11 derecho.\n\n\u201cThe president loves Gary and has a long history in Gary,\u201d Banks said. Trump was behind the riverboat Princess Casino, which opened in 1996 at Buffington Harbor.\n\n\u201cIn my conversation with President Trump, I made it clear that Gary needs immediate access to FEMA resources to support our recovery,\u201d Melton said in a statement shared with The Times. \u201cThis federal assistance is critical to restoring our neighborhoods, rebuilding our community and making sure Gary emerges from this storm stronger and more resilient than before.\u201d\n\nBanks told The Times about the call with Trump in an interview while in Gary early Monday afternoon. Banks said he, Trump and Melton also discussed the Nippon deal for U.S. Steel, which his administration approved last summer.\n\nMelton and Banks took a \u201ccomprehensive tour of impacted areas\u201d in Gary, according to a release from the city.\n\n\u201cThe devastation our city has experienced demands swift, decisive and unified action at every level of government,\u201d Melton said in a statement, adding that he was grateful to Banks for visiting Gary\u2019s residents.\n\n\u201cThe people here step up to help each other,\u201d Banks said.\n\nBanks also visited the Salvation Army\u2019s Gary location before meeting with Pastor Eric Boone of the Tree of Life Missionary Baptist Church, whose congregation has served food to thousands in recent days.\n\n\u201cI think that says a lot about this community,\u201d Banks said. \u201cPastor Boone has such a giant heart and what he\u2019s been doing and what the other churches are doing in the area is really important.\u201d\n\nWhen asked about NIPSCO and the governor\u2019s request for an investigation into the company\u2019s preparedness for and response to recent storms, Banks said he believes it\u2019s \u201cimportant to learn from a situation like this.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat could we have done to avoid it and then learn from it to make sure it doesn\u2019t happen again?\u201d Banks said. \u201cFor sure, we should definitely investigate that.\u201d\n\nBut, Banks said, his focus right now remains on getting the final few thousand customers without power in Gary and elsewhere across the Region. As of 2:30 p.m. on Monday, over 9,000 NIPSCO customers were without power. About 6,500 of those customers were in Gary, or about 72% of all remaining outages.\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s a long road ahead, but when you see leadership like that,\u201d Banks said, referring to Melton, \u201cIt makes you hopeful that we can all pull together and work together and hopefully, Gary will come out of this better and stronger than ever before.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-08-25T05:31:37Z", "2026-08-25T05:33:09Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.banks.senate.gov/news/press-releases/exclusive-sen-banks-gary-mayor-melton-talked-to-president-trump-about-storm-recovery-on-monday/"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.4571358915418386, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}