{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.banks.senate.gov/news/press-releases/icymi-sen-banks-joins-all-indiana-politics/", "ICYMI: Sen. Banks Joins All Indiana Politics", "2026-08-17", "2026", "2026-08", "Republican", "Senate", "IN", "Jim Banks", "B001299", "www.banks.senate.gov", "banks", "https://www.banks.senate.gov/news/press-releases/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Yesterday, Senator Jim Banks (R-Ind.) joined All Indiana Politics to discuss AI oversight, Food-is-Medicine initiatives, the ongoing conflict in Iran, and the Protect College Sports Act.\n\nClick the image above for the full discussion.\n\nKey Excerpts on AI:\n\nSen. Jim Banks (R-Ind.): \u201cWe need to better understand the security threats that are occurring in some of these labs, and that\u2019s the reason that I sent the letter to the Secretary of Treasury and called on more oversight. At the end of the day, AI is here; its important, our economy is going to change because of it. I think our economy is going to change in really good ways because of it. Still, our federal government has to be more involved in the national security part of it and make sure that these models, coming out of these labs, can\u2019t build something such as a nuclear weapon or weapon of mass destruction, or take over other systems and companies autonomously. The federal government needs to take leadership in providing more oversight.\u201d\n\n\u201cSo much is happening at such a rapid pace on this front; just in the last 12 months, the conversation and the public policy debates about AI, are changing every day. I\u2019m focused on export controls and making sure we are not giving up our best computer chips and technologies and sending them to China to our own detriment. In fact, I passed a bill, the AI Overwatch Act, in the annual defense spending bill, which would codify President Trump\u2019s directive that we don\u2019t send our best chips to China. There are a lot of different debates and subjects of AI, and it\u2019s changing every single day.\u201d\n\nKey Excerpts on Iran:\n\n\u201cOur military has everything it needs to keep up the pressure on Iran, to get them to come to the table and ensure that they can never have a nuclear weapon. But I am concerned about the future and replenishing our munition stockpiles. That\u2019s why we need to support the annual defense bill, the NDAA, and why we need to support President Trump on this. Indiana plays a big role in all of this too. Just a couple of months ago, we broke ground on a munitions factory at Crane Naval Base in southern Indiana. They are going to make the munitions, and the rockets that we need to keep up the pressure on Iran and continue to project military strength to our adversaries and keep America safe and secure for years to come.\u201d\n\n\u201cWe\u2019ve wiped out 85% of Iran\u2019s ballistic missiles; we have decimated their defense industrial base. It will take them decades to rebuild what our military did. President Trump has made it very clear: keep up the pressure to make sure Iran never gets a nuclear weapon. If Iran gets a nuclear weapon, it is going to be pointed directly at us, at our troops, and our allies. I don\u2019t want my daughters growing up in a world where Iran has a nuclear weapon. That would be catastrophic.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-08-18T05:27:41Z", "2026-08-18T05:29:06Z"]], "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/icymi-sen-banks-joins-all-indiana-politics/"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.43476203083992, "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"}