[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 38 (Thursday, February 26, 2026)]
[Senate]
[Pages S714-S715]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS
Mr. BANKS. Mr. President, before we leave for the weekend, I wanted
to take a moment and just come down to the floor and give the President
a lot of credit for a great State of the Union speech on Tuesday night.
It was my eighth State of the Union speech. I spent 8 years in the
House, and this was now the second State of the Union speech I have
heard as a U.S. Senator for Indiana.
It was truly the best State of the Union speech that I have ever
heard. And it was especially special for me to have my younger
brother--10 years younger than I--Bradley Banks, from Columbia City, up
in the Gallery in the House to watch the State of the Union speech. He,
too, loves President Trump and what he stands for, and to have him be
my special guest was a special moment for me and for him to experience
a great speech as well.
As President Trump said 2 nights ago, the state of the Union is
strong, and that is thanks to President Trump and his great leadership.
It has been incredible to see what a difference just 1 year makes and
what a difference President Trump has made in this first year of his
second term, especially after 4 disastrous years with President Joe
Biden in the White House.
President Trump listed a number of reasons why the state of the Union
is strong, but just to name a few of those reasons and give President
Trump a lot of credit: Because of him, our border is completely secure.
What a night-and-day difference that is from what it was just a little
over a year ago when President Trump came back into office. Inflation
is at its lowest level in more than 5 years, thanks to President Trump.
Gas prices are down below $2.30 in most States. Incomes are rising
again. The stock market has set 53 alltime record highs since President
Trump's election in 2024. Fentanyl moving into our country is down 56
percent. The murder rate has had its single largest decline in American
history. And America is respected on the world stage, perhaps unlike
ever before, because of President Trump's incredible leadership.
As President Trump said at the State of the Union, our country is
winning again. I loved hearing that from him. It made me so proud to be
a U.S. Senator serving with President Trump in the White House once
again.
And while President Trump was celebrating our country, while he was
saying that we have ``achieved a transformation like no one has ever
seen before and a turnaround for the ages,'' Republicans stood to
applaud while Democrats sat in their seats. It was really shocking to
see Democrats refusing to stand up and cheer for American greatness. It
was shocking to me. I couldn't believe it.
While President Trump asked Congress to stand up and show support if
they agreed that ``the first duty of the American government is to
protect American citizens--not illegal aliens,'' the Democrats sat in
their seats. They refused to stand up and cheer and stand with
President Trump with all of us on the Republican side and agree to that
simple statement. None of them agreed--not a single one of them. Not a
single Democrat in the House Chamber, House Members or Senators on the
[[Page S715]]
Democratic side--none of them agreed that the American Government
should prioritize their own people above everyone else, especially
those who come here illegally--what a disgrace.
I will never forget that moment, standing and agreeing with President
Trump and clapping and cheering in agreement with him that it is our
fundamental duty--the first duty that we have in this government--to
put our own citizens over those who come here illegally.
Democrats would rather be spectators to America's demise than
champions of American greatness. That is what it told me when I saw
them sitting in their seats and all of us standing in agreement and
cheering for American greatness and what makes this country great as
expressed by President Trump.
President Trump urged Congress to pass the Delilah Law, which I
introduced in the Senate yesterday. What the bill does is it keeps our
roads safe from illegal immigrant truckdrivers. Delilah, a beautiful 7-
year-old girl, up in the audience, in the Gallery, with her dad--when
she was 5 years old, she was hit by an illegal immigrant driving a
semitruck and seriously injured. She has made a remarkable recovery but
is still injured to this day. When President Trump called on us to pass
the Delilah Law to stop illegals from driving on our roads and driving
a semitruck with a trailer, when he called on us to pass a simple,
commonsense bill to take CDLs away from illegal immigrants, Democrats
once again refused to stand up and acknowledge that that is the right
thing to do, that that will save lives in our country by getting
illegals out of semitrucks.
They couldn't stand and applaud for a lot of other things either. The
President of the United States, in his speech, talked about lowering
prescription drug prices. Republicans stood in agreement with him, and
Democrats sat on their hands. The President talked about no taxes on
tips, a big part of our signature ``tax cuts for working families''
bill that we passed last year.
I can remember distinctly on the campaign trail Democrats talking
about no taxes on tips, and then every one of them voted against it.
And when President Trump championed it in his State of the Union
speech, Republicans stood in agreement and Democrats sat on their
hands.
The President talked about passing the largest tax cut in American
history for working class families, like yours and mine, a tax cut that
is significant.
In Indiana right now, by the way, early tax returns for Hoosiers, a
10.9-percent increase in those tax returns from a year before. That is
real. That is significant money in the pockets of hard-working Hoosier
families, people who go to factories every day or work in hourly wage
jobs, the real hard-working men and women that make my State and this
country great.
When President Trump talked about that and how significant that is,
Republicans stood in agreement and cheered for it, and Democrats sat on
their hands.
The President talked about banning radical transgender operations--
again, common sense. Republicans stood in agreement and cheered in
support of President Trump's commonsense policies to protect our kids;
Democrats sat on their hands.
He talked about so many other issues. It was one issue after another
that puts the American people, the American workers, American families
first and in a better position. Republicans stood in agreement;
Democrats sat on their hands.
As a son of a retired factory worker--my dad worked at Dana
Corporation in Fort Wayne. He made axles. He got up early every
morning. Sometimes he worked the third shift, all night long. He
belonged to a union. He was a hard-working, union man all of his
working life at the factory and put food on the table, provided for our
family.
As a son of a factory worker and the grandson of a union coal miner
who was an FDR Democrat, right--I mean, my grandpa, my family, they
thought the Democrat Party represented the working man.
It is clear to me now that this is not my grandpa's Democrat Party.
My brother Bradley who works for the Columbia City Street Department,
gets up every morning. He happens to have a CDL. He drives the
snowplow. He works hard to keep our small hometown in northeast Indiana
clean and the streets taken care of.
He doesn't wake up like you and I do every day and think about
politics and what is going on in Washington, DC. He wakes up every day
and thinks about working hard to provide for his family.
When he sat up in that Gallery on Tuesday night and watched this
historic State of the Union speech--the longest State of the Union
speech ever, but the best State of the Union speech that I have ever
seen--he couldn't believe it.
He had a view from the Gallery watching this speech, watching the
President talk about how great our country is, putting people like him
in a better position to take care of his family, and the Democrats sat
on their hands. They couldn't even cheer on the greatness of America
and the good things that are happening in this country.
It is clear to me that the Democrats just can't handle the truth.
They can't handle the truth that 250 years after this Nation's
founding, we have so much to be proud of. We are proud of the gold
medal U.S. Olympic hockey team who brought golden glory back to the
United States 46 years after the ``Miracle on Ice.''
We are proud of our heroic soldiers like CW5 Eric Slover and the 100-
year-old Navy fighter pilot CAPT Royce Williams, who both received the
Congressional Medal of Honor during the State of the Union speech. What
a great moment for us to experience on the floor of the House on
Tuesday night.
We are proud that the greatest Nation in the history of the world
will celebrate its 250th birthday in just a few months. The state of
our Union is strong because President Trump is putting Americans first.
Mr. President, 250 years after a small group of brave men founded the
greatest Nation on Earth, the United States remains the best and
strongest country ever. We are still a nation of builders, warriors,
and champions; and thanks to President Trump, we are stronger than we
have ever been before.
That is worth getting out of your seat and standing and applauding
and cheering and being in support of. I thought the President of the
United States gave an incredible State of the Union speech. It was
great. It made me very proud to be an American, and I am grateful for
his leadership.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Indiana.
____________________