Sewage overflows in restrooms, methane gas leaks, mold, brown tap water, extreme temperatures, bedbugs, rodents and cockroaches. These are just some of the conditions that our servicemembers have been subjected to in their barracks.  The fiscal 2022 National Defense Authorization Act required the Government Accountability Office to review the Department of Defense’s efforts to… Read more »

On Friday, U.S. Senators Deb Fischer (R-Neb.) and Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.) and U.S. Representatives Mike Flood (NE-01), Don Bacon (NE-02), and Adrian Smith (NE-03) announced that their staff will hold Service Academy Days in North Platte, Scottsbluff, Grand Island, Norfolk, Bellevue, and Omaha. “As a veteran who served nearly 30 years in the Air Force, I cannot share enough how much my… Read more »

 Republican Rep. Don Bacon, who is also running in a swing district in Nebraska, said, “I want to give those who want to be moms and dads that opportunity. Therefore, I will not support restrictions to IVF.”https://krdo.com/news/2024/02/23/republicans-struggle-to-respond-to-alabama-embryo-ruling-2/ Read more »

Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) told Axios that he also does “not support restrictions on IVF” because he wants to “give those who want to be moms and dads that opportunity.”https://freeread.causeaction.com/2024/02/23/gop-lawmaker-moves-to-protect-ivf-after-alabama-supreme-court-declares-embryos-are-children/ Read more »

A bipartisan group of House lawmakers released a $66.3 billion foreign aid and border package Friday that backers hope will be an alternative to the Senate-passed national security supplemental. The newly unveiled legislation includes military-only assistance for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan — a departure from the $95.3 billion bill championed by senators that also has money designated… Read more »

Back in the Cold War years, the Soviet nuclear threat compelled the Strategic Air Command to keep an EC-135 command-post plane airborne continuously — for 29 years. SAC called the plane “Looking Glass,” because its communications systems mirrored the ones on the ground at SAC’s Offutt Air Force Base headquarters. A general officer on board could launch nuclear weapons even if the… Read more »

The senior enlisted leaders for each military service, including the top noncommissioned officer in the military, will testify in front of Congress at the end of the month about quality-of-life issues for troops -- a raft of recently exposed problems including squalid living conditions, subpar dining facilities and access to health care. The leaders will appear before… Read more »

OMAHA — Local World War II hero Charles Jackson French will soon have his name on a naval vessel. The U.S. Navy announced last week that an Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer will be named after French. Construction of the ship is set to begin in 2026, with delivery in 2031.  One of Charles Jackson French’s nephews, Roscoe Harris, speaks to a crowd of more than 50 who… Read more »

North Platte’s downtown Federal Building would be named for the late U.S. Rep. Virginia Smith of Chappell under bills introduced Thursday by Nebraska’s congressional delegation. Sen. Pete Ricketts of Omaha and current 3rd District Rep. Adrian Smith of Gering introduced bills in their respective houses of Congress to name the former 1964 post office building at 300 E. Third St. the… Read more »

Republicans in the House of Representatives and Senate railed over the Department of Defense not publicly disclosing Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin‘s hospital stay this week until Friday. The Pentagon announced late Friday that Austin had been at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for much of the week, beginning on Monday and finally… Read more »