Thanks to people following recommendations to stay home, avoid gatherings and give one another space, the Omaha area’s hospitals are not yet operating near capacity. Dr. Jeffrey Gold, chancellor of the University of Nebraska Medical Center, provided the update during a video press conference Wednesday that also included U.S. Rep. Don Bacon. Read the full story here. Read more »

On Wednesday, Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., hosted leaders from the University of Nebraska Medical Center after they briefed a top official at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on the state's COVID-19 coronavirus response. Read the full story here on KETV. Read more »

U.S. Reps. Jim Langevin (D-R.I.), Karen Bass (D-Calif.) and Don Bacon (R-Neb.) sent House leadership a letter yesterday urging consideration of “the needs of current and former foster youth as youth continue to address the novel coronavirus (COVID-19)… Read more »

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Defense will not fund a replacement for the OC-135 Open Skies aircraft until it is decided if the country will remain in the arms control treaty, Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Wednesday. https://www.defensenews.com/air/2020/03/04/dod-wont-offer-contract-for-new-open-skies-plane-until-treaty-future-clear/ Read more »

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (WOWT) -- The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has selected Council Bluffs as one of 10 cities to receive funding for a new program focused on helping young people aging out of foster care avoid homelessness. HUD Secretary Ben Carson announced Thursday that nearly $1.2 million in funds for the Foster Youth to… Read more »

The House on Wednesday overwhelmingly passed historic legislation that would classify lynching as a federal hate crime. The Emmett Till Antilynching Act, which passed on a 410-4 vote, was introduced by Rep. Bobby Rush (D-Ill.). It is named after Emmett Till, a 14-year-old African American boy who was lynched in 1955 in… Read more »

The House of Representatives passed a bill with broad bipartisan support on Wednesday designating lynching as a federal crime — a historic move that paves the way for antilynching legislation to be sent to the president’s desk after hundreds of unsuccessful attempts over the past… Read more »

A bipartisan group of members of Congress pressured the Department of Defense to take traumatic brain injuries in the military seriously just days after President Trump appeared to downplay ones suffered by service members in an attack launched by Iran. https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/congress-urges-pentagon-to-take-brain-injury-seriously-as-trump-downplays-the-damage Read more »

Washington, DC  — Today, U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Ranking Member of the Senate Armed Services Personnel Subcommittee, and Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA), introduced bipartisan legislation in the U.S. Senate to establish a “Safe to Report” standard in the military. As thousands of military sexual assault cases go unreported each year, reports show more survivors are… Read more »

A Powhatan firefighter’s battle with cancer has inspired a bipartisan bill introduced in the House of Representatives that would provide veteran firefighters with the fair compensation, healthcare, and retirement benefits earned through their… Read more »