National Defense

China now leads world in nuclear and conventional hypersonic missiles, US intelligence warns

| Posted in In the News

China now has the world’s largest arsenal of hypersonic missiles, missiles capable of striking U.S. targets with nuclear and conventional warheads, a U.S. intelligence analyst told Congress on Tuesday. Russia has also deployed three types of ultra-high-speed maneuvering weapons that can also be equipped with nuclear or conventional warheads and fired the first hypersonic weapon in combat…

Bacon Issues Response to Biden’s SOTU

| Posted in Press Releases

Bacon Issues Response to Biden’s SOTU Washington. – Rep. Don Bacon (NE-02) issued the following response after President Biden’s State of the Union Address: "Pres. Biden missed the mark tonight on border security and inflation. He failed to acknowledge his responsibly for the mess at our borders. He ended the ‘Remain in Mexico’ policy; he sued the State of Texas for protecting itself…

New congressional caucus seeks to build support for NASA’s planetary science programs

| Posted in In the News

As NASA’s planetary science programs face reduced budgets this year and uncertain prospects for next year, advocates in Congress are banding together to build up support for them. Reps. Judy Chu (D-Calif.) and Don Bacon (R-Neb.) announced March 6 that they were restarting a Planetary Science Caucus in Congress, serving as its co-chairs, with more than a dozen other…

Aliens, killer asteroids and Mars: Lawmakers announce caucus focused on space and planetary science

| Posted in In the News

The bipartisan Planetary Science Caucus is being led by Rep. Judy Chu, D-Calif., and Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb. The group aims to advance policies and promote federal investment in space science, which the caucus said is “critical to our economy, national security, and American leadership in science and…

Congress will improve military housing

| Posted in In the News

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…

House lawmakers unveil $66B foreign aid, border supplemental

| Posted in In the News

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…

Bacon and Colleagues Introduce Bipartisan Legislation to Protect U.S. Farmland From Foreign Ownership

| Posted in Press Releases

Bacon and Colleagues Introduce Bipartisan Legislation to Protect U.S. Farmland From Foreign Ownership Washington – Today, Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE-02) along with Reps. Mark Alford (R-MO-04), Michael Bost (R-IL-12), Salud Carbajal (D-CA-24), Henry Cuellar (D-TX-28), Brad Finstad (R-MN-01), Ashley Hinson (R-IA-02), Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA-06), Dan Newhouse (R-WA-04), and Jimmy Panetta (D-CA-19)…

Rep. Don Bacon wants to bring 24/7 'Looking Glass' back to Offutt

| Posted in In the News

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…

Top Enlisted Leaders for Each Service Set to Testify on Quality-of-Life Issues at House Hearing

| Posted in In the News

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…

Omaha WWII hero Charles Jackson French to have destroyer named after him

| Posted in In the News

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…