Omaha, Neb. – During this Congressional session, Rep. Don Bacon (NE-02) was approached by constituents in his district to research and find legislation that would address racial inequality and injustices. In addition to identifying bills to support, Rep. Bacon took the initiative to introduce some of his own.

Rep. Bacon introduced H.R. 3536, the Justice for Victims of Lynching Act, which amends the United States Code to criminalize lynching and enhance sentencing under existing federal hate crime statutes. It mirrors the language of S. 488, introduced by Sen. Kamala Harris in the Senate, and passed with bipartisan support on February 14, 2019.

“The entire language of my bill was then amended into H.R. 35, the Emmett Till Antilynching Act which passed the House earlier this year with a 410-4 vote,” said Rep. Bacon. “Omaha has a gruesome history with the lynching’s of Will Brown and George Smith, who were both murdered at the hands of angry lawless mobs in Omaha. This is the closest any anti-lynching legislation has ever come to becoming law. As the 116^th Congress comes to an end, I urge the Senate to bring this bill to a vote.”

In June, Rep. Bacon joined Rep. Anthony G. Brown (MD-04) to introduce H.R. 7155, bipartisan legislation to form the National Commission on Modernizing Military Installation Designations, which will make recommendations to rename military bases named after Confederate leaders.

“With the recent events of racial violence and racism within our country, we need to start acknowledging our history in order to create a better future,” said Rep. Bacon. “We owe this to ourselves, our military, our veterans, and to every American who will answer the call. Now is the time to embrace our values, ‘that all men are created equal and endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights.’ It’s only right that our installations bear the names of military heroes who represent the best ideals of our Republic.”

Rep. Bacon has also been a strong supporter of economic opportunity zones and has worked with the Department of Housing and Urban Development to push for more mixed-income housing developments in North Omaha. In 2019, Omaha was one of four cities nationwide to receive $25 million under HUD’s "Choice Neighborhoods" grant program.

“Since elected in 2017, I have pushed for affordable housing, business development and job creation in our second district,” said Rep. Bacon. “Thanks to the 2017 tax cuts, there are 44 economic opportunity zones in Nebraska in 18 counties, with one being in North Omaha and a second in Ralston. My goal is to invest more in our local businesses and to incentivize folks to find employment through these zones and raise land values to get people out of poverty.”