Don Bacon (politician)
Donald John Bacon is an American politician and former military officer serving as the U.S. Representative for Nebraska's 2nd congressional district since 2017. A member of the Republican Party, he was a United States Air Force brigadier general and wing commander at Ramstein Air Base and Offutt Air Force Base until his retirement in 2014.
Education and military career
Bacon is originally from Illinois, the son of Don and Joan Bacon of Bourbonnais. He grew up on a family farm in Momence and graduated from Grace Baptist Academy in Kankakee in 1980.He attended Northern Illinois University and then gained his commission through the Reserve Officers' Training Corps. He specialized in electronic warfare, intelligence, reconnaissance and public affairs; he served as a Wing Commander at Ramstein Air Base in Germany and at Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska, as a Group commander and Squadron Commander at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Arizona and an Expeditionary Squadron commander in Iraq. Bacon has earned master's degrees from the National War College of the National Defense University and the University of Phoenix. His final assignment was as Director of ISR Strategy, Plans, Doctrine and Force Development, AF/A2, Headquarters U.S. Air Force at the Pentagon from July 2012.
In 2014, Bacon retired from the U.S. Air Force. During his 29 years in the Air Force, he was awarded the Air Force Distinguished Service Medal, two Legion of Merits and two Bronze Star Medals; Bacon was selected as Europe's top Air Force Wing Commander in 2009. He served as an aide to U.S. Representative Jeff Fortenberry and assistant professor at Bellevue University prior to running for office.
U.S. House of Representatives
Elections
2016
In the 2016 elections, Bacon won the Republican Party primary election for the U.S. House of Representatives in, a primarily urban and suburban district in metro Omaha, covering parts of Douglas and Sarpy counties.The general election race was considered a tossup, with Democratic incumbent Brad Ashford being seen as having the slight edge. After the release in October 2016 of a 2005 videotape showing Donald Trump making lewd remarks to Billy Bush, Bacon said that Trump could not win the presidency and should withdraw from the race in favor of "a strong conservative candidate, like Mike Pence." Bacon did not say, however, that he would not vote for Trump since he did not believe "Hillary is the right person. I'm in a quandary."
Bacon defeated Ashford in the general election on November 8, 2016. He received 48.9% of the vote to Ashford's 47.7%. He is the only Republican who defeated an incumbent Democrat in the 2016 House elections.
2018
In the 2018 elections, Bacon was reelected after narrowly defeating Democratic nominee Kara Eastman with 51.0% of the vote to Eastman's 49.0%.2020
Bacon is running for re-election in the 2020 elections.Tenure
116th CongressIn the 116th Congress Bacon sits on the House Armed Services Committee and House Agriculture Committee.
Bacon voted with his party in 87.5% of votes and with President Trump in 88.6% of votes in the 116th Congress. He ranks 36th of the 435 House members in voting against his party.
In 2019, Bacon ranked 31 out of 435 for bipartisanship according to the Lugar Index.
On December 18, 2019 Bacon voted against both articles of impeachment against President Trump. All of the 195 Republicans in attendance voted against both impeachment articles.
115th Congress
During his freshman term in the 115th Congress Bacon was assigned to the House Agriculture Committee, as well as the House Homeland Security Committee and House Armed Services Committee.
During the 115th Congress, Bacon voted with his party in 96.9% of votes and with President Trump's position in 94% of votes.
According to Georgetown University’s Lugar Index, Bacon ranked 89th of 435 members of the House of Representatives in bipartisanship in the 115th Congress.
Caucuses
Alongside Democrat Jimmy Panetta, Bacon co-chairs the For Country Caucus, a bipartisan group of veterans attempting to find consensus and compromise solutions to issues of the day.
He is a member of the Republican Main Street Partnership, the bipartisan Climate Solutions Caucus, the House Baltic Caucus, the Civility and Respect Caucus, and the Congressional Western Caucus.
Political positions
Armed services and foreign policy
Bacon has been a member of the Armed Services Committee since entering office in 2016.In a 2016 questionnaire, Bacon called for ISIS to be defeated "with assertive leadership, our superior air power, and special forces." He supported airstrikes in Syria in retaliation for the Assad government's use of chemical weapons. In 2019, Bacon voted in favor of a resolution opposing Trump's move to withdraw U.S. support for the Kurds in Syria, which exposed Kurdish militias to attacks from Turkey.
At a Brookings Institution event in October 2017, Bacon stressed the importance of military readiness and called for U.S. Air Force crews to increase flight hours to enhance readiness. He also said that the "gravest threat" to military preparedness was the "partisan divide" in government, which had prevented necessary increases in spending.
Bacon supports a stronger U.S. presence in the Balkans to counter Russia, which Bacon has termed a key adversary of the United States. Bacon has expressed alarm regarding Russia's activity in Ukraine and the Balkans, as well as Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections and attempted Russian interference in other nations' elections. Bacon does not consider China to be a U.S. adversary, but has criticized the country for its regional power ambitions and its trade with North Korea, and supports strong U.S. alliances with Japan and Taiwan to counter China.
In July 2017, Bacon voted in favor of legislation to impose additional sanctions against Russia, North Korea, and Iran.
In November 2017, Bacon told an electronic warfare conference that the U.S. military needed "to elevate the electromagnetic spectrum to an official domain of warfare—alongside land, sea, air, space, and cyberspace—and appoint general officers as EW advocates in all four services and to the joint staff." Bacon said that the U.S. should re-intensify its EW capabilities, which Bacon said had atrophied after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
In 2019, Bacon voted against a resolution to terminate U.S. military support to Saudi Arabia for the Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen, and voted against legislation to block U.S. arms sales to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Bacon is a steadfast backer of Israel, and supports the United States recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital.
Bacon is a consistent supporter of Taiwan. In 2019 Bacon spent time with Rep. Salud Carbajal and former speaker of the House Paul Ryan in Taiwan to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Taiwan Relations Act and open a new informal diplomatic facility used in lieu of an Embassy. Bacon said “we owe it to be clear that Taiwan is a success story and we have to support their democracy.”
Agriculture
Bacon has been a member of the House Agriculture Committee since elected in 2016.In 2019 Bacon urged the Army Corps of Engineers to streamline its response to the 2019 Midwestern U.S. floods and pushed to fund levies to shore up flooded farmland and Offut Air Force Base.
In Spring of 2019, Bacon sponsored the Student Agriculture Protection Act to create tax credits for the proceeds of crops and livestock for students under age 22.
Bacon supported the 2018 Republican led omnibus Farm Bill.
Abortion
Bacon is firmly anti-abortion, except to save the life of the woman. In 2017, he voted in favor of legislation to ban abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy. In 2017, Bacon voted to repeal a rule requiring state and local governments to distribute federal funds to federally qualified health centers even if those centers also perform abortions, a measure aimed at defunding Planned Parenthood. Bacon said that he supported redirecting funds to community health care centers that do not also provide abortion services.Drug policy
In 2018, Bacon said that he supported marijuana decriminalization at the federal level. Bacon said he opposed marijuana legalization as a personal matter, but believed that states should be permitted to make the decision. Bacon supported the 2018 Farm Bill which legalized industrial hemp production.Economic issues
In 2017, Bacon voted for the Republican tax legislation, and voted in favor of legislation to dismantle major parts of the Dodd–Frank financial reform legislation. In 2019, Bacon voted against legislation to increase the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour.Bacon has expressed support for raising the full retirement age for eligibility for Social Security for Americans now under age 40.
Environment
Regarding climate change, Bacon has said: "I don't think we know for certain how much of climate change is being caused by normal cyclical changes in weather vs. human causes. I support legislation that allows for continued incremental improvement in our environment, but oppose extreme measures that create significant economic and job disruption." Bacon is a member of the bipartisan Climate Solutions Caucus.Gun policy
In February 2019, Bacon voted against legislation to require universal background checks for firearm sales and legislation to give additional time to law enforcement agencies to conduct background checks for firearm sales. In 2017, Bacon voted in favor of legislation that would have made concealed-carry permits valid across state lines. In 2018, Bacon indicated that he would support a ban on bump stocks.Health care
Bacon favors repealing the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare, and opposes proposals for Medicare for All or single-payer healthcare. In May 2017, Bacon voted in favor of the American Health Care Act, Republican health-care legislation that would have repealed large portions of the ACA.Immigration
In August 2017, Bacon and five of his House colleagues urged President Trump to preserve the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program for undocumented youth brought to the United States as children, "until we can pass a permanent legislative solution." In 2019, Bacon voted in favor of legislation to create a pathway to citizenship for undocumented youth.Bacon has expressed support for construction of the U.S.-Mexico border wall supported by Trump. Bacon voted against legislation to end the December 2018–January 2019 government shutdown by appropriating funds without money for a border wall. Bacon said that Trump's attempt to circumvent Congress by declaring a national emergency to redirect money from military construction to the building of a border wall was not "the right way to go" because it infringed on congressional powers, but voted against a House resolution to overturn the emergency declaration and voted against overriding Trump's veto of legislation that would have overturned the declaration.
In April 2016, Bacon re-introduced the Kerrie Orozco Act, which would "allow the spouses of first responders, killed in the line of duty, access to a quicker process of becoming an American citizen."
Internet
In March 2017, Bacon voted to repeal an FCC rule that barred Internet service providers from sharing data on their customers' activities.Bacon opposed the continuation of net neutrality in the United States in support of FCC Chairman Ajit Pai's repeal of Title II classification of ISPs. Bacon received $7,000 in campaign contributions from the telecommunications industry during the 2016 election cycle.