Omaha City Wire

Representative Don Bacon (R-NE 2) has been named to the House and Senate conference committee that will craft the 2024 National Defense Reauthorization Act (NDAA), the bill that funds America's military. However, the House has been without a speaker and conflict has broken out in Israel after a brutal terrorist attack by Hamas sparked a war between Israel and the terrorist group.

Now that a new speaker has been elected, Bacon and the other members of the committee will have to decide whether to adopt the House version of the bill, which is focused on key defense spending, or the Senate version, which includes controversial social spending. This social spending includes reimbursing abortion travel, paying for gender reassignment surgeries, drag shows at military bases, and so-called racial equity training.

According to CNN, the death toll from Hamas' attack on Israel has risen to more than 1,400 people, including at least 30 Americans. Hamas is currently still holding at least 155 hostages. Israeli soldiers have reported seeing the bodies of beheaded infants, and the Israeli Defense Forces have discovered the aftermath of horrific violence, including blood-spattered rooms and the burned and mutilated bodies of Hamas' victims.

In terms of Rep. Bacon's stance on social issues, he is pro-life and supports the Hyde Amendment as well as legislation that protects babies born alive after botched abortions. A press release on Bacon's House website from July 2023 discusses his support for the House's passage of the 2024 NDAA, which includes provisions affirming the Hyde Amendment and prohibiting federal funds for critical race theory (CRT) education and drag events sanctioned by the Department of Defense (DOD).

Rep. Bacon has also been vocal about his willingness to reach across the aisle on legislation and has been rated as the "#1 Most Bi-Partisan Republican" in the 117th Congress. He was one of only four House Republicans to vote against eliminating Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) offices in the Armed Forces and Department of Defense.

The House version included several provisions that would eliminate all Pentagon Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion programs and personnel, block military school libraries from purchasing or possessing “pornographic and radical gender ideology books,” and bar the DOD and DOD health programs from covering gender reassignment procedures.

Also included and passed in the House bill were several amendments from Congressman Jim Banks whose office referred to the Banks amendments as “anti-woke amendments.” The Banks amendments included a provision to suspend the Navy’s Digital Ambassador Program, which had been using drag queen videos as part of their recruitment efforts.

According to the NY Post, Yeoman 2nd Class Joshua Kelley, who performs drag under the name Harpy Daniels, was chosen by the Navy as one of its first “Digital Ambassadors.” The “Digital Ambassador” program included 5 active duty personnel and was designed to help boost recruitment efforts.

A lawsuit challenging West Point's race-based admissions policies was recently filed by Students for Fair Admissions, the same group that won an affirmative action case against Harvard and UNC-Chapel Hill. The group argues that the admissions policies discriminate based on race, according to CNN.

A Magnolia Tribune report from February of 2022 found that US Service members had spent 5,889,082 man-hours on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion trainings and seminars since President Biden took office the previous year. The report also included a letter from General Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the time, stating that during that same period the DOD had spent $476,874 on DEI trainings and a further $535,000 on a training program called “Extremism Stand Down.”

With the election of Rep. Mike Johnson as the new speaker of the House, the House and Senate now have until November 17th to pass a series of spending bills, including the NDAA. According to CBS News, the conference committee, including Rep. Bacon, will have to navigate the differing versions of the bill and make decisions on key defense spending and controversial social spending.