Congressman Don Bacon and his wife, Angie. Photo courtesy of Don Bacon Twitter account.
Congressman Don Bacon got a chance to speak at the President Trump campaign rally in the Omaha metro area, warning the partisan crowd about what might happen if Democrats win back the House.
Bacon, a freshman Republican in the Second Congressional District, recalled Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi of San Francisco dismissing the benefits of the Republican tax-cut package as ‘bread crumbs’.
“Let me tell you what these bread crumbs did,” Bacon told the crowd. “I remember talking to a lady who got a bonus and she’s getting money back from her taxes; she was two months behind on her mortgage and she paid off that mortgage and got caught back up. Those were bread crumbs to Nancy Pelosi, but not to her.”
Though held just across the Missouri River from Omaha, the rally in Council Bluffs, Iowa had a decided Nebraska flavor. Trump supporters filled the 8,000-capacity Mid-America Center to overflowing, some changed ‘Go Big Red,’ during the rally.
Bacon spoke before the president.
Bacon, former commander of Offutt Air Force Base in the Omaha suburb of Bellevue, said the Trump Administration, working with a Republican Congress, has restored military readiness.
“We had the lowest readiness rates since 1977, the Jimmy Carter era, the hollow force years,” Bacon said. “We restored that funding by 60%. We got our military back on its feet. We’ve given pay raises to our military for the first time that matched inflation in almost 10 years.”
Bacon said the Trump Administration has also addressed the disgraceful conditions which existed at VA hospitals throughout the country.
As Bacon addressed immigration, the crowd interrupted.
“We can find a compassionate way forward,” Bacon said, laughing as the crowd interrupted and chanted, ‘Build that wall,’ “We need to secure our borders, absolutely. Now, what is the other side saying? They have voted against every compromise that secures our borders.”
Bacon said that if Democrats win control of Congress in the mid-term elections efforts to address immigration would falter.
Bacon said the Republican Congress has work it needs to do, such as improving health care, addressing immigration, and finding incentives to get the 12 million able-bodied Americans not working now back into the workforce.
O. Kay Henderson, Radio Iowa, contributed to this report.