2026 SMACNA Washington, DC Leadership Conference Speakers

Growing up and working on the family farm in Illinois, Rep. Don Bacon learned firsthand how the value of hard work and commitment contributes to the success of a small business. He left the farm to attend Northern Illinois University, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science in 1984. That same year, he married Angie, the love of his life. Together they share three sons, one daughter, and eight grandchildren.

In 1985, Don began his military career when he joined the U. S. Air Force and served nearly thirty years on active duty, culminating his military career at the rank of Brigadier General. During his career in the Air Force, Don specialized in electronic warfare and intelligence.

His military career highlights include two tours as a Wing Commander, at Ramstein Airbase in Germany and Offutt Air Force Base in Bellevue, Nebraska; squadron and group command at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Arizona; and expeditionary squadron command, flying combat missions over Iraq. Don served 16 assignments with four deployments to the Middle East, including one to Iraq from 2007 to 2008 during Operation IRAQI FREEDOM. Don is a National War College graduate, Distinguished Graduate of Intelligence School, Navigator School, and Air Command and Staff College. He earned two master's degrees while serving in the Air Force.

In 2016, Don was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, representing Nebraska's Second Congressional District. He was named to the House Armed Services Committee (HASC) in 2017, where he currently serves on the Subcommittee

on Tactical Air and Land Forces and the Subcommittee on Strategic Forces. In the 118th Congress, Don was named chairman of the bi-partisan HASC Military Qualityof-Life Panel and led a year-long inquiry into military pay, housing, childcare, support for military spouses, and healthcare access. His efforts yielded more than thirty legislative recommendations to improve the lives of military servicemembers and families, which were included in the House National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for fiscal year 2025.

After completing his work on the Military Quality of Life Panel, Don was named chairman of the HASC Subcommittee on Cyber, Information Technologies, and Innovation. Since 2017, he has been named by the Speaker of the House to every

NDAA Conference Committee responsible for reconciling differences between the House and the Senate defense bills before final passage and enactment.

Serving on the House Committee on Agriculture since 2017, he led the effort on the 2017 Farm Bill to include language for a Foot-and-Mouth Disease vaccine and has four bills included in the House's version of the 2024 Farm Bill: a bill to monitor and prohibit foreign ownership of farmland; language allowing temporary contractor hiring for efficient SNAP administration during crises, funding for youth organizations, expanding programs in rural areas to nurture leadership and community engagement; and language to protect roosters and dogs, prohibit trafficking, enabling citizen suits, and enhance enforcement.

During his tenure in Congress, Don co-founded and twice chaired the For Country Caucus, a group of principled military veteran congressional members working together across party lines to pass thoughtful legislation related to national security, veterans' affairs, and national service issues. In addition, he served as Chair of the Republican Main Street Caucus, a group he resurrected in the 117th Congress. He is currently a co-chair for the largest bipartisan caucus, the Congressional Caucus on Foster Youth. A member of the Air Force Academy Board of Visitors since 2017, Boards for the Holocaust Museum, Don also co-chairs the House Baltic Caucus, the Congressional Office for International Leadership, the Electromagnetic Warfare Working Group, and the Congressional Soccer Caucus.

Following the 2019 Midwest floods, which devasted Offutt Air Force Base and Camp Ashland, Don quickly organized the effort in the House to secure more than $1.6 billion in emergency federal funding to clean up, rebuild, and modernize both installations, which are critical to our national defense and Nebraska's economy. Following his support for the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, Eppley Airfield has received more than $70 million to modernize this significant regional transportation hub, making it more accessible for international flights. Most recently, this legislation has provided more than $25 million to the cities of Omaha and Wahoo for sewer and gas pipeline replacement projects.

Together with his staff, Don has received the following key awards and recognition:

These honors include the Outstanding Constituent Services Award by the Congressional Management Foundation (2021); Ranked #1 Most Effective Republican Legislator in the House by the University of Virginia and Vanderbilt

University's Center for Effective Lawmaking (2022); Ranked #2 for Highest Number of Bills Signed into Law in the House by Govtrack.us (2022); the Defender of Children Award by the First Focus Campaign for Children (2022 & 2023); Top 10 Most BiPartisan Member of the House by The Lugar Center and the McCourt School of Public Policy Georgetown University (2022 & 2023); the Outstanding Workplace Environment Award by the Congressional Management Foundation (2024); and the Top Elected Official in America for Bipartisan Cooperation by the Common Ground Committee (2021, 2022, 2023 & 2024).

*Although these leaders were originally scheduled to appear in person, recent changes to the congressional schedule will require them to share their remarks via Leadership video addresses.