Here is an example of how working together regardless of partisan politics serves Nebraska and was crucial to passing legislation important to Omaha and Nebraska.
In January 2016, President Obama was giving a speech at Baxter Arena and invited me to fly home on Air Force 1. He came to my seat from his suite in the front of the plane. We spent 45 minutes talking about Omaha, my family and basketball. We discussed our need for a new VA medical facility and a new runway at Offutt.
I had gotten to know the president soon after arriving in Washington, as I was a strong supporter of his trade initiatives that would have created a trade zone across the Pacific rim to include 40% of the world’s population, expand markets for our ag products, and contain China’s expansion in the area. It was the greatest experience of my political career to get to know him.
Brad Ashford
Upon arrival at Baxter Arena, I introduced President Obama to Walter Scott. Walter is a leader in the legion of Omaha philanthropists who have put us on the map for funding public-private partnerships. Walter wanted to do something to improve veteran’s health care. Walter wanted the president to know that the community was behind my effort to change the law. The president told Walter not to worry, that he had my back on the VA.
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Months earlier, I was introduced to Veterans Administration Secretary Bob McDonald. I asked him if he would support a public-private partnership for the VA in Omaha. He said he absolutely would. He knew Warren Buffett and knew about the generosity of our community. However, he told me that I would need to change the law, as the VA was prohibited from partnering with the private sector to construct any VA facility.
The Republicans controlled the House, and I needed Republican support. Sen. Deb Fischer introduced an identical bill in the Senate. I had spent 16 years in the Unicameral and was devoted to the concept that the public good was far more important than politics as usual. I did not expect the toxic partnership that greeted my arrival in Congress, but our community needed a modern VA and finding support from Democrats and Republicans would be critical to my success. This was not a time for partisan politics. There was no way I could put party over the needs of our vets and the willingness of our generous donor community to help.
The story of the passage of HR 5099 (the CHIP-IN for Veterans Act of 2016) had many twists and turns. Rep. Jeff Fortenberry introduced me to Republican leaders who immediately saw the benefits of our bill and got behind it. Reps. Nancy Pelosi and Steny Hoyer, key House Democratic leaders, were behind the bill all the way. Jeremy Nordquist led my staff to connect the dots with other congressional offices and oversee the drafting of the bill.
I was told many times that a freshman member in the minority party could never pass legislation of this importance. However, the conventional advice for a member of Congress did not wash with this Nebraskan who learned politics in our nonpartisan Legislature.
It literally took two years to pass our bill. On the last day of the 114th Congress, after negotiations between party leaders on the floor of the House, we passed HR 5099. Deb Fischer passed the Senate bill a day later. President Obama, true to his word, had my back and signed our bill.
We took the bipartisan Nebraska way to Congress and our community now has a new VA facility. Henry Cordes of The World-Herald recently reported that Rep. Don Bacon and Sen. Fischer have introduced a reauthorization of our CHIP-IN for Veterans Act that could possibly lead to a new VA surgical center in Omaha.
Our nonpartisan Unicameral is very special. We can only move forward when political parties and special interests do not dominate our politics.
