Today, State Armor announced that Nebraska State Senator Eliot Bostar (D – District 29) received its “Lawmaker of the Year Award” for his tireless work to protect Nebraska from foreign threats – especially the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
Senator Bostar was presented the award at a private luncheon in Washington, D.C., attended by thought leaders, national security experts, and lawmakers. Former National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien provided keynote remarks before Michael Lucci, the Founder and CEO of State Armor, presented the award.
“Senator Bostar was the most effective state policymaker in the country for countering China’s state strategies in 2024. His work has become a model for other states in their efforts to crack down on CCP activity in the US and also for the federal government,” said Michael Lucci. “Senator Bostar brought together both Democrats and Republicans to enact unanimous legislation to solve critical security threats for Nebraska. He is not only a courageous leader on the cutting edge of this fight, but he also exemplifies how America will win”
In 2024, Senator Bostar drafted and helped pass the nation’s first Pacific Conflict Stress Test legislation, mandating that state agencies run simulations to prepare for and mitigate risks from supply chain disruptions and attacks on critical infrastructure that will take place should a conflict in the Pacific break out.
He also helped enact the first state legislation to specifically prohibit public procurement of compromised LiDAR equipment supplied by companies linked to the CCP as a part of broader state procurement reform. Senator Bostar’s legislation also ended state purchase of sanctioned CCP drones, a pressing national issue being addressed in the 2025 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). Bostar enacted legislation to mandate Nebraska prepare to divest from China-based companies and supported legislation to block the CCP from buying up American farmland.
These bills followed a critical effort in 2023 in which Bostar partnered with Nebraska Governor Jim Pillen to tackle a glaring national security threat: nuclear missile silos in western Nebraska that were surrounded with CCP-controlled Huawei communications hardware. Due to his leadership in the state senate, Nebraska became the only state in the country to require the immediate removal of all Huawei equipment, putting Nebraska ahead of federal efforts in the 2025 NDAA to complete the rip-and-replacement of sanctioned Huawei equipment.
In his acceptance speech, Senator Bostar detailed his 2025 plans to take on still more pressing problems: adversary foreign agents, transnational repression, and the penetration of sanctioned genomic technology into America’s medical supply chains. Bostar also called for lobbyists who represent blacklisted Chinese Military Companies to stop selling out the United States.
In the coming year, State Armor looks forward to working with Senator Bostar and other leaders across the country to counter the CCP’s malicious campaigns against the American homeland. And most importantly, State Armor encourages state lawmakers across the country to emulate Senator Bostar’s model of not only taking on the toughest issues but winning with unanimous bipartisan votes.
