News Releases
CRAPO CALLS FOR CHANGES TO CAFTA
Washington, DC â?? Idaho Senator Mike Crapo is calling for changes to the Central America - Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement, commonly known as CAFTA. Crapo says unfair provisions in the agreement concerning sugar imports that would harm Idahoâ??s sugar industry and economy must be amended or deleted. Crapo voted against the draft legislation to implement CAFTA when it was passed by the Senate Finance Committee today by a vote of 11 to 9. Crapo has said that he cannot support CAFTA as wri… Continue Reading
June 13, 2005
CRAPO COMMENDS BRAVERY OF ST. ANTHONY MARINE
Washington, DC â?? Idaho Senator Mike Crapo today sent his condolences to the parents of a St. Anthony native serving with the Marines in Iraq. Lance Cpl. Dustin V. Birch died Friday when the Humvee he was riding in hit a land mine. "My thoughts and prayers go out to Corporal Birchâ??s family in St. Anthony over this tragic loss and I commend Dustin for his service to our country in Iraq. His story is particularly tragic as I understand he and his fellow Marines were on patrol in a tank nea… Continue Reading
June 09, 2005
DEPUTY COMMISSIONER TO DISCUSS SOCIAL SECURITY ON CRAPOâ??S â??CAPITOL WATCHâ??
Washington, DC â?? Social Security Deputy Commissioner James Lockhart will join Idaho Senator Mike Crapo to discuss the Social Security program next week during a live statewide television call-in program. Crapoâ??s â??Capitol Watchâ?? airs the second Tuesday of each month on most cable access stations in Idaho. The program comes as Crapo and fellow members of the Senate Finance Committee are considering proposals to maintain the solvency of Social Security. â??Doing nothing means a 25% cut in S… Continue Reading
June 07, 2005
CRAPO: DEATH OF SPEC. FRENCH HARD TO TAKE
Washington, DC â?? Idaho Senator Mike Crapo, who recently returned from visiting soldiers in Baghdad and Fallujah, Iraq, said the news of the death of 19-year old Specialist Carrie French of Caldwell is especially tough to take because she was just beginning her adult life. French, an ammunitions specialist with the 116th Brigade Combat Team, died Sunday when her vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb. Crapo sent his sympathies to Frenchâ??s family and friends in Idaho. He issued the following state… Continue Reading
June 07, 2005
NOXIOUS WEEDS FUNDING APPROVED
Washington, DC â??Protecting Idahoâ??s vital lands by renewed conservation efforts are being recognized with the passage of an Interior Appropriations bill containing funding to fight noxious weeds in Idaho. The bill approved by the Senate Interior Appropriations Subcommittee includes $1.125 million for the Idaho Department of Agriculture for the Managing Noxious Weeds project. Funding for this program will help manage harmful weeds that threaten and infest private, state, and federal lands. Ida… Continue Reading
June 06, 2005
MEDIA ADVISORY: INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND HEARING TO ADDRESS ROLE IN FINANCIAL WORLD
Washington, DC â??Idaho Senator Mike Crapo, Chairman of the Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs International Trade and Finance Subcommittee, will chair an oversight hearing on the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Tuesday. The witnesses will discuss the progress on reforming the IMF, Argentinaâ??s debt repayment agreement with the IMF, Chinaâ??s ten-year fixed exchange rate between the dollar and the yuan, and a potential IMF gold sale as a means of financing debt reduction for poorer nations… Continue Reading
June 03, 2005
CRAPO VISITS SOLDIERS, NOTES PROGRESS IN IRAQ
Washington, DC â?? Idaho Senator Mike Crapo visited with Idaho soldiers in Fallujah, Iraq, as he completed a tour of the Middle East, Russia and the Baltic States this week. He says that the most remarkable observation about his stay in Iraq is the progress that U.S. soldiers and advisers are making in successfully turning over many military and security functions to Iraqi soldiers and police. â??We were using mostly U.S. and multi-national troops just a year ago,â?? Crapo said via telephone fro… Continue Reading
June 03, 2005
CRAPO COMMENDS CASEâ??S SERVICE
Washington, DC â?? Idaho Senator Mike Crapo, returning to the U.S, from a visit with Idaho soldiers in Baghdad and Fallujah, today commended the service of Mountain Home Sergeant Virgil Case. Case, 37, died this week while serving in Iraq. He had been part of the 116th Brigade Combat team serving in Kirkuk.Crapo sent his sympathies to Caseâ??s wife and children in Mountain Home. He issued the following statement regarding Caseâ??s death:"I send my deepest sympathies to the family and friend… Continue Reading
June 02, 2005
CRAPO TO DISCUSS VISIT TO IRAQ
Washington, DC â?? Idaho Senator Mike Crapo will discuss developments during his visits to Iraq, Jordan, Russia, Latvia, and the Ukraine today during a conference call with reporters from Amman, Jordan. For the last few days, Crapo has been traveling with Senate Majority Whip Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) and Senator James DeMint (R-South Carolina) as part of a congressional tour inspecting U.S. security and diplomatic operations in the Middle East, Russia, and the Baltic States. As part of the d… Continue Reading
May 29, 2005
CRAPO: BUDGET AGREEMENT CUTS DEFICIT
Washington, DC â?? A $2.6 trillion budget outline approved last night by both the House and Senate is a good starting point towards moving the federal government back into the black, according to Idaho Senator Mike Crapo. Crapo, a member of the Senate Budget Committee, says the most important element of the budget outline is a renewed effort to slow the growth of government which will be paid by future generations.â??I support this effort because it reflects a move to cut spending and curbs the … Continue Reading
May 27, 2005
CRAPO TO REVIEW SECURITY AND FOREIGN AID ASSISTANCE IN THE MIDDLE EAST AND THE BALTIC REGION
Washington, DC â?? Idaho Senator Mike Crapo will join Senate Majority Whip Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) on a Congressional Delegation trip to the Baltics and the Middle East during the next week. The agenda includes stops in Jordan, Russia, Latvia, and the Ukraine to review security assistance and foreign aid programs in the regions. Senator Jim DeMint (R-South Carolina) will complete the delegation. McConnell chairs the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations and Related… Continue Reading
May 27, 2005
CRAPO BILL CUTS TAXES ON GOLD, SILVER INVESTMENTS
Listen to the Audio File Here [.mp3 format] Washington, DC â?? Citing inequities that now exist in federal tax code, Idaho Senator Mike Crapo has introduced legislation to lower the tax liabilities for people who invest in precious metals such as gold and silver. The â??Fair Treatment for Precious Metals Actâ?? would treat the investment of investments made of gold, silver, and platinum, such as bullion coins and bars more like equities or mutual funds.â??Precious metals bullion investments sho… Continue Reading
May 26, 2005
DELEGATION: BOISE TOWER DECISION CREATES SAFETY ISSUES
Washington, DC â?? Idahoâ??s Congressional Delegation has written the head of the Federal Aviation Administration asking her not to close the control tower at the Boise Airport from midnight to 5:00 a.m. Senators Larry Craig and Mike Crapo, and Congressmen Mike Simpson and C.L. â??Butchâ?? Otter, wrote FAA Administrator Marion Blakely, warning the proposed move, for apparent cost-cutting reasons, puts pilots and passengers in danger and could cause economic losses related to commercial traffic f… Continue Reading
May 25, 2005
CRAPO WANTS ALTERNATIVE MINIMUM TAX ENDED NOW
Washington, DC â?? Idaho Senator Mike Crapo will co-sponsor legislation offered by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) to abolish the individual Alternative Minimum Tax (ATM) this year. The tax was started as a way to catch upper-income Americans who paid zero in taxes, but unintended consequences and inflation have slipped consequences of the tax into middle-class taxpayers.â??If we donâ??t take action now to repeal the tax, it will affect more and more middle-class taxpay… Continue Reading
May 24, 2005
CRAPO, CRAIG SUPPORT NEW FUNDING FOR ILLEGAL ENTRY ISSUES
Washington, DC â?? State, county, and local leaders could see new funding to deal with issues related to the illegal entry of criminal aliens into the U.S, under legislation supported by Idaho Senators Mike Crapo and Larry Craig. The U.S. Senate today approved, by unanimous consent, a measure that would reauthorize and more than double funding authority for the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program (SCAAP). Crapo led an effort last year to alert county sheriffs throughout Idaho about the progr… Continue Reading
May 19, 2005
CRAPO: ESA IMPROVEMENTS PROTECT PROPERTY RIGHTS
Washington, DC â?? Efforts to improve the Endangered Species Act (ESA) are moving forward, with hearings by both Senate and House members underway, and Idaho Senator Mike Crapo sees progress in building both political and species recovery partnerships. Crapo testified on ESA improvements before the Senate Environment and Public Works Subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife, and Water today.Crapo pointed out that Governor Dirk Kempthorne, while in the U.S. Senate, started improvement efforts that are… Continue Reading
May 17, 2005
USDA TO PURCHASE POTATOES
WASHINGTON, D.C. â?? Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns announced today that the Department plans to purchase up to 80 million pounds of frozen and dehydrated potatoes. On March 15, 2005, the Idaho Congressional Delegation wrote the Secretary requesting this action.The Delegation wrote in its letter, â??When growers have periods of unusually high yields and resulting low prices, the Section 32 program serves to stabilize their market and allow them to continue to survive in an already rigid m… Continue Reading
May 17, 2005
CRAPO ADDS FARM BENEFIT TO TRANSPORTATION BILL
Washington, DC â?? Farmers and agricultural interests will benefit by a tax exemption in hauling farm goods after harvest under language Idaho Senator Mike Crapo got included in the transportation spending bill approved today by the U.S. Senate. The exemption would lift a 12% excise tax on certain truck-mounted bulk beds, many of which are manufactured in Idaho. The bulk beds are used for hauling crops such as potatoes, sugar beets, onions, and grain.â??A 2003 study indicates this egregious exci… Continue Reading
May 13, 2005
CRAPO PUSHES FOR SCHOOL FRUIT AND VEGETABLE PROGRAM EXPANSION
Washington, DC â?? Efforts to get more fresh fruits and vegetables into public schools gained attention on Capitol Hill this week as a group of Senators, including Idaho Senator Mike Crapo, continued their push to expand the Fruit and Vegetable school program nationwide. Crapo, Iowa Senator Tom Harkin and twenty other Senators, in a letter to the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee, Rural Development and Related Agencies, asked appropriators to provide funding in the fiscal year 2006 Agriculture … Continue Reading
May 11, 2005
SENATORS INTRODUCE DOWNWINDER LEGISLATION
Washington, DC â?? Idaho Senators Mike Crapo and Larry Craig today introduced legislation that would include all of Idaho under the existing federal government program to compensate those who can show medical evidence they were harmed by nuclear testing fallout in the 1950s and 1960s. The so-called downwinders are now compensated only in parts of Utah, Nevada, and Arizona, although studies show some Idaho counties received some of the highest doses of radioactive fallout from the Nevada tests.Th… Continue Reading
