News Releases
Supreme Court Confirms Health Mandate is a Tax Increase
Washington, D.C. - Today, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled to uphold President Obama's Health Care Law, ruling that the individual mandate provision is legal as a tax on the American people. Idaho Senator Mike Crapo issued the following statement: "Today's decision is very disappointing, and it is not the ruling that the American people wanted. Americans overwhelmingly want solutions that deliver what they need-access to high-quality, affordable health care. This law did not fix the rising cost … Continue Reading
June 21, 2012
Crapo: Farm Bill Still Busts the Budget
Washington, D.C. - Idaho Senator Mike Crapo voted against the final version of the 2012 Farm Bill today, calling it inadequate in terms of reducing the federal debt and deficits that must be brought under control. "It is a positive step to bring market-oriented reforms in this bill; unfortunately those reforms do not extend to the bottom-line spending that must be reduced," Crapo said. The cost of the bill is estimated to be $100 billion annually. "We have to reduce spending and budg… Continue Reading
June 20, 2012
Crapo Staff Plans Bilingual Office Hours in Caldwell and Middleton
Caldwell - To better assist Idahoans with questions and issues concerning federal agencies and policies, staff from Idaho Senator Mike Crapo's office will travel to Caldwell and Middleton this month. Brian Raybon, Special Assistant to Senator Crapo, who is also fluent in Spanish, will be available at both the Middleton and Caldwell locations to assist Idahoans with any questions or problems related to federal agencies or with problems regarding federal programs. Crapo Remote Office H… Continue Reading
June 19, 2012
Senators Concerned with Proposed Caribou Designation
Washington, D.C. - Idaho Senators Mike Crapo and Jim Risch have expressed concern to U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) Director Daniel Ashe about the size of the proposed critical habitat for caribou in north Idaho. Last November, the FWS proposed designating 375,562 acres of critical habitat for the Southern Selkirk Mountains population of woodland caribou. The proposed habitat, covering nearly 600 square miles, includes land in Boundary and Bonner c… Continue Reading
June 14, 2012
Crapo Welcomes Interns to State Offices
Washington, D.C. - Idaho Senator Mike Crapo welcomes students to his office each semester to serve internships in his regional offices in Idaho and in Washington, D.C. All of the interns assist with constituent contacts, legislative responsibilities, office administrative tasks and other duties. This summer, Crapo has six interns serving in four regional offices. Idaho State Office, Boise Renata Poe is a senior at Boise State University studying English Literature, and plans to go into… Continue Reading
June 13, 2012
Senate Votes to Save Sugar Program
Washington, D.C. - The U.S. Senate today closely defeated an amendment that would have cut the sugar program in the new farm bill. As co-chairman of the Senate Sweetener Caucus, Idaho Senator Mike Crapo spoke on the Senate floor about the importance of the sugar provisions to both sugar producers and consumers of sugar products. Idaho sugar producers bring in more than $1 billion in revenue annually to the state through the program that receives no taxpayer funding. Crapo stressed the sugar p… Continue Reading
June 11, 2012
Senators Introduce Amendment to Help Farmers, Main Street
Washington, D.C. - Today, Idaho Senator Mike Crapo and Nebraska Senator Mike Johanns filed an amendment to fulfill Congressional intent by providing an explicit exemption from margin requirements for non-financial end-users that qualify for the clearing exemption. The amendment is identical to H.R. 2682, which passed the U.S. House of Representatives by a vote of 370 to 24. Since the Dodd-Frank conference took place, there has been a debate over whether non-financial end-users are exempt f… Continue Reading
June 07, 2012
Crapo Announces Staff Changes in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C. - Idaho Senator Mike Crapo is announcing two staff changes in his Washington, D.C., office. Peter Stegner is Crapo's new Legislative Assistant for environment, natural resources and other issues related to Crapo's membership on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. Stegner brings with him a wealth of experience, having previously served as Regional Director and Staff Assistant at the North-Central Regional Office in Lewiston for more than three years, and most rec… Continue Reading
June 06, 2012
Senators Congratulate Sloan Award Recipients
Washington, D.C. - Achieving greater flexibility in the workplace is one of the key challenges facing organizations in the twenty-first century, and today Idaho Senator Mike Crapo and Wisconsin Senator Herb Kohl congratulated the 2011 winners of the Sloan Award for rising to the challenge. The Alfred P. Sloan Award for Excellence in Workplace Effectiveness and Flexibility recognizes companies that have successfully used flexibility to enhance both business results and employee goals. The senat… Continue Reading
June 01, 2012
National Journal Daily: Mike Crapo, Up and Coming GOP Fiscal Leader
By Stacy Kaper He's not flashy or self-promoting but Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, looks to be an up-and-coming leader on fiscal issues in Republican ranks. The third-term senator and deputy whip was tapped by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., last year to serve on President Obama's deficit-reduction commission, which he took some heat for supporting, and he is now trying to salvage the bipartisan "Gang of Six" process to work out a deficit reduction plan. Although those talks hi… Continue Reading
June 01, 2012
Idaho Statesman: Crapo, other Senate Republicans, talk about the deficit with Obama in the White House
By Erika Bolstead WASHINGTON - Idaho Sen. Mike Crapo, who's been involved in negotiations to reduce the deficit with the bipartisan "Group of Six" senators, called a meeting of Senate Republicans and the president a "good, candid and substantive discussion." Crapo and most of the Republicans in the Senate on Thursday attended the White House meeting, which Crapo said focused on "specific solutions" that could be "helpful to solving debt crisis." &qu… Continue Reading
June 01, 2012
The Hill: Six pillars of wisdom? Senators need quick support for cuts, taxes
By Michael O'Brien Even if the Gang of Six, a bipartisan group of senators, can agree on how to cut the federal deficit, their plan will land with a deathly thud on Capitol Hill unless lawmakers in both parties quickly support it. For weeks Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) and fellow Sens. Mark Warner (D-Va.), Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.), Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) and Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) have worked to fashion a plan based on recommendations from… Continue Reading
June 01, 2012
Idaho Falls Post-Register: CHEERS to Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho
Idaho Falls-- Cheers to Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho. One wouldn't have blamed Crapo had he followed the lead of Sen. Tom Coburn, the Oklahoma Republican who abandoned the bipartisan "Gang of Six" attempting to foster realistic solutions to the nation's soaring deficit. But Crapo hung in, even when a report broke that the Gang's other Republican, Saxby Chambliss of Georgia, was thinking about following Coburn out the door. The "Gang of Six" is now the "Gang of … Continue Reading
June 01, 2012
Lewiston Tribune: CHEERS to U.S. Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho
CHEERS ... to U.S. Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho. Having garnered accolades for joining the "Gang of Six," Crapo merits equal heaps of praise for sticking with the "Gang of Five." The gang - former members of the budget reduction panel chaired by former U.S. Sen. Alan Simpson, R-Wyo., and former Clinton White House Chief of Staff Eskine Bowles - had been privately forging a consensus to reduce the federal budget deficit by $4 trillion during the next decade. Democratic Sens. Dic… Continue Reading
May 31, 2012
Idaho Delegation to Host Office Hours in Gooding on Thursday, June 7
Gooding, ID - Field representatives from the offices of Senators Mike Crapo and Jim Risch and Congressman Mike Simpson will host Traveling District Office meetings on June 7 at the Gooding Senior Center from 11:30 to 1:00 PM, followed by office hours at Gooding City Hall from 1:30 to 3:30 PM. Congressional field representatives will be on hand to answer questions from individuals with specific problems with federal agencies such as the Internal Revenue Service, Veterans' Affairs and the Social … Continue Reading
May 31, 2012
Senators Urge EPA to Heed Supreme Court Decision
Washington, DC-U.S. Senators Jim Risch and Mike Crapo are calling on the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to explain how its enforcement office will handle Clean Water Act cases given the Supreme Court's recent ruling in Sackett v. EPA. The request comes after the director of EPA's water enforcement said in a recent speech that the court's decision will have little effect on the agency and that, "internally, it's same old, same old." "It is very troubling that an EPA official with water… Continue Reading
May 31, 2012
Crapo Staff Holds Bilingual Office Hours in Homedale June 8th
Homedale - To better assist Idahoans with questions and issues concerning federal agencies and policies, staff from Idaho Senator Mike Crapo's office will travel to Homedale Friday, June 8, 2012. Brian Raybon, Special Assistant to Senator Crapo, who is also fluent in Spanish, will be available at Homedale City Hall to assist Idahoans with any questions or problems related to federal agencies or with problems regarding federal programs. Crapo Remote Office Hours schedule: … Continue Reading
May 29, 2012
Idaho Reporter: Crapo is still working with 'Gang of Five' on ending debt
By Brad Iverson-Long The "Gang of Six" may now be a "Gang of Five," but Idaho Sen. Mike Crapo and four other U.S. senators of differing political stripes say they're still working out a plan for how to reduce the federal government's debt. Crapo and the other senators, who are keeping the specifics of their talks secret, spoke in Washington, D.C., this week at a fiscal summit discussing solutions to America's budget problems. The "Gang of Six" senators started talking after a deficit reductio… Continue Reading
May 25, 2012
Crapo Welcomes Summer Interns to D.C. Office
Washington, D.C. - Idaho Senator Mike Crapo welcomes students to his office each semester to serve internships in both Washington, D.C., and in his regional offices in Idaho. The D.C. internship program provides students the opportunity to learn about Congress and the political process firsthand, while gaining valuable work experience and exploring possible career options. Some of the activities interns assist with include working with staff members on legislative matters, assisting with cons… Continue Reading
May 24, 2012
Senators Urge Better Access to Mexican Potato Market
Washington, D.C. - Idaho Senators Mike Crapo and Jim Risch have joined a number of their colleagues in an effort to increase sales of U.S. potatoes to Mexico. The Mexican market for potatoes from Idaho and other U.S. states is estimated to be worth about $30 million. Mexico signed an accord in 2003, agreeing to lower import restrictions on potatoes from Idaho and other U.S. states. Since the agreement was signed, however, the Mexican government has not fulfilled its commitment, citing concer… Continue Reading
