News Releases
Senators to Geithner: It's time to deal seriously with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senators Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Saxby Chambliss (R-Georgia), John Thune (R-South Dakota), Tom Coburn (R-Oklahoma) and Johnny Isakson (R-Georgia) today called on Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner to end the continued taxpayer bailouts of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac by the current administration. In the letter, the senators remind Secretary Geithner of the more than $148 billion that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have already cost the taxpayers. The recent news from these … Continue Reading
August 13, 2010
Lake Lowell Meeting Set to Discuss Future Boating
Nampa - The future of boating on Lake Lowell south of Nampa will be the focus of a meeting Saturday at the lake. Idaho Senator Mike Crapo has called for a meeting of recreational users, local officials, residents and others to seek an update from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The Service is in the process of creating a new comprehensive management plan for the Deer Flat National Wildlife Refuge on Lake Lowell. Some lake users are concerned that the process could restrict or ban power boati… Continue Reading
August 13, 2010
Clearwater Basin Collaborative Funded
Lewiston - A collaborative land management effort in Idaho's Clearwater Basin that could create or maintain more than 350 jobs over the next ten years has been selected for federal funding through the U.S. Forest Service. Idaho Senator Mike Crapo convened the Clearwater Basin Collaborative (CBC) Work Group two years ago in an effort to find consensus on land management issues such as timber harvest, habitat improvement and species management. Today, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack … Continue Reading
August 12, 2010
Funding Advances Owyhee Implementation
Boise - The implementation of provisions under the Owyhee Initiative land management legislation guided into law by Idaho Senator Mike Crapo will take a major step on Friday. Crapo will join officials with the U.S. Department of Interior's Bureau of Land Management and Owyhee County representatives and landowner interests to announce funding that further implements the Owyhee Public Land Management Act that was signed into law last year as part of an omnibus lands bill. WHAT: Idaho Senator … Continue Reading
August 10, 2010
Crapo to Assist Record Salmon Migration
Boise - The sockeye salmon runs that gave Redfish Lake its name are setting a modern-day record this season by returning to Idaho in numbers not seen since the 1940's. Idaho Senator Mike Crapo will join Idaho leaders in helping the sockeye with their final leg of the historic migration Wednesday during a ceremonial transfer event at Redfish Lake. Crapo will join Idaho Fish & Game officials, representatives of the Bonneville Power Administration and the Northwest Power Planning Council and… Continue Reading
August 07, 2010
Crapo, McGee To Discuss I-84 Funding From Caldwell To Nampa
Washington, DC - Idaho Senator Mike Crapo will be joined by Idaho State Senator and Transportation Committee Chairman John McGee Monday to offer an update on funding to widen Interstate 84 between Nampa and Caldwell. McGee and Crapo will join Caldwell Mayor Garret Nancolas to discuss funding for the project immediately following a news conference on FEMA flood mapping scheduled for Monday, August 10th, at the corner of Blaine and Kimball, in downtown Caldwell along Indian Creek. The new confe… Continue Reading
August 06, 2010
Idaho Delegation Disappointed With Wolf Decision
Washington, D.C.-U.S. Senators Mike Crapo and Jim Risch and Congressmen Mike Simpson and Walt Minnick issued the following statement after learning of Judge Donald Molloy's decision to return wolves in the Rocky Mountains to the Endangered Species List: "This decision is disappointing. Judge Molloy ignored the exploding population of wolves in Idaho and the Constitutional 10th Amendment right of a state to manage its own wildlife populations. The recovery goals set when the wolf was introduce… Continue Reading
August 06, 2010
Tax Collection Change Would Benefit Wildlife, Local Business
Washington, DC - Under legislation cleared by the U.S. Senate, state wildlife restoration funds would get a funding boost, according to Idaho Senator Mike Crapo, who co-chairs the Congressional Sportsmen's Caucus. The measure, which is nearly identical to legislation Crapo introduced with Senator Max Baucus (D-Montana), changes the way federal excise taxes on sporting arms and ammunition are collected from manufacturers by allowing the collection of such taxes to be done on a quarterly basis, ra… Continue Reading
August 05, 2010
Crapo Plans Town Hall, Community Health Visit in Lewiston
Washington, D.C. - Idaho Senator Mike Crapo will discuss area issues from taxes to spending to collaboration, when he visits with Lewiston-area residents and businesses next week during a town hall meeting. Crapo will also help celebrate the success of community health centers when he marks National Health Center Week and the one-year anniversary of the Lewis and Clark Health Clinic in Lewiston. The center has served 1,700 patients in their first year of service, including 750 uninsured and unde… Continue Reading
August 05, 2010
Truck Weight Adjustment Needed
TruckWashington, DC - Bipartisan legislation introduced by Idaho Senator Mike Crapo, Maine Senator Susan Collins and Wisconsin Senator Herb Kohl would bring more efficiency to the trucking industry and help transport goods to consumers more safely and effectively. The three joined together to introduce the Safe and Efficient Transportation ACT (SETA) of 2010 (S. 3705), which would increases truck weights from 80,000 to 97,000 on the Interstate System in any state that would opt in to the plan. I… Continue Reading
August 05, 2010
Crapo Co-sponsors Bill to Stop Investment Tax Increase
Washington, DC - U.S. Senator Mike Crapo today co-sponsored legislation that would repeal a harmful tax on investment income that was included in the new national health care law enacted earlier this year. Under the Health Care Reconciliation Act, there will be a 3.8 percent surtax on the investment income of taxpayers. Investment income includes interest income, capital gains, dividends, annuities and rents. Though the new tax is initially limited to individuals earning more than $200,000 an… Continue Reading
August 04, 2010
Tax Relief Would Boost Idaho Brewers, Jobs
Washington, D.C. - A bipartisan tax relief bill spearheaded by Idaho Senator Mike Crapo and three of his Senate Finance Committee colleagues would benefit Idaho brewers and farmers and could boost employment and commerce. Crapo, along with Senators John Kerry (D-Massachusetts), Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) and Ron Wyden (D-Oregon), introduced the legislation to cut in half the federal excise taxes paid by many smaller craft breweries in an effort to boost production and related jobs and purchase of a… Continue Reading
August 04, 2010
Crapo Leads Effort To Help Pulmonary Fibrosis Sufferers
Washington, DC - Legislation introduced today in the U.S. Senate would bring much-needed attention to a progressive and generally fatal disease that takes the lives of 40,000 people each year. Idaho Senator Mike Crapo joined with Washington Senator Patty Murray to introduce the Pulmonary Fibrosis Research Enhancement Act (PFREA), a companion measure to H.R. 1079, which was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives in February of last year. Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (PF) results in s… Continue Reading
August 03, 2010
Crapo To Vote Against Kagan
Washington, DC - Idaho Senator Mike Crapo announced today that he will not vote in favor of confirming Elena Kagan to the U.S. Supreme Court. The decision comes on the heels of a review conducted by Crapo of the recently completed confirmation hearings by the Senate Judiciary Committee as well as additional materials and comments from thousands of Idahoans on the matter. "Ms. Kagan has an impressive educational background, but serving as a Supreme Court Justice goes way beyond education," Cra… Continue Reading
July 30, 2010
Senators Seek Additional Work on Sheep Issues
Washington, D.C. - Idaho Senators Mike Crapo and Jim Risch today called for additional collaboration and research in an attempt to resolve issues between wild bighorn sheep and domestic sheep utilizing public lands for grazing. The Payette National Forest has issued a ruling curtailing domestic sheep grazing over concerns about disease spreading from domestic to wild sheep. "While the decision by the Payette National Forest has been released, the bighorn and domestic sheep issue is far f… Continue Reading
July 30, 2010
Listening Session Set on North Idaho Cleanup
Washington, D.C. - Idaho Senator Mike Crapo will chair a listening session in Kellogg on Monday, August 9th to take public comment on EPA's announcement to amend its Record of Decision regarding environmental cleanup in the Silver Valley and Coeur d'Alene Basin. Crapo will be joined for the listening session by Idaho Governor C.L. "Butch" Otter, Coeur d'Alene Tribal Chairman Chief J. Allan, Shoshone County Commission Chairman Jon Cantamessa and EPA Region 10 Administrator Dennis McLerran. Loc… Continue Reading
July 29, 2010
Delegation: F-35 Decision "Disappointing'
Washington, DC - Members of Idaho's Congressional Delegation say today's announcement by the U.S. Air Force that neither Mountain Home Air Force Base nor Gowen Field made the initial list for a new F-35 mission is "disappointing," but does not mean Idaho's bases are out of the running for future F-35 missions. The Air Force says an initial review indicates a preference for locating the new fighter jets at locations other than Idaho. Delegation members, who were briefed by phone on the decision t… Continue Reading
July 29, 2010
Crapo to Discuss Budget Deficits, Taxes
Washington, DC - Many in Congress seem to have an unending appetite for spending, and Idaho Senator Mike Crapo says he'll make spending and expiring tax relief cornerstones of his iTownhall visit with Idahoans next month. Crapo invites Idahoans to make arrangements to participate in his iTownhall meeting, which begins at 7:00 p.m. Mountain/6:00 p.m. Pacific on Wednesday, August 4th. To sign up for the iTownhall meeting, please go to Crapo's website, http://crapo.senate.gov and click on the i… Continue Reading
July 28, 2010
Monuments Could Be Blocked in Senate Bill
Washington, D.C. - Presidential authority to declare new federal monuments on public land will be restricted under legislation introduced today by Idaho Senators Mike Crapo and Jim Risch. The National Monument Designation Transparency and Accountability Act calls for Congressional approval within two years of any executive order by a President seeking a monument designation. If the two-year deadline passes without congressional approval, the land would return to its original status. The legi… Continue Reading
July 22, 2010
Crapo, Udall Bill Would Provide Estate Tax Relief for Farmers, Ranchers who Preserve Land through Conservation Easements
Washington, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senators Mike Crapo (ID) and Mark Udall (CO) announced that they have introduced bipartisan legislation designed to offer estate tax relief and encourage farmers and ranchers and others who choose to protect the rural character of their land when they pass it on to their children. The goal of the bipartisan American Family Farm and Ranchland Protection Act is to preserve family farms and the heritage of our rural communities by helping families avoid the pressu… Continue Reading
