News Releases
Crapo, Risch Join Landmark Forest Management Reform Legislation
Washington, D.C.--Amid the catastrophic wildfires burning in the western United States, U.S. Senators for Idaho Mike Crapo and Jim Risch have signed on in support of major, bipartisan forest management reform legislation. The Emergency Wildfire and Public Safety Act of 2020, which was introduced last month by U.S. Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-California) and Steve Daines (R-Montana), increases active management of federal forests, cuts red tape, reduces frivolous litigation and gives the U.S. F… Continue Reading
September 11, 2020
Crapo, Risch Announce Department of Transportation Grants for Ponderay, Nez Perce Tribe
BOISE, Idaho --U.S. Senators for Idaho Mike Crapo and Jim Risch announced that the U.S. Department of Transportation will award the City of Ponderay $1.4 million and the Nez Perce Tribe $19.1 million in funding as part of the Better Utilizing Investment to Leverage Development (BUILD) competitive grant program. This funding will help the City of Ponderay fund the design and engineering of safe, direct access from Ponderay to the Pend d'Oreille Bay Trail and support the Nez Perce Tribe as it wor… Continue Reading
September 10, 2020
Crapo, Risch Vote to Support Targeted COVID-19 Relief
Washington, D.C. -- Idaho's U.S. Senators Mike Crapo and Jim Risch today voted on the motion to proceed to consideration of the Targeted Relief Package introduced by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) earlier this week. The measure would have provided coronavirus relief funding to support American families, schools, small businesses and the health care industry as the country continues to weather the COVID-19 pandemic. The cloture vote failed by a vote of 52-47. "In March, C… Continue Reading
September 09, 2020
Crapo, Risch Grizzly Bear Bill Moves Forward in Senate
Washington, D.C.--Today, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee held a hearing on S.614, the Grizzly Bear State Management Act. The legislation, which was introduced by Senator Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.) and is cosponsored by Idaho Senators Mike Crapo and Jim Risch, would remove the grizzly bear from the endangered species list in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem and permit states to manage the species. "Species management is a critical tool to protect species and ecosystems, and Idaho's l… Continue Reading
September 03, 2020
Crapo, Risch Call for Wheat Grower Assistance
Washington, D.C. -- Yesterday, U.S. Senators for Idaho Mike Crapo and Jim Risch sent a bipartisan letter to U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue requesting funds in the CARES Act be provided to wheat growers of all wheat varieties to address price impacts from COVID-19. "As Members of Congress representing wheat-producing states, we write regarding the deteriorating economic conditions being experienced by wheat farmers across the country who are already nearly complete with this year's h… Continue Reading
August 26, 2020
U.S. Senators Mike Crapo and Tina Smith Lead Bipartisan Group in Calling for Enforcement of USMCA Dairy Provisions
Washington, D.C. -- Senator Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) and Senator Tina Smith (D-Minnesota) led a bipartisan group of 25 Senators in sending a letter to U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Sonny Perdue and U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Robert Lighthizer urging enforcement of United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) dairy provisions. "Fair market access for American dairy farmers was a key pillar of the USMCA's agriculture section," the Senators wrote in their letter. "USMCA is p… Continue Reading
August 19, 2020
Crapo, Risch, Gardner Call for Increased Access for Fresh Potato Exports to Mexico
Washington, D.C. -- U.S. Senators Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Jim Risch (R-Idaho) and Cory Gardner (R-Colorado) are calling on U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue and U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Robert Lighthizer to continue to advocate for increased access for United States fresh potato exports to Mexico during any trade negotiations with the Mexican government. "Although U.S. potato producers can ship processed, dried and frozen potatoes to Mexico, their access to the fresh potato mark… Continue Reading
August 17, 2020
Crapo Announces Staff Changes
Washington, D.C. -- U.S. Senator Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) today announced recent staff promotions and hires in his Washington, D.C., office. Nate Favero has been promoted to Legislative Correspondent. Favero will cover issues related to health care, education and Social Security. He previously served as Staff Assistant after an internship in Senator Martha McSally's (R-Arizona) office. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Brigham Young University, where he played on the basebal… Continue Reading
July 23, 2020
Crapo, Risch Support Bill to Provide for the Common Defense, Including Idaho Priorities
Washington, D.C. -- Today, U.S. Senators for Idaho Mike Crapo and Jim Risch voted in support of the Fiscal Year (FY) 2021 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) to support our military personnel and their families and strengthen our national defense strategy. This is the 60th consecutive year that Congress has fulfilled its constitutional duty to "provide for the common defense." "This bipartisan NDAA signals to our nation's heroes in the Armed Forces that the country has their back as they… Continue Reading
July 09, 2020
Idaho Delegation Hails Changes to USDA Coronavirus Program for Idaho's Potato Industry
BOISE, Idaho -- Today, the Idaho Delegation hailed the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) decision to revise the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP) to better address the needs of the potato industry. Initially, CFAP based the potato payments solely on data for the fresh potato industry market, which only encompasses a small piece of the potato market. The newly announced revisions to the CFAP program will better reflect the intricacies of the potato industry by including the marke… Continue Reading
July 07, 2020
Crapo Hosts Two New Interns for Summer 2020
Washington, D.C. -- Two interns have joined U.S. Senator Mike Crapo's (R-Idaho) Washington, D.C., office for the summer term. "It is undoubtedly a challenging and unprecedented time in Washington, D.C.," said Senator Crapo. "The interns who have joined my office this summer have already risen to the challenge of navigating a new working environment complete with social distancing and enhanced sanitation. They have conducted their work with optimism and have demonstrated resiliency in the fac… Continue Reading
July 02, 2020
Crapo Votes to Protect Children Online
Washington, D.C. -- In today's U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary Executive Business Meeting, U.S. Senator Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) supported legislation to keep children safe online. The Committee today voted to advance the Eliminating Abusive and Rampant Neglect of Interactive Technologies Act (EARN IT Act) in the nature of a substitute amendment that contained technical changes to the original bill. Senator Crapo issued the following statement at the conclusion of the hearing: "At the beg… Continue Reading
June 30, 2020
Crapo Highlights Idaho Judicial Emergency
Washington, D.C. -- In a U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary Hearing to examine the Judicial Conference's recommendation for more judgeships, U.S. Senator Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) reiterated the need for a third federal district judgeship in Idaho. "Idaho is one of only three states that only has two authorized judgeships," said Senator Crapo. "Idaho was given its two federal judge positions when the state had a population of 600,000 people. Today, the population of the state is nearly 1.7 mil… Continue Reading
June 26, 2020
Senators Crapo, Paul, King, Lee Introduce FAIR Act to Reform Civil Asset Forfeiture Process, Protect Innocent Americans
Washington, D.C. -- U.S. Senators Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Rand Paul (R-Kentucky), Angus King (I-Maine) and Mike Lee (R-Utah) reintroduced the bipartisan Fifth Amendment Integrity Restoration (FAIR) Act, S. 4074, to protect property owners' rights, defend innocent Americans and restore the Fifth Amendment's role in civil forfeiture proceedings. "Requiring Americans to prove their property should not have been taken by the government, rather than the government proving guilt, undermines our system… Continue Reading
June 25, 2020
Crapo, Risch Join Bipartisan Coalition to Make Juneteenth a Federal Holiday
Washington, D.C. -- U.S. Senators for Idaho Mike Crapo and Jim Risch joined a bipartisan coalition of 48 Senators in introducing legislation, S. 4019, to make Juneteenth a federal holiday. If passed, the federal government would observe the holiday in parity with Idaho's existing recognition of the celebration. "Juneteenth is the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of ending slavery in the United States," Crapo and Risch said in a joint statement. "The period of slavery in America st… Continue Reading
June 24, 2020
Crapo, Risch Introduce Bill to Overturn Activist Litigation, Spur Responsible Forest Management Efforts
Washington, D.C. -- U.S. Senators for Idaho Mike Crapo and Jim Risch introduced legislation to remove a roadblock to responsible forest management efforts on federal lands. The bill, which was led by U.S. Senator Steve Daines (R-Montana), will provide a legislative fix to the misguided Cottonwood Environmental Law Center v. United States Forest Service (Cottonwood) lawsuit which has tied up forest management projects. If enacted, the Forest Service would no longer be required to reinitiate con… Continue Reading
June 17, 2020
Crapo Co-Sponsors Police Reform Bill
Washington, D.C. -- U.S. Senator Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) today became an original co-sponsor of the Just and Unifying Solutions to Invigorate Communities Everywhere (JUSTICE) Act. The bill aims to rebuild the lost confidence in many institutions designed for the purposes of keeping communities safe. "The vast majority of law enforcement officers are hard-working Americans who put their lives on the line every day to keep their communities safe," said Crapo. "Unfortunately, we have seen several … Continue Reading
June 17, 2020
Great American Outdoors Act Missed Opportunity for SRS and PILT Programs
Washington, D.C. -- U.S. Senator Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) issued the following statement after voting against the Great American Outdoors Act (GAOA): "I have long supported responsible conservation programs at the federal level. The Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) has produced a number of environmental success stories, and I voted last year to permanently authorize the program. However, each case should be weighed on its own merits, and the Great American Outdoors Act (GAOA) makes the fu… Continue Reading
June 15, 2020
Crapo, Risch Urge the Administration to Provide Paperwork Relief to Small Businesses who used the PPP
Washington, D.C. -- Friday, U.S. Senators for Idaho Mike Crapo and Jim Risch sent a bipartisan letter to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Small Business Administration (SBA) Administrator Jovita Carranza urging the administration to ease paperwork requirements for small businesses seeking loan forgiveness under the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). The letter, which was led by U.S. Senator Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) and signed by 44 senators, specifically requests that the loan forgiveness appl… Continue Reading
June 11, 2020
Crapo, Risch Push for Domestic Mineral Production
Washington, D.C. -- Last week, U.S. Senators for Idaho Mike Crapo and Jim Risch joined Senators Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Representative Rob Bishop (R-Utah) in sending a bicameral letter to U.S. Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt and U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue encouraging them to finalize rulemakings that will modernize and simplify regulations governing the domestic production of locatable minerals. "There are opportunities to improve the regulatory environment by st… Continue Reading
