url,title,date,year,month,party,chamber,state,member_name,bioguide_id,domain,scraper,source,date_source,text,has_text,collected_at,updated_at
https://fulcher.house.gov/2022/12/31/id-a37a35c5-289c-4a95-b53c-ec7307feccac/,Western Caucus Members Condemn Biden Administration for New WOTUS Rule,2022-12-31,2022,2022-12,Republican,House,ID,Russ Fulcher,F000469,fulcher.house.gov,fulcher,https://fulcher.house.gov/category/press-releases/,scraper,"WASHINGTON, D.C. – Members of the Congressional Western Caucus released the following statements in response to the Biden Administration’s final rule—quietly released on the last business day of the year before a major holiday—regarding the definition of “waters of the United States,” or WOTUS:

“This rule is yet another bureaucratic attack on rural America,” said Chairman Dan Newhouse (WA-04). “Western Caucus Members and the rural communities we represent have consistently called on the Administration to provide regulatory certainty for farmers, ranchers, small businesses, and landowners – most recently, requesting that the Administration not move forward with rulemaking until the Supreme Court has ruled on Sackett v. EPA. Today, it became crystal clear that we have been ignored. Not only is this rule premature, but it is ultimately detrimental to rural communities – and clean water conservation efforts – across the United States. We will continue to fight for effective locally-led efforts to protect our clean water and against one-size-fits-all mandates.”

“Today, the Biden Administration finalized a definition of “waters of the U.S.” that threatens the rights of Idaho’s farmers, ranchers, and private property owners,” said Rep. Russ Fulcher (ID-01). “Water is a lifeline for the Gem State – a key natural resource for many of our most important industries – and this decision will only empower federal bureaucrats.”

“The Obama WOTUS rule drastically expanded the jurisdiction over bodies of water like streams and ponds leaving large swaths of Iowa land in the hands of the federal government,” said Vice Chair Mariannette Miller-Meeks (IA-02). “I am extremely disappointed in the Biden Administration’s decision to finalize a similar version of this failed rule which will have terrible consequences for our farmers, ranchers, and landowners in Iowa. Any clean water initiatives by the federal government should be focused on clearly defined bodies of water.”

“Today’s announcement by the Biden Administration on their new rule for Waters of the U.S. (WOTUS) is disappointing. This rule is both poor policy and badly timed. It is another example of this Administration’s determined adherence to the demands of environmentalists at the expense of hard-working Americans. While cloaked a little differently, this new WOTUS rule will once again place overly burdensome regulations on our farm families, small businesses, and entire communities further harming our economy — not to mention making critical infrastructure projects that much more expensive,” said Vice Chair David Rouzer (NC-07). “While I appreciate the EPA’s acknowledgement that the Supreme Court has already heard arguments in Sackett v. EPA with a ruling soon expected, this further underscores how ill-advised it is for the administration to rush a new rule given the Court’s forthcoming decision will impact any new definition of WOTUS.”

“Why does every Democrat administration need to make a rule giving the federal government more power over farming and private property? The federal government doesn’t need to regulate puddles, ditches, seasonal creeks or culverts. All this rule does it make it more difficult to grow food or build anything,” said Vice Chair Doug LaMalfa (CA-01). “Frankly, that seems like to whole point – to make every day Americans ask permission from their government for basic tasks like cleaning a ditch, repairing a road, or building something on your own property. I say NO, and I’ll be leading an effort to stop yet another ridiculous rule.”

“Biden’s WOTUS rule creates a regulatory headache for economic drivers like farmers, ranchers, manufacturers, miners, and more, said Vice Chair Pete Stauber (MN-08). “Similar to the old Obama Administration WOTUS rule, this new rule is a gift to lawyers and activists, and creates hardship for my district. This is simply unacceptable but I expect no less from this activist administration.”

“It appears that the Biden Administration is attempting to over-regulate America’s farmers into extinction by reimplementing this nonsensical version of the devastating Obama-era WOTUS rule,” said Vice Chair Bruce Westerman (AR-04). “These actions demonstrate a lack of care for the needs of rural America, our agriculture industry, and for private property rights. I look forward to a Republican House working to overturn this rule.”

“I am extremely discouraged by the EPA’s actions regulating wetlands and waters in a manner inconsistent with the Clean Water Act,” said Rep. Frank Lucas (OK-03). “During this time when increased agriculture production and growth are critical, the rule fails to provide certainty for America’s farmers and ranchers. Furthermore, the Biden Administration’s contradictory rule ensures lengthy litigation surrounding the scope of federal regulatory authority of our nation’s waterways will continue with confusion and regulatory uncertainty. Oklahoma’s farmers, ranchers, and landowners have demonstrated their responsible stewardship of the land for generations, and I will continue to stand with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle in opposition to the continued inconsistent interpretation of the Clean Water Act.”

“Joe Biden’s EPA knows full well this ruling will face immediate litigation in court,” said Rep. Markwayne Mullin (OK-02). “The idea that a drainage ditch in Oklahoma is now a federally regulated, navigable waterway is absurd. This is nothing more than a Christmas present to Biden’s radical environmentalists.”

“This change of the WOTUS rule is a massive landgrab that will expand federal control to ponds, puddles, and even ditches all under the false pretense that it will make our waters cleaner. Meanwhile, farmers will be drawn into crosshairs with the EPA over using the safe crop production process they have used for years, and landowners could face hefty fines for failing to comply with the unclear language,” said Rep. Rick Crawford (AR-01). “We all want clean water, but WOTUS now negates existing local and state laws and refutes the historical role farmers, ranchers, and landowners have in being the original good stewards of their land.”

“Restoring the Obama-era WOTUS rule will restore a world of vague and disastrous regulations for Georgia’s farmers, small businesses, homeowners, local government, and families, who do not need an unelected bureaucrat to tell them how to use the Peach State’s natural resources,” said Rep. Buddy Carter (GA-01). “Under President Trump, there were clear and certain guidelines, ones that should transcend political party and remain law.”

“As a lifelong farmer, I know firsthand the challenges government overreach places on the day-to-day operations of farms and businesses,” said Rep. David Valadao (CA-21). “Giving the federal government more control over our water has already once proven devastating for rural communities. The Biden administration’s EPA rule will further burden our farmers, ranchers, and small businesses in the Central Valley. I am hopeful that the Supreme Court will put an end to this regulatory nightmare when Sackett v. EPA is decided.”

“The goal of President Biden’s Waters of the U.S. rule is to give unelected bureaucrats even more command and control over the lives of rural Missourians,” said Rep. Jason Smith (MO-08). “The Trump administration’s rule protected Missouri’s water, incorporated sound science, and accommodated the needs of farmers, ranchers, landowners, and small businesses. But getting rid of this carefully crafted rule means that federal bureaucrats will again have the authority to regulate any body of water – whether it’s a puddle, ditch, pond, or creek – passing through or standing on private land. I’ll continue fighting tooth and nail to protect all these stakeholders from the Biden administration’s overreaching WOTUS rule and any other efforts by Washington Democrats to force their radical agenda on our communities.”

“We had a sensible rule for WOTUS under the last administration that left most decision-making and regulation to the states. Each state has unique circumstances to consider, and we cannot expect those to be solved by a one-size-fits-all plan. Minnesota’s clean water standards are as high, if not higher, than the federal standards. We are the land of lakes. We know what we’re doing, and we do not need federal involvement,” said Rep. Michelle Fischbach (MN-07). “This rule includes several vague standards that fail to provide certainty for stakeholders. It will be important to hold the EPA accountable to ensure they do not overstep their authorities.”

“Using WOTUS as a political football creates greater instability and challenges for our producers,” said Rep. Dusty Johnson (SD-AL). “It was poorly written to begin with and has created much confusion in rural America. The new WOTUS rule is a gross overreach of federal power.”

“EPA’s WOTUS decision is yet another example of blatant executive overreach. The government should not dictate land use on private property or the farming practices of producers and ranchers,” said Rep. Adrian Smith (NE-03). “I am steadfastly opposed to this decision because of the devastating impact it will have on landowners in Nebraska and across the country.”

“The return of WOTUS would be a disaster for North Dakota’s farmers and ranchers,” said Rep. Kelly Armstrong (ND-AL). “I am disappointed that the Biden administration is determined to bring it back despite warnings from ag producers that it will harm their livelihoods. We have to keep fighting against harmful policies that don’t do anything to keep our air and water clean.”

“Today’s WOTUS ruling is a detrimental government overreach into ponds and puddles a thousand miles from the D.C. swamp. Kansas farmers and ranchers are the best stewards of their land, but the final WOTUS rule hands over private property decisions to Washington bureaucrats,” said Rep. Ron Estes (KS-04). “As a Kansan and former farm kid, my colleagues and I will continue pushing back against this burdensome administration that chooses to govern with a heavy hand and disregards the common sense conservation by the men and women who actually work the land.”

“States, not the federal government, should be the primary regulators of water sources and waterways within their borders. Unfortunately, the EPA’s and Army Corps’ Waters of the United States Final Rule will allow the federal government to encroach on the authority of state and local governments and the rights of landowners to manage agricultural ponds, drainage ditches, and other bodies of water,” said Rep. Larry Bucshon, M.D. (IN-08) “With the release of this Final Rule, the Biden Administration is taking a huge step backwards at the expense of states, localities, and private landowners.”

“Thanks to regulatory overreach, farmers, ranchers, and agricultural producers will now be forced to operate their businesses under the federal government’s sixth definition of “water” in the past ten years alone. The Biden Administration’s newest version of “Waters of the U.S.” removes longstanding bipartisan exemptions for common water features like ponds or streams found on farms and ranches,” said Rep. Tracey Mann (KS-01). “The Biden Administration has created regulatory chaos for producers, who are working hard to keep us all fed, fueled, and clothed. Farmers are the original conservationists, and they deserve the gratitude and support of the federal government, not red tape and burdensome overregulation. They certainly don’t need Washington Democrats to tell them how to manage their own resources.”

“I am disappointed in this Administration’s latest effort to place arbitrary regulations on private property owners. For decades, Oregonians have had to bear the burden of environmental regulations written by unelected bureaucrats in DC,” said Rep. Cliff Bentz (OR-02). “My constituents, who earn their living from the land, understand better than anyone how to protect and sustain it for future generations. The EPA and other federal entities have wielded WOTUS to control the most basic activities of everyday Americans. I came to Washington, DC to fight these top-down, ineffective regulatory burdens so that Oregonians have the freedom to manage the land using the commonsense practices that have been passed down through generations.”

“California doesn’t have a water problem; it has a water storage problem,” said Rep. Jay Obernolte (CA-08). “The previous management agreements for the Central Valley Project and State Water Project were critical to improving our water storage capabilities, protecting our environment, and ensuring reliable water supplies for our communities and the industries that form the backbone of California’s robust economy. They were science-based, peer-reviewed, and already producing encouraging results. I am extremely disappointed that the Administration has acted to reverse the meaningful progress made under these plans, and I join my colleagues in calling for the immediate reversal of this decision.”

“Reinstating the Obama-era WOTUS rule is gross federal overreach, gives the government an unprecedented level of authority over ‘waters of the United States,’ and impacts almost every part of American life, especially for farmers and ranchers,” said Rep. Jeff Duncan (SC-03). “We fought this rule under President Obama, celebrated when President Trump removed it, and will fight for this disastrous abuse of power under President Biden to be reversed.”

Background:

In April, Chairman Newhouse, Rep. Miller-Meeks, and Rep. Rodney Davis (IL-13) submitted an amicus brief to the Supreme Court for Sackett v. EPA outlining the importance of environmental federalism and how a poorly-defined Clean Water Act hinders environmental protections.

On March 9, Chairman Newhouse, Transportation and Infrastructure Ranking Member Sam Graves (MO-06), and Water Resources and Environment Subcommittee Ranking Member David Rouzer (NC-07) led over 200 House Republicans – including every Member of the Western Caucus – in calling for the Biden Administration to drop its plan to expand the scope of “waters of the United States” (WOTUS) until Sackett v. EPA is decided by the Supreme Court. Click here to learn more.

Chairman Newhouse and Rep. Miller-Meeks called on the Administration to halt the rulemaking process, based on the Supreme Court’s decision to take up the Sackett case, in January.

Chairman Newhouse hosted Rep. Davis, Illinois Farm Bureau President Rich Guebert, and Charles Yates of the Pacific Legal Foundation, a lawyer in the Sackett v. EPA case, to discuss the impacts WOTUS has on rural communities and potential implications of the Supreme Court decision. Click here to listen.

When the Biden Administration announced their intention to revise and remand the Trump Administration’s Navigable Waters Protection Rule, Chairman Newhouse, Rep. Miller-Meeks, Senator Steve Daines (MT), and Senator Joni Ernst (IA) led Western Caucus Members in a bicameral letter to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Michael Regan and Acting Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works Jaime Pinkham to express their serious concerns and demand answers about the Administration’s plans to reopen the definition of “waters of the United States.” Click here to read the letter and learn more.

In November of 2021, Western Caucus Members from across the country issued statements in response to the Administration’s proposed rule. Click here to read more.",1,2026-03-30T01:40:41Z,2026-04-08T03:32:05Z
https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases/crapo-statement-on-vote-against-further-unrestrained-federal-spending,Crapo Statement on Vote Against Further Unrestrained Federal Spending,2022-12-22,2022,2022-12,Republican,Senate,ID,Mike Crapo,C000880,www.crapo.senate.gov,crapo,https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases,scraper,"Washington, D.C.--U.S. Senator Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) issued the following statement on his vote against the Fiscal Year 2023 omnibus appropriations package.

“Instead of moving forward with individual spending bills to allow members of Congress to separate good policy from bad, we are once again having to vote on a single bill that will unfortunately add to our unsustainable debt crisis. The omnibus appropriations package contains some good policies I have supported and championed, like robust support for our servicemembers and their missions, and support for homeless veterans. It also includes legislation I authored as the top Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, including important legislation to strengthen retirement savings and improve federal health programs.

“Unfortunately, these bipartisan provisions were combined with dozens of other provisions that likely would not have passed on their own, from Green New Deal style handouts to wasteful pet projects. Other broadly bipartisan items were woefully omitted, including widely-supported trade priorities and critical business tax incentives, particularly R&D tax credits that incentivize innovation and growth.

“Unrestrained federal spending over the past two years has led to one of the most expensive holiday seasons in history. Idahoans are paying an estimated additional $819 per month--an increase of 16.5 percent--compared to two years ago. This behemoth funding package will only add fuel to the current inflationary fire. It is past time to rein in reckless, unnecessary government spending and get our fiscal house in order.”

###",1,2026-03-30T01:40:41Z,2026-04-08T03:32:05Z
https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases/crapo-republican-senate-colleagues-urge-pentagon-to-freeze-covid-19-vaccine-related-discharges-reinstate-discharged-soldiers-with-back-pay,"Crapo, Republican Senate Colleagues Urge Pentagon to Freeze COVID-19 Vaccine-Related Discharges, Reinstate Discharged Soldiers with Back Pay",2022-12-16,2022,2022-12,Republican,Senate,ID,Mike Crapo,C000880,www.crapo.senate.gov,crapo,https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases,scraper,"Washington, D.C.--Following the Senate’s approval of the National Defense Authorization act (NDAA), U.S. Senator Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) joined ten colleagues in a letter to Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin. The Senators urged Secretary Austin to freeze all COVID-19 vaccine-related discharges, and to establish a quick and thorough process so all members who were discharged because they refused the COVID-19 vaccine can be reinstated with back pay and full benefits.

Senators Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Rick Scott (R-Florida), James Lankford (R-Oklahoma), Mike Braun (R-Indiana), John Hoeven (R-North Dakota), Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Josh Hawley (R-Missouri), Ron Johnson (R-Wisconsin) and Marco Rubio (R-Florida) all co-signed the letter.

Read the full letter below.

December 16, 2022

The Honorable Lloyd Austin

Secretary

U.S. Department of Defense

1000 Defense Pentagon

Washington, D.C. 20301

Dear Secretary Austin,

Now that the Senate has passed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), the legislation heads to President Biden’s desk to be signed into law. This year’s NDAA, which provides essential funding and sets defense and national security policy for the United States, also contains a key provision we fought for which eliminates the requirement for service members to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. While we are proud to see this needed change included, simply reversing the COVID-19 vaccine mandate is insufficient to right the wrongs done to our service members. We write today to urge immediate action from the Pentagon to protect our service members and provide much-needed direction and stability for America’s brave heroes and their families.

On December 7th, NBC News cited senior military and defense officials in its reporting that discussions about allowing the reinstatement of service members discharged for refusing the COVID-19 vaccine are underway at the Pentagon.[1] This is welcome news. The Pentagon must take every action necessary to undo the harm American service members and their families suffered when they were forcibly discharged from service. We urge you to establish a quick and thorough process so all members who were discharged because they refused the COVID-19 vaccine can be reinstated with back pay and full benefits. Doing so would provide the clarity and stability American service members and their families deserve.

Additionally, we urge you to freeze all COVID-19 vaccine-related discharges. Many service members are in limbo, and are facing discharge for their refusal to take the COVID-19 vaccine just as Congress is removing the vaccine requirement. As the Secretary of Defense, you have the power to immediately end the uncertainty these members are feeling. All branches of our military are facing significant recruiting problems, including problems arising from the vaccine requirement. Therefore, it is in our readiness and security interests to keep these brave men and women within our ranks. Moving forward with discharges over a requirement that has been rescinded by Congress would be deeply misguided.

Thousands of brave men and women were harmed because of the Pentagon’s misguided approach to the COVID-19 vaccine requirement. You have the opportunity to immediately begin undoing the harm caused. For the current and future morale and benefit our Armed Forces, we urge you to act immediately.

We appreciate your attention, and look forward to clarity from the Pentagon on this important issue.",1,2026-03-30T01:40:41Z,2026-04-08T03:32:05Z
https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases/crapo-risch-support-armed-forces-with-ndaa-passage,"Crapo, Risch Support Armed Forces with NDAA Passage",2022-12-15,2022,2022-12,Republican,Senate,ID,Mike Crapo,C000880,www.crapo.senate.gov,crapo,https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases,scraper,"Washington, D.C.-- U.S. Senators Mike Crapo and Jim Risch (both R-Idaho) voted in support of the Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), fulfilling Congress’ constitutional duty to “provide for the common defense.”

The FY 2023 NDAA provides U.S. troops with a needed pay raise and increases authorized defense funding. Republican lawmakers successfully prevented progressive lawmakers from using the military funding bill to advance far-left priorities, such as DC statehood, and created a briefing requirement for all military support deployed to the southern border.

“The provisions included in the FY2023 NDAA are critical for boosting America’s national security at home and abroad,” said Crapo. “This year’s NDAA supports Idaho’s military personnel and industries by advocating for the Idaho Air National Guard, funding military technologies developed in Idaho and protecting our servicemembers from draconian COVID vaccine mandates. Supporting our Armed Forces also means providing for them as they exit active military service. By permanently authorizing the DOD SkillBridge program, servicemembers in their initial stages of separation gain experience in a field of their interest and support the transition of these selfless men and women back to civilian life.”

“The FY 2023 NDAA ensures our military is equipped with the necessary resources to defend our country,” said Risch. “This legislation includes wins for Idaho like ensuring Idaho’s Air National Guard can continue its A-10 mission, repealing the vaccine mandate for active military, and preventing a Democrat-led effort to include women in the draft. While more remains to be done to protect service members who were discharged from their military service because of their refusal to receive a COVID-19 vaccine, this bill will ultimately help strengthen our military and America’s defenses.”

Senators Crapo and Risch secured a number of provisions important to the state of Idaho in final passage of the NDAA, including:

Ensuring the Idaho Air National Guard maintains its flying mission while allowing the Air Force to divest a certain number of A-10s;

Aiding the development of digital night vision technology, in which Idaho industry plays a key role;

Repealing the DOD vaccine mandate on active military personnel; and

Funding for the Range Craft Berthing Facility at the Navy’s Acoustic Research Detachment in Bayview and $379 million for the Idaho National Laboratory.

Senator Crapo’s priorities in the NDAA include:

Requiring financial regulators to develop common data standards that improve transparency and accountability of financial data collected from regulated institutions through inclusion of the Financial Data Transparency Act; and

Permanently authorizing the DOD SkillBridge program, which offers servicemembers in their initial stages of separation from the military to gain experience in a field of their interest. Senator Crapo has long advocated for an expansion of Transition Assistance Program (TAP) counseling to include servicemembers participating in the SkillBridge program.

Senator Risch’s priorities were incorporated into the NDAA as a result of his efforts. Those priorities included:

Precluding the requirement for women to register for the Selective Service;

Reauthorizing the Feed the Future Initiative, a public-private partnership with the University of Idaho;

Ending international wildlife poaching and trafficking; and

Facilitating better international cooperation against synthetic drug trafficking through the FENTANYL Results Act.

# # #",1,2026-03-30T01:40:41Z,2026-04-08T03:32:05Z
https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases/crapo-risch-demand-amends-for-servicemembers-and-federal-employees-affected-by-bidens-covid-vaccine-mandates,"Crapo, Risch Demand Amends for Servicemembers and Federal Employees Affected by Biden’s COVID Vaccine Mandates",2022-12-14,2022,2022-12,Republican,Senate,ID,Mike Crapo,C000880,www.crapo.senate.gov,crapo,https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases,scraper,"Washington, D.C.--U.S. Senators Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) and Jim Risch (R-Idaho) joined Republican Senate colleagues in successfully securing a provision in the Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) to protect servicemembers from the Biden Administration’s COVID vaccine mandate. However, the provision does not address the penalties and discharges previously incurred, so the Idaho Senators sent a letter to President Biden requesting that reparations be made.

“Servicemembers who were reprimanded or unfairly discharged based solely on COVID-19 vaccination status under the Department of Defense’s (DOD) current policy should immediately have their records cleared and be reinstated. The DOD’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate is responsible for the discharge of approximately 3,400 troops who have made a decision for themselves in line with their personal values. At a time when our military is facing its greatest recruitment challenges in decades, bringing thousands of troops back into duty is not only the right thing to do, but it is necessary,” Senators Crapo and Risch wrote in the letter.

Servicemembers have faced challenges in complying with the DOD’s onerous COVID-19 vaccine mandate. This includes members who made the personal decision not to receive the vaccine. As a result, in addition to those who have been discharged, many were grounded, issued letters of reprimand, had clearances rescinded and have been removed from training opportunities due to sincerely-held beliefs.

The letter requests that after the passage of the NDAA, any penalties incurred from a servicemember’s refusal to receive the COVID-19 vaccine be expunged from their records, and any servicemember or federal employee who was unfairly discharged or terminated due to these mandates be reinstated.",1,2026-03-30T01:40:41Z,2026-04-08T03:32:05Z
https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases/crapo-risch-protect-servicemembers-from-bidens-covid-vaccine-mandate,"Crapo, Risch Protect Servicemembers from Biden’s COVID Vaccine Mandate",2022-12-08,2022,2022-12,Republican,Senate,ID,Mike Crapo,C000880,www.crapo.senate.gov,crapo,https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases,scraper,"Washington, D.C.--U.S. Senators Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) and Jim Risch (R-Idaho) joined Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-Tennessee), Roger Marshall (R-Kansas), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Mississippi), Mike Braun (R-Indiana), Deb Fischer (R-Nebraska), Joni Ernst (R- Iowa), Tommy Tuberville (R-Alabama), Steve Daines (R-Montana) and John Hoeven (R-North Dakota) in successfully securing a provision in the Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) to protect servicemembers from the Biden Administration’s COVID vaccine mandate.

“In the United States, the number of new servicemembers joining the military is reaching a near record low. The United States needs a strong military to protect our country against the growing threats facing our nation. We are pleased that the final conferenced bill includes language mirroring our amendments’ efforts to protect troops from being fired due to Biden’s COVID vaccine mandate without fair appeal and to the harm of service readiness,” said Senators Crapo, Risch, Blackburn, Marshall, Hyde-Smith, Braun, Fischer, Ernst, Tuberville, Daines and Hoeven.

BACKGROUND",1,2026-03-30T01:40:41Z,2026-04-08T03:32:05Z
https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases/crapo-shaheen-introduce-bill-to-help-bring-home-missing-servicemembers,"Crapo, Shaheen Introduce Bill to Help Bring Home Missing Servicemembers",2022-12-07,2022,2022-12,Republican,Senate,ID,Mike Crapo,C000880,www.crapo.senate.gov,crapo,https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases,scraper,"Washington, D.C.--U.S. Senators Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-New Hampshire) re-introduced the Bring Our Heroes Home Act (BOHHA), which would eliminate obstacles preventing families and caseworkers from accessing the records needed for recovering America’s prisoners of war (POWs) and missing in action (MIA). According to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, more than 81,500 Americans--including 360 Idahoans--remain unaccounted for from World War II, Korea, Vietnam, the Cold War, the Gulf Wars and other conflicts.

“This commonsense legislation tells every family and survivor that their loved ones are not forgotten,” said Crapo. “America’s servicemembers, past and present, have shown incredible sacrifice and dedication to defending our freedom. We owe it to our nation’s heroes and their families to cut the bureaucratic red tape and continue the effort to identify and recover those who have not yet made it home.”

“Families of service members who have been prisoners of war or missing in action bear an incredible emotional and psychological burden directly related to their loved ones’ service to our nation. Far too many families have to wait years, sometimes even decades, for information about their lost loved ones to emerge,” said Shaheen. “That’s why I’m reintroducing the bipartisan Bring Our Heroes Home Act to ensure that the records of service members are properly collected, declassified when appropriate, and made public, helping honor their legacy and heal their families. I’ll continue working to pass this vital legislation to bring our heroes home.”

The Senate bill, which has six bipartisan co-sponsors, would consolidate all records related to missing personnel within a newly instituted Missing Armed Forces Personnel Records Collection at the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) and require all government agencies to transmit any missing servicemember records to NARA. The measure would also establish an independent government office, the Missing Armed Forces Personnel Records Review Board, to identify missing personnel records, facilitate the transmission and disclosure of these records, and review any decisions by federal agencies to postpone declassification.

Co-sponsors include Senators Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Maggie Hassan (D-New Hampshire), Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts), John Thune (R-South Dakota), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tennessee) and Tammy Duckworth (D-Illinois).

Senators Crapo and Shaheen previously co-sponsored the legislation in the 116th Congress and have long supported various efforts to identify and recover all missing and unaccounted for American military personnel.

Full bill text can be found HERE. A section-by-section can be found HERE and a one-pager can be found HERE.

###",1,2026-03-30T01:40:41Z,2026-04-08T03:32:05Z
https://fulcher.house.gov/2022/12/05/id-622a72f4-316a-49f1-b647-f0cfc90d6b50/,Dr. Foxx and Rep. Fulcher: EEOC Strategic Plan Falls Short,2022-12-05,2022,2022-12,Republican,House,ID,Russ Fulcher,F000469,fulcher.house.gov,fulcher,https://fulcher.house.gov/category/press-releases/,scraper,"WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Education and Labor Committee Republican Leader Virginia Foxx (R-NC) and Civil Rights and Human Services Subcommittee Republican Leader Russ Fulcher (R-ID) sent a letter to Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) Chair Charlotte A. Burrows to sound the alarm on the agency’s draft Strategic Plan, which misses opportunities for making EEOC more responsive to workers and employers.

In the letter, Foxx and Fulcher write: “We are concerned the Strategic Plan refuses to reinstate EEOC’s mediation and conciliation pilot programs, omits a specific plan to address EEOC’s current failure to return its employees to regular in-person work, and does not fully address issues highlighted by the findings of a recent Government Accountability Office (GAO) report on EEOC’s charge intake and outreach efforts. Unfortunately, these are all troubling issues we have raised previously with EEOC. Without properly addressing these issues, the Strategic Plan will fail to meet its stated commitments to equal employment opportunity, accountability, and integrity.”

The Members continue: “Mediation and conciliation are vitally important functions of EEOC that lead to just and timely resolutions of cases for workers and employers in lieu of costly litigation. In July 2020, EEOC launched mediation and conciliation pilot programs. However, within the first week of the Biden administration, EEOC discontinued these successful pilot programs with little explanation or justification.”

The Members also write: “As 2022 will soon draw to a close, EEOC has still failed to implement a plan to return its employees to the kind of onsite, in-person work that resembles its operations before the pandemic. The damage done by this unreasonable delay was conceded by Chair Burrows in testimony before the Committee.”

Read the full letter here.

###",1,2026-03-30T01:40:41Z,2026-04-08T03:32:05Z
https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases/crapo-risch-colleagues-call-for-expanded-high-speed-internet-access-in-rural-communities,"Crapo, Risch, Colleagues Call for Expanded High-Speed Internet Access in Rural Communities",2022-12-02,2022,2022-12,Republican,Senate,ID,Mike Crapo,C000880,www.crapo.senate.gov,crapo,https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases,scraper,"Washington, D.C.--U.S. Senators Mike Crapo and Jim Risch (both R-Idaho) joined Senators John Barrasso (R-Wyoming) and Senator Ben Ray Luján (D-New Mexico) in a letter to the Secretaries of the U.S. Departments of Interior, Agriculture and Commerce about the need to expand high-speed internet access in rural communities.

Internet providers are required to obtain permits from the federal government when installing telecommunications infrastructure on federal lands or for projects using federal funding. Currently, they face extensive delays in the permitting process. In their letter, the Senators encourage the Biden Administration to streamline the permitting process, close the digital divide and expand high-speed internet in rural areas across the country.

“According to the most recent Federal Communication Commission (FCC) Broadband Deployment report, approximately 14.5 million Americans in rural areas lack access to basic broadband service,” the Senators wrote. “Many of our communities rely on rights of way and service corridors through federal lands for transportation and essential utilities.”

“It is crucial we close the digital divide by expanding access to high-speed internet—a top priority for our rural areas—and we cannot accomplish that without improving the permitting process,” the Senators continued. “We urge you to build upon recent actions taken by Congress and various federal agencies to streamline permitting on federal land.”

Additional signatories of the letter include U.S. Senators Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Michael Bennet (D-Colorado), Ron Wyden (D-Oregon), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyoming), John Hickenlooper (D-Colorado), Mark Kelly (D-Arizona), Shelley Moore Capito (R-West Virginia), Patty Murray (D-Washington), Mike Braun (R-Indiana), Jacky Rosen (D-Nevada), Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), Catherine Cortez-Masto (D-Nevada), Roger Wicker (R-Mississippi) and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minnesota).

The full text of the letter can be found below.

Dear Secretary Haaland, Secretary Vilsack, and Secretary Raimondo,

We write today concerning the extensive delays internet service providers are experiencing when obtaining permit approvals. As you know, these permits are required when installing telecommunications infrastructure on federal lands or for projects seeking federal funding through a multitude of programs dedicated to broadband deployment. It is crucial we close the digital divide by expanding access to high-speed internet—a top priority for our rural areas—and we cannot accomplish that without improving the permitting process.

According to the most recent Federal Communication Commission Broadband Deployment report, approximately 14.5 million Americans in rural areas lack access to basic broadband service. However, due to mapping issues, this number may be significantly higher. Additionally, as reported by the Congressional Research Service, the federal government owns 45.9% of the land across 11 western states, and about 28% nationwide. Many of our communities rely on rights of way and service corridors through federal lands for transportation and essential utilities. Furthermore, duplicative permitting processes delay permit approvals for broadband infrastructure, drastically slowing down efforts to close the digital divide, especially on federal lands.

Over the years, presidential administrations have identified opportunities to streamline this permitting process. Most recently, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA)—the agency that is principally responsible for advising the President on telecommunications issues—required States and eligible entities to “expedit[e] permitting timelines and waiv[e] fees where applicable, where doing so does not undermine other critical policy goals.” Federal agencies should similarly expedite permitting timelines and waive fees in accordance with existing environmental protection and historic preservation laws.

The current process has a significant impact on our communities. For example, one Wyoming internet provider regularly waits between 12 and 36 months for a permit to be approved from the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), and in New Mexico, permitting for broadband projects on BLM or National Forest Service land can take anywhere between 16 and 48 months. In Utah, one provider waited almost three years for approval from the U.S. Forest Service to repair a fiber optic line on federal land. The Forest Service often tells a Colorado provider that they don’t have the resources to process an application and will instead look at it the following year. Prolonged delays jeopardize broadband projects by increasing costs and may even cause a provider to default on their buildout deadline that accompanies federal funding. This process should not take years.

Additionally, rural broadband providers have reported significant delays between the notice of an award and receipt of the funds necessary to deploy the proposed broadband networks. While the delays seemingly occur at many steps throughout the process, those posed by environmental and historical preservation reviews significantly contribute to the long wait times leading up to the disbursement of funds to an awardee. We urge you to expedite permitting timelines and waive fees in accordance with existing environmental protection and historic preservation laws.

The burden of these delays falls heavily on small businesses and unserved families in our most rural areas. Access to high-speed internet is crucial for economic development. The internet is also essential to educating our children as well as connecting Americans with their healthcare providers through telehealth services. In the Western United States, first responders are often called to areas on remote federal lands with little-to-no access to communications networks. A lack of strong communications capabilities for our first responders puts the public at risk, and these continued delays are worsening the problem.

We urge you to build upon recent actions taken by Congress and various federal agencies to streamline permitting on federal land. We are encouraged by the recent agreement to streamline permitting for high-speed internet projects on Tribal lands as well as the recent proposed rule announcement by BLM. To build on this progress, we request the following information regarding the permit approval process:

What are your plans for modernizing the environmental review and permitting process to expedite the approval of applications for broadband projects on federal land?

Do your respective agencies have sufficient staff and resources to meet current statutory and regulatory requirements to process permit applications and meet the expected increase in permit applications for broadband projects in a timely manner?

Do your respective agencies require additional appropriations or new statutory authority to expedite permitting approval?

What is the escalation process for resolving potential permitting bottlenecks and conflicts?

In May of 2022, the White House announced a Permitting Action Plan to accelerate Federal permitting and environmental reviews. The plan requires the Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council to improve coordination among agencies to avoid potential bottlenecks, and identify and share best practices. How are you leveraging this existing program to address conflicts, improve communication, and accelerate information sharing amongst agencies?

What actions are the Council and the respective agencies taking to reduce permit approval times to close the digital divide as quickly as possible?

In August, NTIA and BIA announced an agreement to coordinate responsibilities in ensuring compliance with environmental, historic preservation, and cultural resources requirements related to the Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program. Is there a similar agreement between NTIA, FCC, and the federal land management agencies under USDA and DOI?

How many outstanding broadband infrastructure projects are awaiting permit approvals on federal lands?

What is the average time for agencies in your department to approve such permits?

What is the average interval between a USDA ReConnect award announcement and the final disbursement of funds to the applicant?

What is the average interval between a NTIA Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program award announcement and the final disbursement of funds to the applicant?

What amount of time do you expect between a NTIA Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment award and final disbursement of funds to subgrantees?

Thank you for your consideration of this matter. We look forward to your response.

###",1,2026-03-30T01:40:41Z,2026-04-08T03:32:05Z
https://fulcher.house.gov/2022/12/01/id-c9b5c391-68a8-4494-b89a-351760de8531/,Congressman Fulcher Elected to Republican Policy Committee for 118th Congress,2022-12-01,2022,2022-12,Republican,House,ID,Russ Fulcher,F000469,fulcher.house.gov,fulcher,https://fulcher.house.gov/category/press-releases/,scraper,"WASHINGTON, D.C. — This week, Congressman Russ Fulcher was elected by members of the House Republican conference to serve on the Republican Policy Committee for the 118th Congress. He joins the Committee as the Representative for Region 12, which includes the states Idaho, North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Washington, Oregon, and the territories Guam and American Samoa.

“I am honored to have been elected by my colleagues to serve on the Republican Policy Committee. After four years of failed Democratic leadership, House Republicans stand prepared to offer Americans common-sense policies to our most pressing issues,” stated Rep. Fulcher. “Beginning with our Commitment to America, there is no shortage of serious policy proposals to deal with the inflation, border, and energy crises that President Biden has failed to address. I look forward to working with Chairman Gary Palmer (R-AL) and all members of the Republican Policy Committee to provide an alternative vision for our country – one based on the founding principles of free enterprise and American values.”

“Congressman Fulcher will be a great asset to the Republican Policy Committee team,” commented RPC Chairman Gary Palmer. “His real-world experience coupled with a focus on sound policy initiatives will help shape solutions for all Americans. I look forward to working with him on ideas for the Republican Conference to enact.”

The Republican Policy Committee, first established in 1949, is an advisory body to the incoming House Republican majority which facilitates the lawmaking process through legislative analysis and conservative policy proposals.

###",1,2026-03-30T01:40:41Z,2026-04-08T03:32:05Z
https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases/crapo-wyden-and-bipartisan-senate-finance-committee-members-raise-concerns-about-process-to-approve-and-implement-indo-pacific-trade-pact-and-other-trade-agreements,"Crapo, Wyden and Bipartisan Senate Finance Committee Members Raise Concerns about Process to Approve and Implement Indo-Pacific Trade Pact and Other Trade Agreements",2022-12-01,2022,2022-12,Republican,Senate,ID,Mike Crapo,C000880,www.crapo.senate.gov,crapo,https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases,scraper,"Washington, D.C.--U.S. Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Chairman Ron Wyden, (D-Oregon) and 19 bipartisan members raised Constitutional concerns about the process to approve and implement the proposed Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF), as well as the need for the administration to increase consultation and transparency.

In a letter to President Biden, the members noted that they support efforts to strengthen ties with allies in the Indo-Pacific and address issues like strengthening supply chains, growing American jobs and expanding digital trade. However, they reminded the administration that Congress holds ultimate responsibility for approving trade pacts, regardless of whether they include tariff reduction or market access provisions.

“There is no question that comprehensive free trade agreements that include reciprocal tariff reductions and dispute resolution mechanisms must be approved and implemented by Congress,” the members wrote. “However, there appears to be a misunderstanding as to whether an agreement like IPEF, which aims to regulate foreign commerce and reshape international trade flows, requires similar approval. It does.”

While neither the administration nor Congress has announced a process to approve and implement IPEF, Finance Committee leaders urged the president to engage in robust consultation with Congress, transparency of negotiations and collaboration with Congress on how the agreement should be approved and implemented.

The letter is cosigned by U.S. Senators Debbie Stabenow (D-Michigan), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Maria Cantwell (D-Washington), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Bob Menendez (D-New Jersey), John Thune (R-South Dakota), Tom Carper (D-Delaware), Richard Burr (R-North Carolina), Ben Cardin (D-Maryland), Rob Portman (R-Ohio), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Pat Toomey (R-Pennsylvania), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nevada), Tim Scott (R-South Carolina), Bill Cassidy (R-Louisiana), Steve Daines (R-Montana), Todd Young (R-Indiana), Ben Sasse (R-Nebraska) and John Barrasso (R-Wyoming).

Read the full letter here.

###",1,2026-03-30T01:40:41Z,2026-04-08T03:32:05Z
https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases/crapo-wyden-bennet-burr-release-mental-health-parity-discussion-draft,"Crapo, Wyden, Bennet, Burr Release Mental Health Parity Discussion Draft",2022-12-01,2022,2022-12,Republican,Senate,ID,Mike Crapo,C000880,www.crapo.senate.gov,crapo,https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases,scraper,"Washington, D.C.--U.S. Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Chairman Ron Wyden (D-Oregon), and Senate Finance Committee Members Senators Michael Bennet (D-Colorado) and Richard Burr (R-North Carolina), today released a discussion draft including policies aimed at improving mental health parity in Medicare and Medicaid and helping to put access to mental health and substance use disorder (SUD) services on par with physical health care. Mental health parity includes a set of laws aimed at ensuring mental and physical health care are covered equally by health insurance.

“These proposals will help us gather additional data and increase transparency to ensure Medicare beneficiaries have access to affordable mental health services, on par with their access to physical health services,” said Crapo. “I thank Senators Bennet and Burr for their work on this discussion draft, and look forward to receiving feedback on each mental health discussion draft from our colleagues and stakeholders.”

“Too often the notion of mental health parity falls short of reality,” said Wyden. “These policies represent the first step towards addressing the mental health parity and ghost network challenges that I intend to build on in the coming months -- especially the challenges I hear about consistently from families at home who aren’t able to find available mental health professionals covered in their insurance networks. I’m proud that the committee has been able to come together throughout the year to release a whole host of policies aimed at improving mental health care for Americans, some of which have already become law. I will keep working to enact these policies and ensure all Americans can get mental health care when they need it.”

“As I travel across Colorado, I consistently hear about the mental and behavioral health challenges Coloradans and their children experience and the difficulties they face finding affordable, high-quality care. We need to change our approach to ensure our health care system equitably addresses both mental and physical health,” said Bennet. “These policies are a step forward to help achieve parity, and I’ll continue working to reimagine our mental and behavioral health system to better care for Coloradans and families across the country.”

“Mental health services are a critical health care need as our nation recovers from the pandemic,” said Burr. “This discussion draft lays a foundation for advancing sensible policies that bring to the forefront the importance of ensuring patients have the information necessary to make the best health care decisions for themselves and their families, and I look forward to receiving comment.”

Policies in the discussion draft include:

Strengthening the accuracy of provider directories in Medicare Advantage plans.

Strengthening requirements in Medicaid for managed care organizations and states to maintain regularly updated provider directories that include, in part, information on accessing care from behavioral health professionals.

Direct GAO to conduct a study of the differences in enrollee cost-sharing and utilization management between behavioral and non-behavioral health services in Medicare Advantage and compared to traditional Medicare.

Require Medicare to provide guidance to health care providers detailing the extent to which Medicare beneficiaries with substance use disorders can receive partial hospitalization program services.

Direct GAO to report on Medicaid payment rates for behavioral health services compared to medical and surgical services across a sample of states.

This discussion draft on mental health parity is the fifth and final legislative draft the Finance Committee has released since kicking off its bipartisan mental health initiative. The first, released in May, focused on telehealth policies. The second, released in June, focused on youth mental health. The third, released in September, focused on expanding the mental health care workforce. The fourth, released in November, focused on integrating physical health and mental health care providers.

The full text of the discussion draft is available here. A summary of all provisions released by the committee as a part of the bipartisan mental health effort, including mental health parity, is available here.

###",1,2026-03-30T01:40:41Z,2026-04-08T03:32:05Z
https://fulcher.house.gov/2022/11/23/id-5f712d11-483a-4c55-b405-f8dadd7ccbbb/,Pressing for Answers to Cancelled Prescription Contracts Hindering Idaho Veterans’ and Servicemembers’ Pharmacy Access,2022-11-23,2022,2022-11,Republican,House,ID,Russ Fulcher,F000469,fulcher.house.gov,fulcher,https://fulcher.house.gov/category/press-releases/,scraper,"Guest column submitted by the Idaho Congressional Delegation: Senator Mike Crapo, Senator James E. Risch, Representative Mike Simpson and Representative Russ Fulcher

Idaho is made even greater by the more than 116,000 veterans, the 4,063 active-duty servicemembers and the 8,367 National Guard and reserve members who live here. We have been working steadily to ensure federal policy supports their service and makes it easier for them to live here in Idaho. This includes our raising concerns about a recent change cutting almost 15,000 pharmacies, mostly in small communities, from the TRICARE program, limiting military families’ ability to continue going to their community pharmacies for their prescriptions.

Express Scripts, Inc. (ESI), the pharmacy benefit manager for TRICARE, has implemented pharmacy network changes that disproportionally harm small community pharmacies by cutting the reimbursement rate for prescriptions dispensed in-network. As a result, a number of pharmacies will no longer be able to afford to participate in the TRICARE pharmacy network. ESI made these changes unilaterally, terminating 2022 contracts two months early rather than allowing them to expire at the end of the year.

For example, Sandpoint Super Drug, a local pharmacy that serves the rural community of Sandpoint, has a clientele base that is comprised of roughly 30 percent TRICARE patients. Sandpoint Super Drug was recently notified it will no longer be in the TRICARE pharmacy network because its Pharmacy Service Administrative Organization (PSAO) declined the proposed contract terms for continued participation on its behalf. Scott Porter, Pharmacist and owner of Sandpoint Super Drug said, “I have asked repeatedly for a stand-alone contract with Sandpoint Super Drug and ESI-TRICARE as if my contracting agency never existed. I am losing customers daily because of this agreement with TRICARE-ESI and larger corporate pharmacies. This is preventing me from meeting the prescription needs of many TRICARE recipients in my community.”

We wrote to the U.S. Department of Defense’s Defense Health Agency (DHA) questioning the abrupt changes. Among our many questions about the changes and their impacts, we asked about:

What steps are being taken to address concerns about TRICARE pharmacy network reductions and access to retail pharmacy services for beneficiaries;

Recourse available to community pharmacies that wish to continue to participate in TRICARE through stand-alone contracts;

How many families are impacted by the changes, and if unknown, why there was not an assessment before contract negotiations took place; and may other questions.

Regrettably, too many veterans and servicemembers still face barriers to the care and services they need, and limiting access to critical pharmacy services is deeply concerning. Idaho servicemembers and veterans should be free to go to trusted, local pharmacists to pick up prescription drugs if they choose.

On November 11, 2022, ESI announced it will be reopening negotiations for community pharmacy participation in the TRICARE pharmacy network. We will keep our eyes on this issue as the pharmacy contract negotiations continue, keep pushing for answers about these recent changes affecting TRICARE’s retail pharmacy network and look for remedies that support Idaho’s uniformed servicemembers, veterans and their families, as well as the community pharmacies that serve them.

# # #",1,2026-03-30T01:40:41Z,2026-04-08T03:24:37Z
https://fulcher.house.gov/2022/11/17/id-f4d7ca55-d5ea-477c-b230-ae4844068b59/,Idaho Delegation Urges Fish and Wildlife Service to Review Idaho Petition to Delist Grizzly Bear,2022-11-17,2022,2022-11,Republican,House,ID,Russ Fulcher,F000469,fulcher.house.gov,fulcher,https://fulcher.house.gov/category/press-releases/,scraper,"Contact:

Daniel Tellez

202-225-6611

daniel.tellez@mail.house.gov

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senators Jim Risch and Mike Crapo and Representatives Mike Simpson and Russ Fulcher sent a letter to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) Director Martha Williams demanding a response to Idaho’s grizzly bear delisting petition.

“Idahoans have a unique interest in the delisting of the grizzly bear due to a recent and significant increase in depredation events within the state,” the Delegation wrote. “Over the past five years, Idaho’s Boundary and Bonner Counties annually experienced two to three grizzly bear depredation events. This year that number was 21.”

“As grizzly bear populations continue to meet and exceed recovery targets, human-bear interactions will also increase,” the letter continued. “Pending resolution of Idaho’s petition to delist the grizzly bear population in the lower 48 states, we request that USFWS devote more of the resources that are currently allocated to preventing human-bear interactions on the regional scale to Idaho.”

To read the full letter, click here.

Background: The grizzly bear was first listed as threatened in 1975. In 2017, the USFWS removed the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem population of the grizzly bear from the endangered species list, citing a significant increase in bear populations and a doubling of their range land. In September 2018, a federal judge in Montana ruled to put the grizzly bear back on the endangered species list. The state of Wyoming appealed the decision, and in July 2020 a federal appeals court in San Francisco upheld the continued protections for the grizzly bear. The State of Idaho submitted a petition to the USFWS on March 9, 2022 to delist the grizzly bear in the “Lower 48” United States. The agency has failed to review the petition within the 90-day timeframe required by the Endangered Species Act and has still not responded to Idaho’s petition.

# # #",1,2026-03-30T01:40:41Z,2026-04-08T03:24:37Z
https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases/crapo-risch-colleagues-call-out-interior-usda-failure-to-produce-mineral-permitting-report,"Crapo, Risch, Colleagues Call Out Interior, USDA Failure to Produce Mineral Permitting Report",2022-11-17,2022,2022-11,Republican,Senate,ID,Mike Crapo,C000880,www.crapo.senate.gov,crapo,https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases,scraper,"Washington, D.C.--U.S. Senators Mike Crapo and Jim Risch (both R-Idaho) joined Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) this week in a letter to the U.S. Departments of the Interior (DOI) and Agriculture (USDA), questioning whether they would produce a report outlining options to improve the federal mineral permitting process on the timeframe required by federal law. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which was signed into law on November 15, 2021, required the Departments to complete the report within one year of enactment. However, both have failed to adhere to that statutory deadline.

The Senators noted the law details nine methods for permitting improvement and “…establishes a deadline of one year from enactment for your Departments to issue a new report that identifies additional regulatory and legislative measures that would increase the timeliness of permitting, ensure adequate staffing for the timely consideration of authorizations on federal land, and quantify the period of time required to complete each step of the permitting process.”

“These are serious and substantial requirements that represent a first step to address serious deficiencies in the federal permitting process,” the Senators continued. “Yet DOI and USDA have outwardly paid little attention to them, and internally appear to have devoted critical resources to discretionary projects that trace back to Executive Orders, rather than legally binding federal statutes…”

“As our mineral security and foreign mineral dependence become more important at a time of rising global demand, Congress remains focused on a variety of means to encourage new domestic production,” the Senators wrote.

U.S. Senators Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) and Kevin Cramer (R-North Dakota) also signed the letter.

To read the full letter, click here.

Background: Section 40206 of the bipartisan infrastructure law is drawn from Senator Murkowski's American Mineral Security Act, which Senators Risch and Crapo co-sponsored.

Rather than focusing on the statutory requirement to complete the permitting report and associated work, DOI and USDA have instead prioritized a discretionary Interagency Working Group that has pursued mining law reform, especially new royalties and fees that would raise the costs of hardrock mining and limit domestic supply.

###",1,2026-03-30T01:40:41Z,2026-04-08T03:24:37Z
https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases/finance-committee-unveils-mental-health-care-integration-discussion-draft,Finance Committee Unveils Mental Health Care Integration Discussion Draft,2022-11-10,2022,2022-11,Republican,Senate,ID,Mike Crapo,C000880,www.crapo.senate.gov,crapo,https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases,scraper,"Washington, D.C.--U.S. Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Chairman Ron Wyden (D-Oregon), Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nevada) and Senator John Cornyn (R-Texas) today released a discussion draft of legislation aimed at creating better care integration of mental and physical health care services and expanding access to crisis care and follow up services to get Americans the longer-term care they need.

“Especially for rural Americans and communities facing health care provider shortages, integrating behavioral health into the primary care setting can expand access while strengthening the doctor-patient relationship,” said Crapo. “The reforms included in this discussion draft would take important steps toward improving care quality and generating cost savings for patients and taxpayers alike. I thank my colleagues for their vital work on these proposals, and I look forward to hearing feedback from stakeholders on how we can further enhance these policies.”

“For too long, mental health and physical health have been deeply separated in this country,” said Wyden. “These policies will begin to allow health care providers to work together more than ever before to connect their patients with the mental health care they need. I am very pleased that the draft contains robust improvements for crisis response and stabilization, which is critical to safeguarding Americans struggling with their mental health. I want to thank Ranking Member Crapo and Senators Cortez Masto and Cornyn for all of their hard work crafting this discussion draft. The Finance Committee will continue working to bring these and other mental health care improvements to Americans in need.”

“I’ve worked to promote Nevadans’ mental and physical health, and this bipartisan legislation will make sure that Nevadans have greater access to critical mental health resources, particularly during a mental health crisis,” said Cortez Masto. “This is a critical step in creating a true continuum of crisis care for mental and behavioral health issues that provides the right services at the right time to those who need them. I won’t stop working until that’s a reality for those in mental health crisis and their loved ones.”

“High-quality care for Americans grappling with a mental health crisis is an urgent and growing need,” said Cornyn. “This bipartisan legislation would help medical providers merge behavioral health care and primary care services while increasing access to crisis stabilization services, and I am grateful to Ranking Member Crapo, Chairman Wyden, and Senator Cortez Masto for their work on this issue.”

The discussion draft includes policies that would:

Increase payment rates to help providers integrate behavioral health and primary care.

Create a standardized payment in Medicare for mobile crisis response team services, including a screening and assessment of the Medicare beneficiary’s mental health or substance use disorder crisis, services to support de-escalation of the individual’s mental health or substance use disorder crisis, and referrals for health and social services.

Create a bundled payment in Medicare for crisis stabilization services including observation care, screening for suicide risk, screening for violence risk, assessment of immediate physical health needs, and other services.

Ensure peer support specialists may participate in furnishing behavioral health integration services to Medicare beneficiaries.

Make mobile crisis intervention services a permanent state option available to states eligible for federal Medicaid match funding.

Direct the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to inform states of best practices and recommendations for building a crisis care continuum financed by Medicaid and CHIP, and provide funding for technical assistance and planning grants for states.

Require CMS to provide best practices to health care providers on integrating behavioral health care into the primary care setting and encourage CMS to consider models that include behavioral health integration.

Direct CMS to conduct an analysis of integration models in Medicaid.

Establish CMS technical assistance for providers seeking to integrate behavioral health and primary care.

Require CMS to issue guidance outlining flexibilities and best practices for partnering between states, Medicaid managed care organizations, and community based organizations to address health related social needs.

This discussion draft on the mental health integration is the fourth legislative draft the Finance Committee has released since kicking off its bipartisan mental health initiative. The first, released in May, focused on telehealth policies. The second, released in June, focused on youth mental health. The third, released in September, focused on expanding the mental health care workforce. Other discussion drafts may be released. The committee is committed to fully paying for any mental health package with bipartisan, consensus-driven offsets.

A summary of the provisions is available here. The full text of the discussion draft is available here.

###",1,2026-03-30T01:40:41Z,2026-04-08T03:24:37Z
https://fulcher.house.gov/2022/11/07/id-1f650a40-1bc1-44a7-b4cc-043069b2dc30/,Idaho Delegation Presses Defense Health Agency on Cancelled Prescription Contracts Hindering Veterans’ and Servicemembers’ Pharmacy Access,2022-11-07,2022,2022-11,Republican,House,ID,Russ Fulcher,F000469,fulcher.house.gov,fulcher,https://fulcher.house.gov/category/press-releases/,scraper,"Contact:

Daniel Tellez

202-225-6611

daniel.tellez@mail.house.gov

BOISE, ID — Upon learning that the pharmacy benefit management organization that administers the TRICARE Pharmacy Program instituted changes that impact roughly 400,000 beneficiaries and cut out almost 15,000 pharmacies mostly in small communities, the Idaho Congressional Delegation pressed the U.S. Department of Defense’s Defense Health Agency (DHA) to ensure adequate patient access for servicemembers and covered veterans.

“While Express Scripts claims most patients will have access to pharmacies in their area, significant concerns remain that beneficiaries in rural areas, including Idaho, will encounter less availability that could undermine their quality of care,” the Delegation wrote.

“. . . reducing payments to community pharmacies hurts not just choice, but could be seen as a move to monopolize,” the letter continues. “Additionally, this could impact pediatric healthcare needs for families enrolled in TRICARE, because these children must go to independent pharmacies for specialized compounding services due to traditionally manufactured drugs not being able to meet their needs.”

“I have asked repeatedly for a stand-alone contract with Sandpoint Super Drug and ESI-Tricare as if my contracting agency never existed. I am losing customers daily because of this agreement with Tricare-ESI and larger corporate pharmacies. This is preventing me from meeting the prescription needs of many Tricare recipients in my community,” said Scott Porter, Pharmacist and owner of Sandpoint Super Drug, which serves the rural community of Sandpoint, Idaho, with a clientele base comprised of roughly 30 percent TRICARE patients, and whose contract to provide TRICARE benefits was abruptly cancelled.

Express Scripts, Inc. (ESI), the pharmacy benefit manager for TRICARE, has implemented pharmacy network changes that disproportionally harm small community pharmacies by cutting the reimbursement rate for prescriptions dispensed in-network. As a result, a number of pharmacies will no longer be able to afford to participate in the TRICARE pharmacy network. ESI made these changes unilaterally, terminating 2022 contracts two months early rather than allowing them to expire at the end of the year.

The Idaho Delegation is seeking answers to several questions to better understand the reasons for the abrupt changes, to understand the true size of the negative impact this decision will have on TRICARE beneficiaries, and to ensure adequate patient access for Idaho’s veterans and servicemembers who rely on small community pharmacies to meet their pharmaceutical needs.",1,2026-03-30T01:40:41Z,2026-04-08T03:24:37Z
https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases/idaho-delegation-presses-defense-health-agency-on-cancelled-prescription-contracts-hindering-veterans-and-servicemembers-pharmacy-access,Idaho Delegation Presses Defense Health Agency on Cancelled Prescription Contracts Hindering Veterans’ and Servicemembers’ Pharmacy Access,2022-11-07,2022,2022-11,Republican,Senate,ID,Mike Crapo,C000880,www.crapo.senate.gov,crapo,https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases,scraper,"Boise, Idaho--Upon learning that the pharmacy benefit management organization that administers the TRICARE Pharmacy Program instituted changes that impact roughly 400,000 beneficiaries and cut out almost 15,000 pharmacies mostly in small communities, the Idaho Congressional Delegation pressed the U.S. Department of Defense’s Defense Health Agency (DHA) to ensure adequate patient access for servicemembers and covered veterans.

“While Express Scripts claims most patients will have access to pharmacies in their area, significant concerns remain that beneficiaries in rural areas, including Idaho, will encounter less availability that could undermine their quality of care,” the Delegation wrote.

“. . . reducing payments to community pharmacies hurts not just choice, but could be seen as a move to monopolize,” the letter continues. “Additionally, this could impact pediatric healthcare needs for families enrolled in TRICARE, because these children must go to independent pharmacies for specialized compounding services due to traditionally manufactured drugs not being able to meet their needs.”

“I have asked repeatedly for a stand-alone contract with Sandpoint Super Drug and ESI-Tricare as if my contracting agency never existed. I am losing customers daily because of this agreement with Tricare-ESI and larger corporate pharmacies. This is preventing me from meeting the prescription needs of many Tricare recipients in my community,” said Scott Porter, Pharmacist and owner of Sandpoint Super Drug, which serves the rural community of Sandpoint, Idaho, with a clientele base comprised of roughly 30 percent TRICARE patients, and whose contract to provide TRICARE benefits was abruptly cancelled.

Express Scripts, Inc. (ESI), the pharmacy benefit manager for TRICARE, has implemented pharmacy network changes that disproportionally harm small community pharmacies by cutting the reimbursement rate for prescriptions dispensed in-network. As a result, a number of pharmacies will no longer be able to afford to participate in the TRICARE pharmacy network. ESI made these changes unilaterally, terminating 2022 contracts two months early rather than allowing them to expire at the end of the year.

The Idaho Delegation is seeking answers to several questions to better understand the reasons for the abrupt changes, to understand the true size of the negative impact this decision will have on TRICARE beneficiaries, and to ensure adequate patient access for Idaho’s veterans and servicemembers who rely on small community pharmacies to meet their pharmaceutical needs.

Full text of the letter can be found below, or by clicking here.

Dear Acting Assistant Secretary Mullen,

We write in support of Idaho’s uniformed servicemembers, veterans and their families, as well as the community pharmacies that serve them in the TRICARE Pharmacy Program. Regrettably, too many of these individuals still face barriers to the care and services they need, and it is concerning to hear that access to critical pharmacy services may be further limited due to several recent changes affecting TRICARE’s retail pharmacy network.

Express Scripts’ new retail pharmacy contract terms include, among other changes, reduced reimbursement rates for prescriptions dispensed at in-network retail pharmacies for calendar year 2023. It is estimated that these reductions will leave nearly 15,000 community pharmacies unable to participate in the TRICARE pharmacy network, affecting approximately 400,000 beneficiaries, or about 4 percent of the TRICARE eligible population. Further, Express Scripts recently acted unilaterally to terminate 2022 pharmacy contracts on October 24, 2022, rather than allowing them to expire at the end of the year.

While Express Scripts claims most patients will have access to pharmacies in their area, significant concerns remain that beneficiaries in rural areas, including Idaho, will encounter less availability that could undermine their quality of care. For example, Sandpoint Super Drug, a local pharmacy that serves the rural community of Sandpoint, Idaho, has a clientele base that is comprised of roughly 30 percent TRICARE patients. Sandpoint Super Drug has provided expanded service for almost 9,000 residents including vaccinations, health supplements, access to nurse practitioners, in-town prescription deliveries and curbside pickup. Sandpoint Super Drug was recently notified that, effective October 24, 2022, it will no longer be in the TRICARE pharmacy network because its Pharmacy Service Administrative Organization (PSAO) declined the proposed contract terms for continued participation on its behalf.

As you can imagine, this will have a devastating impact on both Sandpoint Super Drug and the many TRICARE beneficiaries it serves. We further understand that Express Scripts will shift some of these patients to mail-order prescriptions that may not be adequate to address their needs. This is due to the fact that many of our constituents who use these pharmacies live in rural areas that can see higher disruptions to their mail delivery service than those constituents who live in more urban areas. Also, Express Scripts owns its own mail-order and specialty pharmacy, making it a direct competitor to independent pharmacies. Thus, reducing payments to community pharmacies hurts not just choice, but could be seen as a move to monopolize.

Additionally, this could impact pediatric healthcare needs for families enrolled in TRICARE, because these children must go to independent pharmacies for specialized compounding services due to traditionally manufactured drugs not being able to meet their needs.

Finally, it is our understanding Express Scripts will have its subsidiary, Accredo Specialty Pharmacy, take over as the primary in-network specialty pharmacy for TRICARE patients who suffer from chronic, complex conditions and need a specialty medication on January 1, 2022. However, it is not clear whether those patients who get their specialty drugs filled at one of the pharmacies leaving the TRICARE pharmacy network will be able to transition to Accredo’s service to get their prescriptions filled before January 1st.

In light of these concerns, we are requesting responses to the following:

What steps is the Department taking to address concerns about TRICARE pharmacy network reductions and access to retail pharmacy services for beneficiaries?

What reasons has Express Scripts given for its decision to terminate 2022 contracts two months earlier than planned?

Express Scripts’ reimbursement reductions have caused many PSAOs and community pharmacies to make the difficult decision of discontinuing TRICARE network participation. However, for community pharmacies interested in continued participation- -such as Sandpoint Super Drug--Express Scripts has communicated that it will only contract with PSAOs and will not contract directly with community pharmacies unless under specific requirements, thus further reducing pharmacy choice and critical access for patients.

What recourse is there for community pharmacies, like Sandpoint Super Drug, that wish to continue participation in the TRICARE pharmacy network through stand-alone contracts rather than through their PSAO?

It is our understanding that some pharmacies, such as large chain pharmacies, were offered more favorable contract terms while other pharmacies (particularly community pharmacies) were offered contract terms that reimburse below their acquisition cost and did not include a dispensing fee.

How did Express Scripts decide which contract terms were offered to different types of pharmacies?

Are there significant discrepancies between dispensing fees Express Scripts gives to pharmacies owned by Express Scripts versus independently owned pharmacies? Does Express Scripts reimburse their own mail-order pharmacy at a higher rate than they reimburse other retail pharmacies in the network?

Does the U.S. Department of Defense pay Express Scripts’ administrative fees, on top of reimbursements, for all prescriptions they dispense through their mail-order pharmacy? And if so, what is the administrative fee paid to Express Scripts to dispense drugs via their mail-order facility?

It is our understanding you have the authority to take directed contracting action to ensure adequate patient access is met. Will you use this authority? If so, we ask you to consider the changes listed below:

Change the “access” requirements to a 10-minute driving time to the nearest innetwork pharmacy for 95 percent of beneficiaries.

Only release pharmacies that have not dispensed a TRICARE prescription in the past year.

Require the coverage of pharmacies that are the sole contractor for facilities treating TRICARE recipients, such as long-term care facilities.

Require that independent pharmacies in the TRICARE network receive both the same reimbursement rates and the same dispensing fee level of other pharmacies in the TRICARE network.

How does the DHA define “network adequacy” regarding the term of the TRICARE contract that requires 90 percent of TRICARE beneficiaries to be within a 15-minute driving distance from the nearest in-network pharmacy? Ninety percent of the entire country may look different than 90 percent of each region/state. It is important we ensure we are meeting 90 percent of Idaho. What assurances can you provide on this requirement?

What is the total number of TRICARE families that will be impacted by this change in service? If this is unknown, why was there not an assessment before contract negotiations took place?

What are the plans for transitioning care for patients with chronic medical conditions? How many will be able to continue home infusion services versus being transitioned to an infusion facility?

What confirmation have you received that those patients with chronic, complex conditions who need specialty medications prior to January 1, 2023, will not see a disruption in their access to such medications?

We look forward to working with you on these matters.

Sincerely,

###",1,2026-03-30T01:40:41Z,2026-04-08T03:24:37Z
https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases/crapo-to-honor-mountain-home-woman-with-spirit-of-freedom-award,Crapo to Honor Mountain Home Woman With Spirit of Freedom Award,2022-10-28,2022,2022-10,Republican,Senate,ID,Mike Crapo,C000880,www.crapo.senate.gov,crapo,https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases,scraper,"Boise, Idaho--U.S. Senator Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) will present the Spirit of Freedom: Idaho Veterans Service Award to Hayley Slaughter on Monday, October 31, 2022, at 2:00 PM in Carl Miller Park, Mountain Home, Idaho.

Donor Outreach for Veterans (DOVE) nominated Hayley for donating her kidney earlier this year to Candice Martin, an active member of the U.S. Army. Candice is now back to full duty status, as Hayley continues to volunteer with DOVE to save more lives.

“Hayley embodies the Spirit of Freedom through her outstanding example of selflessness and empathy,” said Crapo. “Not only has Hayley dedicated considerable time to supporting those who have served our country, she has given a most precious gift to a servicemember in need.”

Hayley is recognized as a compassionate person who has chosen career paths and volunteer work that support the vulnerable and underserved. She has been a military spouse to veteran Travis Slaughter, who served in the U.S. Air Force for 20 years, and she worked as a Certified Nursing Assistant for several years and cared for patients in hospice and memory care facilities. Since the birth of the first of their three children, Hayley has been a stay-at-home mom. She is also an active church member, now serving as head of missions for her local church. Hayley has mentored other donors and started a program to stay connected with veterans as they await transplants to help ensure they do not feel alone.

“Hayley has boundless energy and a warm, embracing personality that makes all in the DOVE community feel good,” said DOVE Executive Director Sharyn Kreitzer. “How Hayley can do all of this and balance being a mom to three young and active children is remarkable!”

Veterans’ service organizations across Idaho nominate Spirit of Freedom awardees for their service to fellow veterans and the nation. The award, established by Crapo in 2002, is a small way to recognize and acknowledge the contributions of Idaho’s veterans and volunteers who support Idaho veterans. Each Spirit of Freedom Award recipient will receive a certificate for their service as well as a United States flag that has been flown over the U.S. Capitol building.",1,2026-03-30T01:40:41Z,2026-04-08T03:20:33Z
https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases/crapo-announces-new-hires-staff-changes,"Crapo Announces New Hires, Staff Changes",2022-10-26,2022,2022-10,Republican,Senate,ID,Mike Crapo,C000880,www.crapo.senate.gov,crapo,https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases,scraper,"Washington, D.C.-- U.S. Senator Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) today announced the hiring of two new staff members and a promotion in his Washington, D.C., office.

Andrew Gleaton has been promoted to Legislative Aide. Andrew joined the Crapo office as a Staff Assistant in January 2020 and was promoted to Legislative Correspondent in February 2021. He holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from Boise State University and a master’s in political management from George Washington University. As a Legislative Aide, Andrew is responsible for Second Amendment, intellectual property, data privacy and bankruptcy issues, as well as still handling constituent letters for his wider portfolio of issues.

Kyle Chance has joined the Crapo office as Deputy Press Secretary. Kyle earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in political science at Miami University. He previously worked as the Communications Manager at The Ripon Society in Washington, D.C.",1,2026-03-30T01:40:41Z,2026-04-08T03:20:33Z
https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases/crapo-to-honor-lewiston-animal-rescue-with-spirit-of-idaho-award,Crapo To Honor Lewiston Animal Rescue with Spirit of Idaho Award,2022-10-24,2022,2022-10,Republican,Senate,ID,Mike Crapo,C000880,www.crapo.senate.gov,crapo,https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases,scraper,"Lewiston, Idaho--U.S. Senator Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) will present the Spirit of Idaho Award to the Idaho Animal Rescue Network (IARN) at Fur Family Cinema, 3323 10th Street, Lewiston, Idaho, at 1:00 PM PT on Thursday, October 27, 2022.

IARN is a 501(c) (3) non-profit in Idaho that works to curb animal cruelty in Idaho.

“I applaud the continuing efforts of the Idaho Animal Rescue Network to provide safe and happy homes for Idaho pets across the Lewis Clark Valley,” said Crapo. “It is thanks to their efforts that hundreds of animals a year are given a new lease on life.”

Over the summer, 25 Great Danes were rescued from an animal hoarding situation in Lewiston. The Idaho Animal Rescue Network facilitated veterinary care and placement in shelters throughout Idaho.

""The Idaho Animal Rescue Network is a community organization,” said IARN Director Jenna Redheart. “It takes many people to make it work, and I couldn't be more thankful for the LC Valley. The Great Danes case is a great example of teamwork. The Nez Perce County Sheriff’s Office, Lewiston Police Department, Lewiston Fire Department, Fur Family Cinema, Southway Animal Clinic, Riverview Animal Clinic, Lewis Clark Animal Shelter, multiple other animal rescues and community volunteers worked together and made this case a success. We received donations from local community members and from around the nation. Because of the community, the Great Danes will have a better life.”

The Spirit of Idaho Award was created by Crapo in 2000 to honor the acts of service by Idahoans for their commitment to improving their community and serving their fellow citizens. Crapo has presented more than 600 Spirit of Idaho Awards since the award’s inception",1,2026-03-30T01:40:41Z,2026-04-06T18:34:28Z
https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases/crapo-to-attend-public-events-in-twin-falls-hagerman,"Crapo to Attend Public Events in Twin Falls, Hagerman",2022-10-20,2022,2022-10,Republican,Senate,ID,Mike Crapo,C000880,www.crapo.senate.gov,crapo,https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases,scraper,"Washington, D.C.--U.S. Senator Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) will participate in two events open to the public on Friday, October 21, 2022. In the morning, Senator Crapo will attend a Constituent Coffee meeting in Hagerman. Later, he will join Twin Falls County Commissioners and other Magic Valley residents to honor the sacrifices of three Idaho veterans and one spouse.

Additional details regarding each event are outlined below.

10:00 AM – Bullets n’ Brew Coffee Shop – 111 S. State Street, Hagerman

This event is an opportunity for Crapo to talk with Idaho constituents at a local coffee shop to mingle, answer questions and receive input on federal issues. Local elected officials and members of the Hagerman Chamber of Commerce local business owners will be in attendance.

“Bullets ' N Brew is excited to provide an opportunity for civic engagement with Senator Crapo for citizens in our community and surrounding communities,” said Gary Mode, Brews n’ Bullets owner.

1:00 PM – Snake River Canyon Cemetery – 1585 E. Elm St., Buhl

As a longtime supporter of our nation’s veterans, Senator Crapo will join the Missing in America Project (MIAP) and Twin Falls County Commissioners to honor three recovered veterans, as well as one spouse, at the Snake River National Cemetery for Final Military Honors and Interment. The four individuals passed away in other parts of the United States and were recently identified and returned to Idaho. The celebration of life will honor the life and sacrifices of:

Richard J. Zebert, former U.S. Marine and Purple Heart recipient who fought in the Vietnam War;

Richard. E. Wagner, U.S. Army veteran who also fought in Vietnam;

Thomas W. Mitchell, Jr., U.S. Army veteran who fought in Vietnam; and

Ruth H. Sipes Wall, Wife of World War II and Korean War veteran William F. Wall.

“It is a pleasure to work with Idahoans on these ‘Missing In America Project’ missions,” said Coleen Florke, Idaho State Coordinator, Missing in Action Project. “The collaboration and support from our local officials here in Twin Falls, Funeral Homes, Veteran’s groups, Veterans, and so many people in the community has been inspiring. We look forward to having Senator Crapo join us on Friday. We will stand in for the families of three Vietnam veterans and one spouse whose husband served in World War II and the Korean War, whose cremains have remained unclaimed. This service is to remind us and them, ‘You Are Not Forgotten.’”

The Missing in America Project is a non-profit dedicated to locating, identifying and interring unclaimed remains of American veterans and eligible family members. This is the second ceremony for MIAP at the Snake River Canyon Cemetery.",1,2026-03-30T01:40:41Z,2026-04-06T18:34:28Z
https://fulcher.house.gov/2022/10/19/id-8b513853-5441-46e6-98b5-2e856a2b5d12/,Congressman Fulcher Introduces the CLEAN Act to Expand Geothermal Opportunities,2022-10-19,2022,2022-10,Republican,House,ID,Russ Fulcher,F000469,fulcher.house.gov,fulcher,https://fulcher.house.gov/category/press-releases/,scraper,"WASHINGTON, D.C.

— Congressman Russ Fulcher (ID-01) has introduced the Committing Leases for Energy Access Now (CLEAN) Act to increase lease sales for geothermal energy projects on federally controlled lands. The House legislation is cosponsored by Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Bruce Westerman (AR-04) and is part of a broader legislative effort by Republicans in the Committee to increase domestic power production and diversify our energy portfolio in order to meet our nation’s growing demand.

Congressman Fulcher commented, “Securing American energy independence should be a top priority for Congress. Geothermal is a renewable power source that can help us accomplish that goal. Idaho already plays a leading role in geothermal energy production, and I am proud to introduce this bill to further unleash its potential as a baseload source. I thank Ranking Member Westerman for sharing a commitment to our country’s long-term energy security.”

Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Bruce Westerman added, “As we pursue all-of-the-above energy solutions, geothermal energy must be part of the equation. Congressman Fulcher’s legislation will require annual lease sales for geothermal energy, allowing us to harness the energy already produced deep in the earth. It’s a clean, reliable energy source that we must develop further in the coming years. I’m proud to support a bill that will do just that.”

Background on the legislation:

To begin developing geothermal resources on federally controlled lands, projects must first obtain a lease. 90 percent of viable geothermal resources are estimated to be located on these federally controlled lands, making consistent lease sales crucial to the expansion of this energy source.

The CLEAN Act amends the Geothermal Steam Act to:

Require yearly lease sales for geothermal energy. Currently, the Act requires a lease sale every two years.

Requires the Secretary to hold replacement lease sales for any sales that are missed in a given calendar year.

###",1,2026-03-30T01:40:41Z,2026-04-06T18:34:28Z
https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases/risch-crapo-join-daines-to-call-on-biden-admin-to-collaborate-with-states-on-forest-management,"Crapo, Risch Join Daines to Call on Biden Admin to Collaborate with States on Forest Management",2022-10-13,2022,2022-10,Republican,Senate,ID,Mike Crapo,C000880,www.crapo.senate.gov,crapo,https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases,scraper,"Washington,D.C.--U.S. Senators Mike Crapo and Jim Risch (both R-Idaho) joined Senator Steve Daines (R-Montana) to send a letter to the Biden Administration urging the development and implementation of a transparent and swift process to allocate funds promised to States for implementing effective forest management projects under the Good Neighbor Authority (GNA).

“We write to ask that you do all in your power to follow through on your commitment to working with state and local governments to improve our forest health and address the wildfire crisis. By mid-summer, your Department was in receipt of $160 million to award grants to States and Tribes for implementing projects under the Good Neighbor Authority (GNA), a time-tested mechanism for achieving this very outcome, but had not yet acted to allocate all of these funds. We urge you to establish a transparent process for distributing GNA funds directly to States and Tribes expeditiously and in a manner that maximizes taxpayers’ return on investment,” the Senators wrote.

“The delayed distribution of GNA funds has not come without consequences—states have now missed the window of opportunity to utilize these GNA funds to mitigate the risk and severity of the wildfires currently burning across the West. We cannot afford to miss the next window of opportunity,” the Senators continued.

Read the full letter the Senators sent to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack HERE.

Senators John Barasso (R-Wyoming) and Diane Feinstein (D-California) joined in sending the letter.

# # #",1,2026-03-30T01:40:41Z,2026-04-08T03:20:33Z
https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases/crapo-risch-colleagues-call-out-amalgamated-bank-for-weaponizing-financial-system-to-infringe-on-americans-second-amendment-rights,"Crapo, Risch, Colleagues Call Out Amalgamated Bank for Weaponizing Financial System to Infringe on Americans’ Second Amendment Rights",2022-10-06,2022,2022-10,Republican,Senate,ID,Mike Crapo,C000880,www.crapo.senate.gov,crapo,https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases,scraper,"Washington, D.C.--U.S. Senators Mike Crapo and Jim Risch (both R-Idaho) joined 24 Senate colleagues in sending a letter to Amalgamated Bank President and Chief Executive Officer Priscilla Sims Brown, criticizing the bank’s manipulation of an international standard-setting organization to force U.S. financial services firms to categorize gun purchases--an indefensible attempt to target law-abiding Americans exercising their right to purchase firearms and to enact far-left political goals.

“Your bank is attempting to restrict the Second Amendment rights of Americans by going around the democratic process. You should expect Congressional oversight of your actions,” the Senators wrote.

The Senators pointed to Amalgamated Bank’s website, where its anti-firearm agenda is made alarmingly clear.

“It is clear from Amalgamated Bank’s website that it has fully embraced an anti-firearm agenda. Whether it is choosing to debank firearms manufacturers, forcing all commercial clients to adopt anti-gun control codes, or divesting customer assets from lawful businesses, these decisions demonstrate your attempt to force your political views on law-abiding Americans. If you want to change gun policy, you should run for office and make yourself accountable to voters. What’s worse, these actions weren’t enough for you, so you set your sights on forcing these radical and discriminatory policies on the entire financial system,” the Senators continued.

Prior to the International Standards Organization (ISO)’s recent creation of a merchant category code (MCC) that will target, surveil and discourage gun and ammunition sellers earlier this month, Amalgamated Bank submitted three applications for its anti-firearm policies--each of which were rejected.

“Let us be clear: weaponizing the financial system to enact far-left political goals is inexcusable. . . . You should consider this notice to retain all communications involving your role in ISO’s categorization scheme, and you should anticipate testifying before Congress in the near future,” the Senators concluded.

Crapo and Risch recently joined a call condemning credit card companies’ decision to categorize gun sales into a separate, unique category. Similarly, as former Chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, Crapo has frequently warned banks and financial services institutions against cutting ties to politically disfavored industries, calling such restrictions, “a disturbing trend.” Crapo is a co-sponsor of the Financial Institution Customer Protection Act, which would prohibit federal regulators from arbitrarily forcing bank institutions to terminate their relationships with legal businesses solely because the operations of the businesses are not in line with the views of the contemporaneous administration.

A copy of the letter can be found here and below.

Dear Ms. Brown,

We write to you about your bank’s manipulation of an international rules organization to force U.S. financial services firms to categorize gun purchases. Your bank is attempting to restrict the Second Amendment rights of Americans by going around the democratic process. You should expect Congressional oversight of your actions.

As you are undoubtedly aware, earlier this month, the International Standards Organization (ISO) based in Switzerland created a merchant category code (MCC) specifically to target, surveil and discourage gun and ammunition sellers. Your actions were a major step toward targeting law-abiding Americans exercising their right to purchase firearms, a right that is protected by the Constitution.

It is clear from Amalgamated Bank’s website that it has fully embraced an anti-firearm agenda. Whether it is choosing to debank firearms manufacturers, forcing all commercial clients to adopt anti-gun control codes, or divesting customer assets from lawful businesses, these decisions demonstrate your attempt to force your political views on law-abiding Americans. If you want to change gun policy, you should run for office and make yourself accountable to voters. What’s worse, these actions weren’t enough for you, so you set your sights on forcing these radical and discriminatory policies on the entire financial system.

There was good reason that the ISO rejected your previous three applications for this policy, as such a move is purely political, not to mention the immense regulatory and compliance burden it will ultimately place on retailers.

Let us be clear: weaponizing the financial system to enact far-left political goals is inexcusable. The fundamental rights of Americans should be legislated on and debated by the elected officials who are sent to Washington, D.C. on their constituents’ behalf, and not by progressive activist CEOs or un-elected bureaucrats in Geneva.

You should consider this notice to retain all communications involving your role in ISO’s categorization scheme, and you should anticipate testifying before Congress in the near future.

Sincerely,

###",1,2026-03-30T01:40:41Z,2026-04-08T03:20:33Z
https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases/senate-republicans-demand-administration-end-its-war-on-us-oil-and-gas,Senate Republicans Demand Administration End Its War on U.S. Oil & Gas,2022-10-05,2022,2022-10,Republican,Senate,ID,Mike Crapo,C000880,www.crapo.senate.gov,crapo,https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases,scraper,"Washington, D.C.--In response to the U.S. Department of Interior’s (DOI) draft proposal for the Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program, Idaho’s U.S. Senators Mike Crapo and Jim Risch joined Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-Louisiana) and a group of their Republican colleagues in sending a letter rebuking the Biden Administration for its assault on domestic oil and gas production. In the draft proposal, the DOI hinted that it might cancel future lease sales for the next five years.

“American families are struggling to keep up with rising costs due to inflation, high energy prices, and persistent supply chain issues,” wrote the Senators. “It is our obligation to do everything within our power to help ease these burdens and remove this uncertainty for both Americans and our allies.”

“One of the most effective ways we can do this is to increase future domestic oil and natural gas production through long-term leasing certainty,” continued the Senators. “The Department can help domestic energy production and put American energy consumers first.”

Additional signatories of the letter include Senators John Barrasso (R-Wyoming), Jim Inhofe (R-Oklahoma), Roger Wicker (R-Mississippi), John Cornyn (R-Texas), John Kennedy (R-Louisiana), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Mississippi), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Steve Daines (R-Montana), Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas), Kevin Cramer (R-North Dakota), Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), Mike Braun (R-Indiana), James Lankford (R-Oklahoma), John Hoeven (R-North Dakota), Roger Marshall (R-Kansas), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyoming), Thom Tillis (R-North Carolina) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska).

Read the full letter here or below:

Dear Secretary Haaland:

We are writing regarding your July 1, 2022, release of the “Proposed Program” for the Interior Department’s Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program. While the release of a “Proposed Program,” after months of delay, is a step in the right direction, we are concerned by the Department’s suggestion that a no lease option is a possibility for the final program. Further, failure to conduct any lease sales which encourage bidding could, as the Department says, cause increased air emissions from substitute production, primarily from overseas imports. We are also closely monitoring efforts by the administration to halt lease sales or to make lease sales economically unattractive in order to discourage bidding.

American families are struggling to keep up with rising costs due to inflation, high energy prices, and persistent supply chain issues. In addition, local businesses that are part of the ecosystem of U.S. energy production are being confronted with decisions that impact their employees and employees’ families due to uncertainty about future natural resource development. Also, our allies in Europe are facing an energy crisis forcing the closure of manufacturing businesses and impacting supply chains which also leads to inflationary pressures throughout their economy. It is our obligation to do everything within our power to help ease these burdens and remove this uncertainty for both Americans and our allies.

One of the most effective ways we can do this is to increase future domestic oil and natural gas production through long-term leasing certainty. That is why we are encouraging 10 lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico and one lease sale in the Cook Inlet in the next five-year offshore leasing program.

The Department can help domestic energy production and put American energy consumers first. While the Department has awarded leases to the high bidders in Lease Sale 257, the Department should also 1) conduct the three congressionally mandated offshore lease sales with economically competitive terms and robust acreage that will attract significant industry interest; and 2) offer quarterly lease sales with desirable acreage across federal lands. Finalizing the five-year program with a commitment to semi-annual area-wide lease sales will also be a big step for American energy security and demonstrate to the American people the administration is serious about actions that can contribute to lower energy costs.

We appreciate your attention to this matter and look forward to seeing the release of the Final National OCS Program for 2023-2028.

###",1,2026-03-30T01:40:41Z,2026-04-08T03:20:33Z
https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases/crapo-risch-back-bill-to-protect-parental-rights,"Crapo, Risch Back Bill to Protect Parental Rights",2022-10-03,2022,2022-10,Republican,Senate,ID,Mike Crapo,C000880,www.crapo.senate.gov,crapo,https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases,scraper,"Washington, D.C.--U.S. Senators Mike Crapo and Jim Risch (both R-Idaho) joined in co-sponsoring S. 4892, the Parental Rights Over the Education and Care of Their (PROTECT) Kids Act, which would protect parental rights by preventing schools from concealing information about students’ gender from their parents.

“Parents have the right to be actively involved in their children’s lives,” said Crapo. “Children deserve an education free from harmful social ideologies, and the federal government should not provide any funding to schools that deny parents the right to access crucial information about their child’s wellbeing.”

“Open and transparent communication between schools and parents is critical for the development, education, and wellbeing of our children,” said Risch. “Educational environments that withhold critical information from parents can and will do more harm than good.”

The PROTECT Kids Act would restrict federal funding for any elementary or middle school that allows students to change their pronouns, gender markers, or sex-based accommodations (including locker rooms and bathrooms) without the consent of their parents. The bill is supported by Parents Defending Education Action and Independent Women’s Voice.

Read full text of the bill here.

###",1,2026-03-30T01:40:41Z,2026-04-08T03:20:33Z
https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases/crapo-welcomes-boise-interns-for-fall-2022-term,Crapo Welcomes Boise Interns for Fall 2022 Term,2022-10-03,2022,2022-10,Republican,Senate,ID,Mike Crapo,C000880,www.crapo.senate.gov,crapo,https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases,scraper,"Boise, Idaho--Two interns have joined U.S. Senator Mike Crapo’s (R-Idaho) Boise, Idaho, office for the fall 2022 term.

“Interns in my Boise office gain real-world experience in communications, constituent services and the federal legislative process,” Crapo said. “I encourage college students with an interest in government to submit an application for upcoming internship opportunities.”

Jordan Montovino is a junior at Boise State University. She is studying political science with an emphasis in international relations and comparative governments and a minor in criminal justice.

Cyrus Vore is a Post Falls, Idaho, native and attends Boise State University. He is majoring in political science with a minor in film and a certification in business.",1,2026-03-30T01:40:41Z,2026-04-08T03:20:33Z
https://fulcher.house.gov/2022/09/30/id-9b900387-a4d8-499c-b06d-dbe06844d028/,Statement on CR vote,2022-09-30,2022,2022-09,Republican,House,ID,Russ Fulcher,F000469,fulcher.house.gov,fulcher,https://fulcher.house.gov/category/press-releases/,scraper,"Contact:

Daniel Tellez

202-225-6611

daniel.tellez@mail.house.gov

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Congressman Fulcher released the following statement on today’s continuing resolution vote:

“Today, members of the House were asked to vote on a continuing resolution to fund the government through December 16th. As with every vote on a government funding bill, I consider it a sober process requiring careful analysis. Unfortunately, Democrat leadership in the House and Senate do not share this view, rushing out a bill mere days ago that continues the federal government’s reckless spending and fails to address our border, economic, or energy crises. As our national debt approaches $31 trillion, I refuse to enable a broken budget process that creates more burden on taxpayers. I voted NO.“

###",1,2026-03-30T01:40:41Z,2026-04-08T03:08:33Z
https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases/crapo-further-spending-will-worsen-and-prolong-inflationary-pressures,Crapo: Further Spending Will Worsen and Prolong Inflationary Pressures,2022-09-29,2022,2022-09,Republican,Senate,ID,Mike Crapo,C000880,www.crapo.senate.gov,crapo,https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases,scraper,"Washington, D.C.--U.S. Senator Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) issued the following statement regarding his vote on the Continuing Resolution (CR):

“Widespread inflation is not under control, and Americans are struggling to make ends meet as everyday essentials are becoming less affordable. This Continuing Resolution does not extend into the next Congress, and creates a pathway for lame-duck, progressive wish-list spending. Further spending will only worsen and prolong inflationary pressures on the American people.”

Senator Crapo recently signed a letter to his Senate colleagues urging the adoption of a “clean” CR free of additional spending and extraneous policy riders. The letter also called for the CR to carry over into the 118th Congress.

###",1,2026-03-30T01:40:41Z,2026-04-08T03:08:33Z
https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases/crapo-risch-colleagues-stand-with-sportsmen-introduce-bill-to-stop-the-ban-of-traditional-ammo-and-tackle,"Crapo, Risch, Colleagues Stand with Sportsmen, Introduce Bill to Stop the Ban of Traditional Ammo & Tackle",2022-09-26,2022,2022-09,Republican,Senate,ID,Mike Crapo,C000880,www.crapo.senate.gov,crapo,https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases,scraper,"Washington, D.C.--U.S. Senators Mike Crapo and Jim Risch (both R-Idaho) joined Senator Steve Daines (R-Montana) and 20 additional colleagues to introduce legislation to prohibit U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), U.S. Forest Service (USFS) and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) from banning the use of traditional lead ammunition or tackle on public lands unless such action is supported by the best available science and state wildlife and fish agencies

“Hunting and fishing are integral to the conservation and management of wildlife and part of the cultural fabric that binds Idahoans to the land and environment they love,” said Crapo. “Limiting access to hunting and fishing for food or recreation by implementing a blanket-ban on traditional ammo and tackle needlessly alienates many sportsmen who cannot access or afford lead alternatives.”

“Hunters and anglers are some of Idaho’s greatest supporters of conservation,” said Risch. “Banning traditional lead ammunition and tackle on public lands would significantly limit sportsmen’s access to recreation and directly reduce critical conservation tools and state revenues. As an avid outdoorsman, I am proud to support Idaho’s long-held traditions and preserve Second Amendment rights for responsible, law-abiding sportsmen and women.”

Last spring, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service entered into settlement negotiations with activist organizations over a lawsuit regarding the use of traditional lead ammunition on more than 3 million acres of federal land. Crapo and Risch joined their colleagues in urging FWS Director Martha Williams not to cave in to activists’ calls to restrict the use of lead ammo and tackle on public lands earlier this year.

This bill also comes one week after the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service published a rule that, while expanding access to hunting and fishing at certain wildlife refuges, prohibited the use of lead ammunition and fishing tackle.

Senators John Thune (R-South Dakota), Shelley Moore Capito (R-West Virginia), John Barrasso (R-Wyoming), Bill Cassidy (R-Louisiana), Rick Scott (R-Florida), Mike Braun (R-Indiana), Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), Roger Marshall (R-Kansas), Kevin Cramer (R-North Dakota), Mike Rounds (R-North Dakota), Jim Inhofe (R-Oklahoma), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyoming), Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas), John Hoeven (R-South Dakota), Thom Tillis (R-North Carolina), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Mississippi), Roger Wicker (R-Mississippi), Deb Fischer (R-Nebraska), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tennessee) and Todd Young (R-Indiana) also co-sponsored the bill.",1,2026-03-30T01:40:41Z,2026-04-08T03:08:33Z
https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases/crapo-menendez-celebrate-senate-passage-of-resolution-recognizing-september-as-national-prostate-cancer-awareness-month,"Crapo, Menendez Celebrate Senate Passage of Resolution Recognizing September as National Prostate Cancer Awareness Month",2022-09-23,2022,2022-09,Republican,Senate,ID,Mike Crapo,C000880,www.crapo.senate.gov,crapo,https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases,scraper,"Washington, D.C.--U.S. Senators Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) and Bob Menendez (D-New Jersey) applaud the unanimous passage of Senate Resolution 645 in recognition of September 2022 as “National Prostate Awareness Month.”

Crapo and Menendez authored the bipartisan resolution aimed at increasing awareness of prostate cancer, which is the second-most common cancer in American men next to skin cancer. By recognizing this month as “National Prostate Awareness Month,” the Senate also encouraged all Americans to take part in efforts to increase early detection, improve treatment and discover a cure for the disease. Representative Donald Payne, Jr. (D-New Jersey) and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pennsylvania) sponsored the resolution in the House of Representatives.

“Checkups and testing for prostate cancer can save lives if found early,” said Crapo. “Early screenings and warnings are vitally important to detecting and treating many other types of cancer as well. Congress must use every avenue available to continue raising awareness about the risks and early screenings to combat prostate cancer.”

“Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in American men, yet it’s a highly preventable disease,” said Menendez. “Congress has a responsibility to promote awareness and encourage men across America to increase early detection and find better treatment, thereby increasing the survival rates of American men. Early detection is key to prostate cancer survival, and no one should think it’s too early to discuss testing options with their healthcare provider.""

“I am proud to introduce this resolution because prostate cancer is a major health problem and the second-leading cause of cancer deaths for African-American men nationwide,” said Payne. “In addition, prostate cancer will account for more than one-third of all new cancers in African-American men this year alone. If we can raise awareness, we can encourage more Americans, especially African Americans, to get screened and get early treatments. As Co-Chair of the Congressional Men’s Health Caucus and Colorectal Cancer Caucus, I am committed to raising awareness of this disease during National Prostate Cancer Awareness Month and encouraging more Americans to get regular prostate cancer screenings to catch this disease early and save lives.”

""Each September we raise awareness for the nearly 1 in 8 men who are diagnosed with prostate cancer,"" said Fitzpatrick. ""More than 260,000 men in the United States will be diagnosed with prostate cancer this year alone, and it is critical that we continue to search for a cure to this disease that affects so many people around the world.""

Idaho ranks fourth in the nation for prostate cancer deaths. The American Cancer Society estimates 8,580 new prostate cancer cases and 750 deaths in 2022.

""Prostate Cancer Awareness Month is a key opportunity to ensure that every man knows his risk for prostate cancer, and how to take steps to catch the disease early. Early detection saves lives,” said Jamie Bearse, President of ZERO - The End of Prostate Cancer. “Senators Menendez and Crapo have been stalwart champion of the cause - helping men and their families to fight prostate cancer - and we're proud to partner with them and our other champions in Congress during Prostate Cancer Awareness Month and all year long.""

Senators Ron Wyden (D-Oregon.), Ed Markey (D-Massachusetts), Ben Cardin (D-Maryland), Angus King (D-Maine), Richard Blumenthal (D-Connecticut), Chris Van Hollen (D-Maryland) Chris Coons (D-Delaware), Cory Booker (D-New Jersey), Shelley Moore Capito (R-West Virginia), Jim Risch (R-Idaho) and Alex Padilla (D-California) also co-sponsored the resolution.",1,2026-03-30T01:40:41Z,2026-04-08T03:08:33Z
https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases/crapo-applauds-nomination-of-travis-hill-to-fdic,Crapo Applauds Nomination of Travis Hill to FDIC,2022-09-20,2022,2022-09,Republican,Senate,ID,Mike Crapo,C000880,www.crapo.senate.gov,crapo,https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases,scraper,"Washington, D.C.--U.S. Senator Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), member and former Chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, issued the following statement on the White House's intention to nominate Travis Hill to serve as a Member and Vice Chair of the Board of Directors at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).

“Travis is a highly talented, respected individual who is exceptionally qualified to serve as Vice Chair and a Member of the Board at the FDIC. Throughout his time at the Senate Banking Committee and the FDIC, he demonstrated an understanding of the need to tailor regulation to risk in order to promote economic lending, and safety and soundness. He also helped to pass legislation making it easier for consumers to get mortgages and obtain credit, while also increasing important protections for veterans, senior citizens, victims of fraud and those who fall on hard financial times. I congratulate him on this well-deserved nomination.”

###",1,2026-03-30T01:40:41Z,2026-04-08T03:08:33Z
https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases/crapo-risch-join-call-condemning-credit-card-ceos-for-infringing-on-americans-second-amendment-rights,"Crapo, Risch Join Call Condemning Credit Card CEOs For Infringing On Americans’ Second Amendment Rights",2022-09-20,2022,2022-09,Republican,Senate,ID,Mike Crapo,C000880,www.crapo.senate.gov,crapo,https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases,scraper,"Washington, D.C.--U.S. Senators Mike Crapo and Jim Risch (both R- Idaho) joined 10 Senate Republican colleagues on a letter to the CEOs of Visa, Mastercard and American Express expressing concern over the decision to remove gun sales from being categorized as “general merchandise” and instead placing gun sales into a separate, unique category. The recommendation came from the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), which has no authority over the affairs of American businesses. The Second Amendment is a fundamental right of law-abiding American citizens.

The letter reads, in part, “This decision, which is already being hailed by radical anti-gun activists, is the first step toward backdoor gun control on law-abiding Americans… Creating a new merchant code for gun transactions is a choice being made by each of your companies. You are choosing the side of gun control advocates over the privacy and Second Amendment rights of millions of law-abiding Americans… Your companies are the facilitators of the vast majority of daily financial transactions in America, and that gives you incredible influence over everyday commerce, and thus every American’s very way of life. If you are intent on abusing that influence you will leave Congress no choice but to intercede on behalf of our constituents and all of the law abiding Americans who will not stand by as large banks and the payment networks that serve them do an end run around their constitutional Second Amendment rights to keep and bear arms…”

The Senators concluded their letter by requesting answers from the CEOs related to what factors influenced each company to settle on this new policy, how the recategorization of gun sales backs up claims that the action would reduce gun violence and if customers would be able to continue to use these companies’ services without discrimination, among other issues.",1,2026-03-30T01:40:41Z,2026-04-08T03:08:33Z
https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases/crapo-risch-lead-resolution-acknowledging-forensics-vital-role-in-justice-system,"Crapo, Risch Lead Resolution Acknowledging Forensics Vital Role In Justice System",2022-09-20,2022,2022-09,Republican,Senate,ID,Mike Crapo,C000880,www.crapo.senate.gov,crapo,https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases,scraper,"Washington, D.C.--The U.S. Senate unanimously agreed to a Senate Resolution designating September 18-24, 2022, as National Forensic Science Week. The Resolution, introduced by U.S. Senator Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), and co-sponsored by U.S. Senator Jim Risch (R-Idaho), recognizes the role forensic science plays in the investigation, prosecution and conviction of crimes, as well as exoneration of the innocent.

“Forensic science plays a critical role in the proper function of our justice system,” said Crapo. “The Senate’s unanimous support of this Resolution acknowledges these specially-trained scientists’ essential contributions to bringing justice for victims and exonerating the falsely accused.”

“As a former prosecutor, I’ve seen firsthand key findings of forensic science exonerate the innocent, identify criminals, and provide closure for victims,” said Risch. “I am proud to honor and recognize the important work forensic scientists do for our justice system.”

“National Forensic Science Week is an opportunity to honor the outstanding work of forensic science professionals that work hard each day to identify perpetrators of crime, exonerate the innocent, and bring resolution to cases for the criminal justice system and victims of crime,” said Matthew Gamette, Idaho State Police Forensic Services Laboratory System Director. “We appreciate the support and recognition from Congress and especially our Idaho Senators and their staff for the hard work these scientists and doctors put in every day in Idaho and all over the United States. National Forensic Science Week is a great time to focus on the growing financial and workforce needs of the forensic science community, talking about continuing to advance the science and technology, and rewarding those performing this critical work.

Read the full text of the resolution HERE and below.

Whereas the Senate is committed to the use of forensic science in the investigation of crimes, the prosecution and conviction of the correct perpetrators of crimes, and the exoneration of innocent individuals falsely accused of crimes in the United States;

Whereas forensic science service providers address critical questions in civil and criminal investigations and trials in the United States, including by providing scientific conclusions relating to forensic evidence;

Whereas forensic science service providers partner with—

(1) Federal agencies to build and maintain criminal databases relating to latent prints, DNA, and other information relevant to criminal cases; and 2

(2) Federal, State, and local agencies to ensure public safety;

Whereas forensic science service providers serve a vital role in the criminal justice system by providing scientific information to investigators and officers of the court; and

Whereas the fourth week in September 2022 is recognized as ‘‘National Forensic Science Week’’: Now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That the Senate—

(1) supports the goals and ideals of National Forensic Science Week; and

(2) recognizes that National Forensic Science Week provides a special opportunity for—

(A) forensic science service providers to—

(i) acknowledge the contributions of forensic scientists in the laboratories in which those individuals work;

(ii) organize community events to encourage a better understanding of forensic science;

(iii) provide tours to Federal, State, and local policymakers to assist those individuals in gaining better insight into the current capabilities of forensic science service providers and the future demands that forensic science service providers will face; and

(iv) contact and invite local media outlets to cover events hosted during National Forensic Science Week;

(B) local policymakers to—

(i) recognize, through formal commendation or resolution, the contributions of local forensic science laboratories to the communities of those policymakers;

(ii) formally declare the fourth week of September 2022 to be ‘‘National Forensic Science Week’’ by proclamation;

(iii) visit local forensic science laboratories to gain an understanding of the capabilities and needs of those laboratories; and

(iv) discuss the operational needs of State and local forensic science labora18

tories;

(C) individuals in the United States, including members of the media, to—

(i) attend community events sponsored by local forensic science laboratories;

(ii) take tours of local forensic science laboratories; and

(iii) ask local forensic science laboratories about the operational and legislative needs of those laboratories;

(D) members of the media to highlight local news stories that focus on the work of local forensic science laboratories in the communities that those laboratories serve; and

(E) public safety officers, law enforcement officers, and officers of the court to

(i) attend community events sponsored by local forensic science laboratories;

(ii) take tours of local forensic science laboratories;

(iii) discuss the operational needs of State and local forensic science laboratories; and

(iv) engage with local forensic science laboratories about working together more effectively.",1,2026-03-30T01:40:41Z,2026-04-08T03:08:33Z
https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases/crapo-welcomes-interns-for-fall-2022-term,Crapo Welcomes Interns for Fall 2022 Term,2022-09-16,2022,2022-09,Republican,Senate,ID,Mike Crapo,C000880,www.crapo.senate.gov,crapo,https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases,scraper,"Washington, D.C.--Two interns have joined U.S. Senator Mike Crapo’s (R-Idaho) Washington, D.C., office for the fall 2022 term.

“An internship in the D.C. office provides firsthand experience in the federal legislative process,” Crapo said. “It is exciting to continue our internship program each term as new interns have the chance to grow and prosper as they assist in the service to Idahoans.”

Alonso Aguayo currently attends Brigham Young University, Idaho, where he is studying political science and finance. After graduation, Aguayo plans to continue to pursue his passion for public diplomacy and international affairs.

Jace DeMond is a Meridian, Idaho, native and recently graduated from Brigham Young University with a degree in accounting. DeMond’s time in his university’s Tax Policy Club has sparked his interest in tax and public policy, which he plans to learn more about during his internship.",1,2026-03-30T01:40:41Z,2026-04-08T03:08:33Z
https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases/crapo-statement-on-mortgage-rates-reaching-6-percenthighest-levels-since-2008-financial-crisis,Crapo Statement on Mortgage Rates Reaching 6 Percent—Highest Levels Since 2008 Financial Crisis,2022-09-15,2022,2022-09,Republican,Senate,ID,Mike Crapo,C000880,www.crapo.senate.gov,crapo,https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases,scraper,"Washington, D.C.--Mortgage rates hit six percent today, more than double just one year ago, and the highest rates since the 2008 financial crisis, 14 years ago. U.S. Senator Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) issued the following statement on the news:

“Mortgage rates have more than doubled from last year and are at the highest point since the 2008 financial crisis. As the Fed continues to consider higher interest rates to tamp down inflationary pressures, mortgage rates are poised to go even higher, making it all the more challenging for many Idahoans and other Americans to buy homes. Instead of taking actions to address root causes of inflation, the Administration pursued more reckless spending that will further fuel inflation and add to our national debt. We should be getting inflation under control by unleashing American energy; cutting the red tape of burdensome regulations; and stopping unrestrained government spending.”",1,2026-03-30T01:40:41Z,2026-04-08T03:08:33Z
https://fulcher.house.gov/2022/09/14/id-e8772c72-8ec7-4fa4-a91c-1218b715f543/,Opening Statement: Promoting Responsible Land Management and Tribal Self-Determination,2022-09-14,2022,2022-09,Republican,House,ID,Russ Fulcher,F000469,fulcher.house.gov,fulcher,https://fulcher.house.gov/category/press-releases/,scraper,"Sep 14, 2022
Ranking Member Russ Fulcher discusses in his opening statement the need to properly balance land management objectives, promote self-determination for Indian tribes, and responsibly manage our natural resources.",1,2026-03-30T01:40:41Z,2026-04-08T03:08:33Z
https://fulcher.house.gov/2022/09/08/id-06df64b5-0468-4284-b7b5-354ef017c0a8/,The Best Way to Prevent Juvenile Crime is by Offering Youth More Opportunities for Success,2022-09-08,2022,2022-09,Republican,House,ID,Russ Fulcher,F000469,fulcher.house.gov,fulcher,https://fulcher.house.gov/category/press-releases/,scraper,"Contact:

Daniel Tellez

202-225-6611

daniel.tellez@mail.house.gov

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, Civil Rights and Human Services Subcommittee Republican Leader Russ Fulcher (R-ID) delivered the following remarks, as prepared for delivery, at a subcommittee hearing on preventing youth from encountering the juvenile justice system:

“Supporting America’s young people and keeping our communities safe are priorities Republicans have long supported. Federal policies have focused for years on empowering local efforts to place at-risk youth on the right path. In fact, Republicans shepherded the last reauthorization of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act to reflect those priorities. In that reauthorization we took steps to improve the juvenile justice system with legislation that promotes public safety through prevention efforts and gives state and local leaders more flexibility to meet the needs of at-risk youth while also implementing transparency and accountability measures.

“As we heard during our last hearing on the juvenile justice system, juvenile crime is on a downward trajectory. A witness stated that the number of youths arrested since 1997 has declined by 74 percent. My home state of Idaho is following these trends, especially on property-related crimes. This is good news and tells us we need to stay focused on prevention efforts.

“And we know prevention efforts are crucial to helping at-risk youth avoid entanglement with the juvenile system. Intervening early reduces the likelihood of this happening. Once a young person has one ‘run in,’ they are far more likely to have another. That’s why prevention is key.

“Programs at the state and local levels, will help secure brighter futures for these young people. We must promote positive and holistic youth development programs. Young people who have their educational, relational, emotional, spiritual, and physical needs met are far less likely to participate in illicit activity. These kinds of programs are best developed, implemented, and run at the local level, utilizing community partners, including those in the faith community, to address the unique needs of the youth in that community.

“We must do a better job utilizing public-private partnerships. Local educators, social workers, faith-based providers, and community leaders—not Washington bureaucrats—should lead efforts on the front lines of this youth crisis. Community involvement utilizes the expertise out there, yielding better results for our nation’s young people, without further burdening schools— which needs to focus on education.

“We must also give young people as many opportunities as possible. Work experience, for example, is one of the most effective ways to set at-risk youth on the right path. Career and technical programs give youth opportunities to set them up for success. Our community colleges, with their structured programs and work with local employers, offer paths for young people at risk and as a second chance for those who have gotten into trouble.

“Our witness today, Father Boes, will discuss the importance of looking at the unique needs of the children involved, providing support to schools that help address the needs of at-risk students, and putting those students on a path to success. I look forward to hearing more about Boys Town, its work, and partnership with schools to address these issues.

“Thank you—to Father Boes and the other witnesses for coming today, I look forward to the testimony, and I yield back.”

###",1,2026-03-30T01:40:41Z,2026-04-08T03:08:33Z
https://fulcher.house.gov/2022/09/02/id-041fe3cb-c779-479d-995d-6ee675b6e77d/,Idaho Delegation Applauds Micron Announcement,2022-09-02,2022,2022-09,Republican,House,ID,Russ Fulcher,F000469,fulcher.house.gov,fulcher,https://fulcher.house.gov/category/press-releases/,scraper,"Contact:

Daniel Tellez

202-225-6611

daniel.tellez@mail.house.gov

BOISE, ID — Today, the Idaho Congressional Delegation applauded Micron Technology on its announcement that it will construct a new memory chip plant in Boise, the first new semiconductor manufacturing fab built in the U.S. in the last 20 years.

“Idaho and Micron have been partners since Day One of the company’s founding right here in the Treasure Valley. Micron’s announcement of a new fab coming to Boise deepens that partnership,” said Senator Jim Risch. “This newest plant will strengthen American memory chip manufacturing and help ensure the U.S. is self-reliant for this key technology. Congratulations to all the employees at Micron on this announcement as Idaho continues to lead the way in semiconductor innovation and success.”

“Micron expanding its home in Boise ensures the semiconductor industry will continue to innovate and develop new technologies that keep Idaho on the leading edge for research and development,” Senator Mike Crapo said. “This expansion is valuable to our state, workforce and economy.”

“I am thrilled to hear the news that Micron will be building such a critical facility for U.S. national and economic security here in Idaho,” said Congressman Mike Simpson. “Micron has always been a technological leader in the field and I am so pleased they will continue their cutting-edge work right where they started.”

“As an early employee of Micron, it has been remarkable to see their lasting impact on Idaho’s success,” said Congressman Russ Fulcher. “This new investment will not only build on this success, but will also improve America’s position in the semiconductor industry.”

###",1,2026-03-30T01:40:41Z,2026-04-08T03:08:33Z
https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases/idaho-delegation-applauds-micron-announcement,Idaho Delegation Applauds Micron Announcement,2022-09-02,2022,2022-09,Republican,Senate,ID,Mike Crapo,C000880,www.crapo.senate.gov,crapo,https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases,scraper,"BOISE, Idaho – Today, the Idaho Congressional Delegation applauded Micron Technology on its announcement that it will construct a new memory chip plant in Boise, the first new memory semiconductor manufacturing fab built in the U.S. in the last 20 years.

“Micron expanding its home in Boise ensures the semiconductor industry will continue to innovate and develop new technologies that keep Idaho on the leading edge for research and development,” Senator Mike Crapo said. “This expansion is valuable to our state, workforce and economy.”

“Idaho and Micron have been partners since Day One of the company’s founding right here in the Treasure Valley. Micron’s announcement of a new fab coming to Boise deepens that partnership,” said Senator Jim Risch. “This newest plant will strengthen American memory chip manufacturing and help ensure the U.S. is self-reliant for this key technology. Congratulations to all the employees at Micron on this announcement as Idaho continues to lead the way in semiconductor innovation and success.”

“I am thrilled to hear the news that Micron will be building such a critical facility for U.S. national and economic security here in Idaho,” said Congressman Mike Simpson. “Micron has always been a technological leader in the field and I am so pleased they will continue their cutting-edge work right where they started.”

“As an early employee of Micron, it has been remarkable to see their lasting impact on Idaho’s success,” said Congressman Russ Fulcher. “This new investment will not only build on this success, but will also improve America’s position in the semiconductor industry.”

# # #",1,2026-03-30T01:40:41Z,2026-04-08T03:08:33Z
https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases/crapo-inflation-impacting-idahos-agriculture-industry-is-out-of-control,Crapo: Inflation Impacting Idaho’s Agriculture Industry is Out of Control,2022-08-26,2022,2022-08,Republican,Senate,ID,Mike Crapo,C000880,www.crapo.senate.gov,crapo,https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases,scraper,"Twin Falls, Idaho--Thursday, U.S. Senator Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) led Idaho agricultural producers in a news conference on the inflationary pressure impacting Idaho’s agriculture industry.

“Sustained high inflation impacting Idaho’s agriculture industry is out of control,” Crapo said. “The party-line budget reconciliation bills Congressional Democrats pursued the past two years only added fuel to the inflation fire with unwarranted increases in federal spending. Further, the tax increases in the ‘Inflation Reduction Act’ will only make matters worse by increasing burdens on businesses that continue to deal with supply-chain disruptions and the added costs of delivering goods to the marketplace.”

Crapo was joined at the conference by Idaho Farm Bureau CEO Zak Miller and Twin Falls County Farm Bureau President Larry Hollifield. Miller and Hollifield added to the Senator’s concerns regarding sustained high inflation and its impacts on Idaho’s producers.

“As a farmer, we are used to good and bad years; that is normal,” Hollifield said. “However, there is a great concern about inflated farm inputs. We don’t know how long they are going to last.”

As the Ranking Member of the Senate Finance Committee, which has jurisdiction over international trade, Crapo continues to put pressure on the Biden Administration to pursue more trade agreements.

“Sound trade policies that open more international markets to Idaho-produced agricultural goods are also another critical area we can fight inflation and increase economic opportunities for our Gem State agricultural producers,” Crapo said.",1,2026-03-30T01:40:41Z,2026-04-08T02:59:24Z
https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases/crapo-statement-on-biden-300-billion-student-loan-plan,Crapo Statement on Biden $300 Billion Student Loan Plan,2022-08-25,2022,2022-08,Republican,Senate,ID,Mike Crapo,C000880,www.crapo.senate.gov,crapo,https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases,scraper,"Twin Falls, Idaho - U.S. Senator Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) issued the following statement in response to President Joe Biden's $300 billion student loan plan:

“The current higher education system warrants careful review as rising tuition costs and the amount of loans disbursed for education continue to saddle students and graduates with financial difficulties. But placing the burden of our nation’s outstanding student loan debt on taxpayers is both irresponsible and unaffordable as we continue to grapple with already record-high inflation. The Penn-Wharton Budget Model estimates this cancellation will cost taxpayers $300 billion, and those in the top 60 percent income bracket will see the largest share of the benefit. Broad student loan debt cancellation does nothing to address the underlying issue of the exorbitant costs of tuition, which will only balloon even further.”

###",1,2026-03-30T01:40:41Z,2026-04-08T02:59:24Z
https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases/crapo-to-honor-idaho-falls-team-with-spirit-of-idaho,Crapo to Honor Idaho Falls Team With Spirit of Idaho,2022-08-23,2022,2022-08,Republican,Senate,ID,Mike Crapo,C000880,www.crapo.senate.gov,crapo,https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases,scraper,"Idaho Falls, Idaho--U.S. Senator Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) will present the Spirit of Idaho Award to the Idaho Falls Bandits at 7:05 PM at Melaleuca Field on Wednesday, August 24, prior to the Idaho Falls Chukars v. Boise Hawks game.

The back-to-back American Legion World Series Champions became the second team in the history of American Legion Baseball to play for a third consecutive title last week, and lost a hard-fought championship game to Troy, Alabama. They earned their trip to the World Series after becoming the Northwest Regional Champions by defeating Cheyenne, Wyoming, 6-5, in the Northwest regional championship game.

“The heart and dedication it takes to return to the American Legion Baseball World Series Championship game for the third year in a row is to be commended,” Crapo said. “I applaud The Bandits for embodying the Spirit of Idaho through their talent, determination and upstanding examples as ambassadors for the city of Idaho Falls and state of Idaho on the national stage.”

“Since 2012, the Idaho Falls Post 56 Bandits have been building teams with the discipline and commitment it takes to be champions,” Bandits Coach Ryan Alexander said. “Our players apply this to everything they do in life. Every new team embraces the history of the last team. Our success passes on from year to year, team to team, and player to player. Every Bandits team is different, but the dedication to hard work and sacrifice of each player only grows, creating a legacy, representing our Post 56 heroes and the great state of Idaho. It is an honor that Senator Crapo recognizes this legacy as well.”

The Spirit of Idaho Award was created by Crapo in 2000 to honor the acts of service by Idahoans for their commitment to improving their community and serving their fellow citizens. Crapo has presented more than 600 Spirit of Idaho Awards since the award’s inception.",1,2026-03-30T01:40:41Z,2026-04-08T02:59:24Z
https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases/crapo-to-honor-magic-valley-resident-with-spirit-of-idaho-award,Crapo To Honor Magic Valley Resident with Spirit of Idaho Award,2022-08-23,2022,2022-08,Republican,Senate,ID,Mike Crapo,C000880,www.crapo.senate.gov,crapo,https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases,scraper,"Twin Falls, Idaho--U.S. Senator Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) will present the Spirit of Idaho Award to Forrest Andersen of Murtaugh at Stricker Elementary School in Kimberly at 8:45 AM on Thursday, August 25.

Andersen raised $15,000 to outfit Magic Valley school resource officers (SRO) with new rifle-rated body armor.

“I applaud Forrest for seeing a need in his community and taking the initiative to fill that need,” Crapo said. “He embodies the Spirit of Idaho with his selfless and enterprising example.”

Prior to Andersen’s endeavor, SROs had rifle-rated body armor, but it was too heavy to wear throughout the school day. New, modern body armor is thinner and weighs little more than 1lb. As the school year kicks off, SROs throughout the Magic Valley will be better protected as they perform their primary duty--protecting our children and teachers.

“The Magic Valley is very fortunate to have community-minded individuals such as Mr. Andersen,” Kimberly School District Superintendent Luke Schroder said. “Kimberly School District is very grateful for his generosity.""

“What a wonderful community we live and work in, where citizens and law enforcement work together to meet the needs and solve the issues that arise in our community,” Kimberly Police Chief Jeff Perry said.

The Spirit of Idaho Award was created by Crapo in 2000 to honor the acts of service by Idahoans for their commitment to improving their community and serving their fellow citizens. Crapo has presented more than 600 Spirit of Idaho Awards since the award’s inception.",1,2026-03-30T01:40:41Z,2026-04-08T02:59:24Z
https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases/crapo-to-lead-news-conference-on-inflation-impacting-idahos-agriculture-industry,Crapo to Lead News Conference On Inflation Impacting Idaho’s Agriculture Industry,2022-08-22,2022,2022-08,Republican,Senate,ID,Mike Crapo,C000880,www.crapo.senate.gov,crapo,https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases,scraper,"Twin Falls, Idaho--U.S. Senator Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) will lead Idaho agricultural producers in a news conference on the inflationary pressure impacting Idaho’s agriculture industry.

“Sustained high inflation is out of control,” Crapo said. “Idahoans continue to feel the pain of record high inflation and broad-based, rapid price increases. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the agriculture industry where Idaho farmers are experiencing increases across their operations--from seed, chemical and fertilizer to the diesel used in harvest equipment and shipping, all of which culminate in higher costs for the consumer.”

DETAILS:

WHAT: News conference on the inflationary pressure impacting Idaho’s agriculture industry.

WHO: U.S. Senator Mike Crapo (R-Idaho)

Zak Miller, Idaho Farm Bureau CEO

Larry Hollifield, Twin Falls County Farm Bureau President

WHEN: Thursday, August 25, 2022

2:00 PM (MDT)",1,2026-03-30T01:40:41Z,2026-04-08T02:59:24Z
https://fulcher.house.gov/2022/08/12/id-897d33df-0023-495c-b397-249338e79680/,Congressman Fulcher Votes Against Democrats’ Reconciliation Bill,2022-08-12,2022,2022-08,Republican,House,ID,Russ Fulcher,F000469,fulcher.house.gov,fulcher,https://fulcher.house.gov/category/press-releases/,scraper,"Contact:

Daniel Tellez

202-225-6611

daniel.tellez@mail.house.gov

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, Congressman Russ Fulcher voted against passage of H.R. 5376, the Inflation Reduction Act. The bill passed the House with zero Republican votes and every Democrat voting in favor.

The vote follows more than a year of Congressman Fulcher voicing his opposition to the bill in its current and previous iteration, the Build Back Better Act. Despite the name change, H.R. 5376 keeps many of the same provisions found in Democrats’ original reconciliation bill.

Congressman Fulcher commented, “The ‘Inflation Reduction Act’ is as deceptively named as it is dangerous to our country’s economic well-being. Instead of addressing the worst inflation crisis in 40 years, this bill further inflames one of the main drivers of it: federal spending. Worse yet – Democrats are asking the middle class and businesses to pay for that spending with hundreds of billions in new taxes. I voted NO on H.R. 5376.”

Background on the legislation:

Despite the name, an analysis by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) stated that H.R. 5376 would have “negligible effect on inflation.” Another analysis by the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton Budget Model described the bill’s effects as “statistically indistinguishable from zero.”

The bill dedicates nearly $80 billion to the IRS for tax enforcement. A CBO analysis makes clear that under H.R. 5376, audit rates will “rise for all taxpayers.” The nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation, Congress’ official tax scorekeeper, stated that more than 75% of the money raised from under-reported income would likely come from those making less than $200,000 a year.

The Joint Committee on Taxation analysis also estimates only 4-9% of tax revenue raised would come from those making more than $500,000. Democrats voted against Idaho Senator Mike Crapo’s amendment to add guardrails preventing audits for the middle class and small businesses, instead using non-binding legislative language that would do nothing to protect taxpayers from agency abuse.

The bill contains many provisions that fulfill Democratic agenda items unrelated to tackling inflation. This includes green energy subsidies that are exclusively utilized by wealthy Americans and price controls on prescription drugs that the CBO states will lead to higher prices for new drugs. Congressman Fulcher has instead supported separate legislation, such as the Lower Costs, More Cures Act and the Hydropower Clean Energy Future Act, that promote clean energy and lower prescription drug costs while sparing taxpayers of billions in new taxes.

###",1,2026-03-30T01:40:41Z,2026-04-08T02:59:24Z
https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases/crapo-statement-on-protecting-taxpayers-earning-under-400000-from-increased-irs-scrutiny,"Crapo Statement on Protecting Taxpayers Earning Under $400,000 from Increased IRS Scrutiny",2022-08-11,2022,2022-08,Republican,Senate,ID,Mike Crapo,C000880,www.crapo.senate.gov,crapo,https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases,scraper,"Washington, D.C.--U.S. Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) issued the following statement on increased funding for the IRS included in the “Inflation Reduction Act,” and his amendment to protect small businesses and middle-class taxpayers from increased audits.

“It’s clear that the President, the IRS, and the Secretary of Treasury are scrambling to protest that they are not going to increase audits on people making less than $400,000. However, when given the opportunity to vote on the Senate floor and put into binding statute that increased funds could not be used to increase audits on those making less than $400,000 per year, every single Democratic senator voted no. When I offered my amendment to simply make it clear that the $80 billion being given to the IRS--six times its current annual budget--could not be utilized to audit people making less than $400,000, the most they would agree to was to say they did not ‘intend’ to audit them. That’s because they know from the analysis of the Joint Committee on Taxation that most underreported income occurs among taxpayers earning less than $200,000 per year, and from the Congressional Budget Office that they cannot collect the $200 billion they are claiming without auditing people making less than $400,000. If they truly do not intend to audit anyone making less than $400,000, then they would have supported my amendment, turning ‘intent’ into binding statute.”

On August 7, Senator Crapo offered an amendment during consideration of the “Inflation Reduction Act” to prevent the IRS from using any of the $80 billion of funding for audits on individuals and small businesses with taxable incomes below $400,000. Senate Democrats rejected the amendment along party lines, 50-50.

###",1,2026-03-30T01:40:41Z,2026-04-08T02:59:24Z
https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases/crapo-offers-amendment-to-protect-middle-class-small-businesses-from-supersized-irs,"Crapo Offers Amendment to Protect Middle Class, Small Businesses from Supersized IRS",2022-08-07,2022,2022-08,Republican,Senate,ID,Mike Crapo,C000880,www.crapo.senate.gov,crapo,https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases,scraper,"Washington, D.C.--U.S. Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) filed an amendment to the Democrats’ misleadingly-named “Inflation Reduction Act of 2022” to prevent the IRS from using its massive, $80 billion cash infusion on enforcement actions designed to squeeze more revenue out of American taxpayers who earn less than $400,000 per year.

“My colleagues claim this massive funding boost will allow the IRS to go after millionaires, billionaires and so-called rich ‘tax cheats,’ but the reality is a significant portion raised from their IRS funding bloat would come from taxpayers with income below $400,000,” said Crapo. “Otherwise, why would the legislative text say the funding isn’t intended to target taxpayers below that threshold? My colleagues and Americans know the real answer: small business owners, cash-heavy businesses and those who can’t afford legal teams are easy targets for the new IRS agents and their audits. My amendment would ensure the Democrats’ supersized-IRS proposal cannot violate the President’s pledge to not raise taxes on those making less than $400,000.”

Senator Crapo’s amendment would prevent the IRS from using any of the supersized $80 billion of funding for audits on hard-working American taxpayers, including individuals and small businesses, with taxable incomes below $400.000.

The amendment has teeth, in contrast to the Democrats’ bill containing merely an unenforceable statement of intention to not squeeze more revenue out of the middle class.

Senate Democrats voted the amendment down along party lines, 50-50.

###",1,2026-03-30T01:40:41Z,2026-04-08T02:59:24Z
https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases/crapo-votes-against-democrats-damaging-tax-and-spend-bill,Crapo Votes Against Democrats’ Damaging Tax-and-Spend Bill,2022-08-07,2022,2022-08,Republican,Senate,ID,Mike Crapo,C000880,www.crapo.senate.gov,crapo,https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases,scraper,"Washington, D.C.--U.S. Senator Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Ranking Member of the Senate Finance Committee, today voted against the Democrats’ mislabeled “Inflation Reduction Act,” a partisan, filibuster-proof budget proposal that does nothing to bring the economy out of stagnation and recession, and instead gives Americans higher taxes, more spending, higher prices and an army of IRS agents.

“At the beginning of this Congress, my Democrat colleagues used this same process to ram through the ‘American Rescue Plan’ along party lines, with promises that $1.9 trillion of debt-financed spending was going to save the country and fix everyone’s concerns,” said Crapo. “Where are we today? Inflation at 9.1 percent, which we told them was coming. Gas prices have doubled. Economic stagnation. Semantic arguments about what defines a recession, like the one Democrats are making, miss the point. Sixty-five percent of Americans already think we are in a recession, and more than eighty percent of the country say our economy is on the wrong track. We should be working together on policies to bring us out of this economic quagmire, but the bill we voted on today doubles down on a tried-and-failed tax-and-spend strategy. This bill does nothing to address the significant inflation we are facing, or to ease burdens born today by low- and middle-income Americans. Rather, it promises higher taxes, more reckless spending, higher prices, a supersized IRS and prolonged stagflation.

“Before the pandemic, we were experiencing one of the strongest economies in a lifetime. Employment was up, wages were up, capital formation came back to the United States, and the inflation rate hovered around 1.5 percent. We know pro-growth policies work, and I will continue to fight for them.”

As Ranking Member of the Senate Finance Committee, Senator Crapo spoke on the Senate Floor against the Democrats’ reckless tax-and-spending spree, outlining concerns with proposals to increase taxes on Americans across all incomes. You can read those remarks here.

Senate Republicans filed hundreds of amendments to blunt the worst provisions in the legislation. As the lead Republican of the Senate Finance Committee, Crapo offered several commonsense amendments to the Democrats’ social spending spree, none of which were adopted. Crapo’s amendments included:

Prohibiting the Use of Additional IRS Funding to Audit Taxpayers with Taxable Income Under $400,000: Democrats’ bill included a massive $80 billion in unaccountable funding for the IRS, more than half of which is dedicated to enforcement. This amendment would have prevented the use of additional IRS funds from being used for audits of taxpayers with incomes below $400,000 in order to protect low- and middle-income earning American taxpayers from an onslaught of audits from an army of new IRS auditors funded by an unprecedented, nearly $80 billion, infusion of new funds. While Democrats chose to shirk their professed “intent” and misdirect with stale rhetoric about “tax cheats” and “the rich,” none chose to vote for this amendment which independent analysts have shown would protect middle-class American workers and small businesses from increased taxes resulting from an audit tsunami released by the Democrat-supersized IRS.

Protecting Taxpayers from IRS Targeting for Political, Religious, or Ideological Beliefs: This amendment would have prevented the use of additional IRS funds for audits of taxpayers with incomes below $400,000, or targeting of taxpayers for political, religious, or ideological beliefs.

Preventing New IRS Systems to Monitor Taxpayers’ Bank Accounts: The Administration has proposed allowing the IRS to monitor the transactions of deposits and withdrawals of Americans who have more than $10,000 worth of transactions in a year—a pernicious bank-reporting dragnet. While explicit language authorizing the Democrats’ desire to snoop on Americans’ bank transactions was not included in the so-called Inflation Reduction Act, Crapo’s amendment would have prevented the IRS from using funding to construct or operate a system for providing information on and monitoring taxpayer flows of deposits or withdrawals in taxpayers’ private accounts with financial institutions or payment providers in order to protect taxpayer privacy.

Replacing Bureaucratic Drug Price Controls with Solutions that Lower Costs while Ensuring Access to Life-Saving New Treatments and Cures: This amendment would have replaced the system of bureaucratic drug price controls that will lead to higher launch prices, stifle growth, gut domestic manufacturing jobs and aid foreign adversaries, like China, with Crapo’s Lower Costs, More Cures Act, legislation that would lower prescription drug prices and encourage new treatments.

Protecting Taxpayer Data and Preventing Data Leaks: This amendment would have provided for the use of Internal Revenue Service funds to further privacy protections against leaks of private, legally protected taxpayer data outside of the Internal Revenue Service, as we have seen with leaks of private, legally-protected individual taxpayer data to the pro-tax media group ProPublica, and for establishment of universal audit trails to track the utilization and access of personal taxpayer data at the IRS to monitor who within and outside of the IRS is looking at your personal tax information.

Redirect $80 billion IRS Slush Fund to Shore Up Medicare Hospital Insurance Trust Fund: Rather than provide an unprecedented $80 billion infusion of taxpayer funds to the IRS, this amendment would have repurposed the use of those taxpayer resources to help shore up the nearly-exhausted Medicare Hospital Insurance Trust Fund.

###",1,2026-03-30T01:40:41Z,2026-04-08T02:59:24Z
https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases/crapo-democrats-are-proposing-more-taxes-more-spending-higher-prices-and-an-army-of-irs-agents,"Crapo: Democrats are Proposing More Taxes, More Spending, Higher Prices, and an Army of IRS Agents",2022-08-06,2022,2022-08,Republican,Senate,ID,Mike Crapo,C000880,www.crapo.senate.gov,crapo,https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases,scraper,"Washington, D.C.--U.S. Senator Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Ranking Member of the Senate Finance Committee, delivered remarks on the Democrats’ reckless tax-and-spending bill, outlining what Americans can expect from the mislabeled Inflation Reduction Act of 2022: more taxes, more spending, higher prices, and an army of IRS auditors.

“It’s too many taxes, too much spending, too big of a burden on American people across all income categories.”

To watch Crapo’s full remarks, click HERE or the image above.

On the state of the economy:

The nonpartisan Penn Wharton Budget Model says the “Inflation Reduction Act” will, if anything, raise inflation in the first few years, with a small and insignificant negative effect later in this decade. That same model concludes that there is “low confidence that the legislation will have any impact on inflation.”

But it does have an impact on all of us and our economy.

The bill does nothing to bring the economy out of stagnation and recession. Rather, the “Inflation Reduction Act of 2022” gives us higher taxes, more spending, higher prices, and an army of IRS agents.

On tax hikes:

Hundreds of billions of dollars raised through taxes–around $350 to $400 billion. There’s a new book minimum tax on corporations; a new tax on stock buybacks…

There’s—believe it or not—a new tax on gasoline, on oil and gas and refineries at the very time when our President has shut down production of oil and gas on our interior and offshore, and has stopped the Keystone XL pipeline, basically freezing America’s production and driving us from a state of energy independence to a state of energy dependence, where we have to ask our friends and often our enemies across the globe to increase their gas production to help us deal with our prices at the pump.

Everyone in America knows that corporations don’t bear the burden of the taxes we put on them. Who does? Workers, consumers and owners.

My colleagues are quick to say this is just rich people and rich companies who are “tax cheats.” But the owners of the corporations are primarily people in America who have retired and are leaning on a pension, or who have not yet retired or are trying to save money for retirement by putting their money into 401(k)s or other investment programs.

That’s who bears the burden of these taxes.

On the costs of the bill outweighing purported benefits:

In response to this data that we’ve been able to show about the very tax proposals in this bill the Democrats surprisingly have claimed that this Joint Tax Committee analysis isn’t valid because it didn’t include the effects of their spending that they were putting into the bill.

Well that’s a novel idea—it’s okay to raise taxes and it’s okay to put more tax burden on people making less than $400,000 because we’re going to be sending some subsidies to some of them.

So, we asked the JCT to include those subsidies in its analysis.

The analysis that incorporated the Obamacare subsidies shows that burdens of the proposed tax increases in the Democrats’ reckless bill would be so substantial and so widespread throughout all income categories—I repeat, all income categories—that no amount of temporary health care credits, or subsidies for $80,000 luxury SUVs, will overcome the tax increase burdens that would be overwhelmingly felt by lower- and middle-income Americans.

On prescription drug price controls:

The largest source of proposed savings in the Democrats’ bill is a system of bureaucratic drug price controls that will lead to higher launch prices, stifle growth, gut domestic manufacturing jobs and aid foreign adversaries, like China.

Senate Republicans have developed a commonsense alternative, based on more than two dozen solutions aimed at providing relief at the pharmacy counter while ensuring long-term access to life-saving new treatments and cures.

These are the kinds of solutions that our prescriptions drug pricing system requires, not an arbitrary and offensive federal price-fixing program.

On plans to supersize the IRS:

This bill proposes $80 billion in mandatory appropriations to the IRS. Let me give you a little perspective—the annual budget of the IRS is only about $12.6 billion. Nearly six times the annual budget of the current IRS. Of this, $45.6 billion is for enforcement purposes. That’s more than 57 percent, almost 60 percent of this $80 billion is for enforcement purposes.

Some estimate the $46 billion for an army of auditors may allow the IRS to hire as many as 87,000 new agents. That would make the IRS one of the largest federal agencies--larger than the Pentagon, State Department, FBI, and Border Patrol combined.

…

Multiple studies show that in order to raise the money they are requiring to be raised under this bill, around $200 billion of more tax revenue from Americans by auditing them, they have nowhere else to look.

…

In response to this criticism, they included a sentence that said, “nothing in this bill is ‘intended’--focus on that word, nothing in this bill is “intended”—to increase taxes on those making less than $400,000.”

Why did they use the word “intended”? Because they know that’s not what they want to happen, but it’s what will have to happen, and they are not willing to use a stronger word.

I have asked them, and I will ask them in an amendment on this Floor, to say that “none of this money can be used to audit taxpayers making less than $400,000 a year.”

Let’s see how they vote on that amendment.

____________________________________________________________

Remarks as prepared for delivery:

I’d like to start by going back to near the beginning of this Congress when we were debating what was called “The American Rescue Plan.”

We were told then by our colleagues on the other side that this was going to “save the country.” $1.9 trillion of debt-financed spending they said was going to fix everybody’s concerns in the United States.

Where are we today? 9.1 percent consumer price inflation, which we told them was coming. Gas prices doubling. Economic stagnation: GDP contracted by 0.9 percent in the second quarter, and we’re now arguing over semantics about what defines a recession. 65 percent of the country already think we are in a recession, and more than 80 percent of the country think our economy is on the wrong track.

The nonpartisan Penn Wharton Budget Model says the “Inflation Reduction Act” will, if anything, raise inflation in the first few years, with a small and insignificant negative effect later in this decade.

That same model concludes that there is “low confidence that the legislation will have any impact on inflation.”

But it does have an impact on all of us and our economy.

The bill does nothing to bring the economy out of stagnation and recession. Rather, the “Inflation Reduction Act of 2022” gives us higher taxes, more spending, higher prices, and an army of IRS agents.

HIGHER TAXES

Let’s talk about the taxes first.

Hundreds of billions of dollars raised through taxes—around $350 to $400 billion.

There’s a new book minimum tax on corporations; a new tax on stock buybacks;

There’s—believe this or not—a new tax on gasoline, on oil and gas and refineries at the very time when our President has shut down production of oil and gas on our interior and offshore, and has stopped the Keystone XL pipeline, basically freezing America’s production and driving us from a state of energy independence to a state of energy dependence, where we have to ask our friends and often our enemies across the globe to increase their gas production to help us deal with our prices at the pump.

And this book minimum tax—everyone in America knows that corporations don’t bear the burden of the taxes we put on them. Who does? Workers, consumers and owners.

A recent National Bureau of Economic Research study estimates 31 percent is borne by consumers via price hikes at a time when we’re dealing with record inflation; 38 percent is borne by workers via lower wages, or less employment; and 31 percent is borne by owners.

My colleagues are quick to say this is just rich people and rich companies who are “tax cheats.” But the owners of the corporations are primarily people in America who have retired and are leaning on a pension, or who have not yet retired or are trying to save money for retirement by putting their money into 401(k)s or other investment programs.

That’s who bears the burden of these taxes.

We asked the nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) to tell us who will bear the burden of these tax hikes. They told us that in 2023, taxes will increase by $16.7 billion on American taxpayers earning less than $200,000. Another $14.1 billion would come from taxpayers earning between $200,000 and $500,000.

By 2031, when the new green energy credits and subsidies provide an even greater benefit to those with higher incomes, those earning below $400,000 are projected to bear as much as two-thirds of the burden of the additional tax revenue collected that year.

That’s what we’re being offered as a solution to the crisis that we are now facing in our economy.

And, as I’ll discuss later, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has recently confirmed that a significant portion of revenue that the IRS supersized funding Democrats claim will be forthcoming comes from audits that will squeeze tens of billions out of taxpayers earning less than $400,000.

So, in response to this data that we’ve been able to show about the very tax proposals in this bill the Democrats surprisingly have claimed that this Joint Tax Committee analysis isn’t valid because it didn’t include the effects of their spending that they were putting into the bill.

Well that’s a novel idea—it’s okay to raise taxes and it’s okay to put more tax burden on people making less than $400,000 because we’re going to be sending some subsidies to some of them.

So, we asked the JCT to include those subsidies in its analysis, which they did.

The analysis that incorporated the Obamacare subsidies shows that burdens of the proposed tax increases in the Democrats’ reckless bill would be so substantial and so widespread throughout all income categories—I repeat, all income categories--that no amount of temporary health care credits, or subsidies for $80,000 luxury SUVs, will overcome the tax increase burdens that would be overwhelmingly felt by lower- and middle-income Americans.

Few, if any, Americans will get a net reduction in their tax burden. And for any that do, it will only be temporary. The vast majority will still bear the burden of these taxes.

Book Minimum Tax

The book minimum tax does not close loopholes—it raises taxes on U.S. companies by hundreds of billions of dollars.

And, it would not prevent all companies from paying zero tax. Instead, it would let some of the companies preferred by the Democrats continue to avoid their taxes by using—not loopholes—but legitimate provisions for R&D and other kinds of tax credits that are intended to incentivize the conduct of those companies.

JCT has already estimated that half of the burden of the book minimum tax would fall on manufacturers.

In other words, as 252 trade associations and chambers of commerce from across the country said when they realized that close to half this burden would fall on manufacturers:

“Enacting the proposed Corporate Book Minimum Tax would be the antithesis of sound tax policy and administration. Its introduction would be neither simple nor administrable and would pose a competitive disadvantage to U.S.-headquartered businesses while increasing the incidence of unrelieved double taxation. It would also have a detrimental effect on the quality of financial reporting.”

The Business Roundtable said:

“[T]he proposed book minimum tax would, among other things, suppress domestic investment when increased investment is needed to spur a strong recovery. This tax hike would also undermine the competitiveness of America’s exporters.

Even with a carve-out for accelerated depreciation, there remain many unresolved problems within the design and structure of the minimum tax that make it a poor revenue option.

Stock Buybacks

Let’s go to the next tax they raise: stock buybacks.

Once again, my colleagues on the other side are quick to attack any company that does a stock buyback, saying they’re trying to make owners of their stock who are “rich tax cheaters” even more wealthy.

I’ve already explained that the owners of that stock are the vast majority of Americans who are retired, working toward retirement or who are trying to invest a little bit to get ahead.

Despite Democrats’ claim that they are only closing loopholes, they are doubling down and proposing a new $74 billion tax increase on U.S. companies.

Democrats want to create a third layer of tax on American companies, which will have the harshest impact on seniors and other savers.

The WSJ in a recent editorial explained:

“Companies use buybacks to return cash to shareholders for which they don’t have a better use. Shareholders who sell shares back to the company can invest the proceeds elsewhere. That beats letting the cash sit on corporate books earning interest while CEOs get complacent or decide to buy a business they don’t understand how to run.

“Buybacks aren’t tax free: Owners who sell shares back to the company realize a taxable capital gain. Any boost in the share price contributes to a higher taxable gain for remaining owners when they sell their shares in the future.

“Why not pay dividends instead? Companies and shareholders might prefer buybacks in some instances, such as if the company is disbursing a one-time lump sum or shifting the balance of equity and debt on its books. For the economy overall, buybacks have the effect of distributing capital specifically to those owners who choose to participate because they believe they have a more productive use for it. Capital flows from companies that don’t need it to companies that do.

Democrats are telling companies, if you return value to your retirees or to 401(k) plans or to pension plans, then you will pay a punitive tax.

The majority of American households have direct or indirect ownership of corporate stock via pensions, 401(k)s, or other savings vehicles. Eighty to 100 million Americans have a 401(k). 46.4 million households have an individual retirement account. Half of Generation-Zers and Millennials are invested in stocks.

Seniors are especially dependent on investment income.

An Association of Mature American Citizens report shows that 68 percent of workers between the ages of 55-64 were active participants in a retirement plan to save for their golden years, and that on average 40 percent of seniors’ net worth is held in stocks and mutual funds invested over and above those retirement accounts.

Companies also rely on investments by individuals and institutions like pension funds to finance their operations.

Successful companies use this capital to generate profits, which are then used for expansion, research and development, hiring and benefits, and investment in communities. Companies may also choose to pay down debt or return excess funds to shareholders

Restricting stock buybacks could force companies to sit on cash or waste it on low-potential projects--both of which limit our economic growth and prosperity.

As the Tax Foundation points out:

“A large body of evidence supports the idea that companies generally only consider stock buybacks when they have exhausted their investment opportunities and met their other obligations, meaning it is residual cash flow that is used for buybacks. In fact, stock buybacks can supplement capital investments, as they can help reallocate capital from old, established firms to new and innovative firms.”

This unvetted stock buybacks tax is a crippling tax that reduces retirement security for Americans.

Tax on American Energy

Let’s go to the next tax they propose, and this one is a little difficult to understand—the Superfund tax and methane fee.

I understand why they call it the Superfund tax—it’s a 16.4 percent increase on oil and gas production in the United States.

According to the Energy Information Agency, regular gasoline prices have risen $1.94 per gallon since President Biden was inaugurated, an increase of more than 80 percent.

Americans are still paying, on average, more than $4.00 for a gallon of gas, and many can still remember the more-than-$5.00/gallon. The price for utility gas service is up by almost 40 percent.

These price increases occurred because President Biden shut down domestic energy production, including through permitting delays and canceling the Keystone XL pipeline.

Now, unbelievably, the President’s Democrat allies in Congress are doubling down with a methane tax and higher royalties on petroleum.

Re-imposing and increasing by nearly 70 percent the Superfund tax on refiners of crude oil, importers of petroleum products, and crude oil exporters, costing almost $12 billion over ten years--which will ultimately be borne by American motorists.

In addition, higher taxes diminish the ability to improve domestic supplies of oil by making capital investments cost prohibitive at a time when the U.S. has already lost one million barrels per day of refining capacity compared to before the pandemic.

On the methane fee, the American Gas Association says:

“New fees or taxes on energy companies will raise costs for customers, creating a burden that will fall most heavily on lower-income Americans…. [B]ased on similar proposals introduced earlier this Congress, we estimate that the fee could amount to tens of billions of dollars annually. These major new costs most likely will result in higher bills for natural gas customers, including families, small businesses, and power generators…. Any increase in low-income households’ energy costs could prove devastating.”

The bottom line on taxes is that millions of Americans will bear the burden of these tax hikes.

Some of my colleagues have claimed that those tax hikes are worth the supposed benefit. Let’s look at the benefits:

DRUG PRICE REFORM

The largest source of proposed savings in the Democrats’ bill is a system of bureaucratic drug price controls that will lead to higher launch prices, stifle growth, gut domestic manufacturing jobs and aid foreign adversaries, like China.

These proposals will lead to:

Higher launch prices for new medications, triggering financial strain at the pharmacy counter, as confirmed by the Congressional Budget Office.

Hundreds of thousands of American job losses, particularly in domestic manufacturing--which is already getting hit by the new book minimum tax--with some estimates projecting as many as 800,000.

A competitive edge for the Chinese Communist Party, which has singled out biomedical innovation as a pillar of its industrial policy strategy, and which could ultimately supplant the U.S. as the global life sciences leader, with profound national security implications.

An unprecedented expansion of the D.C. federal health bureaucracy, financed with a staggering $3 billion in new administrative spending. This bureaucracy would also have unbridled new government price-setting authorities—with permanent prohibitions on judicial and administrative review, and with initial implementation shielded from basic notice-and-comment rulemaking requirements.

Fewer new treatments and cures, with a University of Chicago analysis estimating 135 fewer new drugs approved between now and 2039, resulting from an 18.5 percent reduction in innovative research and development.

Less funding for cancer R&D: Today, nearly 50 percent of the FDA pipeline is comprised of new cancer treatments. However, according to the same economists at University of Chicago, the drug price controls would reduce funding for cancer R&D by nearly $18.1 billion, or over nine times the amount of funding proposed for President Biden’s Cancer Moonshot. So much for the President’s “cancer moonshot.”

Dangerous new mechanisms for compelling total compliance with federal government mandates, with potential applications across all sectors of the economy, including:

An escalating non-compliance penalty of up to 95 percent of all gross sales—levied every day—for failure to meet any terms of the government price-setting program (“negotiation” in name only), rendering any new federal mandate—however sweeping—an offer you can’t refuse. Even late paperwork would trigger this crippling, catastrophic penalty, which has a tax-exclusive rate of up to 1,900 percent.

As a messaging gimmick, Democrats have framed their government price-setting program as “negotiation,” but their legislation tells a far different story. Under their proposed program:

The Secretary has absolute, unilateral, uninhibited price-setting authority—with no floor—enabling a price of $1 for even the most innovative new drugs.

Manufacturers have no choice but to comply and to provide indefinite access to their products at the Secretary-dictated price, regardless of how unfair. They cannot walk away from the “negotiating table” or withdraw selected products from the Medicare market, even if the Secretary sets an economically untenable price, stripping even small businesses of any leverage.

Judicial and administrative review of key decisions—including the price-setting itself—are permanently prohibited.

The bill completely disregards the rest of the prescription drug supply chain, targeting manufacturers while doing nothing to address other key players or to improve oversight and transparency.

Senate Republicans have developed a commonsense alternative, based on more than two dozen solutions aimed at providing relief at the pharmacy counter while ensuring long-term access to life-saving new treatments and cures.

Among other provisions, virtually all of which are based on proposals with bipartisan support, the Lower Costs, More Cures Act (S. 2164) would:

Reform the Part D benefit to reduce seniors’ cost-sharing burden and incentivize plans to negotiate the best deals possible for enrollees.

Create a hard cap on annual out-of-pocket spending for all seniors under Medicare Part D.

Increase Part D plan choices for seniors by enabling sponsors to offer additional plans, with incentives for options that pass a greater share of discounts directly to beneficiaries at the pharmacy counter.

Permanently extend a Trump Administration program providing Part D enrollees with access to plan options that cap out-of-pocket monthly insulin costs at $35 or less.

Permanently allow high-deductible health plans to offer pre-deductible coverage for preventive services, including insulin.

Establish a Chief Pharmaceutical Negotiator to combat foreign freeloading, ensuring the best trade deals achievable for American consumers and job creators.

Strengthen consumer-oriented oversight through more useful cost comparison tools, price transparency measures, and robust reporting requirements for stakeholders across the drug supply chain, including pharmacy benefit managers.

Facilitate value-based arrangements, where private and public-sector payers can pay based on patient outcomes, driving better results for patients at a lower cost.

Restructure payments for drugs administered in the doctor’s office or hospital outpatient department to encourage physicians to deliver cost-effective treatment options, when clinically appropriate.

These are the kinds of solutions that our prescriptions drug pricing system requires, not an arbitrary and offensive federal price-fixing program.

IRS Funding for an Army of Auditors

This bill proposes $80 billion in mandatory appropriations to the IRS.

Let me give you a little perspective – the annual budget of the IRS is only about $12.6 billion. Nearly six times the annual budget of the current IRS. Of this, $45.6 billion for enforcement purposes. That’s more than 57 percent, almost 60 percent of this $80 billion is for enforcement purposes. $25.3 billion is for operations support. Only $4.8 billion for business systems and bringing themselves into the 21st century so they can communicate with taxpayers; and $3.2 billion for taxpayer services, or 4 percent.

Some estimate the $46 billion for an army of auditors may allow the IRS to hire as many as 87,000 new agents.

That would make the IRS one of the largest federal agencies--larger than the Pentagon, State Department, FBI, and Border Patrol combined.

According to the Congressional Research Service, the Democrats’ reckless IRS funding increase would raise enforcement funding by nearly 70 percent above what IRS is currently projected to get.

Increased audits for the middle class, small businesses, and those making less than $400,000 are inevitable and unavoidable under this Act.

How will the $45.6 billion for enforcement purposes be used?

Interestingly, the White House and even the IRS Commissioner have said “they won’t use all this money for auditing people who make less than $400,000.” My colleagues just continue to say they won’t do it.

Multiple studies show, however, that in order to raise the money they are requiring to be raised under this bill, around $200 billion of more tax revenue from Americans by auditing them, they have nowhere else to look.

Last year, the IRS announced that it planned to ramp up audits of small businesses by 50 percent this year.

Why did they announce that? Because that’s where they need to look to collect all of this new tax revenue that they want to get.

I asked the nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation to estimate where the most underreported income in the “tax gap” lies—where the supposed revenue would come from, that my colleagues on the other side say comes from “big tax cheats.”

JCT looked at IRS data and determined out of all the revenue projected to be raised from underreported income: 40-57 percent could come from taxpayers making $50,000 or less; 65-78 percent from those making less than $100,000; and 78-90 percent from those making less than $200,000. Only around 4-9 percent could come from those making $500,000 or more.

That’s what the data shows. That’s why the IRS amounted a 50 percent increase in audits for small businesses, and that’s why it is impossible for the Democrats’ claims that they don’t want to have audits of people under $400,000, cannot be honored.

You know, in their bill , in response to this criticism, they included a sentence that said, nothing in this bill is ‘intended’--focus on that word, nothing in this bill is ‘intended’--to increase taxes on those making less than $400,000.

Why did they use the word ‘intended’? Because they know that’s not what they want to happen, but it’s what will have to happen, and they are not willing to use a stronger word.

I have asked them, and I will ask them in an amendment on this floor, to say that “none of this money can be used to audit taxpayers making less than $400,000 a year.”

Let’s see how they vote on that amendment.

Why couldn’t they just say that this money ‘shall not’ increase taxes on people earning less than $400,000 per year? Why couldn’t they say that these funds cannot be utilized to audit taxpayers making less than $400,000 per year?

Because they know they can’t say that and claim the amount of revenue they want to spend, unless they audit those making less than $400,000 per year.

The fact is the “tax gap” isn’t just millionaires, billionaires, oligarchs, or whatever the term-of-the-attack is today.

To say that everyone who has misreported their income as “tax cheats” is misdirection. It calls all of these people who make less than $400,000 who are simply having trouble complying with this complex internal revenue code a “tax cheat,” and that’s unfair.

We examined the IRS’s own data on how successful it is in having the courts sustain its claims that these folks in the $400,000 category and other categories are cheating on their taxes.

Over the past twenty years, the IRS has a less-than 47 percent success rate, and a less-than 45 percent success rate over the last ten years.

In other words, the IRS more often asserts these tax deficiencies exist than the courts agree with. That is hardly evidence for a multitude of tax cheats, but firm evidence that innocent taxpayers are often subjected to unnecessary and inappropriate scrutiny.

And we can be sure they will be with 87,000 new auditors.

Again, making the IRS larger than all of those other agencies that I talked about.

And by the way, folks may remember, just a short time back when the proposal also included language that would let the IRS get into the bank accounts and monitor the transactions of deposits and withdrawals of all Americans who have more than $10,000 worth of transactions in a year. Which is, essentially, almost all Americans

Admittedly, that language isn’t in this bill, yet, but the broad authority that is given to the Internal Revenue Service with this $80 billion of supersizing will undoubtably result in rules and regulations issued by the IRS to achieve that objective. They know they couldn’t put it in statute, because it would be rejected, immediately, by the American people.

I encourage the American people to see past this and to reject this legislation.

It’s too many taxes, too much spending, too big of a burden on American people across all income categories.

We don’t want to supersize the Internal Revenue Service.

Going back to that very first statistic I gave you—this bill isn’t even going to have a statistically significant impact on inflation. If anything, the taxes will drive prices up.

Madame President, I encourage all of my colleagues to reject this reckless bill.

###",1,2026-03-30T01:40:41Z,2026-04-08T02:59:24Z
https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases/jct-confirms-tax-costs-exponentially-outweigh-benefits,JCT Confirms: Tax Costs Exponentially Outweigh Benefits,2022-08-05,2022,2022-08,Republican,Senate,ID,Mike Crapo,C000880,www.crapo.senate.gov,crapo,https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases,scraper,"Washington, D.C.--The nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) has issued an analysis of effects of the Democrats’ reckless tax-and-spend bill on taxpayers in each income category.

The new analysis shows that the burden of the bill’s tax increases on lower- and middle-income Americans is so great, any supposed benefits from the temporary premium credits only outweigh the tax hits for a small sliver of the population. Even for the small number of people who would receive a slight benefit, significantly larger portions of American taxpayers in each income category would still face the burden of a tax increase.

“The Administration has been very careful to say that the ‘individual income tax rate’ would not change for anyone making less than $400,000 per year, yet everyone knows that the corporate tax burden falls on workers and consumers, as well as owners,” said Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), who requested the analysis. “This analysis shows that burdens of the proposed tax increases in the Democrats’ reckless bill would be so substantial and so widespread throughout all income categories that no amount of temporary health credits, or subsidies for $80,000 luxury SUVs, will overcome the tax increase burdens that would be overwhelmingly felt by lower- and middle-income Americans.”

The analysis of the tax title of the “Inflation Reduction Act of 2022” includes the corporate book minimum tax increase and all energy tax provisions that JCT is able to estimate. It does not include the Superfund tax, the formerly-proposed changes to taxation of carried interest, or a potential excise tax on stock buybacks which would, if included, show potentially even larger burdens on Americans of all income categories.

According to JCT, given the tax hikes and most of the “Green New Deal” tax credits in the Democrats’ reckless tax-and-spend bill:

In 2023:

24.6 percent of taxpayers earning between $10,000 and $20,000 would see a tax increase.

61.7 percent of taxpayers earning between $40,000 and $50,000 would see a tax increase.

91.3 percent of those earning between $75,000-$100,000 would see a tax increase.

97.2 percent of those earning between $100,000-$200,000 would see a tax increase.

By 2031, long after the expiration of temporary Obamacare tax credit subsidies:

71.1 percent of taxpayers earning between $20,000 and $30,000 will face the burden of a tax increase.

81.4 percent of those earning between $75,000 to $100,000 will face a tax increase of more than $500.

Analysis – No ACA Subsidies

Although not part of the tax title in the “Inflation Reduction Act,” Ranking Member Crapo also requested for the JCT to analyze Democrats’ proposed tax title with the three-year extension of the expanded Affordable Care Act premium subsidies. The results of that analysis show that even when those subsidies are factored in, tax burdens from the Democrats’ bill on low- and middle-income Americans significantly outweigh any tax and ACA-premium benefits.

In 2023, the first of three years the extended ACA credit is in effect:

Only 3.2 percent of those with income between $50,000 and $75,000 get a tax cut (all from the premium credit), while nearly 78 percent of those in that income category get a tax increase.

Only 2.0 percent of those earning between $75,000 and $100,000 receive a tax cut, while 89.2 percent will get a tax increase.

Only 0.5 percent of those between $100,000 and $200,000 get a tax cut, while 96.7 percent get a tax increase, with 73.1 percent of them getting a tax increase of more than $500.

In the years following 2025, when the Obamacare subsidies sunset, JCT’s analysis shows that no taxpayers get a tax cut, with the vast majority of taxpayers bearing significant tax increases.

In 2031, for example, more than 70 percent of taxpayers earning between $20,000 and $30,000 are facing a tax increase.

Analysis – ACA Subsidies

Background:

Corporate tax increases get passed on to workers in the form of lower wages and to consumers in the form of higher product prices. A recent National Bureau of Economic Research study, for example, estimates 31 percent of a tax hike is borne by consumers via higher prices; 38 percent is borne by workers via lower wages; and 31 percent is borne by owners, who include retirees and current workers building their retirement nest eggs.

Last week, Ranking Member Crapo also released a distributional analysis from the non-partisan JCT showing that the Democrats’ tax and spend bill would increase the tax burden on Americans earning less than $200,000 by nearly $17 billion in the next year alone, with the average tax rate increasing for nearly all taxpayers and with an even greater share of the burden facing those earning below $400,000 as things move through the full 10-year budget period.

###",1,2026-03-30T01:40:41Z,2026-04-08T02:59:24Z
https://fulcher.house.gov/2022/08/03/id-c9180e7d-cfba-4dd3-88fd-3fa5d931f565/,Statement on the DOJ Lawsuit Against Idaho,2022-08-03,2022,2022-08,Republican,House,ID,Russ Fulcher,F000469,fulcher.house.gov,fulcher,https://fulcher.house.gov/category/press-releases/,scraper,"Contact:

Daniel Tellez

202-225-6611

daniel.tellez@mail.house.gov

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Congressman Fulcher released the following statement on the lawsuit filed by the Department of Justice against the State of Idaho:

“By filing suit against Idaho over its anti-abortion law, President Joe Biden and his Justice Department are displaying their disdain for our federalist system and their growing belief in the illegitimacy of the Supreme Court. The Court made clear in its Dobbs v. Jackson decision that the issue of abortion should be left up to each state, and Idaho has chosen life.

On Tuesday, Idaho Governor Brad Little commented on the lawsuit filed against the State of Idaho. Read his full remarks here.“

###",1,2026-03-30T01:40:41Z,2026-04-08T02:59:24Z
https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases/crapo-reckless-tax-and-spend-dangerous-for-america,Crapo: Reckless Tax-and-Spend Dangerous for America,2022-08-03,2022,2022-08,Republican,Senate,ID,Mike Crapo,C000880,www.crapo.senate.gov,crapo,https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases,scraper,"Washington, D.C.--U.S. Senator Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Ranking Member of the Senate Finance Committee, led a news conference with Finance Committee Republicans to highlight the tax hike proposals in the mislabeled “Inflation Reduction Act.” Analyses from nonpartisan experts have shown the legislation would increase the tax burden on low- and middle-income Americans; slam the manufacturing industry; and do nothing to lower inflation.

“The bottom line—this tax is dangerous for America.”

To watch Crapo’s full remarks, click HERE or the image above.

On who bears the burden of a tax hike:

“The Administration has been very careful to say ‘we aren’t raising the tax rates of anyone under $400,000.’ But everyone in America knows that when taxes are charged, people end up carrying the burden of those taxes.

“That burden comes because the incidence of the corporate tax is passed on to workers; to capital, or those who own the stock, people trying to invest in their retirement in a pension plan or 401K; and in price increases in the economy.

“The [Joint Committee on Taxation] found that in 2023, the tax burden would increase by $16.7 billion on Americans earning less than $200,000 per year. Another $14.1 billion would be borne by taxpayers earning between $200,000 and $500,000 per year. During the ten-year period, the average tax burden increases for nearly every single income category. When you get to the point at the end of the ten-year period, half to two-thirds of the burden would fall on those earning less than $400,000. That is the reality, regardless of the games that are being played in terms of describing who the taxes fall on.”

On which industries will be hit hardest by tax hikes:

“49.7 percent of those taxes will fall on manufacturers, and as you can see from the chart that it goes across various other aspects of our economy…This bill will slam manufacturers.

“The National Association of Manufacturers has indicated that because half of the impact of this will be on that industry, that this would be a reduction of our gross domestic product by $68.45 billion, a reduction of employment by 218 thousand workers and a reduction of employment income of $17 billion. These numbers show, very graphically, where the burden of this tax falls; contrary to the argument that is this just a tax on tax-cheats.”

On the success of Republican tax reform:

“We worked as hard as we could back in 2017 to get our tax code amended so we could incentivize capital formation in America, so that we could encourage the hundreds of billions, trillions of dollars being held offshore to be brought back to the United States and invested here. And it happened--companies came back to the United States and invested the capital. We got the strongest economy we had probably seen in all of our lifetimes. Employment was up, wages were up and the inflation rate was less than 2 percent--down around 1.5 percent. That is what was coming out of the effort to get capital formation back into the United States; this bill is going to slam it.”

###",1,2026-03-30T01:40:41Z,2026-04-08T02:59:24Z
https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases/crapo-and-warner-unveil-new-bipartisan-caucus-to-fuel-investment-in-rural_low-income-communities,Crapo & Warner Unveil New Bipartisan Caucus To Fuel Investment In Rural & Low-income Communities,2022-08-01,2022,2022-08,Republican,Senate,ID,Mike Crapo,C000880,www.crapo.senate.gov,crapo,https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases,scraper,"Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Mike Crapo (R-ID) and Mark R. Warner (D-VA) announced the creation of the Senate Community Development Finance Caucus (CDFC), a bipartisan caucus dedicated to supporting the missions of Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) and Minority Depository Institutions (MDIs) to scale their activities and fuel more lending in low- and moderate-income (LMI) communities.

The 14-member caucus is bipartisan and evenly divided between Democrats and Republicans including Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Mike Braun (R-IN), Jon Ossoff (D-GA), Steve Daines (R-MT), Jack Reed (D-RI), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS), Tina Smith (D-MN), Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Jerry Moran (R-KS), Rev. Raphael Warnock (D-GA), and Mike Rounds (R-SD).

CDFIs play a critical role in providing responsible and affordable credit to underserved communities. During the pandemic, CDFIs demonstrated their ability to deliver billions of dollars to underserved businesses through the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), totaling approximately $34 billion.

On a bipartisan basis, Sen. Warner worked with Sen. Crapo, former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, and other colleagues to introduce the Jobs and Neighborhood Investment Act, which passed as part of the December 2020 COVID relief package. The bill made a historic $12 billion investment in CDFIs and MDIs, which included $3 billion for grant funding and $9 billion for tier-one capital investments in CDFIs and MDIs, which could be leveraged 10 to 1.

“CDFIs and MDIs play an essential role in providing access to capital in underserved communities. While Congress took significant steps to support community-based lenders over the last two years on a bipartisan basis, CDFIs continue to need more long-term patient capital, operating capital, and resources to modernize their systems and compete in an era of rapid financial innovation. I am happy to announce the creation of this caucus with Sen. Crapo to improve communication between industry and policymakers and continue working in a bipartisan fashion towards robust investments in CDFIs and MDIs,” said Sen. Warner.

“I have consistently heard positive news and success stories about CDFIs in Idaho and across the country, and their responsiveness to the small business community, particularly during these last few challenging years of the pandemic,” said Sen. Crapo. “Sen. Warner and I are proud to launch this caucus to educate members and staff about the important role CDFIs play in their communities, and to create a forum to share ideas and policy proposals that foster strong economic growth in local communities.

A summary deck describing the caucus can be found here. More information on the caucus can be found on its webpage here.

The Community Development Finance Caucus has the support of a number of organizations and financial institutions.

“The National Bankers Association is proud to endorse the bipartisan U.S. Senate Community Development Finance Caucus, which will develop legislative efforts to support MDIs and CDFIs while providing direct lending opportunities. We commend Sen. Mark Warner for his leadership and commitment to ensuring MDIs have the resources to serve our nation's low- and moderate-income communities,” said Nicole Elam, President and CEO, National Bankers Association.

“The Community Development Bankers Association is excited about the formation of the Community Development Finance Caucus. The CDFI sector has emerged as a critical component of the financial services sector because it works to ensure access by underserved markets. Addressing growing income disparity, promoting racial equity, and building financial wellness are important national priorities and the need for the Caucus is great,” said Jeannine Jacokes, CEO of CDBA.

“Opportunity Finance Network (OFN) applauds the leadership of Sens. Mark Warner and Mike Crapo in launching the Community Development Finance Caucus. Providing affordable, mission-drive financing to underinvested communities is the special expertise that community development financial institutions (CDFIs) offer. The CDFI industry looks forward to working with the Community Development Finance Caucus on strengthening public sector understanding and support of CDFIs and the positive community development impact they have in low-wealth communities,” said Jennifer A. Vasiloff, Chief External Affairs Officer, Opportunity Finance Network.

“Inclusiv, the largest CDFI network representing near 500 community development credit unions providing responsible and sustainable financial products to over 18 million predominantly low income and minority consumers, expresses its strong support for the formalization of a congressional caucus that will be focusing on community development, financial inclusion and the economic revitalization of minority communities through CDFIs. This body will provide a platform to engage the CDFI industry and inform the development of public policy that’s both impactful and sustainable. We are grateful to Sens. Warner, Crapo, and all caucus members for spearheading this important initiative and call on other senators to lend their support,” said Cathie Mahon, President and CEO of Inclusiv.“The African-American Credit Union Coalition (AACUC), is proud to partner and collaborate with INCLUSIV on ensuring that there is equitable financial futures for all people – especially the marginalized and underserved – usually the Colored Majority. A Community Development Finance Caucus would provide the appropriate forum for ideas and strategies to be discussed and executed,” said Renée Sattiewhite, President and CEO of the African American Credit Union Coalition.

“On behalf of the National Association of Latino Credit Unions and Professionals, we applaud Sens. Warner, Crapo, and all caucus members for leading the organizing of a CDFI Caucus that will give lawmakers a platform to support the critical work of CDFIs play in low income and communities of color as financial first responders and engines of economic revitalization. Our organization is in full support of this initiative and asks members of the Senate to support it as well,” said Maria Martinez, Board Chair, National Association of Latino Credit Unions and Professionals.

“The Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) thanks Sens. Warner and Crapo for forming a Community Development Finance Caucus. Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) are the backbone of this sector, providing capital, credit, and financial services in distressed communities and to underserved individuals throughout the country. CDFIs serve borrowers and geographic areas that are not readily served by mainstream financial institutions, providing loans to first-time homebuyers, financing for affordable housing and community facilities, and small business financing. The CDFI sector has grown significantly over the last 20 years, and this growth would not have been possible without bipartisan congressional support. LISC applauds Sens. Warner and Crapo for forming a Community Development Finance Caucus, which will focus on how Congress can continue to meet the needs of CDFIs and their work to serve underserved people and places,” said Matt Josephs, Senior Vice President for Policy, LISC.

“We applaud Sens. Warner and Crapo for their strategic and coordinated approach to strengthening CDFIs and MDIs and helping them reach their full potential. We stand ready to work with the Community Development Finance Caucus to leverage public-private partnerships to promote access to capital in areas served by these critically important institutions,” said Rob Nichols, President and CEO, American Bankers Association.

“CDFIs with proven records of serving underbanked people and communities of color are vital to an inclusive economy. The creation of the Caucus represents an important step in ensuring that America’s financial system works for everyone,” said Bill Bynum, Hope Credit Union CEO.

“The access to responsible, flexible capital that Community Development Financial Institutions provide has had a transformative impact in the Northern Rockies and across the country, helping those outside the financial mainstream gain self-sufficiency and improve the livelihoods of their families and communities. At MoFi, we’re greatly appreciative of efforts by Sens. Mark Warner, Mike Crapo, Steve Daines, Cynthia Lummis, and others to form the Community Development Finance Caucus. It will be an important bipartisan venue for sharing information, discussing legislation, and tracking programs as lawmakers work to remove barriers and promote access to capital for all underserved Americans,” said Dave Glaser, President of MoFi.

“The Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA) applauds Sens. Warner and Crapo for organizing the Community Development Finance Caucus. There are currently 144 Minority Depository Institutions (MDIs) serving roughly 600 minority-majority communities nationwide. There are roughly 300 Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) banks, primarily serving low-to-moderate income markets and maintaining accountability to those target markets. Their impact in the communities they serve is significant and must be leveraged for greater reach. ICBA looks forward to working with the Community Development Finance Caucus to further support our long-standing commitment to MDIs and CDFIs,” said Rebeca Romero Rainey, President and CEO of ICBA.

""I would like to applaud the hard work from Sens. Crapo and Warner toward the development of the Community Development Finance Caucus. We are excited at the opportunity to have a caucus dedicated to the work and efforts of the many CDFI practitioners working on the ground every day,” said Ted Piccolo, Executive Director Northwest Native Development Fund, former Chair Native CDFI Network.

“On behalf of the Native CDFI Network (NCN), NCN applauds the bipartisan effort of Sens. Crapo and Warner to establish a Community Development Finance Caucus within the United States Senate. Community Development Finance Institutions (CDFIs) have proven to be an irreplaceable mechanism for channeling critically needed capital into low- and moderate-income communities. This is especially true in Indian Country, where Native communities have long experienced substantially higher rates of poverty and unemployment than mainstream America. They also face a unique set of challenges to economic growth, such as: poor/lacking physical, legal, and telecommunications infrastructure; limited access to affordable financial products and services for consumers, aspiring homeowners, and would-be entrepreneurs; and limited workforce development strategies to support Native people’s full participation in their local economies. NCN looks forward to the opportunity to have a Caucus that supports the work of CDFI’s,” said Pete Upton, Interim Executive Director, Native CDFI Network.",1,2026-03-30T01:40:41Z,2026-04-08T02:59:24Z
https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases/crapo-damaging-tax-hikes-would-lead-to-higher-inflation-economic-stagnation,"Crapo: Damaging Tax Hikes Would Lead to Higher Inflation, Economic Stagnation",2022-08-01,2022,2022-08,Republican,Senate,ID,Mike Crapo,C000880,www.crapo.senate.gov,crapo,https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases,scraper,"Washington, D.C.--In an interview with Larry Kudlow on Fox Business, U.S. Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) discussed the Democrats’ reckless proposals to raise taxes amid high inflation and economic stagnation under the mislabeled “Inflation Reduction Act of 2022.”

Crapo touted the success of Republicans’ 2017 tax reform bill, cautioning that Democrats’ current proposals would undo much of the progress made from those reforms, and highlighted analyses from nonpartisan experts showing the new tax-and-spend bill would raise taxes on low- and middle-income Americans during a period of declining GDP and high inflation; raise taxes on manufacturers, exacerbating supply-chain disruptions, and costing U.S. jobs and investment; and do little to nothing to lower inflation.

2017 tax reform encouraged investment in domestic manufacturing:

“This is exactly what we intended to happen with the 2017 tax act. Recall that back then, we were facing capital fleeing from the United States and we saw a really weak economy. When we incentivized capital to come back to the United States, over a trillion dollars in capital that was being held offshores came back, and we started seeing investment growth in many areas--particularly manufacturing--that is so critical to making our economy stronger again. . . . These taxes will slam that very dynamic.”

Nonpartisan experts confirm tax increases will fall on manufacturing and low- to middle-income taxpayers:

“We just got two analyses from the Joint Tax Committee, a bipartisan committee, that analyzes these dynamics. One of them said where this will fall and the other said who will pay the burden of these taxes.

“The first one said, the burden will fall mostly--49 percent--on manufacturing in the United States, and will still hit all other segments of the economy. The second one said this will fall through to the lower- and middle-income classes primarily.

“Just a couple more statistics: It said in the first year of these new taxes, $17 billion will be paid by people making less than $200,000 a year, and by the end of year ten of these new taxes, one-half to two-thirds of the entire burden of these tax increases will fall on people making less than $400,000. And of course, that number is critical, because that is what President Biden said he would not do.”

The notion that these are tax loopholes is absolutely false:

“People across this country understand that [utilizing the tax code] isn’t bad--they realize these aren’t loopholes, and this is exactly what Congress intended with the research and development tax credits, production tax credits and deductions that were authorized by Congress for this very purpose.

“It grew the economy, grew wages, increased employment and made our economy much stronger with the kind of capital investment that makes us more competitive against China, Russia and malign activities from other nations across the world trying to steal our markets.

“The notion these are tax loopholes is absolutely false. This is exactly what was intended to happen, it is happening and it is having the impact that it should have.

“If these taxes are passed, what we will see is that not only will the burden be carried, by far, by those earning less than $400,000, but it will result in higher inflation, more stagnation of our economic growth, lower wages, less employment and most importantly, as I said, the burden will be paid by people making less than $400,000.”

A direct tax on American energy:

“By the way, we’re talking about this book tax--this corporate minimum tax--and you know there is another specific tax in here that is directly on our oil and gas production, at a time when the President has already shut down American production as much as he can. Gas prices have skyrocketed and they’re talking about piling another tax on the oil and gas industry, it is inexplicable. Their drive for more spending is causing them to ignore all of these arguments because it is the only way they can get to where they can justify the new spending.”

###",1,2026-03-30T01:40:41Z,2026-04-08T02:59:24Z
https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases/myth-vs-fact-tax-title-of-the-inflation-reduction-act-of-2022,MYTH vs FACT: Tax Title of the “Inflation Reduction Act of 2022”,2022-08-01,2022,2022-08,Republican,Senate,ID,Mike Crapo,C000880,www.crapo.senate.gov,crapo,https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases,scraper,"Democrats claim the latest version of their tax-and-spend bill, the mislabeled “Inflation Reduction Act of 2022,” will ensure the wealthiest Americans and corporations pay their “fair share” by closing tax loopholes and boosting IRS funding, all without raising taxes on anyone making less than $400,000 per year. However, analyses from nonpartisan experts show the legislation would raise taxes on low- and middle-income Americans during a period of declining GDP and high inflation; raise taxes on manufacturers, exacerbating supply-chain disruptions, and costing U.S. jobs and investment; and do little to nothing to lower inflation.

“The more this bill is analyzed by impartial experts, the more we can see Democrats are trying to sell the American people a bill of goods,” said U.S. Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Mike Crapo. “Non-partisan analysts are confirming this bill raises taxes on the middle class, raises taxes on manufacturers, and produces no meaningful deficit reduction when gimmicks are removed and the full cost is accounted for.”

Access this document here.

IRS FUNDING

MYTH: Increasing IRS funding by $80 billion will provide the agency with the resources it needs to go after wealthy tax cheats and corporations who don’t pay their fair share in taxes, generating more than $124 billion in additional revenue to go toward deficit reduction.

FACT: According to the nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT), the brunt of any new revenue from hiring an army of IRS auditors will overwhelming hit low- and middle-income earners, people already struggling with high gas prices and 9.1 percent inflation. CBO scores the $80 billion for mandatory IRS funding as spending only, and gives phantom credit for potential enforcement revenue that might be generated in “future baselines.”

Background:

IRS funding breakdown—$80 billion in mandatory appropriations to the IRS:

$45.6 billion for enforcement purposes

$25.3 billion for operations support

$4.8 billion for business systems modernization

$3.2 billion for taxpayer services

How will the $45.6 billion for enforcement purposes be used to address the noncompliance tax gap?

According to the nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation, misreported trade or business activities (Schedule C items) or other income-producing activities (Schedule E items) make up a very significant portion of the overall noncompliance “tax gap.”

IRS data reproduced in the table below show that Schedule C or E tax enforcement assessments predominantly hit taxpayers who have low (or very low) Adjusted Gross Income (AGI), and nothing in the proposal would change that fact.

Based upon these data, out of all the revenue projected to be raised from underreported income:

40-57 percent could come from taxpayers making $50,000 or less;

65-78 percent from those making less than $100,000; and,

78-90 percent from those making less than $200,000.

Only around 4-9 percent could come from those making $500,000 or more.

Referring to all tax gap and misreporting numbers as arising from “tax cheats” is misdirection, as significant amounts arise from hard-working taxpayers simply struggling to comply with an overly complex tax code, which will become even more complex if the latest tax-and-spend bill becomes law.

BOOK MINIMUM TAX

MYTH: The book minimum tax (BMT) does not raise taxes; it closes loopholes by making large companies pay at least a 15 percent minimum tax.

FACT: The BMT is a $313 billion tax increase, with half of the increase falling on manufacturers, according to the nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation. Despite proponents’ claims, the book minimum tax does not close tax loopholes. The BMT is calculated based on financial statement (“book”) income, which is a different set of rules established for an entirely different purpose than taxable income.

Claims that the BMT closes loopholes ignore the fact that the provisions resulting in different book and tax treatment were specifically enacted by Congress for sound policy reasons. For example, the treatment of capital investments differs for book and tax purposes, in part to encourage companies to invest in capital assets in the United States. As the left-leaning Tax Policy Center acknowledges, the BMT would discourage investment.

According to a study by the National Association of Manufacturers, in 2023 alone the effects would include:

A real GDP reduction of $68.45 billion

218,108 fewer workers in the overall economy

A labor-income decrease of $17.11 billion

Further, the BMT will not prevent large companies from paying zero tax. The energy tax provisions included in the “Inflation Reduction Act of 2022” would permit companies to receive those tax credits in excess of their tax liability. In other words, not only will companies in Democrat-favored industries be able to pay zero tax, some will even be able to receive taxpayer-funded subsidies in excess of tax due for engaging in an activity that has been picked for government handouts.

Background:

The book minimum tax is calculated based on book income, or the income reported by companies on their financial statements. Companies calculate their tax liability based on the tax accounting rules set forth in the Internal Revenue Code. While book accounting is typically based on Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), there is no globally uniform financial accounting standard. Further, U.S. accounting rules are set by the unelected Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB), whereas the Internal Revenue Code is enacted by Congress per its authority under the Constitution. The book minimum tax unwisely injects tax policy—and politics—into the accounting standard setting process.

A key difference between book accounting and tax accounting is the treatment of companies’ investments in capital assets, like machinery and equipment. For book purposes, companies write off the value of their capital assets in line with their decline in economic productivity. For tax purposes, the cost of most capital assets, including machinery and equipment, can be fully deducted. The book minimum tax would penalize companies that utilize the tax treatment related to these investments, encouraging manufacturers and others to invest elsewhere.

JCT has confirmed that half of the $313 billion BMT increase would fall on manufacturers, targeting the very capital investments Congress intended to encourage amidst an economy in stagflation. Despite claims, depreciation is not a tax loophole. This provision is a tax increase—one that falls squarely on domestic manufacturing.

Contrary to closing loopholes, a book minimum tax would actually pick new “winners and losers,” as some provisions receive particularly special treatment under the BMT—namely, companies receiving refundable energy tax credits. Not only would those companies not be penalized for paying zero tax as a result of receiving energy tax credits, but they would also receive an adjustment to eliminate the subsidy from income under the BMT, further ensuring they pay no additional tax.

Democrats should take a cue from the past. A previously enacted book minimum tax was allowed to expire in 1989 (after only three years in place) due to the problems outlined above. In other words, this proposal has been tried before—and it failed.

TAX HIKES ON FAMILIES MAKING LESS THAN $400,000 PER YEAR

MYTH: There are no new taxes on families making $400,000 or less and no new taxes on small businesses—Democrats are simply focused on “the rich” by closing evasive tax loopholes and enforcing the tax code.

FACT:The JCT estimates the legislation will increase taxes on millions of individuals making less than $400,000 per year.

According to the JCT, the bill would raise a total of $337.8 billion over 10 years from its three revenue-raising provisions:

Book Minimum Tax: $313.1 billion

Change to treatment of carried interest: $13 billion

Reinstatement of Superfund tax: $11.7 billion

The JCT estimates the following tax effects:

In 2023, taxes will increase by $16.7 billion on American taxpayers earning less than $200,000—a nearly $17 billion tax targeted directly at low- and middle-income earners next year, amidst stagflation.

The $17 billion hit alone is confirmation that the Biden pledge to not raise taxes on anyone earning less than $400,000 is shattered by the latest tax-and-spend bill.

The proposal would raise another $14.1 billion from taxpayers earning between $200,000 and $500,000.

According to JCT data, 98 percent of all tax returns filed by those in the $200,000 to $500,000 category are filed by those earning between $200,000 and $400,000, with at least three-fourths of the income in the $200,000 to $500,000 category also coming from those below $400,000. This means it is likely that at least half of all new tax revenue raised next year would come from those earning under $400,000.

Throughout the ten-year window, the average tax rate for nearly every single income category would increase.

By 2031, when the new green energy credits and subsidies provide an even greater benefit to those with higher incomes, those earning below $400,000 are projected to bear as much as two-thirds of the burden of the additional tax revenue collected that year.

Background:

As outlined above, the book minimum tax is not a loophole closer—it’s a direct tax on America’s manufacturers and actually creates new “winners and losers” in the tax code.

Significantly changing the carried interest deduction increases taxes on private investment, which will increase costs to businesses, eliminate jobs, decrease returns to average Americans who benefit from these investments, and dis-incentivize long-term investment.

Reinstating the superfund tax on America’s producers would result in higher prices for consumers on things like gasoline, threaten thousands of jobs, and undermine domestic critical mineral development.

Taken together, the JCT estimates the latest version of the full tax title will increase taxes on millions of Americans across every income bracket, with more than half of the tax increases on Americans making less than $400,000 per year.

Corporate tax increases get passed on to workers in the form of lower wages and to consumers in the form of higher product prices. Some estimates say up to 50 percent of a corporate tax increase is borne by workers. Other estimates say 31 percent is borne by consumers via price hikes; 38 percent is borne by workers via lower wages; and 31 percent is borne by owners. These owners include individuals with retirement savings, with costs occurring via lower equity valuations, fewer dividends, and reduced opportunities for organic growth through investment.

###",1,2026-03-30T01:40:41Z,2026-04-08T02:59:24Z
https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases/jct-democrats-proposals-increase-taxes-on-millions-of-americans,JCT: Democrats’ Proposals Increase Taxes on Millions of Americans,2022-07-30,2022,2022-07,Republican,Senate,ID,Mike Crapo,C000880,www.crapo.senate.gov,crapo,https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases,scraper,"Washington, D.C.--The nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT)estimates the Democrats’ latest reckless tax-and-spend proposal will increase taxes on millions of Americans across every income bracket, with more than half of the tax increases on Americans making less than $400,000 per year.

“While Republicans’ pro-growth tax reform in 2017 reduced tax rates for all Americans in a way that increased the progressivity of the tax code and produced historic gains in job and wage growth, the Democrats’ approach to tax reform means increasing taxes on low- and middle-income Americans to fund their partisan Green New Deal,” said U.S. Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), who requested the analysis. “Americans are already experiencing the consequences of Democrats’ reckless economic policies. The mislabeled ‘Inflation Reduction Act’ will do nothing to bring the economy out of stagnation and recession, but it will raise billions of dollars in taxes on Americans making less than $400,000.”

According to JCT:

In 2023, taxes will increase by $16.7 billion on American taxpayers earning less than $200,000—a nearly $17 billion tax targeted solidly at low- and middle-income earners next year, amidst stagflation.

The $17 billion hit alone is confirmation that the Biden pledge to not raise taxes on anyone earning less than $400,000 is shattered by the latest tax-and-spend bill.

The proposal would raise another $14.1 billion from taxpayers earning between $200,000 and $500,000.

According to JCT data, 98 percent of all tax returns filed by those in the $200,000 to $500,000 category are filed by those earning between $200,000 and $400,000, with at least three-fourths of the income in the $200,000 to $500,000 category also coming from those below $400,000, meaning it is likely that at least half of all new tax revenue raised next year would come from those earning under $400,000.

Throughout the ten-year window, the average tax rate for nearly every single income category would increase.

By 2031, when the new green energy credits and subsidies provide an even greater benefit to those at higher incomes, those earning below $400,000 are projected to bear as much as two-thirds of the burden of the additional tax revenue collected that year.

“The more this bill is analyzed by impartial experts, the more we can see Democrats are trying to sell the American people a bill of goods,” Crapo continued. “Non-partisan analysts are confirming this bill raises taxes on the middle class and produces no meaningful deficit reduction when gimmicks are removed and the full cost is accounted for. It’s no wonder this bill, which was drafted behind closed doors, is being rushed through the Senate at record pace.”

To view JCT’s distributional analysis, click here. To view JCT’s revenue table, click here.

###",1,2026-03-30T01:40:41Z,2026-04-08T02:49:02Z
https://fulcher.house.gov/2022/07/29/id-efdad627-c06c-42dd-a6f8-91ac3145742f/,Rep. Fulcher Speaks On Federal Forest Health,2022-07-29,2022,2022-07,Republican,House,ID,Russ Fulcher,F000469,fulcher.house.gov,fulcher,https://fulcher.house.gov/category/press-releases/,scraper,,0,2026-03-30T01:40:41Z,2026-03-30T01:40:41Z
https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases/inflation-soars-gdp-declines-economy-needs-pro-growth-policies,"Inflation Soars, GDP Declines: Economy Needs Pro-Growth Policies",2022-07-29,2022,2022-07,Republican,Senate,ID,Mike Crapo,C000880,www.crapo.senate.gov,crapo,https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases,scraper,"Washington, D.C.--U.S. Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) issued the below statement following the release of the personal consumption expenditures price index (PCE), which jumped to 6.8 percent in June, up from 6.3 percent in May.

“Two consecutive quarters of negative GDP, continued high inflation, declining consumer and business confidence—it’s clear that Democrats’ economic policies have not worked. Americans’ perception of the economy continue to crater as they see the wreckage of Democrats’ reckless economic policies. Instead of pursuing more of the same tax-and-spend policies that contributed to this economic disaster in Democrats’ partisan objective of ‘changing America,’ lawmakers should focus on policies that helped to create one of the strongest economies in a generation and build on the successful 2017 tax reform law to promote U.S. global economic leadership and Americans’ livelihoods through competitive corporate tax policies.”

###",1,2026-03-30T01:40:41Z,2026-04-08T02:49:02Z
https://fulcher.house.gov/2022/07/28/id-20875941-b353-471f-a323-ff22980e8bc9/,Statement on the CHIPS+ Act,2022-07-28,2022,2022-07,Republican,House,ID,Russ Fulcher,F000469,fulcher.house.gov,fulcher,https://fulcher.house.gov/category/press-releases/,scraper,"Contact:

Daniel Tellez

202-225-6611

daniel.tellez@mail.house.gov

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Congressman Fulcher released the following statement on the CHIPS+ Act:

“As someone with fifteen years of experience working for one of the largest semiconductor companies in the world, I recognize the importance of the industry and the threat that a market dominated by China would pose. Both opponents and supporters of the CHIPS+ Act seek a strong domestic semiconductor industry – not reliant on foreign supply. The difference lies in the proposed solution. Members like me look to the free market, and see that since the beginning of 2021, semiconductor companies have announced nearly $80 billion in domestic investment plans through 2025. Meanwhile, China remains a net importer of semiconductors, at about $300 billion every year. While we cannot understate the risk currently posed by China’s position in the semiconductor market, we also should not understate the current devastating effects of inflation – which is further exacerbated by more government spending. Senator Schumer’s last-minute decision to add $200 billion in unrelated spending to the bill cements this legislation’s fiscal irresponsibility. If Congress is serious about encouraging business investments, it should look to proven solutions like reducing taxes and regulatory barriers.”

###",1,2026-03-30T01:40:41Z,2026-04-08T02:49:02Z
https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases/crapo-democrats-want-to-raise-taxes-kill-jobs-amid-shrinking-economy,"Crapo: Democrats Want to Raise Taxes, Kill Jobs Amid Shrinking Economy",2022-07-28,2022,2022-07,Republican,Senate,ID,Mike Crapo,C000880,www.crapo.senate.gov,crapo,https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases,scraper,"Washington, D.C.-- U.S. Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) issued the following statement after the gross domestic product (GDP) fell 0.9 percent for the period, following a 1.6 percent decline in the first quarter.

“GDP has declined for two consecutive quarters as inflation continues to rage. Democrats’ economic policies took an economy rapidly recovering from pandemic shutdowns—a recovery fueled by the underlying pro-growth Tax Cuts and Jobs Act tax policies—and turned it into an economy suffering from painful stagflation. Splitting hairs on technical definitions about what is or is not a ‘recession’ is a distraction from the pain Americans continue to feel at the pump, in the grocery aisles and, now, from threats of a declining economy.

“Whatever label Democrats want to debate, we know Americans and small businesses are hurting, as consumer and business confidence and outlooks continue to crater. Democrats’ ongoing attempts to raise taxes and increase spending would be yet another policy mistake that would further weaken the economy and the wellbeing of all Americans.”

###",1,2026-03-30T01:40:41Z,2026-04-08T02:49:02Z
https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases/crapo-statement-at-ustr-nomination-hearing,Crapo Statement at USTR Nomination Hearing,2022-07-28,2022,2022-07,Republican,Senate,ID,Mike Crapo,C000880,www.crapo.senate.gov,crapo,https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases,scraper,"Washington, D.C.--U.S. Senator Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Finance Committee, delivered the following remarks at hearing to consider the nomination of Douglas J. McKalip, for U.S. Trade Representative Chief Agricultural Negotiator.

The text of Ranking Member Crapo’s remarks, as prepared, is below.

“Thank you, Senator Wyden.

“Welcome, Mr. McKalip, and congratulations on your nomination. I took the opportunity to listen to your band Box Cartel. You’re hitting the right notes there. With your trade policy experience, I hope that—if confirmed—you’ll also the right hit notes on improving opportunities for our farmers and ranchers.

“America’s farmers continue to prove their resilience and productivity every day, and will keep doing so. But’s it not easy. Americans are painfully aware that gas prices are up 42 percent from a year ago. What fewer people may know is that the price for diesel rose by an even greater margin—68 percent. This hits our farmers hard.

“Back in March, a fourth generation farmer in Meridian, Idaho explained that the cost of filling up his tractor had doubled in a year to $800. However, one bright factor for America’s farmers right now is exports with sales of agricultural products overseas reaching $177 billion in 2021. America’s farmers sell more high quality products to consumers around the world than ever before.

“In Idaho, if we kept what our 24,000 farms produced within the state, each Idahoan would have to eat 209 slices of bread, 40 potatoes, 3 pounds of sugar, 2 pounds of cheese, 2 pounds of beef and a cup of beans—every single day. Fortunately, Idaho’s agricultural products also feed the nation and the world, exporting one of every six rows of Idaho potatoes and 50 percent of Idaho’s wheat.

“Nationally, one in three acres planted in the United States will be exported. But we can sell even more. What is holding us back is, again, a misplaced Biden Administration policy: a moratorium on new trade agreements, and limited enforcement of existing agreements.

“The Administration is crystal clear that it prefers to not pursue real trade agreements in favor of something it calls ‘frameworks,’ which lack crucial market access obligations.

“This is confusing, since market access is the main problem our farmers and ranchers face. A lot of our potential trading partners maintain high agricultural tariffs and regulatory measures that are essentially a guise for protectionism. We need to tear them down.

“For example, India applies an average agricultural tariff of 36 percent. It also applies a number of non-science based restrictions on U.S. agriculture, such as unreasonable GMO certifications on apples, potatoes, soybeans, wheat and other crops.

“If America wants to sell crops in India, these are exactly the types of issues that must be addressed. Moreover, the need to find new markets is particularly compelling because we must diversify our customer base.

“China is currently our largest agricultural export destination. But, we need new markets to reduce our dependency and increase our leverage. Securing these markets will require more than frameworks where government officials can just talk.

“It requires binding commitments that ensure our farmers can sell. Put plainly, our farmers and ranchers deserve our trading partners’ markets to be as open to our commerce as ours is to theirs. Hopefully, we can start a conversation today on how to apply our nominee’s experience and talents toward that goal.

“With that, I look forward to hearing the nominee’s testimony and his responses to our questions. I also look forward to the nominee’s next album when that comes out.

“Thank you, Mr. Chairman.”

###",1,2026-03-30T01:40:41Z,2026-04-08T02:49:02Z
https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases/crapo-named-a-hero-of-main-street,Crapo Named A Hero Of Main Street,2022-07-27,2022,2022-07,Republican,Senate,ID,Mike Crapo,C000880,www.crapo.senate.gov,crapo,https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases,scraper,"Washington, D.C. - A national group representing the U.S. retail industry today named Idaho Senator Mike Crapo a ""Hero of Main Street"" for his legislative priorities and voting record. The National Retail Federation (NRF) notes retail jobs make up the nation's largest private sector of employment. The NRF's 2013 Annual Report noted Idaho had 148,029 direct retail jobs last year and an employment impact of 206,741 jobs. The Idaho statistics and awards are listed on the Federation's website: http://retailmeansjobs.com/data/id

NRF says Crapo's and the other Congressional awards were recognized ""for their consistent support of the retail industry's top public policies."" The awards come during National Small Business Week.

""Small businesses drive the U.S. economy,"" noted Crapo, a member of the Senate Finance Committee with jurisdiction over tax and health care issues. ""A key step to create new jobs in the private sector and reduce our debt will be to reform our unfair and outdated federal tax code.""",1,2026-03-30T01:40:41Z,2026-04-08T02:49:02Z
https://fulcher.house.gov/2022/07/21/id-49e3337a-705b-4703-9852-33f11fd02b86/,Statement on H.R. 8373,2022-07-21,2022,2022-07,Republican,House,ID,Russ Fulcher,F000469,fulcher.house.gov,fulcher,https://fulcher.house.gov/category/press-releases/,scraper,"Contact:

Daniel Tellez

202-225-6611

daniel.tellez@mail.house.gov

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Congressman Fulcher released the following statement on H.R. 8373:

“In an attempt to undermine the Supreme Court’s ruling in Dobbs, Democrats are using H.R. 8373 as a vehicle to guarantee a right to chemical abortion. This legislation goes far beyond contraception, utilizing a definition of “contraceptive” so broad that it includes a right to chemical abortion drugs that can be used weeks or months into a pregnancy. Furthermore, the legislation completely disregards the freedom of conscience of health care providers, explicitly exempting itself from protections afforded to providers by the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. I oppose this poorly drafted bill and will vote NO.”

###",1,2026-03-30T01:40:41Z,2026-04-08T02:49:02Z
https://fulcher.house.gov/2022/07/20/id-73049207-824d-40fe-ba41-2463282be69e/,Idaho’s Congressional Delegation Comments On Delayed Boise VA Electronic Health Record Transition,2022-07-20,2022,2022-07,Republican,House,ID,Russ Fulcher,F000469,fulcher.house.gov,fulcher,https://fulcher.house.gov/category/press-releases/,scraper,"Contact:

Daniel Tellez

202-225-6611

daniel.tellez@mail.house.gov

WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senator Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), U.S. Senator Jim Risch (R-Idaho), U.S. Representative Mike Simpson (R-Idaho) and U.S. Representative Russ Fulcher (R-Idaho) remain concerned about the Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA) rollout of the new Electronic Health Record (EHR) system at the Boise VA Medical Center (VAMC), which has been postponed indefinitely from the original go-live date of June 25, 2022 and the delayed go-live date of July 23, 2022.

“As the VA works to determine a viable path forward for the new EHR system, we once again call on VA and Oracle Cerner leadership to put veterans first by fixing the long-identified issues with the program that pose a threat to patient care,” said Idaho’s Congressional Delegation. “Before the system is rolled out at any additional sites, it must be made safe, reliable and user-friendly.”

While initially intended to improve care coordination and increase efficiency, over the past year, the VA Office of the Inspector General (OIG) has released multiple reports detailing deficiencies with the new EHR system, which was first deployed at the Mann-Grandstaff VAMC in Spokane, Washington. These deficiencies have led to delays in patient care, refilling prescriptions and managing referrals, among other things. In April, the Idaho Congressional Delegation raised concerns to the VA regarding these OIG reports and requested information on steps being taken to ensure these issues do not further impede veteran care during the planned rollout at the Boise VAMC. Though a few of these deficiencies have been addressed, numerous outstanding issues remain.

In addition to Delegation staffs’ numerous meetings with Veterans Health Administration stakeholders, staff members from the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs recently visited the Boise VAMC to meet with hospital leadership and providers at the request of the Delegation.

“As the VA reassesses the Cerner implementation at the Boise VAMC, Members and staff of the Idaho Congressional Delegation remain committed to working with the VA, the Boise VAMC and veterans to ensure our veterans receive the quality care they deserve,” the Delegation continued. “We will continue to closely monitor the situation and stand ready to assist veterans with any issues they may encounter when accessing VA health care.”

###",1,2026-03-30T01:40:41Z,2026-04-08T02:49:02Z
https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases/crapo-statement-at-hearing-on-housing-affordability,Crapo Statement at Hearing on Housing Affordability,2022-07-20,2022,2022-07,Republican,Senate,ID,Mike Crapo,C000880,www.crapo.senate.gov,crapo,https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases,scraper,"Washington, D.C.--U.S. Senator Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Finance Committee, delivered the following remarks at hearing entitled, “The Role of Tax Incentives in Affordable Housing.”

The text of Ranking Member Crapo’s remarks, as prepared, is below.

“Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

“Last week we learned that consumer price inflation spiked to 9.1 percent, the highest in more than 40 years. The shelter component of the consumer price index was up 5.6 percent in June relative to a year earlier, and rents were up by nearly 6.0 percent.

“To continue battling inflation, which was fueled by last year’s partisan American Rescue Plan, the Federal Reserve must aggressively raise interest rates, and may raise rates later this month by as much as a full percent.

“Inflation must be contained, or we run a risk of the Fed having to repeat what it did in late 1980 to combat runaway inflation. Painfully, then, overnight interest rates were driven to nearly 20 percent, which crushed economic activity, including housing markets, and helped lead to a deep and long recession.

“With higher interest rates set by the Fed, higher mortgage rates follow, making it all the more challenging for Americans to buy homes.

“Housing affordability is a critical issue in Idaho and all across the country.

“Nationwide, there is a shortage of about 7 million affordable rental homes available to lower income Americans and the gap between demand and supply increases each year. To provide more affordable housing, there are existing tools in the tax toolbox that provide incentives for builders to create more affordable homes.

“The Low-Income Housing Tax Credit—or LIHTC—for example, is responsible for generating a majority of all affordable rental housing created in the U.S. today and generally enjoys bipartisan support in Congress.

“In Idaho, there are currently 284 LIHTC projects located across the state providing 12,000 plus units. These projects vary in size and are split roughly between urban and rural, with about 72 percent targeted toward families and 28 percent for seniors and the elderly.

“One such project is the Valor Pointe Apartments in Boise, which targets chronically homeless veterans.

“Several members of this committee have been active in working to improve existing affordable housing credits and to create new incentives.

“Senators Young and Cantwell, as well as several other members, introduced the Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act, which would expand and strengthen LIHTC for developing and preserving affordable housing.

“Senators Portman and Cardin introduced the Neighborhood Homes Investment Act, which would create a federal tax credit that covers the cost difference between building or renovating a home in urban and rural areas.

“Numerous other Finance Committee members are also interested in finding affordable housing solutions. Thank you all for your hard work. While LIHTC and other credits are part of the solution to developing affordable housing, we must address other drivers that are increasing housing costs generally.

“Foremost in the current economy is the need to reduce inflation. Unfortunately, it has been allowed to run rampant, and necessary Federal Reserve actions will raise the cost of housing. Builders are also feeling inflation’s effect through more expensive building materials. And, painfully high fuel prices continue to put even more pressure on builders’ budgets, making it is even more expensive to get materials to construction sites.

“Additionally, several economic factors have led to a shortage of affordable housing.

“One way to alleviate the shortage would be to look into more manufactured housing. During his time at HUD, former Secretary Carson created the Office of Innovation to evaluate new ways to provide housing, and in doing so highlighted the improved efficiency and suitability of manufactured homes.

“Zoning laws and regulatory barriers, which are often uncoordinated, unnecessary, or overly cumbersome, also present challenges to affordable housing by creating excessive costs that restrain development of affordable housing. Many of the markets with the most severe shortages in affordable housing have the most restrictive state and local barriers to development.

“We must work to reduce regulatory barriers, which requires outside-the-box approaches, as well as teamwork from local, state and federal governments, and the private sector.

“This includes initiatives like Opportunity Zones that were part of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, an area where Senator Scott has done a great deal of good work.

“Data released as of March 24, 2022, by the Opportunity Zone Fund Directory shows that $49.18 billion has been committed in anticipated investments and 60 percent of those funds target investments in affordable housing and community development.

“Homes are more than just physical structures. Homes are a foundation for wealth building, family stability and community cohesiveness. It is critical that we make the American dream of homeownership as attainable for as many people as possible, which will continue to foster the economic success of the nation.

“I look forward to discussing ways to ensure affordability and accessibility of home ownership with today’s witnesses.

“Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I yield back.”

###",1,2026-03-30T01:40:41Z,2026-04-08T02:49:02Z
https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases/idahos-congressional-delegation-comments-on-delayed-boise-va-electronic-health-record-transition,Idaho’s Congressional Delegation Comments On Delayed Boise VA Electronic Health Record Transition,2022-07-20,2022,2022-07,Republican,Senate,ID,Mike Crapo,C000880,www.crapo.senate.gov,crapo,https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases,scraper,"Boise, Idaho -- U.S. Senator Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), U.S. Senator Jim Risch (R-Idaho), U.S. Representative Mike Simpson (R-Idaho) and U.S. Representative Russ Fulcher (R-Idaho) remain concerned about the Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA) rollout of the new Electronic Health Record (EHR) system at the Boise VA Medical Center (VAMC), which has been postponed indefinitely from the original go-live date of June 25, 2022 and the delayed go-live date of July 23, 2022.

“As the VA works to determine a viable path forward for the new EHR system, we once again call on VA and Oracle Cerner leadership to put veterans first by fixing the long-identified issues with the program that pose a threat to patient care,” said Idaho’s Congressional Delegation. “Before the system is rolled out at any additional sites, it must be made safe, reliable and user-friendly.”

While initially intended to improve care coordination and increase efficiency, over the past year, the VA Office of the Inspector General (OIG) has released multiple reports detailing deficiencies with the new EHR system, which was first deployed at the Mann-Grandstaff VAMC in Spokane, Washington. These deficiencies have led to delays in patient care, refilling prescriptions and managing referrals, among other things. In April, the Idaho Congressional Delegation raised concerns to the VA regarding these OIG reports and requested information on steps being taken to ensure these issues do not further impede veteran care during the planned rollout at the Boise VAMC. Though a few of these deficiencies have been addressed, numerous outstanding issues remain.

In addition to Delegation staffs’ numerous meetings with Veterans Health Administration stakeholders, staff members from the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs recently visited the Boise VAMC to meet with hospital leadership and providers at the request of the Delegation.

“As VA reassesses the Cerner implementation at the Boise VAMC, Members and staff of the Idaho Congressional Delegation remain committed to working with the VA, the Boise VAMC and veterans to ensure our veterans receive the quality care they deserve,” the Delegation continued. “We will continue to closely monitor the situation and stand ready to assist veterans with any issues they may encounter when accessing VA health care.”",1,2026-03-30T01:40:41Z,2026-04-08T02:49:02Z
https://fulcher.house.gov/2022/07/19/id-46613a63-6e8c-440c-b4e2-9db6b4e15017/,Statement on H.R. 8404,2022-07-19,2022,2022-07,Republican,House,ID,Russ Fulcher,F000469,fulcher.house.gov,fulcher,https://fulcher.house.gov/category/press-releases/,scraper,"Contact:

Daniel Tellez

202-225-6611

daniel.tellez@mail.house.gov

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Congressman Fulcher released the following statement on H.R. 8404:

“The legislation presented today received no consideration whatsoever in its committee of jurisdiction: no hearing, no markup, and no debate. The Supreme Court made clear in its Dobbs ruling that nothing in the decision should “cast doubt on precedents that do not concern abortion” and that such concerns were “designed to stoke unfounded fear that our decision will imperil those other rights.” H.R. 8404 unnecessarily inserts the heavy hand of the federal government where it is not needed, creating a scenario where Idaho may be forced to recognize an evolving definition of marriage according to other states. Democrats are desperate to change the conversation from record high gas prices and runaway inflation – so they are resorting to fearmongering.”

###",1,2026-03-30T01:40:41Z,2026-04-08T02:49:02Z
https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases/finance-republicans-small-business-surcharge-would-crush-main-street-businesses,Finance Republicans: Small Business Surcharge would Crush Main Street Businesses,2022-07-19,2022,2022-07,Republican,Senate,ID,Mike Crapo,C000880,www.crapo.senate.gov,crapo,https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases,scraper,"Washington, D.C.--Republican members of the U.S. Senate Finance Committee, led by Ranking Member Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), sent a letter to Senate colleagues highlighting concerns with a proposal to impose a tax on small- and medium-sized businesses— businesses already reeling from the pandemic, massive inflation and worker shortages.

A proposal to expand the so-called Net Investment Income Tax, or NIIT, on small businesses would put many small businesses at risk of paying a higher tax rate. This small business surcharge would:

Put 75 percent of businesses organized as S corporations, partnerships, or limited liabilities companies (LLCs) at risk of tax hikes;

Add $252 billion in new taxes on America’s small businesses, according to the nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation;

Penalize small businesses who are able to achieve even moderate success, and crush incentives to strive to build a successful small business; and

Double down on penalizing marriage by treating business owners with joint filing spouses more harshly than those who are not married.

From the letter:

“[I]n the face of increasingly troubling economic conditions, Democrats are advocating using partisan budget tools to raise taxes. Those taxes will hit the middle class and small- and medium-sized businesses at a time of rising interest rates, high risks of recession, and a rising stealth inflation tax that has hit every American since the middle of last year.

“One of the job-killing tax increases under consideration for the resurrected version of the Build Back Better scheme is an expanded Net Investment Income Tax, or NIIT, on so called ‘pass-through businesses,’ which are businesses whose income passes-through to an owner’s tax return.

“This small business tax surcharge would be in addition to the income taxes of up to 37 percent that owners already pay on their net earnings—a tax they pay regardless of whether they distribute the money to themselves or leave it in the business for future needs. An expanded NIIT would mean an up to 40.8 percent marginal tax rate for some, even before state income taxes are considered. Regarding state income taxes, 43 states have an individual income tax, with an average top marginal rate of 6.4 percent. Adding federal and state income tax liabilities together would result in a 47.2 percent top marginal tax rate for many pass-through owners.

“Ultimately, NIIT expansion is a small business surcharge that punishes hard work, investment, growth, and successful small- and medium-sized businesses by stripping away close to half of what an owner makes. It would particularly penalize small businesses who are able to achieve even moderate success, and indeed penalize that success. It also doubles down on penalizing marriage by treating business owners with joint filing spouses more harshly than those who are not married.”

Full text of the letter is available here and below.

________________________________________________________________________

Dear Colleague:

Runaway inflation, fueled by the Democrats’ $1.9 trillion spending spree from last year, continues to strain Americans’ paychecks. In June, the consumer price index accelerated to 9.1 percent and wholesale price inflation—which has been in double digits for seven consecutive months—surged to 11.3 percent.

Americans are reeling from pain at the pump, shock in the grocery aisles and continued rapid erosion of their paychecks. Buying a house is becoming increasingly out of reach for many families as the Federal Reserve has been saddled with the need to raise interest rates to choke off demand because of the overheating that followed last year’s massive stimulus.

As the economy continues to be hammered by runaway inflation, declining real wages, and rising odds of a recession and stagflation, the prospect of raising taxes, killing jobs, smothering wages and imposing price controls defies all logic and common sense.

Nonetheless, in the face of increasingly troubling economic conditions, Democrats are advocating using partisan budget tools to raise taxes. Those taxes will hit the middle class and small- and medium-sized businesses at a time of rising interest rates, high risks of recession, and a rising stealth inflation tax that has hit every American since the middle of last year. According to the nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation, those tax hikes will also hit taxpayers earning far less than $400,000, in direct violation of the President’s repeated pledge that such taxpayers will not pay even a penny more in taxes.

The Biden Administration proposed at least $2.5 trillion of tax hikes in the President’s most recent budget. This, on top of the House‑passed reckless Build Back Better bill, which contained more than $1.5 trillion of tax hikes. Now, numerous news stories report that Senate Democrats are actively resurrecting their flawed Build Back Better scheme, with tax hikes on the order of $1 to $1.5 trillion.

As the details of the proposed tax hikes emerge, it remains that raising taxes on the order $1 trillion or more as the economy faces very real risks of a recession is driven by politics and certainly not by what is in the best interest of American families. While economists and politicians argue about whether there is or will be a recession based on statistical minutia, Americans at this very moment overwhelmingly feel like we are in a recession and the economy continues to accelerate in the wrong direction.

One of the job-killing tax increases under consideration for the resurrected version of the Build Back Better scheme is an expanded Net Investment Income Tax, or NIIT, on so‑called “pass-through businesses,” which are businesses whose income passes-through to an owner’s tax return. Originally enacted as part of Obamacare in 2010, the NIIT is a 3.8 percent tax that primarily taxes passive income.

Media reports indicate the resurrected Build Back Better scheme aims to expand the NIIT to now apply to active pass-through business income, or what is left over after a business pays its expenses. This small business tax surcharge would be in addition to the income taxes of up to 37 percent that owners already pay on their net earnings—a tax they pay regardless of whether they distribute the money to themselves or leave it in the business for future needs. An expanded NIIT would mean an up to 40.8 percent marginal tax rate for some, even before state income taxes are considered. Regarding state income taxes, 43 states have an individual income tax, with an average top marginal rate of 6.4 percent. Adding federal and state income tax liabilities together would result in a 47.2 percent top marginal tax rate for many pass-through owners.

Ultimately, NIIT expansion is a small business surcharge that punishes hard work, investment, growth, and successful small- and medium-sized businesses by stripping away close to half of what an owner makes. It would particularly penalize small businesses who are able to achieve even moderate success, and indeed penalize that success. It also doubles down on penalizing marriage by treating business owners with joint filing spouses more harshly than those who are not married.

A recent letter from the Main Street Employers, signed by more than 190 organizations representing a wide range of industries reveals this small business surcharge will cut into a wide swath of businesses and occupation types. Hitting those businesses with a massive new tax hike, which the nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation estimates to be $252 billion, will hurt the very people Democrats say they champion—workers and those with incomes well below $400,000, as well as businesses already recovering from the pandemic, massive inflation and worker shortages.

Sincerely,

###",1,2026-03-30T01:40:41Z,2026-04-08T02:49:02Z
https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases/crapo-seven-consecutive-months-of-double-digit-wholesale-price-inflation,Crapo: Seven Consecutive Months of Double Digit Wholesale Price Inflation,2022-07-14,2022,2022-07,Republican,Senate,ID,Mike Crapo,C000880,www.crapo.senate.gov,crapo,https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases,scraper,"Washington, D.C--U.S. Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) issued the following statement after inflation in the Producer Price Index (PPI) increased to 11.3 percent--seven consecutive months of double-digit rates--well above the 1.8 percent average during the four years prior to Biden taking office.

“Data on producer prices released this morning show another double-digit rise in wholesale prices, signaling more inflation pressures for consumers down the road. This is the seventh consecutive month with wholesale price inflation above 10 percent. Now would be the worst time to subject businesses to another round of Democrat tax increases, which would serve only to put more pressure on costs to producers, including the vast number of small businesses struggling to stay afloat in the high-inflation, shortage-ridden environment that has unfortunately been engineered by the Biden Administration’s economic policies.”

###",1,2026-03-30T01:40:41Z,2026-04-08T02:49:02Z
https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases/crapo-statement-on-lower-snake-river-white-house-report,Crapo Statement on Lower Snake River White House Report,2022-07-14,2022,2022-07,Republican,Senate,ID,Mike Crapo,C000880,www.crapo.senate.gov,crapo,https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases,scraper,"Washington, D.C. -- U.S. Senator Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) released the following statement regarding the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) draft report advocating for breaching at least one of the Lower Snake River dams to improve salmon populations.

“In light of the secretive reports conducted with little to no input from Idahoans, I must oppose the Biden Administration’s efforts to breach the four Lower Snake Dams. The collaboration needed to form a consensus on a recovery plan has not happened. Absent that consensus, I oppose dam breaching. Over the past few decades, we have learned that politicians alone can’t improve salmon populations. Leadership and cooperation is required by all--private, public and advocates--to build a path toward solution.”

###",1,2026-03-30T01:40:41Z,2026-04-08T02:49:02Z
https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases/finance-committee-republicans-on-democrats-plans-to-hike-taxes-kill-jobs-and-fuel-inflation,"Finance Committee Republicans on Democrats’ Plans to Hike Taxes, Kill Jobs and Fuel Inflation",2022-07-14,2022,2022-07,Republican,Senate,ID,Mike Crapo,C000880,www.crapo.senate.gov,crapo,https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases,scraper,"Washington, D.C.--U.S. Senate Finance Committee Republicans, led by Ranking Member Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), held a news conference to emphasize why combining massive tax hikes with sky-high inflation is a terrible combination for American workers and the economy. To watch the news conference in its entirety, click here.

Highlights:

Senator Mike Crapo (R-Idaho):

“Tax increases would make inflation worse by further suppressing the supply side of the economy, including by depressing investment and productivity growth as well as labor supply when labor force participation remains below pre-pandemic levels.”

Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa):

“Iowans are paying $670 more per month on living expenses since President Biden took office. They're pleading for a reprieve from the Democrats’ terrible economic policies. . . . More government spending and higher taxes are exactly the opposite of what Iowans need right now. Reckless government spending fueled inflation in the first place--more spending will make it even worse.”

Senator John Cornyn (R-Texas):

“It’s the pain, the silent tax you heard about, that hits people most directly. You would think that the Biden Administration would understand the basic laws of supply and demand. The one reason why prices are high is because demand is high, but when demand is high if you want to lower the price you increase the supply. . . . We could create more good jobs across America and bring down the price of gasoline at the pump and provide some real relief to American consumers if we would just produce more energy here at home.”

Senator James Lankford (R-Oklahoma):

“[H]istory is repeating itself. Literally, the weekend before I’m watching Joe Biden travel to Saudi Arabia to go meet with them about increasing oil production and to try to bring down prices in America, I’m reading a story of Jimmy Carter doing the exact same thing in the 1970s. This is the Biden economy. This economy that we have right now of 9.1 percent inflation is directly tied to the Democrats’ policies and the things that they have passed in the past year that have dramatically increased the prices on Americans.”

Senator Todd Young (R-Indiana):

“$5,200 is a lot of money to the average American household. I know back in Indiana, $5,200 dollars can make or break an Administration. It can make or break a presidency. So this President needs to figure out that he's headed in the wrong direction with these proposed tax increases.”

Senator Rob Portman (R-Ohio):

“[Inflation] is the most punitive tax of all. We just got the numbers this morning from Ohio--8,300 bucks a year in additional spending on energy; on food; utility bills generally; on clothing. $8,300 bucks a year, that's based on our numbers that we have in Ohio on January until now in terms of inflation, and extrapolating that out for the rest of the year. That’s impossible for people to handle if they're on a fixed income. A lot of lower- and middle-income folks in Ohio are suffering the worst.”

###",1,2026-03-30T01:40:41Z,2026-04-08T02:49:02Z
https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases/republicans-introduce-legislation-to-recover-unchecked-unemployment-fraud,Republicans Introduce Legislation to Recover Unchecked Unemployment Fraud,2022-07-14,2022,2022-07,Republican,Senate,ID,Mike Crapo,C000880,www.crapo.senate.gov,crapo,https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases,scraper,"Washington, D.C.--With unemployment fraud leaving taxpayers on the hook for roughly $163 billion, and only slightly more than $4 billion recovered, Senate Republicans, led by Finance Committee Ranking Member Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) and Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Ranking Member Rob Portman (R-Ohio) are introducing legislation to recover funds from unchecked unemployment fraud and provide incentives for States to recover fraudulent payments.

The “Chase COVID Unemployment Fraud Act of 2022” would jumpstart efforts to claw back federal funds and pursue recovery of fraudulent payments by ensuring aggressive identification, investigation and prosecution of criminal fraud in pandemic unemployment programs. Republican Leaders in the House, led by House Ways and Means Committee Ranking Member Kevin Brady (R-Texas), introduced identical legislation on June 9, 2022.

“The Administration needs to step up and join us in detecting and preventing the massive fraud in federal unemployment insurance programs that we have seen, including systemic fraud, internationally organized criminal fraud rings, and other threats to our systems, programs and the federal budget,” said Ranking Member Crapo.

“The fraud associated with pandemic unemployment programs reached staggering levels,” Ranking Member Portman said. “Billions of hard-working Americans’ taxpayer dollars that were meant to help out-of-work Americans instead went to criminals and cheats. This legislation will give the states the incentives and tools necessary to recover this stolen money.”

In addition to Senators Crapo and Portman, the bill is co-sponsored by Senators:

Marsha Blackburn (R-Tennessee)

Mike Braun (R-Indiana)

Bill Cassidy (R-Louisiana)

Susan Collins (R-Maine)

Steve Daines (R-Montana)

Deb Fischer (R-Nebraska)

John Kennedy (R-Louisiana)

James Lankford (R-Oklahoma)

Roger Marshall (R-Kansas)

Jim Risch (R-Idaho)

Mitt Romney (R-Utah)

John Thune (R-South Dakota)

Pat Toomey (R-Pennsylvania)

Background:

The White House estimated that 19 percent of total COVID unemployment insurance payments were lost to fraud--offering a low estimate of roughly $80 billion. By contrast, the Department of Labor’s estimate puts that number much higher.

In May 2022, the Washington Post reported that an estimated $163 billion were siphoned away by fraudsters, and that if the government’s best estimate is accurate, only 2.4 percent of wrongful payments have been recovered.

Last year, Senator Crapo and Representative Brady introduced similar legislation, the “Combatting Covid Unemployment Fraud Act of 2021,” to prevent fraud in COVID unemployment programs, recover fraudulently paid benefits, and provide relief for taxpayers and victims of unemployment fraud.

Senator Crapo and Representative Brady also sent a letter to Labor Secretary Walsh urging Walsh to devote significantly more funds to the detection and prevention of unemployment insurance fraud, given the amount of fraud occurring in the unemployment programs nationwide.

Senator Crapo and Representative Brady have also urged the Government Accountability Office to investigate the scope and severity of fraudulent activity in COVID unemployment insurance programs.

For bill text, click here.

###",1,2026-03-30T01:40:41Z,2026-04-08T02:49:02Z
https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases/crapo-raising-taxes-and-killing-jobs-no-cure-for-inflation,Crapo: Raising Taxes and Killing Jobs No Cure for Inflation,2022-07-13,2022,2022-07,Republican,Senate,ID,Mike Crapo,C000880,www.crapo.senate.gov,crapo,https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases,scraper,"Washington, D.C.--Amid consumer price inflation surging to 9.1 percent in June and an economy facing rising odds of a recession and stagflation, U.S. Senator Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Ranking Member of the Senate Finance Committee, led a news conference with Finance Committee Republicans to emphasize why this is the worst time to consider raising taxes on all Americans.

To watch Crapo’s full remarks, click HERE or the image above.

To download the video, click HERE.

On tax hikes worsening inflation:

“Today’s new data shows the Consumer Price Index remaining at painful 40-year highs, jumping to 9.1 percent for June from 8.6 percent in May. . . . Nonetheless, in the face of a recession, Democrats want to raise taxes, including on the middle class and taxpayers earning far less than $400,000.

“Tax increases would make inflation worse by further suppressing the supply side of the economy, including by depressing investment and productivity growth as well as labor supply when labor force participation remains below pre-pandemic levels.

On small business tax hikes:

“One of the tax increases being considered in the resurrected Build Back Better Bill is an expanded Net Investment Income Tax—or NIIT—on so-called ‘flow-through businesses,’ which are businesses whose owners’ incomes flow through to their personal tax forms. Small business groups estimate up to one million small and family-owned businesses would be at risk of having their rates increased under this policy, which will negatively impact their growth prospects and their employees.

“An expanded NIIT will drive down small business investment; drive down employment and reduce small business hiring; lower wages in small business jobs; and increase prices, which are passed on to consumers.

“Small businesses are struggling in the Biden economy. It is not the time to levy a $252 billion new tax, especially on small- and medium-sized businesses recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic, massive inflation and worker shortages.

On tax hikes hitting taxpayers in every income category:

“A new analysis from the Joint Committee on Taxation confirms that Democrats’ new reported proposals will increase taxes on all Americans, with millions of Americans making less than $400,000 seeing a tax hike and the average tax rate rising for every single income category.

“As the economy faces runaway inflation, a first-quarter decline in GDP, and increasing and uncomfortable odds of a recession and stagflation, raising taxes and killing jobs as we face prospects of recession makes no sense.

###",1,2026-03-30T01:40:41Z,2026-04-08T02:49:02Z
https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases/crapo-to-lead-news-conference-on-the-988-suicide-and-crisis-lifeline-launch,Crapo to Lead News Conference on the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline Launch,2022-07-13,2022,2022-07,Republican,Senate,ID,Mike Crapo,C000880,www.crapo.senate.gov,crapo,https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases,scraper,"Twin Falls, Idaho – U.S. Senator Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) will lead Idaho state officials and mental health advocates in a news conference to celebrate the launch of the National Crisis & Suicide Hotline 988 number on Saturday, July 16, 2022.

“Ensuring everyone knows where to turn for help to prevent suicide and receive crisis intervention has been one of my top priorities,” Crapo said. “On July 16, all Americans will have access to this easy-to-remember, 3-digit phone number, and we will be able to better connect people in crisis with life-saving resources.”

In 2020, Crapo co-sponsored legislation to require the Federal Communications Commission’s designation of 988 as the universal national suicide prevention and mental health crisis hotline. President Donald Trump signed the National Suicide Hotline Designation Act of 2020 on October 17 of that year. Idaho’s Legislature passed HCR11, recognizing 988 as the universal mental health and suicide prevention crisis phone number, during the 2021 Legislative Session.

DETAILS:

WHAT: News conference on 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline

WHO: U.S. Senator Mike Crapo (R-Idaho)

State Senator Fred Martin (R-Boise)

State Representative Laurie Lickley (R-Jerome)

Stewart Wilder (Idaho Suicide Prevention Action Collective)

Lee Flinn (Idaho Crisis & Suicide Hotline)

WHEN: Saturday, July 16, 2022

1:30 PM MT",1,2026-03-30T01:40:41Z,2026-04-08T02:49:02Z
https://fulcher.house.gov/2022/07/12/id-f6f607ab-e0de-4703-93b2-1e419910e8a2/,"Fulcher, PNW Delegation Slam Biden Administration’s Dam-Breaching Efforts",2022-07-12,2022,2022-07,Republican,House,ID,Russ Fulcher,F000469,fulcher.house.gov,fulcher,https://fulcher.house.gov/category/press-releases/,scraper,"“Today’s release of two reports from the Biden Administration’s Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) confirms what we have suspected for some time—they are cherry picking points to justify breaching the Lower Snake River Dams, which will permanently and negatively impact our way of life in the Pacific Northwest.

“It appears that the Biden Administration’s CEQ has been working behind closed doors with plaintiffs in the ongoing lawsuit over the CRSO EIS, as explicitly stated in the first footnote of this draft ‘report,’ all while promoting a supposedly open and transparent stakeholder listening process meant to develop a regional solution for salmon and the river system. This is underhanded and completely unacceptable.

“The Biden Administration just last month issued a Declaration of Emergency stating that a current emergency exists ‘with respect to the threats of the availability of sufficient electricity generation capacity to meet expected customer demand.’ Today, with the release of these draft reports, one thing is clear: the Biden Administration is talking a big game on carbon goals while simultaneously engaging in actions to undermine valuable clean, affordable, and renewable power resources on the Columbia River System, thus compromising energy stability across the region.

“As the members of Congress representing the range of stakeholders engaged in recovering endangered salmon and preserving the Columbia River power system, we must point out the reality that the draft report by NOAA, FWS, Nez Perce Tribe, and State of Oregon fails to acknowledge that salmon returns on the Lower Snake River have shown encouraging gains since 2019. In fact, this year, Spring Chinook returns are more than double last year and 31% above the 10-year average. We urge this administration to consider the facts, prioritize transparency, and utilize sound science and input from all tribes, industry groups, and the ratepayers themselves before coming to an outcome in any final report that would be catastrophic to the communities we represent.”",1,2026-03-30T01:40:41Z,2026-04-06T18:20:25Z
https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases/crapo-brady-risch-on-treasurys-desperate-attempt-to-force-global-tax-agreement,"Crapo, Brady, Risch on Treasury’s Desperate Attempt to Force Global Tax Agreement",2022-07-11,2022,2022-07,Republican,Senate,ID,Mike Crapo,C000880,www.crapo.senate.gov,crapo,https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases,scraper,"Washington, D.C.--U.S. Senator Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Ranking Member of the Senate Finance Committee, Congressman Kevin Brady (R-Texas), U.S. House Ways and Means Republican Leader, and U.S. Senator Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, issued the following statement regarding the U.S. Treasury Department’s announcement that it intends to withdraw from the U.S.-Hungary tax treaty in an attempt to compel Hungary to implement the global minimum tax deal being pursued by the Biden Administration. The Senate Finance Committee and House Ways and Means Committee have jurisdiction over tax matters, and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee has jurisdiction over treaties.

“Treasury’s latest tactic to force implementation of the OECD agreement is to withdraw from a longstanding bilateral tax treaty approved by Congress. This is a transparent attempt to bully Hungary into hasty action on a global minimum tax and interfere in an internal European Union policy-making process. The move stands in stark contrast to the Biden Administration’s rhetoric about improving multilateral tax cooperation. We are very concerned that Treasury’s go-it-alone approach to the global tax negotiations will lead to more uncertainty, more disputes among countries, and fewer jobs and opportunities for Americans.

“To achieve a sustainable result at the OECD, Treasury must abandon its unilateral approach and engage in bipartisan consultation with Congress and the interagency that includes protecting our own jobs and economy.”

###",1,2026-03-30T01:40:41Z,2026-04-06T18:20:25Z
https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases/jct-confirms-democrats-proposals-increase-taxes-on-all-americans,JCT Confirms Democrats’ Proposals Increase Taxes on All Americans,2022-07-11,2022,2022-07,Republican,Senate,ID,Mike Crapo,C000880,www.crapo.senate.gov,crapo,https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases,scraper,"Washington, D.C.-- A new pair of analyses by the nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) shows that the Democrats’ latest tax-and-spend provisions under discussion will increase taxes on millions of Americans making less than $400,000 per year, and the average tax rate for every single income category would increase. The JCT previously confirmed that the House-passed “Build Back Better Act (H.R. 5376) would result in meaningful tax increases for taxpayers at every income level.

News reports suggest Democrats are prepared to move forward with the full slate of tax increases in the House-passed legislation, without any tax cuts for lower- or middle-income households. JCT estimates that legislation retaining those tax increases, while removing the social policy tax cuts that had been contained in Subtitle G, would provide zero tax relief for the middle class, with the vast majority of Americans seeing tax increases at a time when they can least afford it.

“While Republican tax reform in 2017 cut taxes for all Americans, and increased the progressivity of the tax code, the Democrats’ approach to tax reform does not cut taxes for anyone, but it would raise taxes on millions of lower-and middle-income Americans at a time when they can least afford it,” said U.S. Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Mike Crapo (R-Idaho). “The economy is already reeling from Democrats’ bad policies and people are struggling to make ends meet. The last thing they need are higher taxes, especially in light of rising odds of a recession and stagflation.”

The first analysis projects the distributional effect of the House-passed tax increases without temporary social policy tax relief. The analysis confirms:

In 2023, when we are facing the dual threat of inflation and recession, the Democrats would raise $33 billion from Americans earning less than $400,000 per year, while providing a net tax cut of about $1.5 billion for Americans earning more than $400,000 per year.

Over the course of the 10-year budget window, roughly 30 percent of the revenue raised for spending offsets and deficit reduction would come from Americans earning under $400,000 per year.

Under the proposal, the average tax rate for every single income category would increase.

The second analysis projects the tax effect on filers in each income category. The analysis shows:

If the Democrats’ tax reform is enacted this year, more than a quarter of Americans earning between $75,000 and $100,000 will see a tax increase next year, as will more than half of Americans earning between $100,000 and $200,000.

In 2023, for taxpayers in the income range of $200,000 to $500,000 (85 percent of whom fall in the $200,000-$400,000 range), more than 80 percent will see a tax hike, reinforcing the fact that these proposals will violate President Biden’s pledge to not raise taxes on anyone earning below $400,000.

By 2029, nearly 20 percent of Americans earning between $50,000 and $75,000 will get a tax increase, while none will receive tax relief.",1,2026-03-30T01:40:41Z,2026-04-08T02:49:02Z
https://fulcher.house.gov/2022/07/08/id-39a38b54-ed62-454d-a43e-9cf85a7d5153/,Fulcher Introduces FILM Act to Streamline Film Permitting on Federal Lands,2022-07-08,2022,2022-07,Republican,House,ID,Russ Fulcher,F000469,fulcher.house.gov,fulcher,https://fulcher.house.gov/category/press-releases/,scraper,"Contact:

Daniel Tellez

202-225-6611

daniel.tellez@mail.house.gov

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Congressman Russ Fulcher, ranking member on the Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests, and Public Lands, has introduced the Federal Interior Land Media Act (FILM) Act to eliminate burdensome red tape involved in the film permitting process on federal lands. This is a House companion bill to Senator John Barrasso’s (R-WY) legislation in the Senate, which can be found here.

The FILM Act modernizes the outdated, expensive, and cumbersome film permitting process on federal lands administered by the Departments of the Interior and Agriculture. Specifically, the bill provides exceptions from permitting and fees for video, still photography, and audio recording activities, regardless of distribution platform, that meet certain requirements.

“Nothing beats seeing Idaho landscapes up close and in person,” Congressman Fulcher remarked. “However, for those not fortunate enough to be living in or visiting our state, they should be able to experience the sights and sounds of the Gem State without regulatory impediments. The FILM Act removes barriers to recording on public lands, encouraging visitors to promote Idaho’s scenic beauty with the rest of the world.”

Read the text of the FILM Act here.

###",1,2026-03-30T01:40:41Z,2026-04-06T18:20:25Z
https://fulcher.house.gov/2022/07/01/id-308260b8-595c-4c0a-a863-e62f314fbf31/,Statement on H.R. 8167 – RETURN Act,2022-07-01,2022,2022-07,Republican,House,ID,Russ Fulcher,F000469,fulcher.house.gov,fulcher,https://fulcher.house.gov/category/press-releases/,scraper,"Contact:

Daniel Tellez

202-225-6611

daniel.tellez@mail.house.gov

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Congressman Fulcher released the following statement on H.R. 8167, the RETURN Act:

I am an original cosponsor on H.R. 8167, the RETURN Act, which eliminates the excise tax on firearms and ammunition.

Traditionally, the revenue from this tax is allocated to a fund established by the Pittman-Robertson Act for hunter education and conservation projects. However, recent Democratic proposals — including one to place a 1,000% tax on semi-automatic weapons — would have a deeply negative effect on the sales of these weapons, and as a result, the funding for the Pittman-Robertson programs. The RETURN Act recognizes this and remedies that by having funding come from revenue generated by energy development on federal land and waters instead.

By eliminating this punitive tax on gun owners and securing a new funding source for programs important to sportsmen and conservationists, we seek to affirm not only the 2nd Amendment but our duty to be responsible stewards of our resources.",1,2026-03-30T01:40:41Z,2026-04-06T18:20:25Z
https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases/crapo-inflation-continues-to-climb-eating-into-workers-paychecks,"Crapo: Inflation Continues to Climb, Eating into Workers’ Paychecks",2022-06-30,2022,2022-06,Republican,Senate,ID,Mike Crapo,C000880,www.crapo.senate.gov,crapo,https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases,scraper,"Washington, D.C.-- U.S. Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) released the below statement following the release of the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index for May, which remained at 6.3 percent from April.

“Today’s data on inflation in the personal consumption expenditures price index, the Fed’s preferred measure of consumer prices, confirms prices continue to climb and eat away at workers’ paychecks. The runaway inflation that began after the partisan American Rescue Plan was jammed through Congress is bad enough. The economic mismanagement of the past year and a half threatens to compound the problem through recession and stagflation, which will harm American families even more. Now is not the time to bring back failed tax-and-spending schemes.”

###",1,2026-03-30T01:40:41Z,2026-04-06T18:13:54Z
https://fulcher.house.gov/2022/06/27/id-fec095a2-6f5b-4625-9ea6-fddb17c36198/,"Fulcher Joins Western Caucus, Natural Resources Republicans in Demanding Transparency on Prescribed Fires Ban",2022-06-27,2022,2022-06,Republican,House,ID,Russ Fulcher,F000469,fulcher.house.gov,fulcher,https://fulcher.house.gov/category/press-releases/,scraper,"Contact:

Daniel Tellez

202-225-6611

daniel.tellez@mail.house.gov

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, Chairman Dan Newhouse (WA-04) and Vice Chair Bruce Westerman (AR-04) led 25 Western Caucus and House Natural Resources Members in sending a letter to U.S. Forest Service (USFS) Chief Randy Moore urging more active management of federal forests in order to prevent catastrophic wildfires and to demand information surrounding the Biden Administration’s 90-day review of prescribed fire protocols and the Hermits Peak/Calf Canyon Fire.

“Decades of mismanagement have left our forests overgrown and fire-prone, and it is vital that we use essential tools – including prescribed burns – safely and effectively to restore these landscapes to natural fire intervals,” wrote the lawmakers. “This work must be done carefully and with the confidence that these burns will not cause the very catastrophic wildfires they seek to prevent.”

The Biden Administration imposed a 90-day pause on the use of prescribed fire in order to review protocols, tools, and practices after a poorly-conducted USFS prescribed fire resulted in the largest wildfire in New Mexico’s state history.

The lawmakers continued, “It is clear the Forest Service has damaged the public’s trust and must set in place procedures that will restore confidence in the agency to appropriately utilize prescribed burns, manage our fire-prone federal lands, and ensure communities are protected.”

The letter – signed by Chairman Dan Newhouse (WA-04), Vice Chairs Bruce Westerman (AR-04), Yvette Herrell (NM-02), Pete Stauber (MN-08), Doug Lamborn (CO-05), Doug LaMalfa (CA-01), Chris Stewart (UT-02), Garret Graves (LA-06), and Lauren Boebert (CO-03); and Reps. Russ Fulcher (ID-01), Blake Moore (UT-01), Cliff Bentz (OR-02), Jay Obernolte (CA-08), Tom McClintock (CA-04), Bob Gibbs (OH-07), Dave Joyce (OH-14), Markwayne Mullin (OK-02), Aumua Amata Coleman Radewagen (AS-AL), David Rouzer (NC-07), David Valadao (CA-21), Tom Tiffany (WI-07), Mariannette Miller-Meeks (IA-02), Burgess Owens (OH-04), Matt Rosendale (MT-AL), and Louie Gohmert (TX-01) – urges the Administration to conduct the review of prescribed fire operations as expeditiously as possible so that land managers can resume use of this essential wildfire prevention tool.

Full text of the letter can be found here and below:

Dear Chief Moore,

We write to strongly urge the Forest Service to increase the pace and scale of desperately needed forest management activities. Restoring the public’s trust in the safety and efficacy of forest management activities on National Forest System lands is particularly important given the drought conditions currently afflicting the western United States. Alarmingly, as of June 15, 2022, over 2.7 million acres in the United States has burned, outpacing every fire season of the last decade. Unfortunately, a substantial portion of this acreage burned as a result of escaped prescribed burns initiated by the Forest Service. Decades of mismanagement have left our forests overgrown and fire-prone, and it is vital that we use essential tools – including prescribed burns – safely and effectively to restore these landscapes to natural fire intervals. This work must be done carefully and with the confidence that these burns will not cause the very catastrophic wildfires they seek to prevent.

On May 20, 2022, less than six months after announcing an aggressive new strategy to reduce wildfire risk on federal lands, the Forest Service announced a pause on prescribed fire operations on all National Forest System lands in order to conduct a 90-day review of protocols, decision support tools, and practices. This unilateral pause came after the news that the colossal 325,340-acre Hermits Peak Fire in New Mexico, which merged with the nearby Calf Canyon Fire, became the largest and most destructive fire in state history due to a poorly executed prescribed fire conducted by the Santa Fe National Forest. This fire has already destroyed 903 structures and accumulated $227 million in suppression costs. Concerningly, the Forest Service greenlit the prescribed burn that sparked this fire despite ongoing severe drought conditions, several red flag warnings issued in the days leading up to the fire, and forecasts of 25 mile-per-hour winds and nine percent humidity on the day of the fire. Additionally, fire investigators recently determined that the Calf Canyon Fire was also started by a Forest Service pile burn originally conducted in January 2022 that reignited and spread quickly due to high winds. In Colorado, a similar situation occurred in May 2022 when the Forest Service conducted a prescribed burn despite extremely dry and windy conditions, resulting in a fire that destroyed one family’s home and an estimated $1.6 million in suppression costs.

Combined with the consistent lack of appropriate forest management, the unprecedented drought facing the West has further weakened our national forests and left them extremely vulnerable to wildfire. The West is currently suffering through the most extreme drought on record with over 76 percent of the land under severe drought conditions or worse. Further, recent research demonstrated that portions of our nation are facing the driest conditions in 1,200 years. This reality must inform not only our firefighting approach, but also the types of forest management treatments that are utilized during this time of extreme volatility.

When used correctly, prescribed burns are an essential forest management tool used by the Forest Service, local managers, and private landowners to thin overgrown forest lands and reduce the threat of wildfires for communities across the United States. Prescribed fires are supported by extensive scientific research, but they must be used judiciously during drought conditions and based on a thorough assessment of risk factors before they are initiated. We agree that a rigorous review must be conducted in order to assess the failures of Forest Service’s prescribed fire operations. With this mandated nationwide pause, however, land managers across the country are now deprived of a critical tool that – when used safely – could currently be aiding efforts to reduce wildfire risk, restore forest health, and create resilient landscapes. With communities throughout the West already amidst a record-breaking wildfire season, we cannot afford to be losing any tools that can help prevent catastrophic fires during this wildfire season and in the future.

Due to the imposed pause on prescribed burns, it is now more important than ever that the agency fully – and immediately – utilize other tools, such as mechanical thinning, to continue treating the millions of acres of forest land at risk of experiencing catastrophic wildfires. The importance of increased forest restoration thinning cannot be overstated, as scientists have shown it significantly improves drought resiliency in our forests by increasing both canopy moisture content and allowing for more snow accumulation on the ground in the winter. Expanded mechanical thinning is also consistent with the agency’s own findings in the “Confronting the Wildfire Crisis” strategy, which stated:

“Using fire and thinning together, however, provides the best opportunity for reducing risk and moderating fire behavior. With a risk-informed approach, a forest thinning is often needed first to reduce the number of trees to something approaching the historical level a century ago. Then a low-intensity surface fire can follow—what professionals call a prescribed fire.

“Mechanical thinning remains an indispensable tool in the agency’s toolbox. Because prescribed fires are not currently available for local land managers to utilize due to the mandated pause, we must accelerate thinning on forest lands to reduce the risk of wildfire and improve forest health.

It is clear the Forest Service has damaged the public’s trust and must set in place procedures that will restore confidence in the agency to appropriately utilize prescribed burns, manage our fire-prone federal lands, and ensure communities are protected. The Forest Service must complete a comprehensive review of the misuse of prescribed fire in these cases and address program shortcomings as expeditiously as possible. Given the severity of the ongoing wildfire catastrophe, we also seek to understand the Forest Service’s prescribed fire operations in greater detail and request a briefing on the 90-day review as well as the following documents. Please provide these documents as soon as possible, but no later than 5:00 p.m. July 11, 2022.

A document sufficient to describe the prescribed fires initiated by the Forest Service within the last five years that have resulted in wildfires. This document should address the prescribed fires that ignited the Hermits Peak, Calf Canyon, and Simms Fires, including the prescribed burn plans and details regarding the timing and execution under extreme weather conditions for each incident.

A document sufficient to describe standard operating procedures for the Forest Service’s prescribed fire program, including how risk factors such as weather are assessed and weighed during decision making.

A document sufficient to describe all planned prescribed fire activities and associated locations impacted by the 90-day pause.

A document sufficient to describe the plan to make up for the prescribed fires that are delayed by the pause and maintain the agency’s planned forest management goals once the pause is lifted.

A document sufficient to describe the prescribed fires that are planned following the expiration of the pause.

A document sufficient to describe how the pause will impact the Forest Service’s “Confronting the Wildfire Crisis” strategy published in January 2022.

Please contact the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Minority staff at HNRR.Oversight@mail.house.gov with any questions about this request and to coordinate the delivery of your response to room 1329 of the Longworth House Office Building. Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter and we look forward to continued coordination as we work together to responsibly restore health and resiliency to our forests through active forest management.

###",1,2026-03-30T01:40:41Z,2026-04-06T18:13:54Z
https://fulcher.house.gov/2022/06/24/id-fcac1f4d-c764-4387-9ccb-25de3d68dfe9/,Statement on Dobbs v. Jackson Decision,2022-06-24,2022,2022-06,Republican,House,ID,Russ Fulcher,F000469,fulcher.house.gov,fulcher,https://fulcher.house.gov/category/press-releases/,scraper,"Contact:

Daniel Tellez

202-225-6611

daniel.tellez@mail.house.gov

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Congressman Fulcher released the following statement on the Dobbs v. Jackson Supreme Court decision:

“Today’s historic announcement by the Supreme Court on Dobbs v. Jackson – where the Court upheld Mississippi’s pro-life law and overturned Roe v. Wade – is a momentous victory for life and an affirmation of our federalist system. States, as the Constitutionally prescribed authority on this matter, will now have the opportunity to enact policies that promote a culture of life. Since the Roe decision in 1973, America has endured the tragedy of some 63 million abortions. I am proud that Idaho has already enacted legislation that prohibits abortion upon the repeal of Roe.”",1,2026-03-30T01:40:41Z,2026-04-08T02:39:01Z
https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases/crapo-statement-on-dobbs-v-jackson-womens-health-organization-ruling,Crapo Statement on Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization Ruling,2022-06-24,2022,2022-06,Republican,Senate,ID,Mike Crapo,C000880,www.crapo.senate.gov,crapo,https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases,scraper,"Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senator Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) issued the following statement upon the Supreme Court’s final ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization:

“My strong commitment to supporting measures that protect the rights of the unborn remains unchanged. I believe abortion is wrong and should be limited to cases where the mother’s life is in imminent danger. The Court’s decision upholds states’ ability to protect the right to life. ”",1,2026-03-30T01:40:41Z,2026-04-06T18:13:54Z
https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases/crapo-statement-on-senate-passage-of-the-bipartisan-safer-communities-act,Crapo Statement on Senate Passage of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act,2022-06-24,2022,2022-06,Republican,Senate,ID,Mike Crapo,C000880,www.crapo.senate.gov,crapo,https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases,scraper,"Washington, D.C.--U.S. Senator for Idaho Mike Crapo issued the following statement after voting against the U.S. Senate’s passage of S. 2938, the legislative vehicle for the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act.

“We need to address the driving factors behind heinous acts of gun violence, which often come down to shortcomings in our mental health system. As Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Finance Committee, I have been working with Committee members on policies to improve our mental health system, several of which were incorporated into the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act. These policies, which expand access to essential care by supporting telehealth options and creating more sites of service, are the types of bipartisan, targeted solutions that address root causes of gun violence.

“However, I have serious concerns with federal funds being used to help states establish ‘red flag laws.’ The Idaho Legislature already pushed back on federal overreach through ‘red flag laws’ and other regulatory efforts by passing the ‘Idaho Firearm and Firearm Accessories and Components Protection Act’ in 2021, which prevents all Idaho government entities from enforcing executive orders, federal laws, treaties, agency orders and rules of the U.S. government involving firearms, firearm components and accessories, or ammunition that conflict with the Idaho Constitution. I support Idaho’s leadership in upholding the Second Amendment, as I commend those working to address violence in our communities to keep students safe.”

###",1,2026-03-30T01:40:41Z,2026-04-06T18:13:54Z
https://fulcher.house.gov/2022/06/23/id-87f4ad41-ced4-4b46-8075-6750cf4244db/,Fulcher Calls on USDA to End the “Permanent Pandemic” Policies,2022-06-23,2022,2022-06,Republican,House,ID,Russ Fulcher,F000469,fulcher.house.gov,fulcher,https://fulcher.house.gov/category/press-releases/,scraper,"Contact:

Daniel Tellez

202-225-6611

daniel.tellez@mail.house.gov

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, Civil Rights and Human Services Subcommittee Republican Leader Russ Fulcher (R-ID) delivered the following remarks, as prepared for delivery, at a subcommittee hearing on examining the policies and priorities of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service:

“Committee Republicans understand the importance of ensuring children are well fed during the school day and we recognize the importance of reaching students that are truly in need with the benefits of school-provided nutrition programs. However, as we exit this pandemic, creating permanent changes to school nutrition programs without first determining if such changes are needed is nonsensical. Before these programs are reauthorized, we need to validate which aspects of these programs work and which don’t.

“The majority party has used the pandemic as a springboard to expand federal control (thereby increasing spending) into seemingly every aspect of American life including school lunch programs. Prior to the pandemic, child nutrition programs provided approximately 30 million lunches and 14 million school breakfasts every school day. And the need to assess these programs in the ‘post-pandemic’ era remains.

“We saw Congress and the previous administration move quickly to help ensure needy students had access to food and did not miss a meal. But we need to make sure these programs move forward under normal operation. Taxpayer funds should be used to help students in real need. Allowing wealthy families to take advantage of school lunch programs is not a responsible use of taxpayer dollars. Instead, we should look for ways to strengthen the programs by learning the lessons of the pandemic from people operating under the nutrition program’s rules.

“There should be concentrated efforts from USDA, states, and schools to help parents transition back to regular operations including the filling out of applications to determine free and reduced price eligibility.

“This also means not over burdening the programs with new challenges. Once again, the administration is looking to overhaul the meal pattern regulations with more federal control. The last time the Secretary did this the final rule added billions in taxpayer expenses to schools and led to such significant challenges that some of the requirements had to be waived just to make the programs work. It’s just not right to increase costs, add complexity, or pursue pet projects. This should be a time the USDA should to listen to the local folks on the ground and learn from the challenges the pandemic taught us.

“We’re also concerned about the administration’s recent Title IX guidance. We are concerned the administration plans to hold school lunch programs hostage unless schools capitulate to controversial gender policies. Boys and girls get hungry. As school nutrition relates to the gender; that’s the only guideline we need. The nutrition of children should not be used as a tool to advance the Biden administration’s progressive agenda.

“This all underscores why we need more transparency from the administration about how this new guidance will apply to nutrition programs, and how it will impact faith-based providers participating in the programs. The Biden administration has already targeted faith-based entities in other areas, and I would hate to see children suffer because of this administration’s vindictive and biased policies.

“Lastly, this administration must insert some common-sense intelligence into the baby formula shortage issue, or at least get out of the way of the market. For the week of May 22-29, the out-of-stock rate for baby formula was 73.5 percent. Yes, that’s 73.5 percent. In America. For baby formula. These are not rocket components or microprocessors, its baby formula. This is unacceptable. If we can’t solve this problem, heaven help us on issues with complexity.

“Parents and caregivers across the country shouldn’t have to wake up in the morning not knowing if they are going to be able to feed their babies. USDA doesn’t have control over the FDA, but it is imperative the administration and its agencies work together to solve it.

“I am glad we were able to pass H.R. 7791, the bipartisan Access to Baby Formula Act, but this bill alone will not solve the crisis. We must secure our baby formula supply chains so this never happens again. In the meantime, this Committee would like to hear from the Biden administration on how this crisis has impacted WIC participants. Americans need answers.”

###",1,2026-03-30T01:40:41Z,2026-04-08T02:39:01Z
https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases/finance-committee-approves-crapo-wyden-bill-to-strengthen-retirement-savings,"Finance Committee Approves Crapo, Wyden Bill to Strengthen Retirement Savings",2022-06-23,2022,2022-06,Republican,Senate,ID,Mike Crapo,C000880,www.crapo.senate.gov,crapo,https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases,scraper,"Washington, D.C.--The U.S. Senate Finance Committee, under the leadership of Ranking Member Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) and Chairman Ron Wyden (D-Oregon), passed the Enhancing Americans Retirement Now (EARN) Act, expanding opportunities for Americans to increase their retirement savings and improving workers’ long-term financial well-being. The legislation builds on the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act of 2019 and is based in part on the Retirement Security and Savings Act of 2021, legislation championed by Senators Rob Portman (R-Ohio) and Ben Cardin (D-Maryland). The bill was approved unanimously by the Committee, 28-0.

“The EARN Act is the product of months of bipartisan work that resulted in a bill that will increase participation in retirement plans, strengthen and encourage private retirement savings, and make it easier for employers to offer retirement plans,” said Crapo. “Every member of the Finance Committee had a hand in drafting this legislation, and the broad range of ideas incorporated into the final bill is a testament to the power of bipartisanship. When we work together, we can create lasting and impactful work.”

The EARN Act strengthens retirement savings in a fiscally-responsible way by:

Encouraging small businesses to adopt retirement plans;

Making it easier for part-time workers to participate in retirement plans; and

Providing workers and retirees the ability to save more and save longer.

The bill also makes important changes that allow flexibility for emergencies, like penalty-free withdrawals for terminally-ill patients, domestic abuse survivors and those affected by federally declared disasters.

Click here for Crapo’s opening remarks at the markup.

Click here for a bill section-by-section.

###",1,2026-03-30T01:40:41Z,2026-04-08T02:39:01Z
https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases/crapo-statement-at-retirement-legislation-markup,Crapo Statement at Retirement Legislation Markup,2022-06-22,2022,2022-06,Republican,Senate,ID,Mike Crapo,C000880,www.crapo.senate.gov,crapo,https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases,scraper,"Washington, D.C.--U.S. Senator Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Finance Committee, delivered the following remarks at an open executive session to consider The Enhancing American Retirement Now (EARN) Act.

The text of Ranking Member Crapo’s remarks, as prepared, is below.

“Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

“Nearly one year ago, we held a policy hearing on how we could strengthen private retirement savings by building on the success of the original SECURE Act. At the time, I noted retirement has a history of bipartisan cooperation and I expected this process—SECURE 2.0—to be no different.

“My expectation turned out to be true. Mr. Chairman, thank you for making this legislation a priority and for working to construct a retirement package that will garner widespread bipartisan support in this Committee and in the entire Senate.

“Reaching today’s markup on the Enhancing Americans Retirement Now, or EARN, Act is the product of months of bipartisan work that resulted in a bill that will increase participation in retirement plans, strengthen and encourage private retirement savings, and make it easier for employers to offer retirement plans.

“Every member of the Finance Committee had a hand in drafting this bill, and it reflects priorities and input from every Committee member.

“Two colleagues in particular have played a central, years-long role in laying the foundation for what we will consider today: Senator Portman and Senator Cardin.

“They are leaders on retirement security issues and deserve a great deal of credit for advancing many of the policies reflected in this legislation.

“Incentivizing automatic enrollment in plans, increasing the required minimum distribution age and catch-up contribution limit, and making it easier for part time workers to participate in retirement plans are just a few of their policies that have built the foundation for this bill and the entire ‘SECURE 2.0’ process.

“Senator Portman and Senator Cardin, thank you for your commitment to this issue. “Senators Grassley, Lankford and Hassan worked to improve rules relating to 403(b) plans, while Senators Barrasso and Carper worked to create additional retirement plan options for small businesses through their ‘starter 401(k)’ proposal.

“Senator Cornyn worked with Senator Cortez-Masto on legislation to allow domestic abuse survivors the ability to access retirement funds when they need it most, while Senators Burr and Bennet worked to ensure terminally-ill patients can do the same.

“Senators Thune and Toomey worked across the aisle and led efforts regarding retired first responders and corrections officers.

“Senator Daines worked on a retirement ‘lost and found’ registry with Senator Warren, while Senators Scott and Brown worked to improve portability between retirement plans when workers change jobs, an area that has also gained Senator Sasse’s interest.

“Senators Cassidy and Menendez pushed for certainty for rules governing retirement account withdrawals in the case of natural disasters.

“Senator Lankford worked with Senator Bennet on an important issue—emergency withdrawals from retirement accounts. Their legislation allows individuals the ability to access small amounts of money when they are faced with an emergency.

“Senator Young worked in a bipartisan way to improve the rules relating to special needs trusts and also on a very important issue—emergency savings. I look forward to continuing to work with you and our Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee colleagues on your bill.

“I also want to recognize Senator Warner and his work with Senator Collins on the SIMPLE IRAs and look forward to working with him as we move this along in the future.

“These are just a few examples of the broad range of ideas incorporated into the bill we are considering today and it is a testament to the power of bipartisanship. When we work together, we can create impactful and lasting work.

“I also thank and recognize the Joint Committee on Taxation for its tireless work. The Finance Committee cannot properly function without JCT’s expertise.

“So thank you to Tom Barthold, JCT’s Chief of Staff, who is with us today and to the policy staff at JCT who helped all Finance members prepare for today’s markup: Rhonda Migdail, Clare Diefenbach, Sally Kwak, Kelly Scanlon and many others who worked behind the scenes. Your hard work over the past few months is greatly valued.

“Once the Finance Committee reports this bill, I look forward to working with our colleagues on the HELP Committee and our House colleagues to resolve any differences and get a bill to the President’s desk.

“Thank you, Mr. Chairman.”",1,2026-03-30T01:40:41Z,2026-04-08T02:39:01Z
https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases/crapo-brady-president-biden-set-americas-interests-back-at-wto_--no-dispute-reform-surrendered-crucial-medical-patents-failed-to-protect-us-e-commerce-fishing-interests,"Crapo, Brady: President Biden Set America's Interests Back at WTO -- No Dispute Reform, Surrendered Crucial Medical Patents, Failed to Protect U.S. e-Commerce, Fishing Interests",2022-06-17,2022,2022-06,Republican,Senate,ID,Mike Crapo,C000880,www.crapo.senate.gov,crapo,https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases,scraper,"Washington, D.C.--U.S. Senator Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Finance Committee, and U.S. House Ways and Means Republican Leader Kevin Brady (R-Texas) issued a statement condemning the Biden Administration’s decision to capitulate to the demands of some of the United States’ most disruptive trading partners at this week’s World Trade Organization (WTO) Ministerial Conference. Specifically, the Biden Administration accepted a deal that will weaken longstanding rules protecting intellectual property rights and proposed rules in new agreements. This deal will undermine U.S. trade interests and cost American jobs.

“The WTO is a vital forum for addressing the United States’ trade challenges—which include countries increasingly resorting to injurious subsidies, undermining our leadership in digital trade, and stealing our intellectual property. Instead of strengthening WTO rules in these areas, the Biden Administration set America’s interests back by failing to achieve any real reforms of the broken WTO dispute system, surrendering America's crucial medical patents and failing to protect both U.S. fishing interests and long-term protections against higher costs of e-commerce.""

“America’s innovators, workers, and farmers deserve a trade policy that increases opportunity in foreign markets and ensures our competitors play by the rules. Now more than ever, we need new rules to take on challenges such as distortive subsidies and intellectual property theft. From the start, the Biden Administration has made it clear that it is not interested in negotiating any rules that facilitate such market access opportunities for Americans. Indeed, the Administration has shown indifference on trade, including by failing to articulate any priorities for the WTO Ministerial Conference. Even on the day the negotiations were concluding, the Biden Administration refused to share its views on key text proposals tabled at the ministerial with Congress. As a result, a handful of countries achieved sweeping outcomes that undercut America’s interests.

“These outcomes reflect a basic truth that the Biden Administration has ignored completely when it comes to trade: either we write the rules, or someone else will write them for us. Today, a handful of other countries wrote WTO rules that are bad for America’s economy, for our innovators, and for the global environment.”

Background:

*TRIPS Waiver—The WTO TRIPS Agreement establishes certain minimum intellectual property (IP) standards. In May 2021, the Biden Administration announced in “service of ending this pandemic,” it would support a “limited” waiver of U.S. rights under the TRIPS Agreement, exclusively related to vaccines. Members of Congress have repeatedly asked the U.S. Trade Representative for any evidence that waiving American innovators’ IP rights would improve vaccine access. More than a year later, the Biden Administration has yet to provide an answer. Contrary to the Administration’s announcement today, it failed to properly consult with Congress and stakeholders.

The Biden Administration waived America’s IP rights on vaccines for five years, with the possibility of an extension. Again, contrary to its claims to Congress, the Biden Administration also agreed to initiate discussions to expand the scope of the waiver beyond vaccines to medical diagnostics and therapeutics, a potentially immense category of products. The decision undermines America’s innovators who developed the world’s most effective vaccines, as well as the workers manufacturing these vaccines, and potentially empowers China’s firms that have been trying to steal U.S. mRNA research. In fact, the Administration agreed to language that simply “encourages” China to opt-out from using the waiver, and is willing to take China’s word that it will not use the waiver.

*Fish subsidies—WTO Members have worked for two decades to cap subsidies that are depleting fisheries around the world, including those that contribute to overcapacity and those that support China’s distant-water fleet.

The Biden Administration agreed to drop the most important provision: the prohibition on subsidies that contribute to overfishing and overcapacity. This is a loss for the environment and also fishermen in America, and in developing countries, that compete without the aid of distortive subsidies.

*Limited Digital Transmissions Customs Duty Moratorium—For more than twenty years, WTO Members have agreed to not impose duties on electronic transmissions. The moratorium is renewed at each Ministerial Conference and should have been made permanent years ago. A strong majority of WTO Members support the moratorium, but a handful of countries threatened to block renewal of the moratorium unless their demands were met in various areas.

The Biden Administration capitulated to their demands and accepted a shorter moratorium that is presumed to expire by March 31, 2024, unless all WTO Members agree otherwise. The Biden Administration has provided those few opponents of the moratorium leverage to renew this effort in less than two years.

###",1,2026-03-30T01:40:41Z,2026-04-08T02:39:01Z
https://fulcher.house.gov/2022/06/16/id-cfdf1956-05cf-40eb-95d1-18c68581378a/,Fulcher Joins Legislation to Protect Four Lower Snake River Dams,2022-06-16,2022,2022-06,Republican,House,ID,Russ Fulcher,F000469,fulcher.house.gov,fulcher,https://fulcher.house.gov/category/press-releases/,scraper,"Contact:

Daniel Tellez

202-225-6611

daniel.tellez@mail.house.gov

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Last week, Rep. Russ Fulcher (R-ID) joined Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-WA) and 8 other Members of Congress in introducing legislation to protect the Four Lower Snake River Dams. Shortly after, Governor Inslee and Senator Murray released their draft report whose premise ignores the science in order to achieve an ideological goal of breaching these critical pieces of infrastructure.

Today, Members of Congress, industry leaders, stakeholders, and representatives in Central Washington issued the following statements in support of Rep. Newhouse’s legislation and leadership in protecting these dams:

“The science is crystal clear: breaching the Four Lower Snake River Dams would be harmful to our communities, our environment, and our economy,” said Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-WA). “Amidst a national energy and supply chain crisis, it is unconscionable that dam-breaching advocates—including Governor Inslee and Senator Murray—repeatedly attempt to force a predetermined, unscientific conclusion that will put our communities who are already struggling at risk. In the Pacific Northwest, not only do we depend on this critical infrastructure for clean, renewable, and affordable energy, but transportation for 60% of the nation’s wheat. The Snake River Dams are integral to flood control, navigation, irrigation, agriculture, and recreation in Central Washington and our region cannot afford to lose them. This legislation utilizes the best available science to further ensure the Lower Snake River Dams continue to provide carbon-free, baseload energy while continuing to support fish recovery efforts.”

“The Four Lower Snake River Dams provide immense value to Idahoans, our economy, and the Northwest as a whole. As our country faces increasingly hostile foreign energy suppliers and our own Administration’s out-of-control inflation that threatens our domestic energy reliability, the importance of our dams and the power generation they provide has never been clearer. I am proud to join Congressman Newhouse on this important legislation.” – Rep. Russ Fulcher (R-ID)

“Our country is officially facing the worst energy crisis since 1973. Gas prices have surpassed $5 a gallon nationwide, and there is a growing concern that blackouts this summer are imminent. Meanwhile, there are groups focused on tearing out the lower snake river dams, which we now know could cost up to $27 billion and drastically reduce energy reliability in our state. This approach is misguided, it’s alarming, and it needs to be stopped. I’m proud to lead this legislation with Congressman Newhouse to protect our dams and promote hydropower production, and I’m glad to see it getting the attention it deserves.” – Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA)

“During Chairman Newhouse’s tour of Washington in early June, I saw firsthand the important role hydropower will continue to play in an all-of-the-above energy approach. I applaud Chairman Newhouse for following the science and introducing this critical bill to provide clean, renewable and affordable energy to the Pacific Northwest and support native salmon population recovery. Commonsense legislation like this bill allows the region’s economy and environment to flourish. During record inflation, legislation that provides economic relief to citizens is exactly what Congress should be focusing on.” – Rep. Bruce Westerman (R-AR)

“Our nation is facing an energy crisis. Now more than ever, it is critical that we preserve our hydropower dams throughout the West. They provide reliable, clean, low cost energy to the grid, as well as high paying technical jobs. Dams also help shape the landscape of the West, creating recreational space, assisting in flood control, constructing reservoirs for water storage, and delivering water to agriculture producers, which is now more important than ever as we face drought across the West.” – Rep. Doug LaMalfa (R-CA)

“Our Columbia and Snake Rivers are a critical component of the regional, national and global transportation system, linking our Northwest farmers with customers around the world. We appreciate the work of Congressman Newhouse, Congresswoman McMorris Rodgers and other supporters of this legislation, as it recognizes our dams provide significant benefits to the region and nation, and that river commerce and healthy, robust fish runs can continue to co-exist.” – Tom Kammerzell, County Commissioner, Port of Whitman and Chairman, Inland Ports and Navigation Group (IPNG)

“We truly appreciate Congressman Newhouse’s unwavering support for our hydropower system, including the introduction of this legislation which recognizes the expertise of the career scientists who determined that removing the Lower Snake River Dams is not in the best interest of the American people. The benefits these dams provide are critical for people and economies throughout the Pacific Northwest, and this bill would provide important certainty for the communities and industries that rely on them.” – Karl Dye, President and CEO, TRIDEC

“The four Lower Snake River dams are an integral part of the Federal Columbia River Power System (FCRPS) and it defies belief that breaching is still part of any discussion. Not only are these multi-purpose dams critical in continuing to provide low cost energy, navigation, recreation and flood control, the studies from non-biased sources have shown that due to improved fish passage facilities, strict operational criteria, and other mitigation measures, the dams and fish co-exist successfully. The dams are critical to a continuation of a strong Columbia Basin economy. Jobs are created directly due to navigation, agriculture, recreation and power industries and indirectly in the area service industries that support these professions. We strongly support Congressman Newhouse and this legislation.” – Jack Heffling, President, United Power Trades Organization

“Populations of Spring/Summer Chinook on the Snake River are increasing this year, for the third year in a row as part of a natural cycle and returns on the Snake will be above average this year. As the federal scientists found, these dams “are not likely to jeopardize the continued existence of the ESA-listed species.” With increased demand for clean energy over the next decade, the power from these dams will be more important than ever as part of our efforts to decarbonize. Removing them would both increase the risk of blackouts and extend our reliance on natural gas as a source of electricity.” – Todd Myers, Director, Center for the Environment, Washington Policy Center

“The Columbia River System Operations Final Environmental Impact Statement Record of Decision released by the federal government in 2020 followed a multi-year, NEPA-compliant process, which in the end, recommended against removing the Snake River dams, which are vital to Washington’s wheat growers. We support the efforts to ensure any decisions on the operations of the lower Snake River dams follow the latest federal scientific review.” – Michelle Hennings, Executive Director, Washington Association of Wheat Growers

“It makes sense to utilize the latest federal scientific reviewed information to operate the Federal Columbia River Power System and ensure the essential services provided by the system continue.” – Glen Squires, CEO, Washington Grain Commission

“While we continue to face our own issues in California, we understand that action must also be taken to safeguard the communities, economies, and environment that would be impacted by breaching the Four Lower Snake River Dams. At a time of extended drought coupled with heightened food and energy prices, we must do everything we can to safeguard critical infrastructure for clean, domestically produced energy and transportation for our agricultural commodities.” – Jamie Johansson, President, California Farm Bureau

“The four lower Snake River dams are incredibly important to our region’s farmers and rural communities, for both transportation and energy production. The science is clear that salmon and dams can co-exist, and therefore we support The Federal Columbia River Power System Certainty Act. The members of the Idaho Farm Bureau Federation thank the sponsors of the bill.” – Bryan Searle, President, Idaho Farm Bureau Federation

“The value of the Lower Snake River dams to the people of Washington state and our trade partners in the U.S. and around the world cannot be overstated. The recent release of the Lower Snake River Dams: Benefit Replacement Draft Report does not provide a clear or accurate picture of the benefits of the Lower Snake River dams or their contributions to clean energy, food security, transportation, and recreation. The lack of data source information, vast disparities in cost estimates, and lack of conclusions related to dam breaching outcomes suggests the report was written to push a false narrative: salmon are dying and only destroying the Lower Snake River dams can save them. That narrative has not been borne out by data. The science shows the 2022 Chinook run is higher for the third year running – salmon are not going extinct, as dam opponents claim. This flawed report ignores the benefits of hydropower, barging of agricultural products, irrigation, and recreation the dams provide to people living in Washington state and across the region in favor of single-species recovery efforts.” – Pam Lewison, Research Director, Washington Policy Center, Initiative on Agriculture

Click here to read the full text of the bill.

Background:

The Federal Columbia River Power System Certainty Act directs the Federal Columbia River Power System (FCRPS) to be operated in alignment with the 2020 “Columbia River System Operations Environmental Impact Statement Record of Decision.”

In September 2020, the “Columbia River System Operations Environmental Impact Statement Record of Decision” for the Columbia River System Operation Environmental Impact Statement (CRSO EIS) published by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Bureau of Reclamation, and Bonneville Power Administration, found that the Lower Snake River Dams should not be breached. Rather, efforts should be focused on improving and maintaining hydropower assets while working to improve salmon passage and conditions.

In May 2021, Governor Inslee and Senator Murray publicly rebuked plans to breach the Lower Snake River Dams.

On October 15, 2021, Governor Inslee and Senator Murray announced plans to assess the breaching of the Lower Snake River Dams.

On October 21, 2021, the Department of Justice announced a settlement reached between the CRSO EIS plaintiffs and federal agencies on injunctive relief, including a stay on the CRSO EIS litigation until July 2022.

On October 22, 2021, Governor Inslee and Senator Murray announced next steps to deliver a report intended to justify breaching the Lower Snake River Dams by July 2022. Reps. Newhouse, McMorris Rodgers, and Jaime Herrera Beutler released a joint statement reacting to the announcement. Read more here.

Last week, Rep. Newhouse led Congressional Western Caucus Members from across the United States on a field tour of the Columbia and Snake Rivers, including a tour of the Ice Harbor Dam. Learn more here.",1,2026-03-30T01:40:41Z,2026-04-08T02:39:01Z
https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases/crapo-risch-colleagues-biden-must-correct-flawed-and-incoherent-venezuela-policy,"Crapo, Risch, Colleagues: Biden Must Correct Flawed and Incoherent Venezuela Policy",2022-06-16,2022,2022-06,Republican,Senate,ID,Mike Crapo,C000880,www.crapo.senate.gov,crapo,https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases,scraper,"WASHINGTON --U.S. Senator Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) joined Senator Jim Risch (R-Idaho), ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and Senators Rick Scott (R-Fla.), John Barrasso (R-Wyoming), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), James Lankford (R-Oklahoma), Bill Hagerty (R-Tennessee) and Marco Rubio (R-Florida) in sending a letter to President Biden urging him to protect U.S. national security interests and reinforce the democratic forces in Venezuela by immediately increasing U.S. and international pressure on the Maduro regime.

“The March 2022 meeting between senior Biden Administration officials and Nicolas Maduro sidelined Interim President Juan Guaido and put the United States at the center of Venezuelan political disputes,” the senators wrote. “Rationalizing this diplomatic fiasco in the name of energy security trivialized Nicolas Maduro’s taking of American hostages and signals interest in deepening American dependence on a foreign adversary’s energy resources to the detriment of American energy security.”

“You must change course in Venezuela and increase pressure on the Maduro regime until all political prisoners are released and conditions are right to conduct free and fair elections,” the senators concluded. “We urge you to prioritize American energy production and North American energy infrastructure, persuade our European allies to promptly match U.S. and Canadian sanctions on the Maduro regime, conduct robust freedom-of-navigation and counternarcotic operations targeting the Maduro regime’s transnational criminal activities, and enhance the capacity of democratic countries in the region to confront the humanitarian and security crises his regime is generating.”

A copy of the letter can be found here and below.

Dear Mr. President:

We write to express our grave concern about your administration’s flawed and incoherent policy on Venezuela. We urge you to protect U.S. national security interests and reinforce the democratic forces in Venezuela by immediately increasing U.S. and international pressure on the Maduro regime.

The March 2022 meeting between senior Biden Administration officials and Nicolas Maduro sidelined Interim President Juan Guaido and put the United States at the center of Venezuelan political disputes. Rationalizing this diplomatic fiasco in the name of energy security trivialized Nicolas Maduro’s taking of American hostages and signals interest in deepening American dependence on a foreign adversary’s energy resources to the detriment of American energy security.

During the 2020 presidential campaign, you proposed the use of multilateral pressure and smart sanctions to stop the Maduro regime and transition to free and fair elections. Nearly two years in, your administration has not sanctioned a single person tied to the Maduro regime and the European Union has failed to match existing U.S. and Canadian sanctions. Your decision to reward the Maduro regime for simply returning to talks it had unilaterally abandoned months ago ignores reality and has the potential to make matters worse.

You must change course in Venezuela and increase pressure on the Maduro regime until all political prisoners are released and conditions are right to conduct free and fair elections. We urge you to prioritize American energy production and North American energy infrastructure, persuade our European allies to promptly match U.S. and Canadian sanctions on the Maduro regime, conduct robust freedom-of-navigation and counternarcotic operations targeting the Maduro regime’s transnational criminal activities, and enhance the capacity of democratic countries in the region to confront the humanitarian and security crises his regime is generating.

Without a meaningful and urgent course correction, your administration is jeopardizing American lives, weakening the democratic forces in Venezuela, strengthening the Maduro regime, exacerbating twin regional security and humanitarian crises, and deepening the negative influence of Russia, China, Iran, and transnational criminal organizations.

Sincerely,

###",1,2026-03-30T01:40:41Z,2026-04-08T02:39:01Z
https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases/crapo-wyden-cassidy-carper-unveil-youth-mental-health-discussion-draft,"Crapo, Wyden, Cassidy, Carper Unveil Youth Mental Health Discussion Draft",2022-06-15,2022,2022-06,Republican,Senate,ID,Mike Crapo,C000880,www.crapo.senate.gov,crapo,https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases,scraper,"Washington, D.C.–Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden (D-Oregon), Senator Bill Cassidy (R-Louisiana) and Senator Tom Carper (D-Delaware) today released a discussion draft for youth mental health care policies as a part of the committee’s ongoing work to improve mental health care across the nation, which has included a public call for comments and four hearings to help develop these initiatives.

“Although the pandemic is subsiding and our return to normalcy may be imminent, we cannot ignore the lasting effects of the past two years on the social and emotional well-being of children, whose needs require carefully tailored solutions,” Crapo said. “ We should do all that we can, within the committee’s jurisdiction, to increase access to high-quality mental health services, and reduce the causes of delayed and forgone treatment.”

“Young people across the country are facing unprecedented challenges, and it’s taking a devastating toll on their mental health,” Wyden said. “By strengthening access to mental health care through Medicaid — which covers half of all children in this country — the Finance Committee can make a real difference in helping kids get the care they need, whether that’s at home, in the doctor’s office, or at school. I’m proud that the committee was able to come together on a bipartisan basis to craft these policies, and I look forward to continuing that work in the coming weeks and months.”

“There has been a massive rise in youth mental health issues in the wake of the pandemic,” said Dr. Cassidy. “This bill ensures children and teens have access to quality care to have their needs addressed.”

“After two years of a life-altering pandemic and worsening youth mental health crisis, it’s more important than ever to come together and ease the burden for kids across the country,” said Carper. “Our draft will make it easier for schools to provide vital mental health services to students on campus and more manageable for states to face head on an impending mental health crisis. Our nation’s children need someone to stand up for them and I’m proud that, alongside this bipartisan group, we’re doing just that.”

The discussion draft includes policies that would:

Eliminate barriers to coordinated care by allowing all providers to receive Medicaid reimbursement for behavioral and physical health services delivered on the same day.

Support mental health care in schools by updating Medicaid guidance to states to clarify allowable payments and identify strategies to reduce administrative burden.

Improve enforcement and oversight of Medicaid’s Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnostic and Treatment (EPSDT) benefit, the country’s gold standard in children’s health coverage.

Streamline enrollment for out-of-state providers in another state’s Medicaid program.

Direct Medicaid to guide states on how they can cover treatment family care services for foster youth enrolled in Medicaid with intensive mental health needs.

The youth discussion draft is the second legislative draft released by the committee since it began its mental health care initiative, following the telehealth discussion draft last month. Other discussion drafts may be released prior to a committee markup. The committee is committed to fully paying for any mental health package with bipartisan, consensus-driven offsets. Earlier this year, the committee announced five areas of focus for addressing shortfalls in mental health care: workforce, care integration, mental health parity, telehealth, and youth.",1,2026-03-30T01:40:41Z,2026-04-08T02:39:01Z
https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases/crapo-sustained-high-inflation-out-of-control,Crapo: Sustained High Inflation Out of Control,2022-06-14,2022,2022-06,Republican,Senate,ID,Mike Crapo,C000880,www.crapo.senate.gov,crapo,https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases,scraper,"Washington, D.C.-- U.S. Senator for Idaho Mike Crapo, Ranking Member of the Senate Finance Committee, issued the following statement after the Producer Price Index (PPI), or wholesale price inflation, showed persistent double-digit rates at 10.8 percent.

“Sustained high inflation is out of control. Wholesale prices have been rising at double digit rates for six consecutive months, hammering manufacturers, small businesses and consumers. As Americans continue to face sticker shock at the gas station and grocery stores, tax hikes, which are eventually passed on to consumers, are not the answer.”

###",1,2026-03-30T01:40:41Z,2026-04-08T02:39:01Z
https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases/crapo-risch-inhofe-introduce-bill-to-close-catch-and-release-loophole,"Crapo, Risch, Inhofe Introduce Bill to Close ""Catch and Release"" Loophole",2022-06-13,2022,2022-06,Republican,Senate,ID,Mike Crapo,C000880,www.crapo.senate.gov,crapo,https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases,scraper,"WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Mike Crapo and Jim Risch (both R-Idaho) joined Senator Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) in introducing the Keep Our Communities Safe Act, legislation that would close the legal loophole that requires immigration authorities to release back into the United States illegal aliens who have not been accepted for deportation to other countries after being detained for six months – a practice also referred to as ""catch and release.""

“The historic number of encounters at the southern border can in part be attributed to the dangerous ‘catch and release’ loophole that enables violent criminals who are here illegally to disappear into our communities,” said Risch. “Our inability to detain criminal aliens and failure to protect the American people is unacceptable. I’m proud to join my colleague from Oklahoma in introducing this common sense legislation.”

“The fact that this year is on pace to far exceed the record-breaking number of illegal border crossings from last year is alarming and intolerable,” Crapo said. “We must close this loophole and protect national security by enforcing all immigration laws to ensure the safety of American citizens.”

“Our immigration system is broken and President Biden won’t acknowledge the crisis we are facing at the southern border,” Inhofe said. “That’s why my colleagues and I introduced the Keep Our Communities Safe Act this week. This legislation would close the ‘catch-and-release’ loophole, which puts law abiding citizens, local law enforcement officials and communities at risk. Our bill will ensure that illegal aliens who have been found guilty of violent crimes and aggravated felonies are not able to remain in our communities. As the current law stands, an illegal alien with a criminal record is released back into the United States after six months if no other country accepts them for deportation. This bill is a commonsense solution and it’s time for it to become law.”

The Keep Our Communities Safe Act closes the loophole that prevents DHS from detaining non-removable immigrants beyond the current Supreme Court-mandated six months in these specific situations:

The alien will be removed in the reasonably foreseeable future;

The alien would have been removed but for the alien’s refusal to make all reasonable efforts to comply and cooperate with the Secretary’s efforts to remove him;

The alien has a highly contagious disease;

Release would have serious adverse foreign policy consequences;

Release would threaten national security; or

Release would threaten the safety of the community and the alien either is an aggravated felon or has committed a crime of violence.

Additional cosponsors of the Keep Our Communities Safe Act include Senators Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), John Kennedy (R-La.), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), Mike Braun (R-Ind.), Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and John Barrasso (R-Wyo.).",1,2026-03-30T01:40:41Z,2026-04-06T18:13:54Z
https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases/crapo-risch-oppose-sec-overreach-unworkable-disclosure-regulations-on-agriculture-products,"Crapo, Risch Oppose SEC Overreach, Unworkable Disclosure Regulations on Agriculture Products",2022-06-13,2022,2022-06,Republican,Senate,ID,Mike Crapo,C000880,www.crapo.senate.gov,crapo,https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases,scraper,"WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Mike Crapo and Jim Risch (both R-Idaho) joined Senator John Hoeven (R-N.D.) and 29 of their colleagues to push back on a proposed rule from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that would place unworkable climate disclosure regulations on farmers, ranchers, and agriculture producers. The senators signed a letter calling on the SEC to rescind the overreaching proposal, which would require publicly-traded companies to include certain climate-related disclosures in their registration statements and periodic reports. The rule would impose extensive new, complex, and burdensome greenhouse gas reporting requirements on all entities within a company’s value chain, including farmers and ranchers who fall outside of the SEC’s Congressionally-provided authority.

“We have serious concerns regarding the SEC’s regulatory overreach, as well as the impact that this proposed rule will have on the agricultural industry,” wrote the senators. “This substantial reporting requirement would significantly burden small, family-owned farms with a new, complex, and unreasonable compliance requirement, resulting in costly additional compliance expenses, reduced access to new business opportunities, and potential consolidation in the agriculture industry… This proposed rule moves well beyond the SEC’s traditional regulatory authority by mandating climate change reporting requirements that will not only regulate publicly traded companies, but will impact every company in the value chain.”

Additional signatories of the letter include Senators Tim Scott (R-S.C.), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), James Risch (R-Idaho), , Steve Daines (R-Mont.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Richard Burr (R-N.C.), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Rick Scott (R-Fla.), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), John Kennedy (R-La.), Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Mike Braun (R-Ind.), Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), James Lankford (R-Okla.), John Cornyn (R-Texas.), Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), Lindsay Graham (R-S.C.), John Thune (R-S.D.), Todd Young (R-Ind.), John Boozman (R-Ark.), and Josh Hawley (R-Mo.).",1,2026-03-30T01:40:41Z,2026-04-06T18:13:54Z
https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases/crapo-welcomes-six-interns-for-summer-2022-term,Crapo Welcomes Six Interns for Summer 2022 Term,2022-06-13,2022,2022-06,Republican,Senate,ID,Mike Crapo,C000880,www.crapo.senate.gov,crapo,https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases,scraper,"Washington, D.C. — Six interns have joined U.S. Senator Mike Crapo’s (R-Idaho) Washington, D.C., and Boise offices for the summer 2022 term.

“Internships in my offices provide the next generation of public servants an opportunity to serve the people of Idaho while gaining firsthand experience in the federal legislative process,” Crapo said. “I look forward to their hard work and success.”

Four interns will serve in the Washington, D.C., office:

Matthew Favero currently attends Brigham Young University where he is seeking a degree in American studies. After graduation, he plans to pursue a career in public policy.

Prescott Lieberg graduated from UC Santa Barbara in 2020 with a degree in global studies. Following his internship, Lieberg will attend Marquette University Law School to pursue a dual degree, a Juris Doctor and a Master of Arts in Political Science.

Will Lukken attends Boston College and, with interests in banking and financial policy, is majoring in finance. Lukken is a Washington, D.C., native.

Makena Rauch was raised in Moscow, Idaho. Rauch attends Marshall University, where she is a member of the women’s golf team. She is working on a dual degree in criminal justice and political science.

Two interns will serve in the Boise office:

Jackson Dingel grew up in Boise, Idaho, and graduated from the University of Idaho with a degree in business finance and marketing. After his internship, Dingel plans to attend graduate school in Barcelona, Spain, to study international business.

Thomas Morrison recently graduated from Boise State University with degrees in political science and history. Morrison has aspirations to work in international relations and trade and is considering attending law school.",1,2026-03-30T01:40:41Z,2026-04-06T18:13:54Z
https://fulcher.house.gov/2022/06/10/id-5c66ca69-6b9f-4923-97dc-bf23486a831f/,Statement on the Inslee-Murray Report,2022-06-10,2022,2022-06,Republican,House,ID,Russ Fulcher,F000469,fulcher.house.gov,fulcher,https://fulcher.house.gov/category/press-releases/,scraper,"Contact:

Daniel Tellez

202-225-6611

daniel.tellez@mail.house.gov

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Congressman Fulcher released the following statement on the Inslee-Murray Report:

“The Inslee-Murray report on the Lower Snake River Dams relies heavily on divisive rhetoric – not substance – to paint a narrative that is overwhelmingly void of reality. As our country faces increasingly hostile foreign energy suppliers and our own Administration’s out-of-control inflation that threatens our domestic energy reliability, the importance of our dams and the power generation they provide has never been clearer.",1,2026-03-30T01:40:41Z,2026-04-08T02:39:01Z
https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases/crapo-applauds-radiation-exposure-compensation-act-reca-extension,Crapo Applauds Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA) Extension,2022-06-09,2022,2022-06,Republican,Senate,ID,Mike Crapo,C000880,www.crapo.senate.gov,crapo,https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases,scraper,"Washington, D.C. — Legislation championed by U.S. Senator Mike Crapo to extend the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA) program for two years has been signed into law. The extension allows individuals more time to apply for the compensation they deserve.

Crapo, a longtime Senate lead on RECA expansion efforts and original co-sponsor of this legislation, applauded the extension and reiterated the need for additional efforts to expand the program to include coverage for all of those who lived downwind of above-ground atomic weapons tests in the 1950s and 1960s.

“Extending the RECA program for two years is critical to providing compensation downwinders rightfully deserve,” said Crapo. “Many Idahoans have suffered the health consequences of exposure to fallout from nuclear weapons testing, and I will continue to work for the passage of important legislation that ensures their reparation.”

Crapo will continue pushing for passage of his bipartisan legislation, S. 2798, which would extend and expand eligibility under the RECA program. S. 2798 would expand the coverage area to allow more potential victims, known as “downwinders,” to file for compensation under RECA. While the original RECA program only covered individuals who lived in parts of Utah, Nevada and Arizona, this legislation would expand the geographic downwinder eligibility to include then-residents of Idaho, Colorado, Montana, New Mexico and Guam.

In March 2022, Crapo and Senator Ben Ray Luján (D-New Mexico) led a bipartisan letter urging Congressional Leadership to extend RECA. The U.S. Senate unanimously passed the RECA extension legislation in May 2022.

Crapo chaired a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on the RECA program in June 2018. Tona Henderson, of Emmett, Idaho, and head of the Idaho Downwinders organization, provided testimony in the hearing and paid tribute to those in her community who have passed away due to radiation-related illnesses. Her birthplace of Gem County, Idaho, received the third-highest amount of fallout in the nation according to a 1997 National Cancer Institute study.

“A huge thank you to Senators Crapo and Lujan for working so hard on behalf of downwinders!” Henderson said. “This is great news that the current RECA legislation will not expire. Now, we still have the task of getting our RECA expansion Bill passed. This should be a bipartisan effort to compensate downwinders and uranium workers for the tragedy that nuclear testing caused.”

Without reauthorization, the RECA program was scheduled to sunset in July.",1,2026-03-30T01:40:41Z,2026-04-06T18:13:54Z
https://fulcher.house.gov/2022/06/08/id-4ce732e7-de25-493b-867a-4cf559e688ac/,Statement on H.R.7910,2022-06-08,2022,2022-06,Republican,House,ID,Russ Fulcher,F000469,fulcher.house.gov,fulcher,https://fulcher.house.gov/category/press-releases/,scraper,"Contact:

Daniel Tellez

202-225-6611

daniel.tellez@mail.house.gov

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Congressman Fulcher released the following statement on H.R.7910:

“Today, with no Republican input and only hours of notice regarding the details, the House will recklessly vote on legislation from Representatives Jerry Nadler (D-NY) and Lucy McBath (D-GA). This is a package of gun control bills that would enact massive restrictions on the 2nd Amendment and undermine law-abiding gun owner’s 4th Amendment right to privacy as well as 5th Amendment due process rights. The left is disingenuously leveraging the emotions of a tragedy with legislation that will do nothing to actually address school shootings, and instead will penalize law-abiding citizens and erode our Constitution. I will be voting NO.”",1,2026-03-30T01:40:41Z,2026-04-08T02:39:01Z