Washington, DC - Idaho Senator Mike Crapo called on his Senate colleagues to seek a balanced, bipartisan solution to the high energy prices facing the country. During a speech on the Senate floor, he said legislation that focuses solely on energy speculators in financial markets needs to be augmented with aggressive plans for new energy production, conservation and alternative energy efforts.

“We ought to take this opportunity with the bill we have on the floor of the Senate to look at other ideas about how we should achieve energy independence,” Crapo said. “The point is that there is a tremendous amount of oil in the United States reserves that we could utilize to defend and protect the security of our economy and our nation.”

As examples, Crapo noted 86 billion barrels of oil may be untapped off the nation’s shores. That number totals almost eight times the amount of oil imported here from the Persian Gulf over the last 15 years. Oil shale deposits in Western states could total from 800 billion to 1.8 trillion barrels and could provide a hundred years of domestic energy. Crapo noted those reserves alone could do much to relieve recent supply and demand issues causing the increase in the price of gasoline and diesel fuel.

Crapo’s floor remarks came as the Senate debates S. 3268, the Stop Excessive Energy Speculation Act of 2008. The legislation could come to a vote this week and focuses solely on oil speculation in the financial markets.

Washington, DC – The U.S. Senate has endorsed an effort to increase awareness and planning for next February’s conversion to digital television signals. Idaho Senator Mike Crapo and 31 of his Senate colleagues successfully backed a Senate Resolution, which has passed by unanimous consent, to declare August 2008 as “Digital Television Transition Awareness Month”.

“On February 17th next year, analog signals from full-power television stations will end, and those who receive over-the-air signals may be caught without service if they do not plan ahead,” Crapo said. “Senators are encouraging consumers to learn more about a government coupon program designed to help consumers defray the costs of purchasing converter boxes for analog television sets. I have already been active in working to educate Idahoans about this transition, and recent surveys about awareness in the state are showing that more and more people are taking measures to make sure that they are ready for the transition next year.”

Crapo and officials with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) held a series of meetings in Idaho during February and March to promote information about the digital changeover. Many of the television stations serving Idaho also participated in the meetings, but Crapo noted more must be done ahead of the February 2009 deadline.

“This resolution will raise public awareness concerning the change in television signals,” he added. “Western states have a high concentration of people who receive their television signals over the air, and we don’t want them to be caught off guard.”

Consumers can check with their local television stations and Crapo’s website at http://crapo.senate.gov for information about the Digital Television Conversion. Information is also available at the National Telecommunications and Information Administration website at http://www.dtv2009.gov.

Washington, DC – Idaho Senator Mike Crapo this evening voted to sustain the President’s veto of healthcare legislation that took steps backward regarding market-oriented healthcare reform. H.R. 6331, the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act, was vetoed by the President earlier on Tuesday. Both the House of Representatives and the Senate voted to override the President’s veto; Crapo voted to sustain it, saying that the legislation “compromised the positive gains we’ve made in instituting market-oriented reforms to Medicare over the past four years.”

Crapo, who serves on the Senate Finance Committee which has jurisdiction over this issue, said, “Millions rely on Medicare to access our healthcare system. They should have access to superb care and cutting-edge treatments. I have consistently advocated for timely and adequate physician compensation. Systemic reform is also crucial. The Medicare system needs the strengths inherent in the market; namely, healthy competition that provides choice, flexibility and affordability. The Medicare Modernization Act of 2003 took this country in the right direction in terms of updating Medicare, introducing market forces into the system that have benefited millions of seniors; H.R. 6331 takes us backward and in the wrong direction.

“Reimbursing doctors so that they can continue to serve these patients is critical. It is important to recognize that the vote on H.R. 6331, the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act, was not about physician compensation. It was about whether or not this country will reject market-oriented reforms and move, instead, to a purely government-run healthcare system. I do not support the move toward socialized medicine that this bill represents, but I fully support a fix to physician compensation and a market-oriented approach to the Medicare system.

“There are those who want to move this country backward, toward failed policies of socialized medicine that reduce choice, incentives for good service and access while increasing systemic and individual costs. H.R.6331 contains controversial offsets that erode provisions in place today that make Medicare more responsive to recipients. The bill was not a fight over physician compensation—doctors still would have received their unreduced Medicare compensation; there was virtually universal support for that fix and it will be made under every proposal on the table. But, linking the fix for physician compensation to removing market-oriented reforms in Medicare made for political manipulation in the extreme.

“Those who want to reverse our successes in moving toward a more market-oriented Medicare system will try to turn my nay vote, and that of many of my colleagues, into an appalling misportrayal of our priorities. My priorities are and always have been patients, physicians and our entire health care system. I’m proud to champion adequate and timely Medicare reimbursement for physicians. I’ve been a leader in the Finance Committee in fighting for physician compensation for years. My voting record is a testament to my consistent efforts.

“I regret that this legislation in this form passed the U.S. Senate. What I regret even more is that the physicians who treat Medicare patients were the unfortunate hostages in this ongoing crisis.”

Lewiston – Representatives from the Congressional offices of Idaho Senator Mike Crapo and Idaho Representative Bill Sali will travel to three North-Central Idaho cities to meet with constituents on July 23rd. This latest remote office tour means that the Lewiston-based Congressional offices will have visited more than 20 North Idaho communities this year as part of the remote office program.

Tony Snodderly of Representative Sali’s office and Peter Stegner of Senator Crapo’s office encourage constituents to attend the remote office visits to ask questions or seek assistance involving federal agencies or programs. The Congressional staffers will also tour local projects sponsored by Framing Our Community in the Elk City area.

The remote office hours visits on July 23rd include:

Craigmont 8:00-9:00 a.m. Prairie Café, 25 West Main Street
Nez Perce 9:30-10:30 a.m. Nez Perce Hotel & Café, 312 Oak Street
Elk City 4:00-5:00 p.m. Framing Our Community Offices, 319 Main Street

The Elk City office hours will follow a tour of projects sponsored by Framing Our Community. The tour begins at 2:30 p.m. from the Framing Our Community Offices.

Washington, DC - Idaho Senator Mike Crapo was honored today by Idaho sugar growers and the Idaho Sugarbeet Growers Association for his work on sugar programs in the 2008 Farm Bill. Crapo, a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, met with member-growers of the Idaho Sugarbeet Growers Association just off the Senate floor and accepted a plaque, detailing the growers’ appreciation for Crapo’s leadership on agricultural issues and contributions to the Farm Bill.

“The contribution of Idaho’s sugar producers are a big reason Idaho is a national leader in agricultural production,” Crapo said. “Idaho ranks third in the nation for sugarbeet production, which accounted for an estimated $207 million in revenues last year. I remain hopeful that increases in the sugar loan rates and the minimum allotment quota, as well as the sugar-to-ethanol program in the recently enacted Farm Bill will maintain the industry’s strength in a distorted global market for sugar.”