Michael Crapo

Common sense approaches. Collaborative, creative problem-solving. As a lifelong Idahoan, Mike Crapo has learned that, in many cases, a willingness to listen make an effective leader and lawmaker. Currently in his second term as a Senator for Idaho, his responsibilities, activities and accomplishments to date are a testament to his Idaho roots and values.

Before being elected to the United States Senate in 1998, Mike served three terms as the 2nd District Representative for Idaho in the U.S. House of Representatives. His public service began well before this at home in Idaho where he served in the Idaho State Senate from 1984 to 1992, and spent his final four years there in the position of Senate President Pro Tempore.

Mike's confident leadership style has been recognized by his colleagues in the United States Senate. Only five years into his first term, he was named a member of the Senate Budget Committee, which gives Idaho a steady voice in crafting the federal budget. Mike's natural fiscally-conservative nature has lent a measure of responsible restraint to the pressures for greater spending by the federal government over the past two budget sessions. This committee is responsible for drafting Congress' annual budget plan and monitoring action on that budget. The Senate Budget committee also oversees the operation of the Congressional Budget Office.

In 2001, Mike became a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee. In this role, he is able to consider the needs of the majority of Idaho's natural resources' industry, namely agriculture and timber. He is the Chairman on the Subcommittee on Forestry, Conservation, and Rural Revitalization, which holds jurisdiction over a number of important Idaho concerns. Those include rural development legislation and rural electrification development legislation; oversight of rural electrification, agricultural credit, the Farm Credit System, the Farm Credit Administration, and the Farmers Home Administration and its successor agencies; crop insurance; forestry in general and forest reserves that were acquired from state, local, or private sources, soil conservation, stream channelization, watershed and flood control programs involving structures of less than 4,000 acre-feet storage capacity. He is also a member of the Subcommittee on Research, Nutrition, and General Legislation.

At the beginning of his Senate service in 1998, Mike became a member of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee. His strong background and interest in the finance arena has made him an invaluable member of the committee, and he has been able to make inroads in the areas of regulatory relief, expansion of homeownership, trade, and securities and investment. He maintains three subcommittee assignments: Chairman of International Trade and Finance Subcommittee, which has jurisdiction over export and foreign trade promotion, export controls and financing, international economic policy, and other international financial programs; Securities and Investment, which has authority over securities and other financial investments, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), accounting standards, insurance, and financial exchanges and markets; and Financial Institutions and Regulatory Relief, which maintains oversight on banks, savings associations, credit unions, and other financial institutions, deposit insurance, the Federal Home Loan Bank System, and regulatory activities of the Federal Reserve System.

As a newly-re-elected second term Senator, Mike was appointed to one of the most important committees in the Senate, the Finance Committee. His prior experience on the Budget and Banking Committees and in-depth knowledge of and interest in federal revenue collection provide him with the background he needs to be an effective member of this vital committee. He serves on three Finance subcommittees: International Trade, Taxation and IRS Oversight, and Social Security. Significant portions of the President's annual budget are reviewed by the Finance Committee, and Mike's position will afford Idaho a critical voice in the financial affairs of our nation. New also this term is Mike's appointment to the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, a vital committee to Idaho in particular which has a proud Native American heritage.

Idaho is defined, in part, by environmental issues. Although no longer a member, Mike has retained the priorities that he set while serving on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, remaining heavily involved in issues ranging from updating and strengthening the Endangered Species Act to clean water to salmon recovery. Through most of his committee assignments, he can promote Idaho's essential energy research and development community. The presence of the Idaho National Lab (INL) as a major Eastern Idaho employer and center for national energy and defense research means that through Mike, Idahoans can count on their voices being heard in debates over national energy policy and nuclear safety.

Mike serves as part of the Senate Leadership team with his appointment as a Deputy Whip. He is the founder and Co-chair of the Senate Nuclear Cleanup Caucus. He also serves as Co-Chairman of the Western Water Caucus and Co-Chairman of the Sportsmen's Caucus, and in early 2003 he founded the Senate COPD Caucus, reinforcing his role as a champion of men's and women's health issues. During his tenure in the House, he served on House Leadership as New Member Leader and Strategic Planning Leader and as Deputy Whip for the Western Region.

Professionally, Mike was a partner in the law firm of Holden, Kidwell, Hahn & Crapo prior to his service in Congress. He is a member of the Idaho and California Bar Associations. He received his Juris Doctorate cum laude from Harvard Law School in 1977, and he graduated summa cum laude from Brigham Young University in 1973 with a B.A. in political science. Following graduation from law school, He served a one-year clerkship with the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.

Mike and his wife, Susan, have five children.