Senate Report Card: Mike Crapo R-ID

Senator Mike Crapo is the junior Republican United States Senator from the state of Idaho. Senator Crapo assumed office in 1999. He was considered as the possible replacement for Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor upon her retirement announcement.

Senator Crapo serves on the Finance, Budget, Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs and Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committees. He is also the ranking Member on the Subcommittee on Rural Revitalization, Conservation, Forestry and Credit and the Subcommittee on Housing, Transportation, and Community. He is the Co-Chair of the Canada-U.S. Interparliamentary Group.

In Congress he has consistently worked to enact laws that achieve increased support for public education and preserve decision-making authority for states, local communities and local school boards. He believes it to be important that we provide a strong foundation for education. However, he believes that education primarily falls in the jurisdiction of the state. He believes the federal government can provide resources, research, incentives and direct support for needed educational objectives. He has fought for Headstart, IDEA, Impact Aid, EPSCoR, vocational-technical education and child nutrition programs.

He was in favor of the No Child Left Behind Act but believes it is now appropriate to review opportunities for needed improvements to the underlying program. He has expressed concerns with the initial bill. In response, he introduced the Improving No Child Left Behind Act. This bill preserves the major focus on student achievement and accountability, and at the same time ensure that schools and school districts are accurately and fairly assessed. The changes are supported by national education groups and thousands of teachers, school boards, and local schools across the country. The revised bill would allow supplemental services like tutoring to be offered to students sooner than they are currently available. It would provide flexibility for states to use additional types of assessment models such as growth models for measuring student progress. The bill would grant states more flexibility in assessing students with disabilities, and ensure more fair and accurate assessments of Limited English Proficiency (LEP) students.

Crapo supported the creation of the Homeland Security Department. He was also a supporter of the USA Patriot Act. Crapo voted against a bill that placed timetables and calls for withdrawal from the Iraq Way. He strongly endorses President Bush's war policy positions and surge plan. He argued that it is a mistake for Congress to dictate to the President, as the Commander-in-Chief, and the military commanders in the field how they ought to conduct the specific activities of the war. It is not good policy to announce troop management, but rather to support efforts towards a continuation of war in the Middle East.

Senator Mike Crapo is up for reelection in Idaho in 2011.