WASHINGTON, Aug. 1 -- Sen. Michael F. Bennet, D-Colorado, issued the following news release: Colorado U.S. Senator Michael Bennet, alongside U.S. Senators Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and Jim Risch (R-Idaho), applauded the Senate's unanimous and bipartisan passage of the Good Samaritan Remediation of Abandoned Hardrock Mines Act. "Thousands of abandoned mines in Colorado and across the American West threaten our watersheds and pollute our ecosystems," said Bennet. "I'm grateful for the strong bipa  more

WASHINGTON, July 29 -- Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-West Virginia, issued the following news release: Last week, U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), joined 11 of her Senate Republican colleagues in introducing the Countering Hate Against Israel by Federal Contractors Act. The legislation led by U.S. Senator Jim Risch (R-Idaho) would prohibit the federal government from contracting with entities who boycott the State of Israel. West Virginia and 36 other states have passed laws or regul  more

WASHINGTON, July 30 -- Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Oregon, issued the following news release: This week, U.S. Senator Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, along with Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Jim Risch (R-Idaho.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), and Todd Young (R-Ind.) sent a bipartisan letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken and USAID Administrator Samantha Power urging them to develop a proac  more

WASHINGTON, Aug. 1 -- Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, issued the following news release: Senator Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) joined U.S. Senator Jim Risch (R-Idaho) and U.S. Representative Darrell Issa (R-California) in introducing the Freedom from Unfair Gun Taxes Act. This bill would prohibit states from implementing excise taxes on firearms and ammunition to fund gun control programs. "Some states are unfairly using tax policy to push an ill-founded, anti-gun agenda on gun owners," said Crapo. "Tax laws  more

WASHINGTON, Aug. 1 -- Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, issued the following news release: Senator Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Ranking Member of the Senate Finance Committee, delivered remarks on the Democrats' blatant attempt to score political points by scheduling a vote on a tax bill less than twenty-four hours before the August state-work period. Crapo reiterated that Senate Republicans continue to have concerns with the policy, urged his colleagues to separately pass the bipartisan provisions in the bil  more

WASHINGTON, July 31 -- Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, issued the following news release: Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) delivered the following remarks at a hearing entitled "Tax Tools for Local Economic Development." As prepared for delivery: "Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I appreciate the opportunity to work with you on this bipartisan topic. "Exploring incentives that encourage local economic growth is incredibly important as we begin to consider extending Republican  more

WASHINGTON, Aug. 2 -- Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, issued the following news release: Senator Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) issued the following statement in honor of today's funeral for Lieutenant Allan Wesley Knepper, a World War II servicemember previously listed as Missing In Action (MIA), whose remains were finally identified and returned to his family. "It is momentous that Lieutenant Knepper was finally laid to rest at home in Lewiston today. In this final chapter of his life, service and death, I   more

WASHINGTON, Aug. 2 -- Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, issued the following news release: Senators Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) and Jim Risch (R-Idaho) applaud the Senate's unanimous passage of the Judicial Understaffing Delays Getting Emergencies Solved (JUDGES) Act of 2024. Crapo and Risch are co-sponsors, and introduced similar legislation, S. 7, that would create an additional federal district judgeship in Idaho. The JUDGES Act of 2024 would address judicial emergencies and shortages across the country b  more

WASHINGTON, Aug. 2 -- Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, issued the following news release: Senators Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) and Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) led 45 Senate Republican colleagues in sending a letter to the Biden Administration, protesting its partial arms embargo against Israel. The Senators urged the White House to cease accommodating Iran, stop jeopardizing the lives of American servicemembers, and to deliver the  more

WASHINGTON, July 30 -- Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, issued the following news release: Senators Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Jim Risch (R-Idaho) and James Lankford (R-Oklahoma) sent a letter to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach following the vulgar depiction of the Last Supper that took place during the Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Games Paris 2024. "We write in response to the vulgar mockery of the Christian faith on display at the Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Games   more

WASHINGTON, July 31 -- Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, issued the following news release: Senators Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) and Thom Tillis (R-North Carolina), alongside Republican Senate Banking Committee colleagues, recently sent a letter to Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) Chairman Martin Gruenberg exposing the many flaws in the agency's new corporate governance and risk management guidelines that would harm the safety and soundness of the U.S. financial system. "We write to you today reg  more

WASHINGTON, Aug. 2 -- The U.S. Government Publishing Office issued the following news release: Libraries at Colgate University and the University of Idaho have signed Memorandums of Agreement with the U.S. Government Publishing Office (GPO) to become Preservation Stewards, and libraries at the Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge and Colorado School of Mines have expanded their partnerships with GPO. To help libraries meet the needs of efficient Government document stewardship in the digital  more

WASHINGTON, July 30 (Sen.) -- Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, issued the following news release: This week, U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), along with Chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Jim Risch (R-Idaho.), Senator Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), and Senator Todd Young (R-Ind.) sent a bipartisan letter to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and United States Agency for  more

WASHINGTON, July 30 -- Rep. Mike Simpson, R-Idaho, issued the following news release: Today, Idaho Congressman Mike Simpson highlighted the inclusion of $1,000,000 in funding for the Bingham County Real Time Ground Water Management Project in Blackfoot, Idaho, at his request through Community Project Funding (CPF) in the Fiscal Year 2025 Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration Appropriations Act. "During this pivotal time for water resources in Idaho, I am proud to suppor  more

WASHINGTON, July 29 -- Rep. Mike Simpson, R-Idaho, issued the following news release: Today, Idaho Congressman Mike Simpson highlighted the inclusion of $3,853,430 in funding for the Idaho Water Center Project in Boise, Idaho, at his request through Community Project Funding (CPF) in the Fiscal Year 2025 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act. "In Idaho, we know how valuable water is to our economy and way of life," said Rep. Simpson. "However,   more

WASHINGTON, Aug. 1 -- Sen. James Risch, R-Idaho, issued the following news release: Senator Jim Risch (R-Idaho) today introduced legislation to delay the Lava Ridge Wind Energy Project. This bill would prevent the Secretary of the Interior from authorizing the Lava Ridge Wind Energy Project until a GAO study is conducted to analyze the projects impact to the Minidoka National Historic Site. During Wednesday's Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee business meeting on the Energy Permittin  more

WASHINGTON, July 31 -- Sen. James Risch, R-Idaho, issued the following news release: Senator Jim Risch (R-Idaho) voted to support the Energy Permitting Reform Act which passed in the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. "The United States, and particularly Idaho, is well equipped with the natural resources and critical minerals to power our every day needs. For far too long, these resources have been tied up behind red tape and burdensome permitting regulations, impeding our abil  more

WASHINGTON, July 30 -- Sen. James Risch, R-Idaho, issued the following news release: Senators Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), and James Lankford (R-Okla.) sent a letter to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach following the vulgar depiction of the Last Supper that took place during the Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Games Paris 2024. "We write in response to the vulgar mockery of the Christian faith on display at the Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Games P  more

WASHINGTON, July 31 -- Sen. James Risch, R-Idaho, issued the following news release: Senators Jim Risch (R-Idaho) and Martin Heinrich's (R-N.M.) legislation, the Good Samaritan Remediation of Abandoned Hardrock Mines Act, today passed the Senate unanimously. This legislation would make it easier for "Good Samaritans," such as state agencies, local governments, nonprofits, and other groups, to clean up abandoned hardrock mines. The bill has broad support with 41 bipartisan cosponsors in the Sena  more

WASHINGTON, Aug. 1 -- Sen. James Risch, R-Idaho, issued the following news release: Senator Jim Risch (R-Idaho) and Representative Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) today introduced the Freedom from Unfair Gun Taxes Act. This bill would prohibit states from implementing excise taxes on firearms and ammunition to fund gun control programs. "Democrats' latest attack on the Second Amendment looks like an excessive excise tax to fund gun control initiatives," said Risch. "The Freedom from Unfair Gun Taxes A  more

WASHINGTON, Aug. 2 -- Sen. Tim Scott, R-South Carolina, issued the following news release: Senators Tim Scott (R-S.C.) and Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) today led nearly all of their Senate Republican colleagues in sending a letter to the Biden-Harris administration, protesting its partial arms embargo against Israel. The senators urged the White House to cease accommodating Iran, stop jeopardizing the lives of American servicemembers, and to deliver the necessary weapons systems to Israel.Also co-leadin  more

WASHINGTON, July 30 -- Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, issued the following column on July 29, 2024: * * * Weekly Column: Congress Writes Laws, Not Bureaucrats Idaho was among 27 States that jointly implored the U.S. Supreme Court to scrap the Chevron doctrine. The States noted that, since the Chevron, U.S.A. Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc. decision ruling 40 years ago--establishing the Chevron doctrine--federal agencies have published more than 2.5 million pages of final regulation  more

WASHINGTON, July 31 -- Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, issued the following news release: U.S. Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) delivered the following remarks at a hearing entitled "Tax Tools for Local Economic Development." As prepared for delivery: "Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I appreciate the opportunity to work with you on this bipartisan topic. "Exploring incentives that encourage local economic growth is incredibly im  more

WASHINGTON, Aug. 2 -- Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, issued the following news release: U.S. Senator Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Ranking Member of the Senate Finance Committee, delivered remarks on the Democrats' blatant attempt to score political points by scheduling a vote on a tax bill less than twenty-four hours before the August state-work period. Crapo reiterated that Senate Republicans continue to have concerns with the policy, urged his colleagues to  more

WASHINGTON, Aug. 1 -- Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, issued the following news release: U.S. Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) and Finance Committee member John Barrasso (R-Wyoming) led Senate colleagues in a letter to Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Commissioner Danny Werfel blasting the IRS for wasting taxpayer dollars on an illegitimate and unnecessary direct file tax preparation program. In the letter, senators highlight  more

WASHINGTON, July 31 -- Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Maryland, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, issued the following news release on July 30, 2024: This week, U.S. Senator Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, along with Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Jim Risch (R-Idaho.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), and Todd Young (R-Ind.) sent a bipartisan letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken   more

WASHINGTON, July 31 -- Sen. James Risch, R-Idaho, ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, issued the following news release on July 30, 2024: U.S. Senator Jim Risch (R-Idaho), ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today gave the following opening remarks at a full committee hearing on strategic competition with the PRC: assessing U.S. competitiveness beyond the Indo-Pacific. Witnesses included The Honorable Kurt Campbell, deputy secretary of State. Ranking  more

WASHINGTON, Aug. 2 -- Sen. James Risch, R-Idaho, ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, issued the following statement on Aug. 1, 2024: * * * U.S. Senator Jim Risch (R-Idaho), ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today made the following statement regarding news of a brokered deal between several nations, including the United States, and the Russian government to free a number of political prisoners held in Russia: "After years of detention in the harsh  more

WASHINGTON, July 30 -- Sen. James Risch, R-Idaho, ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, issued the following news release on July 29, 2024: U.S. Senator Jim Risch (R-Idaho), ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today released a report entitled One Step Forward, Two Steps Back: A Review of U.S.-Europe Cooperation on China. This report is a follow-up to Risch's 2020 report in which he laid out a number of key areas where the United States should specifical  more

WASHINGTON, Aug. 3 -- Sen. James Risch, R-Idaho, ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, issued the following news release: U.S. Senator Jim Risch (R-Idaho), ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, thanks committee interns for their work during the summer term. "This summer I was pleased to welcome seven exceptional interns to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee," said Risch. "The international community is navigating a multitude of complex foreign policy  more

WASHINGTON, July 31 -- Sen. James Risch, R-Idaho, ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, issued the following news release on July 30, 2024: U.S. Senator Jim Risch (R-Idaho), ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and U.S. Representative Michael McCaul (R-Texas), chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, today sent a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken on the State Department's ongoing lack of transparency and refusal to cooperate with the co  more

WASHINGTON, Aug. 3 -- Sen. James Risch, R-Idaho, ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, issued the following news release on Aug. 2, 2024: U.S. Senators Jim Risch (R-Idaho), ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), and Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) today led 45 Senate Republican colleagues in sending a letter to the Biden-Harris Administration, protesting its partial arms embargo against Israel. The senators urged the White House to cease accommod  more

WASHINGTON, Aug. 2 -- Sen. James Risch, R-Idaho, ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, issued the following news release on July 31, 2024: U.S. Senators Jim Risch (R-Idaho) ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), chair of the Europe and Regional Security Cooperation Subcommittee of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today issued the following joint statement in response to the State Department's decision to pause $95 millio  more

WASHINGTON, July 31 -- Sen. James Risch, R-Idaho, ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, issued the following news release: U.S. Senators Jim Risch (R-Idaho) and Ben Cardin (D-Md.), ranking member and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, along with Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), and Todd Young (R-Ind.), sent a bipartisan letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken and USAID Administrator Samantha Power urging them to de  more

WASHINGTON, July 30 -- Sen. James Risch, R-Idaho, ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, issued the following statement on July 29, 2024: * * * U.S. Senator Jim Risch (R-Idaho), ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today released the following statement on the Maduro regime claiming victory in Venezuela's presidential elections: "I am concerned but not surprised that Nicolas Maduro is tightening his grip on Venezuela. To be sure, Maduro is reaping the b  more

WASHINGTON, Aug. 1 -- Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyoming, issued the following news release: Today, U.S. Senators John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) and Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), ranking member of the Senate Committee on Finance, led their colleagues in a letter to Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Commissioner Danny Werfel blasting the IRS for wasting taxpayer dollars on an illegitimate and unnecessary direct file tax preparation program. In the letter, the senators highlight how this program was never authorized by  more

WASHINGTON, July 30 -- Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, issued the following news release: Senator Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) today sent a letter with his Senate colleagues to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach in response to the vulgar depiction of the Last Supper that took place during the Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Games Paris 2024. Senators James Lankford (R-Okl.), Marco Rubio (R-Fl.), Roger Marshall, M.D. (R-Kan.), Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-La.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.  more

WASHINGTON, July 30 -- Sen. Todd Young, R-Indiana, issued the following news release: This week, U.S. Senators Todd Young (R-Ind.), Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Jim Risch (R-Idaho.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), all members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) sent a bipartisan letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken and USAID Administrator Samantha Power urging them to develop a proactive policy on Burma given the rapidly evolving situation in the country's civil conflic  more