Senator Mike Crapo - May 2011 E-News

Statement

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Budget

The federal budget continues to be a high profile issue in Washington and across the country. Congress recently completed its long-overdue work to enact appropriations for the current fiscal year, 2011, which ends in September. Work has already begun on developing the budget for Fiscal Year 2012. The President submitted his budget request to Congress in February. On April 15, the House of Representatives passed its version of a Fiscal Year 2012 budget resolution, which would reduce spending by $6.2 trillion more than the President's budget, over the next 10 years. The Senate Budget Committee has not yet considered its version of a 2012 budget resolution. In addition, serious discussion continues over our nation's long-term fiscal crisis. The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff has referred to this crisis as the greatest threat to our national security. A number of bipartisan efforts are underway to develop the necessary proposals for fiscal reforms and spending restraint to put our nation on a more sustainable course. With our nation rapidly approaching its statutory debt limit, it is expected that many of these proposals will see Congressional consideration in the coming months.

Downwinders

Along with Senator Jim Risch, I joined a bipartisan group of senators to introduce the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA) Amendments of 2011. The Act would provide expanded restitution for Americans sickened from working in uranium mines or living downwind of atomic weapons tests.

Among other things, the RECA Amendments of 2011 would build upon previous RECA legislation by further widening qualifications for compensation for radiation exposure; qualifying post 1971 uranium workers for compensation; equalizing compensation for all claimants to $150,000; expanding the downwind exposure area to include seven states; and funding an epidemiological study of the health impacts on families of uranium workers and residents of uranium development communities.

I recognize the burden placed upon cancer patients and their families to pay for the expensive regimen of treatments this disease requires. Passage of this legislation is the first step in helping Idahoans get the care they need. The victims of this testing have waited years for just compensation, and the cruel irony is that the federal government has postponed this action for so long that many aren't living to see this bill passed.

Transportation

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke called the spike in gas prices a "double whammy," noting the increase both contributes to inflation and harms the economic recovery by keeping spending out of other areas. Rising gas prices affect everything we do -- from taking our children to school to the price of groceries. However, the Administration's solutions so far appear to be revoking or not granting offshore drilling permits, regulatory actions making it harder to develop oil and gas resources in our nation and threatening to revoke business deductions that encourage oil companies to find new sources of energy. This seems counterproductive to me and a sure-fire recipe for keeping the price of gasoline artificially high.

As your Senator, I will continue to work to find concrete ways to ease the financial burdens being placed on you as a result of skyrocketing fuel costs. Along with Senator Herb Kohl (D-Wisconsin) I am an original co-sponsor of bipartisan legislation to ease the affects of high fuel costs to those bringing America's goods to market with the goal of keeping consumer prices as low as possible. The Safe and Efficient Transportation Act (SETA), S. 747, also co-sponsored by Senators Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Rob Portman (R-Ohio), would give states the option of adding extra axles to truck weights in order to establish matching weight standards in all states for interstate commerce. Idaho currently allows for 97,000 pound loads under special permitting and axle options. The SETA bill would allow other states the same option if axles are added to maintain safety and weight standards. Under present law, trucks heavier than 80,000 pounds are forced off the Interstate and onto local roads in some states.

The efficiency and costs of transportation have a direct bearing on the costs to both consumers and the transportation industry. This legislation gives states the option to match the load limits allowed in Idaho and other states, while employing extra safety and weight distribution through the use of additional axles. The use of additional axles means there is no additional impact on highways or the stopping distances of trucks in case of emergencies.

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