Crapo is Ranking Member on New Fiscal Responsibility Subcommittee

Washington, D.C. - Furthering his leadership in fiscal and budget reform issues, Idaho Senator Mike Crapo will be the lead Republican on a newly-created Senate subcommittee dealing with fiscal, budget and debt issues during the 112th Congress. Crapo has been named Ranking Member of the new Senate Finance Subcommittee on Fiscal Responsibility and Economic Growth. As such, Crapo will work with Subcommittee Chairman Bill Nelson (D-Florida) to consider how Congress will address the spending and fiscal issues that affect the growing federal debt and the long-term financial well-being of Americans.

The Senate Finance Committee is the lead committee in the Senate dealing with such issues as taxation; trade and customs; and health care and mandatory spending programs, including Social Security and Medicaid. Crapo will also continue his service on the Senate Finance Subcommittee on Trade, Customs and Global Competitiveness and the Subcommittee on Taxation and IRS Oversight.

Crapo will serve as Ranking Member on the Senate Banking Subcommittee on Securities, Insurance and Investment, which will now have jurisdiction over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The Senate Banking Committee will play critical roles this coming session on financial reforms and monitoring of financial regulatory policies that affect financial institutions, economic recovery and lending, housing, transit and consumer interests, including the implementation of the Dodd-Frank Act and how to restructure Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. In addition, he will also serve on the Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Protection and the Subcommittee on Housing, Transportation and Community Development.

Crapo also remains on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, where he will now serve as Ranking Member on the Subcommittee on Superfund, Toxics and Environmental Health, an issue of importance to North Idaho's ongoing efforts to address environmental challenges related to mining operations. In addition to his leadership on transit issues, Crapo will also deal with transportation issues as a member of the Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee. He will also continue his service on the Water and Wildlife Subcommittee.

A fiscal conservative who has opposed increasing taxes as a way to resolve our country's fiscal challenges, Crapo will stay on the Senate Budget Committee, where he will bring his recent experiences as a member of the National Commission on Fiscal Reform and Responsibility to the panel charged with crafting the federal government's budget plans. Reprising his service in the last Congress, he will also be a member of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs.