Crapo: Long-Term Solutions Require Bipartisan Action

Washington, DC - Idaho Senator Mike Crapo released the following statement regarding President Obama's address to the Joint Session of Congress this evening:

"President Obama outlined the pressing issues facing our country today-the economic recession, health care, national defense, energy policy and education were among those. It is important that we approach these issues in a bipartisan fashion, and I am willing to work with him to find lasting solutions for our great nation. As he comes forward with detailed recommendations, I will work with him to the best of my ability. Idahoans and the American people deserve cooperation and collaboration on these matters.

"I share the President's optimism for our country. We have weathered troubled times before, but our nation is full of strength and ingenuity and we have the will and desire to move ahead. I look forward to learning more about his detailed proposals for housing, health care, entitlement reform, deficit reduction and tax policy. It is important that we find long-term solutions to these challenges, without sacrificing solid answers in the name of expediency. President Obama acknowledged that there would be times when everyone in Congress may not agree with his proposals. And, in that spirit, when his ideas are some that I cannot support, I intend to work with him and his Administration as well as my colleagues in Congress to come up with alternatives that will be workable. Our country will benefit from a principled national debate over the challenges and the proposed solutions so that we can find the best way to move our country forward and provide strong futures for generations yet to come."


To directly link to this news release, please use the following address:
http://crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases/release_full.cfm?id=308631.

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FOR INTERESTED MEDIA: An MP3 file with Crapo's remarks is available under Multimedia at Senator Crapo's website, http://crapo.senate.gov; by calling 1-800-545-1267 and pressing 327 at any time during or after the greeting and instructions; or on the Internet at http://src.senate.gov/radio/ under Crapo.