Larry Craig
Larry "Wide Stance" Craig (b. July 20, 1945) has been a Republican United States Senator from the state of Idaho since 1991. From 1981 to 1991 he represented Idaho in the United States House of Representatives. He is generally considered to be a social conservative and is also a strong advocate of the proposed Balanced Budget Amendment to the Constitution. Larry CrCP TEH A$$ HOLESon; Education Advisory Committee to the National Youth Leadership Conference. He serves as Co-Chairman of the Congressional Coalition on Adoption and helped to found and lead the CCAI, an institute working on adoption issues.
Craig is also on the Board of Directors of the National Rifle Association, the Alliance to Save Energy, and he co-founded and co-chairs the Congressional Property Rights Coalition.
Craig chaired the Senate Republican Policy Committee (1996-2003), the Special Committee on Aging (One Hundred Eighth Congress), and the Committee on Veteransâ Affairs (One Hundred Ninth Congress).
Airport incident
On September 1, 2007, Craig announced he intended to resign from the Senate (effective September 30, 2007) after reports surfaced about an incident on June 11th, 2007 which he was arrested on a misdemeanor charge in a Minneapolis police airport sting operation in which Craig claimed entrapment.[1] Craig is a regular commuter through the Minneapolis airport. After his arrest, Craig indicated he planned to plead guilty to the charges and continued on his trip. He had hoped to keep the arrest quiet, didnât consult a lawyer, and he never told family, friends, staff or colleagues about the incident. Senator Craig returned to Minneapolis on August 8th, 2007 and plead guilty to disorderly conduct.[2] After the incident became public, Craig hired two Washington criminal defense lawyers, Stan Brand, who has defended lawmakers before, and Billy Martin, whose most recent client was NFL quarterback Michael Vick. Craig also retained one of the capitalâs top public-relations experts, Judy Smith, who handled press for Monica Lewinsky and more recently for U.S. Rep. William Jefferson.[3]
Former President Bill Clinton said on CNN's Larry King Live,
- "Well, first of all, I think we ought to recognize that this is a very traumatic time for him and his family.... we should be hoping that he and his family can work through this ...I think that that is more important than the politics of this. The politics of this will have to be resolved by him and the Republicans in the Senate."
Craig has also received support from Senator Arlen Specter, and Sidney Smith, a spokesman for Larry Craig, has stated that the decision to resign may not be final.[4]
Larry Craig's attempt to withdraw the guilty plea was rejected by a Hennepin County District Court judge on October 4th 2007. Senator Craig has indicated that his intention is to serve out his Senate term. [5]
Should Craig choose not to resign, his third Senate term will expire in January 2009.[6] Craig earlier resigned as an adviser to Republican Mitt Romney's presidential campaign.[7]
Craig was dedicated spokesman on behalf of the people and economic base of Idaho who depend upon the timber and power industries,. Many environmentalists believe his departure could be benificial for ecological causes, such as salmon recovery, which may cause economic disruption and unemployment in a conservative "flyover" state.[8]
References
- â Transcript of arrest interview Audio
- â John, McArdle,Craig Arrested, Pleads Guilty Following Incident in Airport Restroom but Says He Did Nothing Wrong, Roll Call, August 27, 2007.
- â Craig may not quit after all if he's cleared of charges, spokesman says, By GREGORY HAHN AND ERIKA BOLSTAD - Idaho Statesman, 09/04/07.
- â http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8RF0EGO0&show_article=1
- â [1].
- â (Idaho Statesman)
- â http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2007/08/28/craig/?rsssource=1
- â Sen. Craig's fall may benefit salmon