U.S. Sen. Mike Crapo touted the ADVANCE Act’s reboot of the nation’s nuclear energy industry and praised the Senate’s passage of legislation to add a third federal judge in Idaho while also decrying the growing national debt during a Monday visit to the Idaho State Journal in Pocatello.

The Idaho Republican said the ADVANCE ACT — which stands for Accelerating Deployment of Versatile, Advanced Nuclear for Clean Energy — will eventually mean more nuclear energy jobs for Idaho, especially at the Idaho National Laboratory.

“I’ve been working to get support for nuclear energy in general for 20 years,” Crapo said during his Monday visit to the Journal. “We’ve wanted to speed up the regulatory process and create public-private partnerships with universities and invest in things like the Idaho National Laboratory.”

Crapo said the ADVANCE Act, passed by Congress in June and signed into law last month, is the latest piece of legislation he’s helped pass during the past five to six years aimed at maintaining America’s worldwide lead in nuclear energy.

“It will get the regulatory community and investment community engaged earlier and give a boost to each of these pieces in terms of rebuilding and strengthening our lead in nuclear energy,” Crapo said. “It means more jobs for sure for Idaho and strengthening and expanding the INL’s role. On a national scale this will put us more boldly back in the (nuclear) business and industry. That will have an on the ground impact in Idaho.”

Crapo is also pleased that Idaho appears to be poised to get a third federal judge.

The Judicial Understaffing Delays Getting Emergencies Solved Act of 2024 was unanimously passed by the Senate last month and is awaiting approval by the U.S. House.

If all goes as planned, Crapo said the act will create a third federal judge position in Idaho in about four years.

“We’ve needed a third federal judge for years and I’ve fought and fought for it,” Crapo said. “But neither party wanted to let the other party have the nominations. It’s been going on for a decade or more.”

Crapo added that Idaho could probably use a fourth federal judge because the caseload is that heavy.

As a staunch proponent of cutting the national debt, Crapo voiced his serious concerns over the fact the debt has surpassed $34 trillion.

What happens next will depend on which political party controls the White House and Congress following the November election, he said.

Crapo said the debt is a big potential drag on the stock market and if our nation allows the debt to continue growing there will be dire economic consequences.

He said that even with the skyrocketing debt, some in Congress still want to increase spending. But he also said that any efforts to control federal spending could have negative consequences on the economy.

“If we start to apply Band-Aids to the debt crisis, but we don’t do it in a way to maintain market confidence, it could (negatively) impact the stock market,” he said.

He’s also nervous about the economic impact of the 2017 tax act. If the act is allowed to expire at the end of 2025 it will mean a tax hit of over $4 trillion for the American people.

Crapo said the debate in Congress over what to do about the expiring tax act will be “the biggest tax battle in a decade.”

He said if the Democrats get their way and raise corporate tax rates, corporations will pass on those tax hikes to consumers in the form of higher prices. He said labor will be impacted in terms of fewer jobs and lower wages and retirees will take a financial hit via a diminished stock market.

Crapo touched upon some other issues during his visit to the Journal including Idaho’s ongoing water woes, which he described as a state, rather than federal matter; the economy, which he said has been buoyed by the Biden administration’s massive spending but hampered by 20 percent inflation; and the upcoming presidential election.

On the latter, he said the showdown between Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris and Republican former President Donald Trump could be close.

“I don’t want to predict,” he said.