Senators at RFE/RL...

We had four Republican US senators visit our Prague headquarters this afternoon. The distinguished visitors were Senator Mel Martinez (R-FL), Senator John Thune (R-SD), Senator Charles Grassley (R-IA) and Senator Larry Craig (R-ID).

They met with our president, Jeff Gedmin, visited the offices of Radio Free Afghanistan and then each participated in interviews with our central news group as well as Radio Free Iraq and radio Free Afghanistan.


Senator John Thune (R-SD)

Senator Mel Martinez (R-FL)

Senator Charles Grassley (R-IA)

Senator Larry Craig (R-ID)

Senator Craig is recently famous for his arrest at Minneapolis/St. Paul airport for lewd conduct, later pleading guilty to a lesser offense. From Wikipedia:

Larry Edwin Craig (born July 20, 1945) is an American politician from the state of Idaho. As a Republican, he has represented the state of Idaho in the United States Senate since 1991. In addition, Craig served in the U.S. House of Representatives, representing Idaho's 1st congressional district (1981–1991).[2] Including his service in the House of Representatives, Craig is the second-longest serving member of the United States Congress in Idaho history, trailing only William Edgar Borah. In addition to serving in Congress, Craig has been a member of the Board of Directors of the National Rifle Association since 1983.[3] Craig has also been selected for induction into the Idaho Hall of Fame.[4] Although he was selected in March 2007, the announcement was made in October 2007.[5]

On August 27, 2007 the Capitol Hill newspaper Roll Call revealed that Craig had been arrested for lewd conduct in a men's bathroom on June 11, 2007, and pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of disorderly conduct on August 8, 2007.[6] As a result of the controversy surrounding his arrest and subsequent guilty plea, Senator Craig announced his intention to resign from the Senate at a news conference on September 1, 2007, which was to become effective on September 30, 2007. After failing to withdraw his guilty plea, on October 4, 2007, Craig released a statement refusing to resign as Senator for Idaho. Craig has stated that he will not run for re-election in 2008.[7]