Joseph R. Crapa

Joseph R. Crapa, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom's Executive Director, "joined the Commission in November 2002. Prior to coming to the Commission, Mr. Crapa served as Chief of Staff for Senator Charles E. Schumer, the senior Senator from New York. Before that, Crapa spent four years as an official in the Executive Branch from 1997-2001, where he was nominated by President Clinton and confirmed by the Senate to serve as an Assistant Administrator at the U.S. Agency for International Development. He also held positions of Assistant Secretary at the Department of Agriculture and Associate Administrator at the Environmental Protection Agency where his portfolio included Congressional Relations and Public Affairs.

"Mr. Crapa has extensive experience dealing with foreign and domestic policy issues. For ten years he served as Chief of Staff for Rep. David Obey (D-WI) and also as Democratic counsel to the House Appropriations Committee.

"Mr. Crapa graduated from Cathedral College Preparatory Seminary, received a B.A. from St. John's University, went on to earn his M.A. from Duke University, and his Ph.D. at the University of Arizona where he was a National Defense Teaching Fellow."