COEUR d’ALENE — U.S. Sen. Mike Crapo said Saturday the process has begun in Washington, D.C., to fight and drain a swamp filled with federal bureaucracy.

“I’ve never seen the U.S. Senate meaner and more toxic, but I’m having more and more fun every day,” Crapo added. “There’s a fight, you all know about the fight — we’re standing up to the government.”

More than 400 people attended the annual Lincoln Day dinner, a fundraising event for the local GOP hosted by the Kootenai County Republican Central Committee, at The Coeur d’Alene Resort Saturday night. The theme of this year’s dinner, “Making America Great Again Begins in Idaho,” served as a focal point of the evening, which Central Committee Chairman Brent Regan told The Press was all about having fun and making new connections.

“Wow, wow. I am so happy to see all of you here tonight,” Regan told attendees as the dinner began. “The bottom line of tonight is to make those friendships and build those relationships because a storm is coming and you’re going to need them.”

Prior to hearing from the evening’s guest speakers, Regan took time to introduce attendees to several North Idaho businesses that are leading their industries when it comes to finding innovative solutions. When U.S. Rep. Raul Labrador addressed the audience, he echoed Regan’s sentiment, as well as the theme of the evening.

“We cannot change America if Idaho is not the best it can be, we cannot change America if you are not the best you can be,” Labrador said.

The representative spoke of the core values of Idaho Republicanism — faith, family, and freedom — and said if individuals are to succeed in the state, the government must apply a light hand. Labrador added there is not just a swamp that needs to be drained in the nation’s capital, but in the state’s capital as well.

“You’re not going to drain the swamp in Boise by surrounding yourself with the same alligators that have been there a while,” he said.

Each year at the Lincoln Day dinner, a young person is chosen to address attendees. This year’s speaker, Jason Whitehead, discussed five of the first 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution, which are known collectively as the Bill of Rights.

“We the people are the most important check on the federal government,” Whitehead said of the power given to citizens through the amendments.

The keynote speech, entitled “America: Revolution 2.0,” was given by Trevor Loudon. Loudon, a New Zealand native, is the author of two self-published books, “Barack Obama and the Enemies Within” and “The Enemies Within: Communists, Socialists and Progressives in the U.S. Congress.”