comparemela.com

Forward to our next adventure. Mr. Prident, i yield the floor. [applaus [applause] thank you, mr. President. Mr. President , i come to the floor today to pay tribute to this great wyoming leader. From nearly a quarter of a century, mike enzi has represented the people of wyoming in washington and hes done it with intelligence, with intensity, and with integrity. The cowboy state and capitol are going to sorely miss mike enzi. Hes truly cemented his legacy of the delegation. Its been a great honor and privilege for my wife bobby to serve the state of wyoming alongside mike and his wife diana with us today. Hes a truly a devoted family man as well as a man of great and deep faith. He thought sunday school over the decades and many in the Community Know that his First Sunday School teacher was my wifes mom. And they both passed away this year and married 70 years. She taught sunday school in the the thermmoplis, wyoming, and her star pupil was mike enzi and she gave him his first bible and he still has it today. Here in the senate mike has been not just a close friend to me and mentor to me, but he has been to this body. Mike was sworn in in 1997 and throughout four terms in the United States senate, he has wavered never wavered in his commitment to god, to country and of course to wyoming. He is he known by many as the senates moral compass. Remarkable spiritual leader of our Bipartisan Senate Prayer Breakfast. A member of that group and a number of the senators here today are as well. We met today and mike led us in prayer. And ive seen firsthand just how much republican and Democrat Members depend on mike for his moral and ethical guidance. He really is a bipartisan, not just policy maker, but also a peace maker, and weve all seen it within this body. His legislation and he talked about the 8020 rule. It has a long history of garnering bipartisan support. And over 100 enzi bills have become law and ive been proud to sponsor and cosponsor them in the time in the senate. The thing he didnt point out. Most of the bills that passed, passed with over 80 votes. Its rare for an enzi bill to get to the floor and pass with any more than 15 to 18 no votes. Remarkable accomplishment. And its important to note that these bills have been signed by republican and democrat president s. You go into his office, his whole Conference Room is filled, the walls are filled with bills and pens, signed into law with the pens being used by bill clinton, by george w. Bush, by barack obama, and by president donald trump. And behind all of these, as he just talked about, is that very successful 8020 rule, a rule that he learned while in the wyoming state legislature and it has worked extremely well for him here in washington as well. But such is the practical western wisdom in mike enzi. Born in 1944 in bremerton, washington, he father was there serving in the Naval Shipyards during world war ii. And he moved the family to wyoming and he started Elementary School in wyoming and moved to sheridan where he graduated from high school, and mike didnt talk about this today, but mike there earned his eagle scout award. Hes a proud eagle scout. As is his son brad and his grandson is working on it as well and mike has been named a distinguished eagle by the scouts. Hes has a bachelors agree in accounting from George Washington university and mba in Retail Marketing from the university of denver in colorado. Mike and diana moved to gillette in 1969 where they started their own Small Business and its wonderful to listen to mike talk about Small Businesses. Its called enzi shoes. Not enzi spelled his last name. But the letter n and letter z so people could remember. And they moved to sheridan, wyoming, but gillette, wyoming is mikes true home and where his heart is. He served two terms as gillettes mayor, during his eight years as mayor, mike led gillette to their first economic boom. Also served 10 years in the wyoming legislature, both a state rep as well as a state senator. Wyoming is mikes world. Family means the world to mike. Theyre the proud parents of three, amy, emily, and brad, and even prouder grandparents of four, megan, allison, trey and lilly. Now, anyone who knows mike knows he loves to fish. Even during Prayer Breakfast today when you watched on the zoom call you can see the fishing rod and the lures that he uses in his fishing on display. Hes an accomplished and avid fly fisherman. In fact in august of 2015, he achieved every fly fishermans dream by completing his wyoming cut slant. This wyoming game and Fish Department program increases appreciation for our native cutthroat trout. If you want to talk with mike about anything, talk to him about fishing. His passion comes through with his love of nature for, spending so much time in natures cathedral of the great outdoors. He fishes in majestic spots in wyoming and all over the world. In washington he has been a leading voice on the budget, tax, Health Care Issues and served on the Budget Committee and chairman since 2015. As the first accountant to chair the Budget Committee mike is committed to making government more accountable for hard working american taxpayers. Hes been a tremendous chairman because he learned in the wyoming legislature. Like all families you need to balance the budget every year and live within your means. He passed budgets resolutions for 2016, 17, 18, and he worked tirelessly to pass these budgets, even working through the night all night from the marathon floor debates called vote ramas. His budget blueprints offered a better fiscal path by reducing wasteful spending, lightning tax burdens and boosting Economic Growth. Mikes fiscal year 2018 budget not only provided a path to balance, it paved the way for pro growth, pro tax relief legislation. The most comprehensive reform of the tax code in over a generation. And as a reconciliation bill, this historic 2017 tax reform bill, tax cuts and jobs act, went through mikes Budget Committee. As budget chairman, mike has focused on the soaring national debt, on budget process reform, and on oversight of federal programs. Mike also served as a member of the Senate Health education, labor, Pensions Committee since his arrival in the senate, and as a former chairman and Ranking Member he championed the efforts to ensure a quality education for all. He expanded access to Affordable Quality Health care and he spearheaded the most significant pension reform in 30 years, securing millions of americans retirement and a member of the Senate Finance committee and homeland senate and Affairs Committee and the joint committee on taxation. Other policy successes include improving mine safely. Helping in the aid epidemic in africa and passing Mental Health parity. Mikes highest priority of course has always been helping the people of wyoming and he said in announcing his retirement, he said im an advocate for gillette and Campbell County and in wyoming. And i point out that everyone lives at the local level. No one lives at the federal level or even the state level. So he said, diana and i are your chamber of commerce, and your Economic Development people for every town and county in wyoming all the time. Mike started several annual events to boost our state. The inventors conference, the procurement concerns and wyoming works tours. In 2009, mike and i started wyoming wednesdays and quickly became a big hit. The great tradition when people from wyoming come to washington, we greet every week and get together for coffees and hosts and times with donuts and friendship and people love to attend. But mike as well as diana are a force in the senate and diana did it again just recently. Mike has called diana the most thoughtful person in the world and thats no exaggeration. Here in the senate, every year, diana hosts a Christmas Cookie Party to thank, as they describe, the real workers that keep the senate running. The janitors, cleaning crew, police officers, Food Service Workers and every year diana and her friends work dozens of hours and make hundreds of dozens of cookies and all of the workers look forward to the 200 dozen cookie thank you event. Its not 200 cookies, its 200 dozen cookies. Its not unusual for people to come up to diana in the hallway and ask when the party is. Mike is the wonderful cohost and this year, because of coronavirus, she couldnt do all the baking, but they had the cookie festival with baked cookies and those that couldnt get to have, receive them in locations, mike and diana walked the halls of this building in the Senate Office building to make sure that the guards and the custodians and the janitors, and others got their christmas cookies. Mike is usually a man of few words. But at a recent Prayer Breakfast he reminded everyone about the poshes importance of thinking before we speak. He titled to presentation me and my big mouth and he reminded us that our mouths cannot be trained, only guarded. Well, mike is a true wyoming gentleman. Someone who will always be a great friend and a mentor to me, to younger people in wyoming and to everyone here in the senate. In my office, theres a picture on the wall of my first day in the senate right here in 2007, of being sworn in by then vicepresident cheney with senator enzi along with former senator Malcolm Wallace behind. Its been a tremendous privilege to serve with mike from my very first day in the United States senate. The people of wyoming owe him an incredible debt of gratitude for his tireless and faithful service. Mikes character, his courage and his credibility have cemented his legacy as a highly respected leader of the senate. So today, so many senators are here gathering to listen to, to honor, and to thank mike enzi for his decades of distinguished service to the nation. Thank you, mr. President. I yield the floor. Mr. President. Mr. President , its hard to follow those hearthealth words from senator barrasso about his colleague and friend, heart fel felt, but im going to make a try just as our tribute to Lamar Alexander was to the tribute of better angels of nature as theyre shown in the lives of senators, so, too, with mike enzi. I join my colleagues in thanking mike for service to wyoming and to america, one of the most frequent questions many of us are asked is why cant you folks get along in washington . Why cant you just do things together . I say to them, there are times when we do, and many times theyre very important. When we do come together, its because of people like mike who worked under his socalled 80 20 rule. We know that well, dont we . He would tell us most people could agree on 80 of the substance pan if negotiators were willing to give up the other 20 we could get things done here and wouldnt that be refreshing . One of those items was the marketplace fairness act. Mike helped lead the fight for local bricks and mortar retailers to give them a chance to compete on equal and level Playing Field on online sellers, email companies and Internet Companies and to allow the states and localities to collect much needed sales tax revenue. Its hard to imagine how many years mike put into that effort, but the marketplace fairness act would have given the state option to require out of state businesses such as those selling online to collect taxes owned under state law the same that other businesses do. Mike knew a lot about local business as mentioned on the floor by senator barrasso, his colleague. He was a Small Business owner in wyoming running enzi shoe store. He was mayor in age 30. A state representative, state senator. He was still always a Small Business man from gillette. In 1996 when he was recovering from open heart surgery, then senator alan simpson decided know the to run for reelection. Local leaders tried to talked mike into running and he wanted more time to hunt and fish. In the end, he made an important decision, he ran and he won. His career has many legislation successes using his 80 20 rule. Ill never forget the days when ted kennedy would come to the floor and talk about the compromise and the bargain that hed struck with you. I thought, what a political odd couple. But the two of you did some remarkable things. Poles apart in terms of political philosophy they treated each other with respect and they had amazing successes to show for it. Even when he had differing views, mike enzi has shown a willingness to come to the table and discuss the areas where we can agree. In 2012, senator dorgan retired and i called after he left and i said could i take up byrons position in your work in the fairness act . He said lets do t we brought in senator Lamar Alexander, that was a pretty smart move and then senator heidi heidkamp. And it made the marketplace fairness act necessary, and we were an unexpected group of senators, two republicans, two democrats, literally from all over the United States. We disagreed on some things, sure, but we agreed that main street business needed a break and deserved fair treatment. We kept working on it with microenzis leadership and in 2013, it passed the Senate Overwhelmingly 69 votes. Unfortunately, the house of representatives once again broke our heart and didnt act on it. We kept introducing the bill and main street was struggling against the unfair advantage that only retailers had. Visitors to the office might have noticed something that was in my office i brought to the floor today. And wondered what this was all about. This was a gift from mike enzi after we were successful in the United States senate. Its a small wooden threenote train whistle and it would be a violation of the senate rules to blow the whistle, but it was a gift from mike for our work helping the bill get down the tracks of the legislative process. We were never able to get the house to take up the measure, but in 2018, the Supreme Court finally did the right thing and in a 54 ruling stout dak versus wayfair, the court closed the loophole we had been struggling to fight and address for years. Im proud to be part of that bipartisan coalition. In illinois its meant a lot. We estimate that our state has received 460 million in annual revenue by virtue of mike enzis determination and leadership of the marketplace fairness. And in this pandemic crisis this revenue is more important than ever. Mike has always been a force for fairness, a friend, and a leader for whom i have great respect. As we fight this pandemic, we should strive to abide by mikes 80 20 rule and remember that main street businesses are hurting and need our help. I know mike will have more time now for fishing and hunting. I wish him and his wonderful wife diana, and she is a wonderful person and their grandchildren happiness, and i look forward to reading about the next chapter in mike enzis life of giving and caring. Mr. Prident, i yie the floor. Floor. Mr. President. Senator from maine. Mr. President , mike enzi and i were both sworn into our first terms in the United States senate on january 7th, 1997. I immediately saw in the gentleman from wyoming a quiet effective and ethical leader focused not on partisan advantage, but rather on results. Results that would benefit the people who sent him to washington and results that would benefit the American People as a whole. The nearly 24 years since then have only confirmed my initial impression. From the first 14 of those years, mike was the sole accountant in the senate. That discipline, combined with his experience as a Small Business owner had served him so well in his role as chairman of the senate Budget Committee. He knows how important it is to set a budget, to follow it, and to control spending. His priority has always been the american taxpayer. And as chairman of the Budget Committee and as a member of the Senate Finance committee, he has been a leader on tax issues as well. He helped shape the 2017 tax reform act, which has helped to boost Economic Growth and the creation of more jobs. Mikes leadership style is characterized by his willingness to always search for common ground. He described today in great depth his, what he calls his 8020 rule, and anyone who has ever worked with mike enzi on any issue quickly learns about the 8020 rule. Through it, he forges solutions where many others see only impasse. The key to success in moving legislation,s an as he told us today. Is to focus on the 80 of issues where agreement can be found and not waste time on the 20 where the disagreements are insurmountable. That rule served him well when he sat at the helm of the Senate Health education labor and Pensions Committee, along with the late senator ted kennedy. Well, as mike has described today, it would be difficult to think of two individuals serving in the senate who had more different political philosophies than he and ted kennedy. And yet, you could probably say that was true with the his current ink rah Ranking Member of the Budget Committee, but together he and senator kennedy crafted dozens of laws. Neither side got 100 of what they wanted. They put aside the areas of disagreement. For them it was far more important that progress was made for the American People. Serving with mike on the health committee, i had seen him employ this rule over and over again to bring about real progress. He led efforts to help ensure that everyone can receive a quality education. He has helped provide americans with access to Affordable Quality Health care. He has helped to protect workers and to foster jobs training opportunity. As the leader of the committee, he worked to oversee the biggest revision and pension laws in 30 years to strengthen funding rules, to enchance Retirement Security for millions of americans. Mike comes from a Small Business background and as senator durbin just described, he was passionate about the marketplace fairness act to enable states to collect sales and use taxes from out of state online retailers. He recognized that the brick and mortar main street businesses that provide local jobs should not be penalized. Mike and i also worked together on successful legislation to improve Workplace Safety to postal employees and to better protect the American People from deceptive mailings that mimic official government documents. Mr. President , senator mike enzi has compiled a long record of Selfless Service as a business leader, as a member of the wyoming air national guard, as the mayor, as a state legislator and as an involved citizen. When he announced his intention early last year to leave the senate, he says that he has no deficit plans other than finding other ways to serve. I am 100 certain that the author of the 80 20 rule will continue to contribute to his community, his state, and our nation. And i want to wish him and his beloved wife diana all the best in the years to come. Thank you, mr. President. R. President. Senator from rhode island. Mr. President , ive had the pleasure of working with my chairman on the Budget Committee, on budget reform initiatives. And i want to take this occasion to thank him for the wonderful way that he worked with me on those issues and for all of his support and i want to make a pledge to him as well. The effort began with a lot of hearings in the Budget Committee to sort out how we could reform what we were doing. That the moment the Budget Committee is probably the most dysfunctional piece of this dysfunctional institution and chairman enzi was determined to remedy that. And a lot of work went in at the committee level. Then a Bicameral Committee was created to look at budget reform primarily out of the house and i had an opportunity to serve on that Bicameral Committee. That was an opportunity that i owe to chairman enzi. He both advocated for me to his leader that i should be on that committee and he gave up a spot on that committee to make sure that there was a spot for me there. I hope and i believe that i conducted myself in due accord with chairman enzis wishes and principles in the course of that. We had the ability to use that Bicameral Committee process to do a test run at our budget reform and im pleased to report that although the end product was never adopted between the two body, the product that came out of the committee included our budget reform as it was then constituted. We raised our aspiration from the budget reform as then which was entirely voluntary, to actually try to change the Budget Committee rules to force the process of the Budget Committee into the mold of the voluntary structure. And we did good work on that. And we came to an agreement, and im sorry to say that its failure to pass into law arose not from problems on the republican side of the aisle, but from problems on my side of the aisle that i was not able to yet surmount, but my pledge to you, chairman enzi, is that i will keep at it. Senator blunt is here and he was helpful, senator lankford, senator purdue, along with senator cane, senator king and myself and others on our side, and senator shaheen. So this, i will continue the work. I vow to you ill somehow find a way to get this done and if i can find a way to call it the enzi reform, ill find it the way to call it the enzi reform. I will long relationship the relationship that we had and the good work that we did together. I will long remember your 80 20 rule and maybe because i have a similar proposal and rules, maybe well even be able to get your phones and electronics amendment passed. So thank you to you, sir, for doing whats right, doing your best and treating others as they would want to be treated. I yield the floor. Senator fro missouri. Mr. Esident, i feel a little guilty as the chairman of the rules comttee standing in front of the and between the enzi desire to get devices on the floor. I have watched in recent weeks, if you looked around on the floor youd assumed that wed adopted that rule, its a pretty hard rule to enforce with all the information that senator enzi always knew was there and needed to be available and in ways that we have not made it available yet. I want to stand as a particular friend of mike enzi. We came to the congress the same time. I came to the house, he came to the senate. He and diana and i were together on travel fairly earlier in that. We had an opportunity to go to lithuania as they were desperately trying to get included in nato. Mike, you remember driving around, walking on the little square where people had their signs up, we want in nato. Theyd been left behind one time. They didnt want to be left behind another time. But thats one of many memories i have with mike. And another is just the mikes incredible capacity to listen. I think without question and by plenty of evidence, mike is the best listener in the senate. In fact, he has listening sessions in his state, where what he does, shockingly, is listen. His talking is at a minimum in those sessions and his interest in taking input from whoever wants to talk. If you can envision mike at the front of the room with his note pad taking notes on what everybody says and then often the move from one speaker to the next is thank you. And lets hear what other people have to say. And he absorbs that in a great way. There are many times when ive come to mike in the senate and said tell me what youre thinking about this. Its amazing how much you can learn by listening and mike so often has a different view, a more nuanced view than others do because of that. I also thought mike, as you were speaking today, i know that your driver in the state is usually diana and even describing the return from the jaycees event back to gillette i noticed who was driving. Youve spent so many hours together and miles together in a state that, maybe doesnt have the most people, but it sure has lots of distance. And i know just a challenge to get home to wyoming every week and then get to the place you live in wyoming in gillette is often as you can and that is not often possible. But what an honor and privilege to serve with you, to spend this 24 years in the congress together, and for me to get to spend the last 10 years of your senate time here in the senate with you. Its a great honor. Its a great privilege. Im trying to learn all i can about listening from the master listener who then takes all of that information and actually produces as weve heard here today, real results. Thank you, mr. President. The United States senate is about to gavel in. Lawmakers will continue work on executive and judicial nominations today. At 11 30 eastern theyll vote on nomination of Christopher Waller to be a member of the Federal Reserve board of governors and a number of other votes are expected today. Now to live coverage of cspan2. Holy god, who desires us to prosper and experience health, give our nation such a harvest of righteousness that our land will be filled with peace, quietness, and unity. Use our lawmakers to enable our citizens to live in safety, confidence, and peace. As our senators seek to serve you and country, give them the

© 2024 Vimarsana

comparemela.com © 2020. All Rights Reserved.