[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 131 (Tuesday, July 27, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5078-S5079]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                         Remembering Mike Enzi

  Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, I come to the floor today to pay tribute 
to our friend and former colleague, Senator Mike Enzi.
  Senator Lummis and I are here, and we are very grateful for the kind 
comments of the minority leader, Senator McConnell; majority leader, 
Senator Schumer; and the President pro tempore of the Senate, Senator 
Leahy.
  Mike Enzi was my colleague. He was my mentor. He was my friend. 
Today, my wife Bobbi and I, along with all of the people in the State 
of Wyoming and all of his friends and admirers here in the U.S. 
Senate--we are joined on the floor by many of his former staffers, many 
of whom still work here--all of us mourn his passing.
  For nearly a quarter of a century, Mike Enzi represented the people 
of Wyoming in this very body in the U.S. Senate. In so many ways, as we 
served as a team when Cynthia Lummis was in the House and Mike and I 
were in the Senate, he was our trusted trail boss for our entire 
congressional delegation.
  He served with intelligence, with dignity, and with grace. He never 
wavered. His commitment was to God, to his family, to country, to 
Wyoming.
  It was an incredible honor and a great privilege for my wife Bobbi 
and for me to serve the people of Wyoming alongside Mike Enzi and his 
wife Diana.
  Mike was born in the middle of World War II. He was in Washington 
State at the time because that is where his father was stationed. After 
the war, the family moved back to Thermopolis, WY--my wife's hometown--
and to Sheridan, WY.
  As all of us know, Mike was an Eagle Scout, so were his son Brad and 
his grandson Trey. They followed in his footsteps. Later in life, he 
was awarded the Distinguished Eagle Scout.
  He went on and studied accounting. He earned a business degree, and 
he focused on marketing. He was pretty good at it. He served in the 
Wyoming Air National Guard, and he was 6 years a tech sergeant.
  In 1969, Mike and Diana were married. One week later, they moved to 
Gillette and opened a small business known as NZ Shoes--Enzi, like his 
name, but the letter ``N'' and letter ``Z'' Shoes. The little business 
wasn't that little for long. He opened a second store in Sheridan, then 
Miles City, MT.
  Mike ran for mayor of Gillette, served two 4-year terms. He often 
called being mayor the toughest job in politics, and Mike performed 
flawlessly. With the help of his business skills, Gillette went into an 
economic boom. He served 10 years in the Wyoming Legislature as both a 
State representative and a State senator.
  When he came here to the Senate, Mike became a leading voice--a 
leading voice on budgets, on taxes, and on healthcare issues. In 2015, 
he became the first accountant to ever chair the Budget Committee. He 
brought to Washington the valuable lessons that he had learned in the 
Wyoming Legislature, and he put them to use right here
  He would say: Like American families, Wyoming has to balance its 
budget every year, live within our means, and so should America.
  Under Mike's leadership, Congress passed three consecutive balanced 
budget regulations. During his time as chairman, Congress also passed 
the largest tax cuts and reforms in a generation. And those tax cuts 
gave us the best economy of our lifetimes.
  Mike also chaired the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 
Committee in the Senate. As chairman, he spearheaded the most 
significant pension reform in 30 years. Mike's legacy in the U.S. 
Senate also included improving mine safety, helping in the AIDS 
epidemic in Africa, passing mental health parity.
  His highest priority, of course, was always helping the people of 
Wyoming. Over his 24 years in office, Mike and his capable staff helped 
the people of Wyoming through more than 15,000 pieces of casework. They 
helped veterans get the benefits that they had earned. They helped 
seniors get Social Security. They helped people become naturalized 
citizens.
  When he announced his retirement, he said:

       I am an advocate for Gillette and Campbell County and 
     Wyoming.

  He said:

       Everyone lives at the local level. No one lives at the 
     Federal level, or even the State level.

  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 in Wyoming to boost Wyoming. One 
was the Inventors Conference; another, the Procurement Conference; and 
then Wyoming Works tour.
  In 2009, Mike and I started Wyoming Wednesdays. This is when people 
from around Wyoming come to Washington, and we get together--our 
delegation--for coffee, for donuts, and for fellowship. We are proud to 
continue the tradition today.
  Above all, Mike was a moral leader in the Senate. He taught Sunday 
school for decades and he learned from the best. Mike's first Sunday 
school teacher was in Thermopolis, WY, and his teacher was my wife 
Bobbi's mother, Jerry Brown. Mike Enzi was her star pupil. She actually 
gave Mike his first Bible.
  Well, that benefited all of us because, decades later, Mike Enzi 
became a leader of our bipartisan Senate prayer breakfast. As a member 
of that group, I saw firsthand how Republican and Democrat Senators 
looked to Mike Enzi for moral and ethical guidance. He was a guiding 
light.
  On my first day in the Senate, Mike gave me this book. It is called 
``One Quiet Moment,'' and it is a daily prayer devotion. This is how he 
inscribed it in 2007. He said:

       John, here's a book that has helped me through 11 years of 
     the Senate. It's amazing how often the message of the day 
     relates to what's going on in my life.

  He said:

       These messages provide strength.
       Mike Enzi--June 26, 2007.

  So the message of the day provides strength. Let us turn to July 27, 
today. The message is from Philippians. The message is three words: ``I 
press on.'' The message of today: ``I press on.''
  It goes down to the bottom, and it says:

       My steps forward today may be small, but at least they are 
     steps off dead center. Keep me moving, Lord!

  It is Mike's message through this book for us to press on. As I said, 
Mike Enzi was a moral compass for many of us, and he always pointed 
True North.
  He was a friend and a mentor to me, to so many Senators on both sides 
of the aisle over 24 years. He knew how to find common ground and bring 
people together better than any.
  It was rare for an Enzi bill to receive fewer than 80 votes. This was 
by design. Mike called it his 80-20 rule. He learned in the Wyoming 
State Legislature. At the beginning of each year, each member of his 
committee made a list of their priorities. Most years there was 
bipartisan agreement on 80 percent of the priorities. Mike Enzi would 
then focus on that 80 percent on which they agreed, and he would leave 
out the 20 percent on which they disagreed. As a result of this 
approach, Mike Enzi wrote more than 80 bills which were signed into law 
by four different Presidents in the United States, two Republicans and 
two Democrats. I was proud to cosponsor many of those bills with him 
here in the Senate.
  Yet for all of Mike's achievements in business and in government, we 
will miss him most as a friend. Following his retirement, Mike did an 
interview with Wyoming Public Broadcasting. He said there wasn't much 
he would miss about Washington, DC. He said it was the people whom he 
would miss the most.
  Mike had a dedicated, hard-working, and loyal staff. Some of them 
returned to Wyoming, others still serve in this body today, and a 
number have joined us on the floor. Mike gave much of the credit for 
his success to these folks. I know they are all feeling a huge loss 
today.
  Mike used to say there aren't many things better than being a Senator 
from Wyoming, but he used to joke that two of them are fly fishing and 
being a grandfather. Mike had a great

[[Page S5079]]

love of nature, which is easy when you live in Wyoming. Mike was an 
accomplished and avid fly fisherman. In fact, in August of 2015, he 
achieved every fly fisherman's dream. He completed something known as 
Wyoming's Cutt-Slam. This is a Wyoming Game and Fish Department 
program, which increases appreciation for our native cutthroat trout.
  Yet Mike would tell you the achievement that he was most proud of, of 
course, is family. He is survived by his wife Diana; his children Amy, 
Emily, and Brad; and his grandchildren Megan, Allison, Trey, and Lilly.
  When he retired earlier this year, Mike said: ``None of this would 
have happened without Diana. The best thing that ever happened to me,'' 
he said, is when she said she would marry him.
  Diana is a wonderful person. She used to host an annual Christmas 
cookie party here in the Senate. She did it to say thank you to all of 
those whom she called the real workers: the janitors, the cleaning 
crew, the electricians, the police officers, the food service workers, 
and her staff. Every year, Diana and her friends baked hundreds of 
dozens of cookies. My wife Bobbi often joined in the cooking of 
literally thousands of cookies of all varieties and all made with 
loving care. It was so popular around here that people used to walk up 
to Diana and Mike in the hallway and ask: When is the party?
  It had been a tremendous privilege for my wife Bobbi and me to serve 
for 13 years with Mike and Diana, representing Wyoming in the U.S. 
Senate. The people of Wyoming will always be extremely grateful--
grateful for his decades of faithful, tireless service.
  May God bless the memory of Mike Enzi. May God comfort his family 
during this extremely trying time. And may God continue to bless the 
State of Wyoming.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Wyoming.
  Mrs. LUMMIS. Mr. President, today, Wyoming mourns the loss of a 
gentle giant, Mike Enzi.
  Mike spent his life working to make Wyoming a better place while 
creating opportunities for our people. As the mayor of Gillette, a 
State legislator, or as a U.S. Senator and senior statesman, Wyoming 
had no greater champion than Mike Enzi. He always put Wyoming first and 
worked harder than anyone to serve his constituents.
  Growing up, Mike's dad would say: I don't care if he is a doctor or a 
lawyer or a ditchdigger; I just want him to be proud of what he does. 
If he is a ditchdigger, I want any darned fool to be able to look at 
that ditch and say: That is a Mike Enzi ditch.
  That creed became commonplace in Mike's Senate office.
  I will echo Mike's former chief of staff, Coy Knobel, by saying: I 
think it is a pretty good ditch.
  Mike was a soft-spoken leader, but the many legislative wins he 
delivered attest to the impact of his service. At a time of increasing 
political incivility, Mike Enzi managed to tactfully and graciously 
navigate the upper Chamber, producing results that will be felt for 
generations to come. His retirement left a hole in the Senate, and his 
death to this world leaves a hole in our State and in our hearts.
  Throughout Mike's career in the Senate, he came up with multiple 
plans to address our debt and deficit. As an accountant by training and 
trade, he knew how to balance a budget and make it through the lean 
times. He wanted to set our great Nation up for success for his 
children and his grandchildren.
  My prayers are with his wife Diana; his children Amy, Emily, and 
Brad; and his four grandchildren at this very difficult time. I know 
they are proud of the powerful legacy he leaves behind. We all are, and 
we have every right to be.
  To me, personally, he was more than just our senior Senator. I have 
known Mike since the early 1980s, and over the last 40 years, he has 
been my personal friend and, as John Barrasso said, mentor. We first 
worked together when we were both in the Wyoming State Legislature. 
Then we served together in the Wyoming State Senate. Finally, when he 
came to the U.S. Senate, I followed him a few years later to the House 
of Representatives. I always joked that I was just following him around 
like a puppy dog my whole life.
  Mike taught me about legislating, but he also taught me about life. 
He had a rock-solid faith. His faith was his guiding light. It is 
something that my late husband had, too, and I take comfort in knowing 
that Mike is peacefully at home in Heaven with his Lord and Savior. I 
am Lutheran, and in Martin ``Luther's Small Catechism,'' it says that 
Christians like Mike and me and John are redeemed so that I may be His 
own and live under Him in His Kingdom and serve Him in everlasting 
righteousness, innocence, and blessedness.
  I note that because Mike was such a servant leader. He gave his 
earthly life to public service, and as Heaven is an everlasting service 
of the Lord, I know that no one is more prepared for that than Mike. He 
was a servant leader on Earth, and I know he will be a servant leader 
in Heaven.
  I will say one last thing. Mike's unexpected death is a reminder that 
you can never say thank you to the ones you care about and appreciate 
too soon or too often. I, along with John, was blessed to be able to 
pay tribute to Mike's lasting accomplishments and impact on Wyoming 
just last week when John Barrasso and I recorded a tribute to him and 
his service to Wyoming's mining community. At this event honoring Mike 
Enzi, at which he was in attendance in his hometown of Gillette, he 
joked, he had fun, and he got to enjoy the camaraderie of the people in 
the State he loved so very much.
  I am grateful, John, that you and I got to say thank you to him one 
last time like that.
  I am heartbroken that Mike has passed away from this life. For 
selfish reasons, I will miss him terribly. He was a beloved, kind 
Member of the U.S. Senate. He was an accomplished, quiet leader. He was 
Wyoming's friend. He was my friend.
  God bless you, Mike. We will see you down the road. Happy trails.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Republican whip
  Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, before I begin, I want to join with my 
colleagues from Wyoming and my other colleagues here in the Senate and 
express my sorrow at the news received this morning that our former 
colleague Senator Mike Enzi had passed away.
  Mike was a cherished colleague and one of the finest human beings you 
will ever meet. A former Budget Committee chairman, he was, in many 
ways, the conscience of the Senate on spending issues, always reminding 
Members that Federal dollars are not unlimited and that every dollar we 
add to the debt is a burden we are placing on our children and 
grandchildren.
  One of my favorite memories of Mike happened a few years ago when he 
was a neighbor next door in the State of Wyoming. He was someone, as I 
said, for whom I had tremendous respect. He was always a gentleman. He 
had something that, I think, in politics is really rare, and that is, 
he would deal with big policy issues here in Washington, DC, but he 
always retained his common touch. He had a terrific way of connecting 
with people on a very personal level.
  I remember I was experiencing heel pain from overrunning, which, it 
turns out, was plantar fasciitis, and I happened to mention it to Mike, 
who at one time was a shoe salesman and a shoe store owner. Well, it 
isn't more than a day later or so when he comes up to me and he has a 
solution. He had some heel inserts for my shoes, which turned out to be 
just exactly one of the solutions that I needed to deal with that. That 
was very typical of Senator Enzi. He was thoughtful. He was practical, 
incredibly hard-working, and very, very smart and very, very 
principled.
  To his family--to his wife Diana, his wife of more than 50 years, and 
to his children and grandchildren--I want to say how much we will 
deeply miss him and how much we are sending our thoughts and prayers to 
them during this very, very difficult time.