[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 131 (Tuesday, July 27, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5112-S5114]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         REMEMBERING MIKE ENZI

  Mr. INHOFE. Mr. President, let me thank my friend for recognizing me 
for something that I consider to be and that he considers to be and the 
rest of the Senate considers to be very significant.
  Our hearts are very heavy today because, like so many of my 
colleagues, I am mourning the death of my dearest friend, Senator Mike 
Enzi of Wyoming. I say ``dearest friend'' because he is.
  Mike Enzi was the quiet leader in the Senate. There aren't too many 
quiet leaders in the Senate. And when he talked, everyone listened, and 
that is a rare quality in a Senator. He was humble.
  Now, other than his humility, we had a lot in common. We were both 
businessmen before getting into politics, and we had that in common. We 
were both mayors of major cities. We had that in common. We were 
elected to the Senate within just about the same time. Just a very 
short time after the first, the second came along. So we had a lot in 
common.
  Something people might not know about Mike is that he had a heart for 
the downtrodden. He helped people that no one else helped. I mean, that 
is unusual. And the thing is, nobody knew that, just a handful of 
people who were with him.
  One of the places where I spent a lot of time with him, as a couple 
of other Members, John Boozman from Arkansas and Mike Rounds from South 
Dakota, and others--we were with him in some of these places where no 
one else really knew what he was doing. Some people might not know 
about Mike that he had a heart for the downtrodden, to help people that 
no one else would help.
  And I spent this morning reminiscing with friends of mine from all 
over the world who were calling up. Most of them are in different time 
zones, and they found out about Mike's death later on. And that put us 
in a position where we were talking to old friends that Mike and we had 
in common, and that happened most of the night. And the stories came 
from all over the world.
  I think, over the coming days and weeks, America is going to learn a 
lot more about Mike Enzi. The only reason they never knew it before was 
because he was humble, but you will see that he had a hidden impact on 
people. He had an impact on people that resonated for long periods of 
time, for years. He deserved enormous credit for his lifetime of 
service but accepted none.
  We both have a heart for Africa and traveled there often, whether to 
promote our work that we were doing officially or the great 
partnerships, or for Mike to see the implementation of PEPFAR.
  And I say this because, if you were to single out one bill that 
helped more people than any other bill, likely, arguably, in the U.S. 
Senate, it would be PEPFAR. You know, Mike was the leading architect of 
PEPFAR when AIDS was running rage across the globe.
  We all remember that. Everywhere we looked, the people were 
contracted with AIDS, especially in underserved places like Africa, and 
it was time for the United States to step up. President George W. Bush 
was committed to whatever funds it might require.
  Keep in mind that this, arguably, was the most significant, 
heartwarming thing that had ever happened in the Senate. So George W. 
Bush said: We will come with any funds that might be required.
  The job of the Senate was to structure the way the money was to be 
spent, but we needed someone to lead it. And that was what the 
President at that time said.
  Well, the majority leader at that time--at that time, the Republicans 
were in the majority. So we had the majority leader in the Senate at 
that time, who was Dr. Bill Frist of Tennessee. We remember him, the 
fine job that he did.
  I remember him looking over at the assembled Members of our caucus 
and thinking--because he told me this afterwards--he was thinking: 
Millions of lives are at stake. Who do I entrust with this job? 
Millions of lives are at stake. Who do I entrust with this job? His 
answer was: Mike Enzi, the shoe salesman from Gillette.

  That bill, PEPFAR, is one of the greatest, most generous, most 
effective bills passed in my lifetime and the most significant piece of 
legislation ever for the continent of Africa. It was Mike Enzi's skill, 
toughness, compassion, and determination that got it done and kept it 
on track for a decade.

[[Page S5113]]

Millions of lives have been saved. Millions of lives have been saved as 
a result of that one mission of Mike Enzi.
  Mike had a story he would tell about his approach to tough problems. 
I have heard this probably 50 times over the years, but I still wish I 
could hear it and hear him tell it one more time. I will try to do it 
justice.
  Mike was in South Africa. By the way, this thing that happened to him 
down there was something that changed his whole mission of prayer. He 
was with Paul. I can't tell you what Paul's last name was. Mike 
couldn't tell us what Paul's last name was. But he was a leader in 
South Africa. On one of his first visits, Mike asked Paul what he could 
do for him. Paul asked Mike to pray, and Mike said he would pray for 
solutions.
  The way Mike told it, Paul leapt up and slammed his fist on the table 
and exclaimed: No. He said: We pray for people, and then the issues 
will solve themselves. Pray for the people.
  See, this is what changed his whole prayer behavior until his death. 
Mike took that to heart and truly lived it. He kept the people as his 
focus, knowing that by doing so, the solutions would follow. Throughout 
his trips, he was always there. He was always there. When we couldn't 
find Mike, he would be with the kids, with kids who had problems.
  In Tanzania, one of the--the first call I got this morning was from 
Lazaro. He is from Tanzania. He was first to express his condolences 
about Mike.
  Then the second call that I got--the first call was from the Congo. 
They started a prayer breakfast there, where he brought together 
political enemies, and that is still going on. So Mike had started a 
prayer breakfast in the Republic of the Congo, in a place where it is 
still going on today.
  Uganda--another one. He went up to northern Uganda. We were together 
at that time. We went with him to see the devastation of Joseph Kony 
and the LRA. The people in this Chamber know about the LRA, the Lord's 
Resistance Army. And it was Joseph Kony. Remember Joseph Kony? He would 
be the guy who would go and take the kids out of the villages and teach 
them to shoot and kill people. I am talking about 10-year-old kids, 11-
year-old kids. If they didn't learn, they had to go back to their 
village and murder their parents. It was something that went on for a 
long period of time.
  This is Mike. Both of them were here in both of these pictures. The 
top one is that area in northern Uganda where all that was taking 
place, where Joseph Kony was going through these horrible things
  Diana was there. Diana is with one of the nuns who was there at that 
time.
  The next picture down there--where is that one? That is also Uganda. 
Yes, that was also Uganda. Those little kids were nearing the age where 
they would be captured and sent, and he was able to stop that.
  Ethiopia, Yetabon. Yetabon was a place where we had a loved one, 
someone we really cared a lot for. She did so much for poor people. 
Yetabon was a place where they would go up and teach people, this very 
charitable group did.
  We used to call Mike the socks and shoes man. He was a shoe salesman. 
That is how he started out, as a shoe salesman. He somehow got a hold 
of more shoes and soccer balls to take to places in needy areas, 
primarily in Africa. So that is where we spent time with him.
  Rwanda. The next picture you have--this has the President of Rwanda 
and his wife Jeannette, and here is Jeannette down here with his wife. 
It was something that we all loved. In fact, we had the wives there, 
four Members of the Senate, who were there with us at that time. This 
is more of the things we just did together.
  In Kenya, a very similar thing happened.
  This is another thing that is taking place today. In Kenya, we went 
to the National Prayer Breakfast. That was 6 or 7 years ago. We were 
there, and we had played a part in that National Prayer Breakfast. But 
at the time, there had been a guy named Kenyatta, who was President of 
Kenya, and Odinga. Odinga and Kenyatta were bitter enemies, and they 
talked about killing each other. They actually tried several times. But 
Mike made a statement there, with 4,000 witnesses in Kenya, and told a 
story about love and how these people had loved these two members when 
their Parliaments were together many years ago, that they loved each 
other, and invited them to come up and to embrace, and they did that. 
That was between two groups of people headed up by Kenyatta and Odinga, 
and they became, right at that point, friends for life. Today, they are 
still friends. Kenyatta is retiring, and Odinga most likely will be 
elected to be his successor. Now, that was years ago when that 
happened.
  Western Sahara. Right now, we are fighting this thing. We are very 
much on the side of the Western Sahara in the fight.
  The picture you are looking at, I think, is a picture of President 
Ghali. President Ghali, yes. Wherever we went, we would also see--Mike 
would disappear. These are the only two he could find in that area who 
were from his State. But nonetheless, there he is with the leader, the 
President of that country.
  John Kufuor--the same thing happened. John Kufuor--it is kind of 
funny because if you go to Ghana--and not to be confused with Uganda--
but in Ghana, it is funny because there are more people there, more 
Jesus people there than anywhere else. So he named a stand--to help 
some people there, he called it Jesus for Jesus. That was Mike Enzi.
  Malawi. He started a prayer group in Malawi. The young 
parliamentarians on this early visit--Lazarus was one of the original 
members and is now President of Malawi. Now, we are getting a bit old 
now, but this happened a long time ago. He was close with him, and that 
is another call that we got early this morning.
  There are probably half a dozen other countries in Africa we visited 
together and a dozen or so outside of the continent. No matter how 
difficult the trip was, whether he was getting left in Kosovo, which 
actually happened--he was with a bunch of kids in Kosovo, and we 
miscounted our passengers and left him in Kosovo and had to go back and 
get him. But no matter how difficult the trip was by the codel, leading 
to a new term called ``getting Enzi'd''--so that is a new term that we 
use here in the U.S. Senate. If you are late someplace and you get left 
alone, you are ``getting Enzi'd''; or in Uganda when the ceiling in his 
hotel room fell on him when he was sleeping. He was always there no 
matter how tough things were.
  It was more than the policy for Mike; he also loved people--I mean 
all people. We couldn't go anywhere without him packing hundreds of 
soccer balls and shoes to give away to kids.
  Now, how it happened, soccer balls and shoes--I don't know how many 
thousands of soccer balls and shoes that he had distributed to these 
kids, but one thing they all had in common: They were all barefoot when 
they started.
  One of the things that we attributed to him because it was one of his 
favorite proverbs, Proverbs 31:8-9--this actually is not by Solomon; 
this is by someone a lot of people haven't heard of. It was King 
Lemuel. ``Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the 
rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the 
rights of the poor and needy.'' That was the impact that Mike had on 
everyone.
  He and Diana also regularly hosted parties for Capitol staff. This is 
kind of interesting because we are used to parties around here. There 
are lots of parties to go to. Every night, there are parties and all 
that, but not Mike's parties. Mike's parties were for the people, for 
the staff. They were for the people you didn't see every day. You would 
see them every day, but you would never give appreciation to them: the 
cleaning staff, food service, electricians, and others. These are the 
people he invited, and he and his wife would do together, would hold 
these parties for them. Diana enjoyed it just as much as Mike did. He 
loved those parties.
  He also loved talking about how, during one of them, he was talking 
to an electrician in the Capitol, some guy who was working as an 
electrician in the Capitol, who kept the place going every day--we 
understand that--and then the man turned to him after they had talked 
for a long period of time. Mike had asked him what an electrician does 
around the Capitol and all

[[Page S5114]]

that. When he got all through, he looked at Mike and said: Well, Mike, 
what do you do? So that was Mike. He never wanted attention from 
anyone. He always laughed about that story. That was good
  Now, we are talking today about how much of a team Mike and Diana 
were and how well they complemented each other. She was saying how much 
fun they were to be with because they truly enjoyed everything that 
they did. As Kay put it--my wife--she said: They both looked for ways 
to help people. While Mike was steadfast and intentional, Diana was a 
whirlwind of energy that brought the vision to life.
  You know, Kay and Mike were also both members of the Zipper Club--I 
bet you guys don't know what the Zipper Club was--because they both had 
their heart valves replaced about the same time. My wife used a cow 
valve, and Mike used a mechanical valve. Diana would always tell Kay 
that she could hear Mike's valve rattling at night. So Kay always told 
him that he should have had it done with a cow valve.
  You know, these are very important subjects we are talking about 
here. But they are things that make memories. That is really who he is 
and who he was.
  Mike never missed our weekly Senate Prayer Breakfasts, where he was a 
leader for many years. He even had a card with all 100 Senators--that 
is all the Senators who are here in this room right now--all 100 
Senators, and he divided 100 Senators up into 5 groups. So he would 
pray for 20 Senators each day.
  One time when he was leading the Prayer Breakfast, he invited King 
Abdullah from Jordan to join us. In fact, King Abdullah was here last 
week, and I shared this story with him because he was always a little 
nervous about what he was going to say. The Lord gave him a verse, and 
it was an excellent example of prayer uniting those different faiths. 
We are talking about the Muslims and Mike Enzi. So King Abdullah paid 
homage to him, saying he should have been there again.
  Even after he retired from the Senate, he joined us every week and 
virtually for prayer and discussion and fellowship. Tomorrow's 
breakfast will not be the same because he retired from the Senate just 
a few months ago, but he attended every one of our Prayer Breakfasts 
virtually. So, as Mike Rounds said, I got to know Mike on a deeper 
level each week. But more than anything else, bigger than any other 
accomplishment, was Mike's love for his family.
  Mike was utterly devoted to his family for more than 50 years: Diana; 
the three children, Amy, Emily, and Brad; and their grandchildren. Come 
to think of it, Mike's favorite topics were Jesus, the family, and 
fishing.
  Now, you might think that trout fishing wouldn't be anyone's favorite 
thing to do if they are a Member of the Senate. But he would travel 
around. There is not a lot of people but a lot of land in Wyoming. One 
of the problems he would have, his staff would tell me, was that they 
would line up something he was supposed to be doing in another part of 
the State, but he would go across the creek someplace, and he would get 
out and, if he was catching fish, he would completely forget about 
where he was going to go. And the staffs don't enjoy that type of 
thing.
  Nonetheless, that is what he did. He knew how to fly-fish. In fact, 
one of the things we were anticipating from Mike and Diana was that Kay 
and I spent a lot of time--people don't realize that in the State of 
Oklahoma we have more miles of freshwater shoreline than in any of the 
50 States. Do you believe that? Yes, it is true. Nonetheless, he loved 
to fish.
  One of the things they were going to do when they retired, Mike and 
Diana, was that they were planning to travel Route 66 and go all the 
way across. Well, the cabin we have in Lake Texoma, OK, is right on 
Route 66. So they were planning to come and join us.
  Kay and I join the entire Enzi family together in their grief and in 
celebrating the remarkable life of a true servant leader, Mike Enzi. 
And all we say is: Mike, we will see you soon.
  I yield the floor.

                          ____________________