[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 5]
[Senate]
[Page 6381]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




              COMMUNICATION FROM THE HONORABLE JOHN ENSIGN

  Mr. REID. I understand, Mr. President, you are going to make a report 
to the Senate.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Chair lays before the Senate a 
communication regarding the resignation of Senator Ensign.
  Without objection, the letter will be printed in the Record and 
spread upon the Journal.
  The letter is as follows:

                                                  U.S. Senate,

                                   Washington, DC, April 22, 2011.
     Vice President Joe Biden,
     The White House, Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Washington, DC.
       Dear Mr. Vice President: I am writing to submit my 
     resignation from the United States Senate, effective close of 
     business May 3, 2011. The short time before I leave is 
     necessary to ensure the smooth transition of my office and to 
     assist the dedicated people who work in the office the time 
     to arrange their next positions.
       The decision to leave the Senate before my term has expired 
     is the most difficult decision I have had to make in public 
     life. I am immensely proud and honored to have served the 
     people of Nevada for more than 10 years. I do not easily or 
     lightly forego the obligation to fulfill the term to which I 
     was elected. However, as my colleagues, friends, and 
     constituents know, my family, my staff and I have gone 
     through an emotional, personal and professional rollercoaster 
     of inquiries by the Department of Justice, the Federal 
     Election Commission, and the Senate Ethics Committee. These 
     inquiries have been time-consuming and distracting to 
     everyone involved and, not unimportantly to me, have been 
     financially very costly.
       I am gratified that, after extended investigations, both 
     the Department of Justice and the Federal Election Commission 
     saw no grounds on which to charge me with improper conduct. I 
     was hopeful that, with the closure of these investigations 
     against me the wear and tear on me and on my family and staff 
     would soon be over. That was not the case.
       As is its right, the Senate Ethics Committee is continuing 
     its investigation of issues into which it has been inquiring 
     for the past year and a half. Indeed, the Committee even 
     decided recently to devote more resources to its 
     investigation by hiring an outside special counsel, even 
     though the issues have been viewed and reviewed by so many 
     others.
       I firmly believe that I have not violated any law, rule, or 
     standard of conduct of the Senate. But even to prove this 
     publicly I will not subject my family, my staff, my 
     constituents, or the Senate to any further rounds of 
     investigation, depositions, drawn out proceedings, or, 
     especially, potential public hearings. For my family, my 
     staff and me, the continuing personal cost would simply be 
     too great. For my constituents, for the Senate, and for my 
     colleagues and friends in this great institution, they should 
     not have to endure any further distraction from the many, 
     many critical issues on America's agenda. Not another day of 
     effort should be spent on my case when we face the pressing 
     issues of the National debt, tax reform, the next budget, and 
     military conflicts in so many places in the world.
       Therefore, with the greatest personal sadness and 
     reluctance, I am taking this step of resignation to allow my 
     family and me finally to move on and so that the Senate, in 
     the months to come, may attend fully to the crucial business 
     of the Nation. I cannot thank all my colleagues and 
     constituents enough for the honor of serving and of 
     contributing whatever I have been able to contribute to this 
     body and to the people of the State of Nevada and of the 
     United States of America.
           Sincerely,
                                                      John Ensign,
     United States Senator.

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