Mike Enzi

Michael Bradley Enzi ( ; February 1, 1944 – July 26, 2021) was an American politician who served in the United States Senate from Wyoming as a member of the Republican Party from 1997 to 2021. Prior to his tenure in the United States Senate he served as mayor of Gillette, Wyoming, in the Wyoming House of Representatives from Campbell County, and the Wyoming Senate from the 24th district. He was the third longest-serving U.S. Senator from Wyoming.

Enzi was born in Bremerton, Washington, raised in Thermopolis, Wyoming, and educated at Sheridan High School, George Washington University, and the University of Denver. He served in the Air National Guard, and held positions in the American Legion Boys State, DeMolay International, and United States Junior Chamber. He entered politics after being convinced by Alan Simpson to run for mayor of Gillette and defeating incumbent Mayor Cliff Davis. He was elected to the state house in the 1986 election and served until his appointment to the state senate in 1991.

Elected to the U.S. Senate in 1996, Enzi served as chair or ranking member of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, and Budget committees. He served until he declined to seek reelection in 2020, and was succeeded by Cynthia Lummis. He died in 2021 following injuries resulting from a bicycling accident.

Early life and education

Michael Bradley Enzi was born in Bremerton, Washington, on February 1, 1944, to Elmer J. Enzi (1914–1988) and Dorothy Bradley. Raised in Thermopolis, Wyoming, he graduated from Sheridan High School in 1962, George Washington University with a degree in accounting in 1966, and from the University of Denver with a Master of Business Administration in retail marketing in 1968.

Enzi was elected to as a city councilor in the American Legion Boys State in 1961, and junior councilor in the Wyoming DeMolay International organization in 1963. In 1970, Enzi was appointed to serve as vice-chair of the nine-member Public Health Nursing Advisory Committee in Gillette, and elected president of the Wyoming United States Junior Chamber in 1973.

From 1967 to 1973, Enzi served in the Wyoming Army National Guard. He was criticized by multiple people, including Wyoming Veterans of Foreign Wars Commander Bill Saunders, for attempting to equate his service in the Wyoming Army National Guard with that of those who served in the Vietnam War although Enzi stated that his comments were misinterpreted.

On June 7, 1969, Enzi married Diana Buckley, with whom he had three children, and moved to Gillette, Wyoming, a week later. Buckley and Enzi opened NZ Shoes in Gillette, and opened two other locations in Sheridan and Miles City, Montana. He was an accounting manager, computer programmer, and safety trainer at Dunbar Well Service from 1985 to 1997.

Career

Local politics

Alan Simpson convinced Enzi to run for mayor of Gillette in 1974. He defeated incumbent Mayor Cliff Davis and was reelected without opposition in 1978. Stating that he was "not a career politician", Enzi declined to seek reelection on July 7, 1982.

Two city council seats were vacated within an one month span of April to May 1976, by the resignations of Ed Geringer and Jack Babcock; Enzi filled both vacancies with Jack Edmunds and Robert White respectively. Gillette's Planning and Zoning Commission was created in 1979, and Enzi appointed six of the seven positions on the board upon its creation. Water was rationed in Gillette prior to a water pipeline being built during Enzi's tenure as mayor.

Enzi was appointed to serve on the National League of Cities' community development committee. He was vice-president and president of the Wyoming Association of Municipalities. Enzi's term as president of the Wyoming Association of Municipalities was meant to end in June 1983, but he left his mayoral office in January, causing John Nickle to serve the remainder of his term.

Wyoming Legislature

Dick Wallis, John Hines, and Enzi were elected to the three seats in the Wyoming House of Representatives from Campbell County in the 1986 election without opposition as Republicans. All three representatives won reelection in the 1988 and 1990 elections against Democratic opponents.

John Ostlund, a member of the Wyoming Senate, ran for governor rather than seek reelection in 1978. It was speculated that Enzi might run to succeed him, but he instead announced that he would run for reelection as mayor on July 17. Senator Kelly Mader resigned on December 9, 1991, due to him having moved his family to Denver, Colorado, and starting a business there. Enzi was selected to replace Mader on December 13, while David Shippy was selected to replace Enzi in the state house. Enzi faced no opposition in the Republican primary or general election in 1992.

During Enzi's tenure in the state house he served on the Education, Corporations and Elections, and Mines and Minerals committees. He served on the Joint Appropriations committee and as the chair of the Revenue committee in the state senate. He lost his position as chair of the Revenue committee and was replaced by Grant Larson in 1996, as senate rules prohibited statewide candidates from serving as chairs of committee.

United States Senate

Elections

Simpson, who was first elected to the United States Senate in 1978, announced on December 3, 1995, that he would not seek reelection in the 1996 election. Enzi announced his campaign for the Republican nomination on April 9, 1996, and defeated eight other candidates in the primary; one of those candidates was John Barrasso, who would later be appointed to the U.S. Senate in 2007. Enzi garnered support due to his opposition to abortion, while Barrasso, who had been expected to win the primary, supported abortion rights at the time. Enzi defeated Democratic nominee Kathy Karpan in the general election. During the campaign, Enzi raised $1,020,906 and spent $989,572.

On March 22, 2002, Enzi announced that he would run for reelection in the 2002 election. Dick Bratton served as his campaign chair. Enzi defeated Crosby Allen, a county commissioner from Fremont County, in the Republican primary and Democratic nominee Joyce Corcoran, the mayor of Lander, Wyoming, in the general election. During the 2002 election Enzi raised $1,443,925 and spent $1,130,628 compared to the $8,488 raised and $8,467 spent by Corcoran. In the 2008 election he raised $2,369,093 and spent $2,129,834 in order to defeat Democratic nominee Chris Rothfuss, who raised $32,326 and spent $27,258.

Liz Cheney initially opposed Enzi in the Republican primary during the 2014 election, but polling showed that Enzi would defeat her. Cheney dropped out of the race, citing family health concerns. Enzi defeated Democratic nominee Charlie Hardy and independent candidate Curt Gottshall in the election after raising $3,777,045 and spending $3,491,953 compared to the $91,678 and $76,631 raised and $88,284 and $76,431 spent by Hardy and Gottshall respectively. On May 5, 2019, Enzi announced that he would not seek reelection in the 2020 election. and Cynthia Lummis was elected to succeed him. Enzi's tenure of 23 years made him the third longest-serving senator from Wyoming behind Francis E. Warren's 37 years and Joseph C. O'Mahoney's 25 years.

Tenure

In 1997, Enzi asked the parliamentarian if he could bring his laptop onto the floor of the U.S. Senate and was told to ask Sergeant at Arms Gregory S. Casey. Casey told Enzi that the rules only allowed "mechanical devices" that were deemed "necessary and proper", but that he could not determine what met that criteria without guidance from the U.S. Senate. The Rules and Administration committee requested Casey to write a report. Casey conducted a three-month study and determined that that the rules allowed members to use laptops on the floor, but not if they were connected to an outside network. John Warner, the chair of the Rules committee, sent the report to all 100 senators for consideration in September. Robert Byrd was opposed stating that the sound of typing would be irritating. Robert Torricelli, Dianne Feinstein, and Kay Bailey Hutchison also opposed allowing laptops onto the floor. On November 5, the Rules committee voted against allowing Enzi to bring his laptop onto the floor, Rick Santorum was the only member that voted to allow laptops onto the floor. As of 2018, all personal electronic devices are still prohibited from the floor.

Following Trent Lott's resignation Enzi lobbied for Bill Frist to become Senate Majority Leader. The Central Wyoming Council and the Boy Scouts of America nominated Enzi for the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award, which was given to him in 1999; Enzi was the first Wyomingite to receive the award. The Air Force Association awarded the Stuart Symington award, given for outstanding civilian contribution in the field of national security and the organization's highest civilian award, to Enzi and U.S. Representative Cliff Stearns for co-founding the Congressional Air Force Caucus. The Golden Gavel Award, which is given to those who preside over the U.S. Senate for 100 hours in a single session, was given to Enzi in 1997 and 2004.

During the impeachment trial of President Bill Clinton, Enzi voted against calling Monica Lewinsky to testify. He voted to convict Clinton on both articles of impeachment, but neither article received enough support to remove Clinton. Enzi voted against convicting Donald Trump on both articles of impeachment in his first impeachment trial. The nominations of John Roberts, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court of the United States were supported by Enzi. He voted against Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan's nominations.

Heritage Action gave Enzi a lifetime score of 74%, Conservative Political Action Conference gave him a lifetime score of 91.10%, and Americans for Democratic Action gave him a score of 5% in 2020.

Committees

During Enzi's tenure in the U.S. Senate he served on the Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, and Labor and Human Resources committees. Enzi became the chair of the Employment and Workplace Safety, and Banking subcommittees following the defeat of several Republicans in the 1998 elections. He became chair of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee in 2004, and the Budget committee in 2015. He was the first accountant to chair the Budget committee.

Jim Jeffords was replaced on the Finance committee by Thomas after Jeffords left the Republicans to become an independent. Thomas, who was on the Foreign Relations committee, was replaced by Enzi. Thomas's death and Lott's resignation in 2007 opened seats on the Finance committee that Enzi sought, but John Ensign and John E. Sununu were given the seats instead. Sununu lost reelection in 2008 and Enzi was given a seat on the Finance committee in 2009.

Death

On July 23, 2021, Enzi broke his neck and multiple ribs in a bicycling accident near his home in Gillette. He was flown to Medical Center of the Rockies in Loveland, Colorado, where he died on July 26.

Political positions

Campaign finance

Opposed to the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act, Enzi voted to sustain a filibuster against it stating that it violated the First Amendment rights of interest groups to contribute money in 1997 and 1998, and voted against the it in 2002. He returned $3,500 in campaign contributions given to him by Enron following their scandal, but kept the $10,000 given to him by Ted Stevens following his corruption indictment.

Coinage

Enzi led the effort to create the Sacagawea dollar to honor Sacagawea and replace the Susan B. Anthony dollar despite other members of the U.S. Senate who wanted the coin to depict the Statue of Liberty, Clara Barton, Shirley Chisholm, Rosa Parks, Pocahontas, or another figure. Enzi wrote a letter to Treasurer Robert Rubin asking for the coin to be unveiled at Fort Washakie. The Sacagawea coin was made the official state coin of Wyoming in 2005. He supported the dollar coin and wanted to eliminate the penny.

Crime and guns

John Perry and Enzi cosponsored legislation in 1986, which would the assault and battery of people above the age of 65 a high misdemeanor. He supported the use of capital punishment. The Drug Enforcement Administration ruled that it was illegal to use controlled substances for assisted suicide and Enzi requested Attorney General Janet Reno to make comments against assisted suicide as he was "concerned that the proponents of assisted suicide could interpret her silence on the matter as an approval". He voted against the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2006.

The NRA Political Victory Fund gave Enzi "A" ratings in 1996, and 2014. Enzi initially supported the Violent and Repeat Juvenile Offender Act, which aimed to reduce crimes committed by juveniles, but withdrew his support stating that the legislation infringed on the Second Amendment. Enzi voted against amendments to the Juvenile Justice Enforcement Act that would require background checks for firearms sales at gun shows and flea markets, regulate the transfer of firearms through the internet, and banning the importation of high capacity ammunition magazines; he was one of two senators that voted against an amendment to prohibit juveniles from purchasing or possessing assault-style semi-automatic weapons without the consent of a parent Enzi introduced legislation in 2001, which would have required law enforcement to destroy the records created by the Federal Bureau of Investigation of people who passed a background check for a gun purchase.

Enzi supported the creation of an amendment prohibiting the desecration of the flag of the United States. Enzi voted in favor of the flag desecration amendment in 2000 and 2006, but it failed to receive a two-thirds majority both times.

Economics

In 1994, the state senate voted 29 to 1, with Enzi as the sole vote against, in favor of placing a moratorium on the sale of state land. Enzi was given a Taxpayer's Friend award by the National Taxpayers Union in their 1999 report. Enzi opposed the estate tax and criticized Clinton for vetoing legislation to phase out the estate tax at the federal level over the course of ten years. Enzi supported the International Monetary Fund's bailout of South Korea during the 1997 Asian financial crisis.

Enzi voted against an amendment to raise the minimum wage by $1 over the course of two years in 1998, and against raising the minimum wage from $7.25 to $10.10 an hour in 2014. In 2006, he proposed a two-staged minimum wage increase of $1.10 over the course of 18 months as an alternative to a minimum wage increase proposed by Ted Kennedy.

24 U.S. Senators, including Enzi, wrote a letter to Clinton in 1999, asking him to implement tariffs to protect lamb production in the United States. He supported a 2002 ruling by the United States International Trade Commission which would allow tariffs on wheat imports from Canada. 16 Republican senators, including Enzi, cosponsored legislation in 2018, that would suspend the 22% tariff on newsprint from Canada.

Enzi supported the creation of a balanced budget amendment and stated that without the amendment the president could use "smoke and mirrors" to circumvent requirements for a balanced budget. He voted against the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. In 2011, he introduced legislation to change the creation of the United States federal budget from an annual basis to biennial.

Enzi opposed a ballot initiative in 1994, that would allow counties in Wyoming to legalize gambling and was director of Wyomingites for a Better Economy Today and Tomorrow, which opposed the initiative. In 1997, Enzi introduced an amendment to legislation for the United States Department of the Interior's spending that would prohibit approving new Native American casinos without state approval; the Arapaho and Shoshone tribes criticized Enzi for proposing this without consulting them. Ron Allen, the president of the National Congress of American Indians and chair of the Klallam tribe, criticized Enzi for attempting to limit the power of Native Americans to negotiate gambling contracts with the federal government.

Environment

The Public Interest Research Group gave Enzi a 0% rating for votes on environmental legislation conducted between March 1997 and March 1998. Byrd and Enzi cosponsored a resolution, made in response to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, calling for Clinton to not sign global climate agreements if they harmed the interests of the United States or if they failed to include developing nations. Enzi opposed the Kyoto Protocol. He supported drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

Equality

The NAACP gave Enzi a F rating in 2002. He opposed the creation of federal hate crime legislation and attempts by Clinton to expand federal hate crime legislation. Enzi denounced the murder of Matthew Shepard and expressed sympathy for his family, but voted against the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act.

Legislation in the Wyoming state senate which would declare all same-sex marriages in the United States invalid in Wyoming was supported by Enzi. He supported the Boy Scouts exclusion of gay scouts and leaders and supported legislation to end federal aid to schools which prohibited the Boy Scouts due to their refusal to admit gay members. Enzi supported Santorum's comments on ''Lawrence v. Texas'' in which Santorum stated that sodomy laws should be upheld stating that allowing sodomy would give people the right to incest, bigamy, and adultery. In 2004, Enzi voted in favor of the Federal Marriage Amendment, which would prohibit gay marriage.

Enzi was given a zero percent rating from NARAL Pro-Choice America in its 1997 report. 39 senators and 168 representatives, including Enzi, signed amicus brief in 2020, calling for the Supreme Court to overturn '' Roe v. Wade''.

Enzi cosponsored a resolution expressing support for Judge Roy Moore's attempts to have the Ten Commandments displayed in his courtroom.

Foreign policy

Enzi opposed sending soldiers to Kosovo to participate in the Kosovo War and stated that "there was no exit plan built in". Enzi voted to express Congressional approval for the prosecution of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during the Yugoslav Wars.

Enzi supported legislation to end the blockade on food and medicine sales and donations to Cuba in 1998, and later asked Bush to lift restrictions on selling American food and medicine to Cuba. Enzi stated that the United States Congress should not become involved with Elián González. In 2003, he and Senator Max Baucus called for travel restrictions to Cuba to be lifted. He and Senator Byron Dorgan introduced the Freedom to Travel to Cuba Act with other Democratic and Republican senators to allow Americans to travel to Cuba in 2009, and supported other legislation to allow Americans to travel to Cuba.

Enzi voted in favor of the Authorization for Use of Military Force of 2001 and the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002. Enzi praised Bush's 2003 State of the Union Address stating that he had made solid arguments against Iraq's weapons of mass destruction and the need to disarm Iraq and later stated that Saddam Hussein must be overthrown to disarm Iraq. In 2003, he stated that he still believed that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction despite no weapons of mass destruction being discovered following the invasion of Iraq. The withdrawal of United States troops from Iraq was opposed by Enzi. Questioning what objectives would be achieved or interested served, Enzi opposed giving Barack Obama authorization to order military strikes against Ba'athist Syria.

The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty was opposed by Enzi, who stated that the United States needed to test its nuclear weapons as one-third of the nuclear weapons were detected to have flaws from 1945 to 1992. He supported either amending or leaving the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty. Enzi was among the 47 Republican members of the U.S. Senate that signed a letter to the leaders of the Islamic Republic of Iran stating that the nuclear deal between Iran and the United States could be undone by a future president.

Returning the Balangiga bells, which were taken as war trophies during the Philippine–American War, to the Philippines was opposed by Enzi.

Healthcare

In 2000, Enzi asked Senator William Roth, the chair of the Finance Committee, to implement geographic equity for Medicare spending in order to give money to rural healthcare. Enzi voted in favor of the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act. An opponent of the Affordable Care Act, he voted against it in 2009, and in favor of repealing it in 2015.

Electoral history

References

Works cited

Election reports

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External links

Michael B. Enzi papers
at the American Heritage Center

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Enzi statement on the impeachment trial of Bill Clinton

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