Click here to watch Sen. Barrasso’s remarks.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) delivered the following remarks regarding the passing of his friend and former U.S. Senator Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.).
Excerpts of Senator Barrasso’s remarks:
“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’re very grateful for the kind comments of the Minority Leader, Senator McConnell, the 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 of the state of Wyoming and all of his friends and admirers here in the United States 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 United States Senate.
“And 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 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’s where his father was stationed.
“After the war, the family moved back to Thermopolis, Wyoming, my wife’s hometown, and then to Sheridan, Wyoming.
“As all of us know, Mike was an Eagle Scout. So was 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, he 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 served six years as a tech sergeant.
“In 1969, Mike and Diana were married. A week later, one week later they moved to Gillette and they opened a small business known as NZ Shoes. Enzi like his name with the letter N and the letter Z.
“The little business wasn’t that little for long. He opened a second store in Sheridan and then one in Miles City, Montana.
“Mike ran for mayor of Gillette, served two four-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 ten 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 health care 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 and live within our means, and so should America.
“Under Mike’s leadership, Congress passed three consecutive balanced budget resolutions.
“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 Pension Committee in the Senate. As chairman, he spearheaded the most significant pension reform in 30 years.
“Mike’s legacy in the United States Senate also includes 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 Inventor’s 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 doughnuts, and for fellowship. We’re 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, Wyoming, and his teacher was my wife, Bobbi’s mother, Geraldine Brown. And 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.
“In my first day in the Senate, Mike gave me this book. It’s called ‘One Quiet Moment’ and it’s a daily prayer devotional.
“This is how he inscribed it in 2007. He said, ‘John, here is a book that has helped me through 11 years of the Senate.’ He said ‘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 2007.
“So the message of the day provides strength, so let us turn to July 27, today. And the message is from Philippians, and the message is three words: ‘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 and 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 it 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% of the priorities. Mike Enzi would then focus on that 80% on which they agreed, and he would leave out the 20% 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 of the United States – two Republicans and two Democrats. And 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, D.C. He said it was the people that he would miss the most.
“Mike had a dedicated, hardworking 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, and 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, two of them are fly fishing and being a grandfather.
“Mike had a great love of nature, which is easy when you live in Wyoming. Mike was an accomplished and an 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 was, of course, his family. He is survived by his wife Diana, his children Amy, Emily, and Brad, and his grandchildren, Megan and 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 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.
“Literally thousands of cookies, 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’s the party?
“It’s been a tremendous privilege for my wife Bobbi and me to serve for 13 years with Mike and Diana representing Wyoming in the United States Senate.
“The people of Wyoming will always be extremely 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.”
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