Michael Bradley "Mike" Enzi (born February 1, 1944) is a United States Senator from Wyoming. Before his election to the U.S. Senate in 1996, Enzi was a businessman who at one time owned family shoe stores. He later became a politician on the state level, having served in the state legislature for more than a decade. He was reelected to the U.S. Senate in 2002 and will be up for election again in 2008.
Early life and career
Born in Bremerton, Washington, to Elmer Jacob Enzi and the former Dorothy M. Bradley,[1] Enzi grew up in Thermopolis, Wyoming after his father's return from military duty on the Pacific Coast. He attended elementary school in Thermopolis and graduated from Sheridan High School in northern Wyoming in 1962. He is an Eagle Scout and a recipient of the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award from the Boy Scouts of America.[2][3]
Enzi received a degree in accounting from George Washington University in Washington, D.C., in 1966. Enzi is also a member of the Sigma Chi Fraternity and of Alpha Kappa Psi business fraternity. He received an M.B.A. in retail marketing from the University of Denver in Colorado in 1968. The future senator served in the Wyoming Air National Guard from 1967 to 1973.[4] On June 7, 1969, Enzi married the former Diana Buckley; the couple has two daughters, Amy and Emily, and a son, Brad.
Soon after his marriage, Enzi moved to Gillette, Wyoming where he founded a small business, NZ Shoes, which later also featured locations in Sheridan and in Miles City, Montana. As a young business owner, he served as president of the Wyoming chapter of the United States Junior Chamber. Enzi was elected as mayor of Gillette in 1975 at the age of 30 and he held the position for two terms. He served until 1982, and during his tenure, the city doubled in size. From 1976 to 1979, Enzi worked with the Department of Interior on energy policy via its Coal Advisory Committee.
Enzi was elected to the Wyoming House of Representatives and served from 1987 to 1991. He was then a member of the Wyoming Senate from 1991 to 1996. While a member of the state senate, Enzi became a vocal opponent of proposals to allow legalized gambling within his state. He served as the primary spokesman of WyBett, an anti-casino group in 1994[1]. During this time period, he also worked professionally as an accountant with an oil drilling company, holding this job from 1985 to 1997. During the 1990s, he also worked as an executive director with the Black Hills Corporation, an energy holding company that owns utilities and natural gas and coal mining operations.
Senate career
Enzi was first elected to the United States Senate in 1996. He endured a tough primary challenge during his first campaign, before winning election by an eight point margin. Enzi won by a very comfortable margin in 2002. He became senior senator when his Wyoming colleague, Senator Craig L. Thomas, died on June 4, 2007. His new colleague is fellow Republican John Barrasso, a former state senator from Casper, whom Enzi, as a then state senator himself, only narrowly defeated in the 1996 Republican primary by 33%-32%.
Enzi's second term will expire in 2008 and he has announced his candidacy for a third term. His Democratic opponent will be college professor Chris Rothfuss.[5]
Committee assignments
- Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship
- Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (Ranking Member)
- Subcommittee on Children and Families (Ex-Officio)
- Subcommittee on Employment and Workplace Safety (Ex-Officio)
- Subcommittee on Retirement and Aging (Ex-Officio)
- Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs
- Subcommittee on Housing, Transportation and Community Development
- Subcommittee on Securities, Insurance and Investment
- Subcommittee on Security and International Trade and Finance
- Committee on the Budget
Political views
Enzi was ranked by National Journal as the sixth-most conservative United States senator in their March 2007 conservative/liberal rankings[2] Despite his strong support of the war, he was one of fourteen senators to vote against the Iraq Funding bill in May 2007 because he opposes the clauses of the bill which increase domestic spending.
On social issues, Enzi is strongly conservative. He opposes all types of abortion and has voted in favor of proposals that would provide restrictions on the procedure for minors, those stationed on military bases, and other groups. He has voted in favor of failed constitutional amendments that suggested banning gay marriage and flag desecration. Enzi also is a strong supporter of gun rights and is ranked very favorably by the NRA[3].
Senator Enzi supports overall taxation decreases, and he has voted for the repeal of legislation governing such things as the death tax and 'marriage penalty.' He also calls for a partial privatization of Social Security and has consistently voted against measures to expand Medicare or to enroll more children or lower class individuals in public healthcare. A strong supporter of the coal industry, Enzi also rejects alternative energy proposals and advocates ANWAR and offshore drilling. He has a somewhat mixed record on trade issues; he has voted to approve most free trade bills but has rejected CAFTA, one of the largest pieces of such legislation, and is opposed to presidential fast tracking of trade relation normalization[4].
Enzi takes a hard anti-immigration stance and has been rated highly by groups that support tighter border controls. He has voted in favor of border fence construction and against the implementation of guest worker programs. Enzi has voted to uphold the PATRIOT Act and is opposed to calls to cut down on wiretapping and to extend rights to Guantanamo Bay detainees. Enzi has also rejected calls for a timetable for military withdrawal from Iraq[5].
In 2005, Enzi became the ninth Wyoming senator to ascend to the rank of chairman on one of the 16 standing Senate committees. Enzi has been a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, since his arrival in the Senate in 1997.
Enzi’s committee led the first revisions to mine safety laws in 28 years by promoting the use of new technologies to improve mine safety and save lives. During his time as chairman of the HELP Committee 37 bills were reported out of the committee, 23 bills passed the Senate, 352 nominations were reported favorably, and 15 laws came through the committee that were signed by President Bush.
Enzi has joined Barrasso in endorsing the nomination of Richard Honaker of Rock Springs to the U.S. District Court in Cheyenne. The selection has been pending in the Senate Judiciary Committee for more than a year because of opposition from secularists and supporters of abortion access.
Electoral history
See also
Footnotes
External links
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Current members of the United States Senate |
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AL: Shelby (R), Sessions (R)
AK: Stevens (R), Murkowski (R)
AZ: McCain (R), Kyl (R)
AR: Lincoln (D), Pryor (D)
CA: Feinstein (D), Boxer (D)
CO: Allard (R), Salazar (D)
CT: Dodd (D), Lieberman (I)
DE: Biden (D), Carper (D)
FL: Nelson (D), Martinez (R)
GA: Chambliss (R), Isakson (R)
HI: Inouye (D), Akaka (D)
ID: Craig (R), Crapo (R)
IL: Durbin (D), Obama (D)
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IN: Lugar (R), Bayh (D)
IA: Grassley (R), Harkin (D)
KS: Brownback (R), Roberts (R)
KY: McConnell (R), Bunning (R)
LA: Landrieu (D), Vitter (R)
ME: Snowe (R), Collins (R)
MD: Mikulski (D), Cardin (D)
MA: Kennedy (D), Kerry (D)
MI: Levin (D), Stabenow (D)
MN: Coleman (R), Klobuchar (D)
MS: Cochran (R), Wicker (R)
MO: Bond (R), McCaskill (D)
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MT: Baucus (D), Tester (D)
NE: Hagel (R), Nelson (D)
NV: Reid (D), Ensign (R)
NH: Gregg (R), Sununu (R)
NJ: Lautenberg (D), Menendez (D)
NM: Domenici (R), Bingaman (D)
NY: Schumer (D), Clinton (D)
NC: Dole (R), Burr (R)
ND: Conrad (D), Dorgan (D)
OH: Voinovich (R), Brown (D)
OK: Inhofe (R), Coburn (R)
OR: Wyden (D), Smith (R)
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PA: Specter (R), Casey (D)
RI: Reed (D), Whitehouse (D)
SC: Graham (R), DeMint (R)
SD: Johnson (D), Thune (R)
TN: Alexander (R), Corker (R)
TX: Hutchison (R), Cornyn (R)
UT: Hatch (R), Bennett (R)
VT: Leahy (D), Sanders (I)
VA: Warner (R), Webb (D)
WA: Murray (D), Cantwell (D)
WV: Byrd (D), Rockefeller (D)
WI: Kohl (D), Feingold (D)
WY: Enzi (R), Barrasso (R)
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