Michael Bradley Enzi was an American politician who served in the United States Senate from Wyoming as a member of the Republican Party from 1997 to 2021.
80 Facts About Mike Enzi
2.
Mike Enzi was the longest-serving senator from Wyoming since Francis E Warren.
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Mike Enzi was born in Bremerton, Washington, raised in Thermopolis, Wyoming, and educated at Sheridan High School, George Washington University, and the University of Denver.
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Mike Enzi served in the Air National Guard, and held positions in the American Legion Boys State, DeMolay International, and United States Junior Chamber.
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Mike Enzi was elected to the state house in the 1986 election and served until his appointment to the state senate in 1991.
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Mike Enzi was elected to the United States Senate in the 1996 election after defeating future senator John Barrasso in the Republican primary and Secretary of State Kathy Karpan in the general election.
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Mike Enzi served in the Senate until Cynthia Lummis succeeded him in the 2020 election after his retirement.
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Mike Enzi died in 2021 following injuries resulting from a bicycling accident.
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Michael Bradley Enzi was born on February 1,1944, in Bremerton, Washington, to Elmer J Enzi and Dorothy Bradley.
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Mike Enzi was raised in Thermopolis, Wyoming, and graduated from Sheridan High School in 1962.
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Mike Enzi graduated from 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.
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Mike Enzi served in the Wyoming Army National Guard from 1967 to 1973.
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Mike Enzi 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 Mike Enzi stated that his comments were misinterpreted.
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Mike Enzi was elected to serve as a city councilor in the American Legion Boys State in 1961.
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Mike Enzi was selected serve as a junior councilor in the Wyoming DeMolay International organization in 1963.
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In 1970, Mike Enzi was appointed to serve as vice-chair of the nine-member Public Health Nursing Advisory Committee in Gillette.
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Mike Enzi was elected to serve as president of the Wyoming United States Junior Chamber in 1973.
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Mike Enzi served as chair of the First Wyoming Bank-Gillette.
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Mike Enzi defeated Mayor Cliff Davis in Gillette's 1974 mayoral election after having been convinced to run by Alan Simpson and won reelection without opposition in 1978.
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Mike Enzi announced on July 7,1982, that he would not run for reelection.
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Mike Enzi filled two vacant city council seats in one month in 1976, following the resignation of Ed Geringer and Jack Babcock with Jack Edmunds replacing Geringer and Robert White replacing Babcock.
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Mike Enzi was appointed to serve on the National League of Cities' community development committee.
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Mike Enzi served as vice-president and president of the Wyoming Association of Municipalities.
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Mike Enzi was speculated as a possible candidate to replace John Ostlund in the Wyoming Senate in the 1978 election as Ostlund was running in the gubernatorial election, but he instead announced that he would run for reelection as mayor on July 17.
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Senator Kelly Mader resigned on December 9,1991, due to him having moved his family to Denver, Colorado, and starting a business there and Mike Enzi was selected to replace Mader on December 13, while David Shippy was selected to replace Mike Enzi in the state house.
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Mike Enzi faced no opposition in the Republican primary or general election in 1992.
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Mike Enzi served on the Joint Appropriations committee and served as the chair of the Revenue committee in the state senate.
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Mike Enzi 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.
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Mike Enzi announced on April 9,1996, that he would run for the Republican nomination to succeed Simpson in the United States Senate.
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Mike Enzi won a straw poll conducted at the state convention with 159 of the 457 votes.
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Mike Enzi won the Republican nomination against multiple candidates, including John Barrasso who would later be appointed to the Senate in 2007.
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Mike Enzi defeated Democratic nominee Kathy Karpan in the general election.
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On May 5,2019, Mike Enzi announced that he would not seek reelection in the 2020 election.
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Mike Enzi was the longest-serving senator from Wyoming since Francis E Warren.
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Mike Enzi served as chair of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, and Budget committees.
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Mike Enzi served as chair of the Banking Subcommittee on National Security and International Trade and Finance, and the Labor Subcommittee on Employment, Safety, and Training.
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In 1997, Mike Enzi asked to be allowed to bring his laptop onto the Senate floor as it was easier than carrying multiple briefcases, but the Senate rules prohibited all mechanical devices that could distract senators unless the Sergeant at Arms ruled that those devices were necessary and proper for the conduction of official business.
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Mike Enzi was given the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award in 1999, making him the first Wyomingite to receive the award, after being nominated by the Central Wyoming Council and the Boy Scouts of America.
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On July 23,2021, Mike Enzi broke his neck and multiple ribs in a bicycling accident near his home in Gillette.
40.
Mike Enzi opposed the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act, 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 legislation while sixty members of the Senate voted in favor of it in 2002.
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Mike Enzi returned campaign contributions given to him by Enron following their scandal.
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In 2000, Mike 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.
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Mike Enzi asked Attorney General Janet Reno to make assisted suicide illegal as the Drug Enforcement Administration had ruled.
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Mike Enzi voted against the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2006.
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Mike Enzi initially supported the Violent and Repeat Juvenile Offender Act to reduce crimes committed by juveniles, but withdrew his support stating that the legislation infringed on the Second Amendment.
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Mike Enzi was one of two senators who voted against an amendment to the Juvenile Justice Enforcement Act which prohibited juveniles from purchasing or possessing assault-style semi-automatic weapons without the consent of a parent.
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Mike Enzi was given an A rating by the National Rifle Association during the 1996 election.
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Mike 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.
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Mike Enzi supported the creation of an amendment prohibiting the desecration of the flag of the United States.
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Mike Enzi voted against an amendment to raise the minimum wage by $1 over the course of two years in 1998.
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Mike Enzi supported a ruling by the United States International Trade Commission which would allow tariffs on wheat imports from Canada.
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Mike 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.
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Mike Enzi was given a Taxpayer's Friend award by the National Taxpayers Union in their 1999 report.
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Mike 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.
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Mike Enzi opposed a ballot initiative that would allow counties in Wyoming to legalize gambling and he served as director of Wyomingites for a Better Economy Today and Tomorrow which opposed the initiative.
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Mike Enzi introduced an amendment to legislation for the United States Department of the Interior's spending in the Senate to prohibit the approving of new Native American casinos without state approval.
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The Arapaho and Shoshone tribes criticized Mike Enzi for introducing the legislation without consulting them.
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Mike Enzi later asked for Bruce Babbitt to overstep his authority as Secretary of the Interior for tribal gambling issues.
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Ron Allen, the president of the National Congress of American Indians and chair of the Klallam tribe, criticized Mike Enzi for attempting to limit the power of Native Americans to negotiate gambling contracts with the federal government.
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Mike Enzi opposed the Kyoto Protocol and he attended the conference where the participants did not agree with his the United States Senate's view on climate change.
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Mike Enzi supported drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
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Mike Enzi was given a zero percent rating from NARAL Pro-Choice America in its 1997 report.
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Mike Enzi was given a F rating by the NAACP in 2002.
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Mike Enzi cosponsored a resolution expressing support for Judge Roy Moore's attempts to have the Ten Commandments displayed in his courtroom.
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Mike Enzi wrote a letter to Treasurer Robert Rubin asking for the coin to be unveiled at Fort Washakie.
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Mike Enzi opposed the creation of federal hate crime legislation and attempts by President Clinton to expand federal hate crime legislation.
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Mike Enzi supported legislation in the state senate to declare all same-sex marriages, including those conducted outside of the state, void in Wyoming.
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Mike Enzi 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.
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Mike Enzi released a statement following the murder of Matthew Shepard in which he denounced the murder and expressed sympathy for his family, but he later voted against the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr.
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Mike Enzi supported the International Monetary Fund's bailout of South Korea during the 1997 Asian financial crisis.
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Mike Enzi opposed sending soldiers to Kosovo to participate in the Kosovo War and stated that "there was no exit plan built in".
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Mike Enzi voted to express Congressional approval for the prosecution of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during the Yugoslav Wars.
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Mike 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.
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Mike 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.
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Mike Enzi 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.
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Mike Enzi opposed the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty stating 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.
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Mike Enzi supported either amending or leaving the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty.
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Mike 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.
79.
Mike Enzi stated that the United States Congress should not become involved with Elian Gonzalez.
80.
Mike Enzi voted to convict Clinton on both articles of impeachment, but neither article received enough support to remove Clinton.