labor and pensions committee and on the budget committee. over the years i've gotten to workbu with incredible staff tht have made it possible to do more than a senator by him or herself could ever do. thank you for working so hard over the years. ial want to give -- i also want to give the most thanks to my if family and all their support, especially for my wife diana. it's been a long journey since i told you, diana, that i was thinking of running for mayor. you supported me more than anyone can truely comprehend -- truly come from e hend, and in no uncertain terms, i couldn't have done it without you. it's been more than 50 amazing years together, and i am looking forward to our next adventure. mr. president, i yield the floor. [applause]

>> thank you, mr. president. i come to the floor today to pay tribute to this great wyoming leader. for nearly a quarter of a century, mike enzi has represented the people of wyoming in washington, and he's done it with intelligence, with intensity e and with integrity. the cowboy state and the capitol are going to sorely miss mike if enzi. he's truly cemented his legacy as the trusted trail boss of the wyoming congressional delegation, and it's been an incredible honor and a great privilege for my wife bobbi and me to serve the people of wyoming alongside mike and husband wife diana who is with us today. i mike is truly a devoted family man as well as a man of great and deep faith. in fact, mike taught sunday school over the decades, many in the faith community know that mike's first sunday schoolteacher was my wife

bobbi's mother, jerry brown. jerry and husband wife both passed away this year, and they had been married 70 years. he taught sunday school in wyoming, and her star pupil was mike enzi to the point that she actually gave mike enzi his first bible, and he still has that today. and here in the senate mike has been not just a close friend to me and a mentor to me, but he hasnd that to many members of this body. mike was sworn in in 1997. and throughout four terms in the united states senate, he has never wavered in his commitment to god, to family, to country and, of course, to wyoming. he's known by many as the senate's moral compass. remarkable spiritual leader, bipartisan senate prayer

breakfast. i'm a member of that group, and a number of senators are as well. we met today and mike led us in prayer. and i've seen firsthand just how much republican and democrat members depend on mike for his moral and ethical guidance. he really is a bipartisan not just policy maker, but also a peace women maker. and west virginia all -- peacemaker. we've all seen it within this body. his legislation has a long history of garnering overwhelming bipartisan support. over a hundred enzi bills have become law. i've been proud to sponsor and cosponsor many of them with him in my time inm the senate. the thing he didn't point out is most of the bills that passed pass with over 80 votes. it's rare for an enzi bill to pass with any more than 15-18 no

votes. remarkable accomplishment. and it's important to note that these bills that have been signed by republican and democrat presidents. you go into his office, husband whole conference room, the walls are filled with bills and pens signed into law with the pens being used. by bill clinton, by george or w. bush, by barack obama and by president donald trump. behind all of these, as he just talked about, that very successful 80/20 rule, a rule that he learned, well, in the wyoming state legislature. and it has worked extremely well for him here in washington as well. but such is the practical western wisdom in mike enzi. born in 1944 in bremerton, washington, his father was serving in the 2345eu68 shipyards during world war ii. moved the family to wyoming shortly thereafter, and that's when he started elementary school in they are mop lis, wyoming. they moved to sheridan where he graduated from high school.

and mike didn't talk about this today, but mike there earned his eagle scout award. he's a proud eagle scout. as is his son brad, and his grandson is working on it as well, and mike has been named a distinguished eagle by the scouts. he has a bachelor's degree in accounting from george washington university and an mba in retail marketing if the university of denver in colorado. miker and diana moved to gillete in 1969 where they started their own small business, and it's wonderful to listen to mike talk about small businesses. it's called enzi shoes. not enzi but the letter nz so people could remember it. they later expanded their successful familyde business to miles city, wyoming, to sheridan, wyoming. -- miles city, montana. but gillette is mike's true home and where husband heart is. he served two terms as mayor. during his eight years, mike

ledy e let to their first economic boom. he's also served ten years in the wyoming legislature as both a state rep as well as a state senator. wyoming is mike's world. family means the world to him. they're the t proud parents of three -- amy, emily e and brad -- and even prouder grandparentsra of four, megan, allison, treynt and lily. anyone who knows mike knows that he loves to fish. even during prayer breakfast today when he watchedded on the zoom call behind mike, a fishing rod, and you could see all the lures that he uses on display. he's accomplished and an avid fly fish orman. in august of 2015 he achieved every fly fisherman's dream by completing his wyoming cut slant. this wyoming game and fish department program increases aappreciation for our native cutthroat trout. you want to talk to mike about anything, talk to him about

fishing. his passion comes through with his love of nature for being, spending so much time in nature's cathedral of the great outdoors. he fishes in majestic spots throughout wyoming and all of the world. well, here in washington mike has been a leading voice on the budget, on tax and on health care issues. he served in the senate budget committee and as chairman since 2015. as the first accountant to chair the budget committee, mike commit to making government -- committed to making government more accountable to hard working american taxpayers. he's a tremendous budget chair. it's because he learned valuable lessons in the wyoming legislature where, like all american families, you need to balance your budget every year and live within your means. under mike's leadership, congress passed balanced budget resolutions for 2016, '17 and '18. he worked tirelessly to pass these budgets even working all night in the marathon floor

debates. his budget blueprints offered a better fiscal path by reducing wasteful spending, by lightening tax burdens and by boosting economicis growth. mike's fiscal year 2018 budget not only provided a path to balance, it paved the way for pro-growth, pro-jobs tax relief legislation. the most comprehensive reform of the tax code in over a generation. and as a reconciliation bill, this historic 2017 tax reform bill, the tax cut and jobs act, went through mike's budget committee. as budget chairman, mike was also focused on the soaring national department, on budget process reform and on oversight of federal programs. mike also served as a member of the senate health education, labor and pensions committee since husband arrival in the senate -- his arrival in the senate and as a former chairman and ranking member, he championed efforts to insure a

quality education for all. expanded access to affordable quality health care, and he spearheaded the most significant pension reform in 30 years, securing millions of americans' retirement. he's also a member of the senate finance committee, the homeland security and government affairs committee and the joint committee on taxation. other policy successes include improving moon a safety, helping end the aids epidemic in africa and passing mental health parity. mike's high priority, of course, has always been helping the people of wyoming. and he said in announcing his retirement, he says i am an advocate fore e let in campbell county and wyoming. everyone lives at the local level, no one lives at the federal level or even the state level. so 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 to boost our state, the inventers conference, the procurement conference and wyoming works tours. in 2009 mike and i started wyoming wednesdays, and it quickly became a big hit. the great tradition when people from wyoming come to washington, we greet every week and get together for coffees and times with doughnuts and friendship, and people love to attend. but mike as well as diana are a force in the senate, and diana did it again just recently. mike has called diana the most thoughtful person in the world, and that's no exaggeration. here in the senate ever year diana hostsn a christmas cookie party to thank, as they describe, the real workers that end keep the senate running; the janitors, the cleaning crews, the police officers, the food service workers. every year diana and her friends work hundreds of hours and bake hundreds of dozens of cookies. all the senate workers look forward to diana's 200 dozen

thank you event every year -- that's not 200 cookies, it's 200 dozen cookies. 9 in fact, it's not unusual for people to ask when the party is in the hallway. mike the wonderful co-host. and this year, because of coronavirus, she couldn't do all the baking, but they had the cookie festival with baked cookies. thosend that couldn't get to have -- receiveec them in locations, mike and diana walked the halls of this building and the senate office building to make sure that the guards and the custodians and the janitors and others got their christmas cookies. mike is usually a man of few words. at ahr recent prayer breakfast,e reminded everyone about the p importance of thinking before we speak. he titledim husband -- his presentation, "me and my big mouth." mouths cannot be trained, only

guarded. well, mike is a true wyoming gentleman, someone who will always be a great friend and a mentor to me, to younger people in wyoming and to everyone here in the senate. in my office there's a picture on the wall of my first day in the senate right here in 2007, being sworn in by then-vice president cheney with senator enzi along with former senator wallace standing behind. it's been a tremendous privilege to serve with mike from my very first day in the united states senate. the people of wyoming owe him an incredible debt of gratitude for his tireless and his faithful service. f mike's character, his courage and his credibility have cemented his legacy as a highly respected leader of the senate. so today so many senators are here gathering to listen to, to honor and to thank mike enzi for his decades of distinguished service to the nation.

thank you, mr. president. i yield the flo. >> mr. president? >> the democratic leader. >> mr. president, it's hard to follow those heart felt words from senator barrasso about his colleague and friend, and our colleague and friend, mike enzi, but i'm going to make a try. justst as our tribute9 to lamar alexander was a tribute to the better angels of nature as they're shown in the lives of senators, so too with mike enzi. i join my colleagues in thanking mike for his service to wyoming and to america. one of theon most frequent questions many to of us are asked is a why can't you folks t along in washington. why can't you do thing things together. i say to them, there are times when we do, and many times they're very important. when we do come together, it's because ofr people like mike who worked under his so-called 80/20

rule. we know that well, don't we? he would tell you he believed both sides -- if negotiators willing to give up the other 20%, we can actually get some things done around here. and wouldn't that be refreshing. one of those items was the marketplace fairness act. mike helped lead the fight for local bricks and mortar retailers to give them a chance to compete on equal if level playing field -- equal and level playing field with online sellers, mail companies and internet companies. and to allow the statements and localities to collect much-needed sales tax revenue. it's hard to imagine how many years mike put that into that the marketplace fairness act has given the states the option to require out of state businesses to collect taxes owed under state law the same way local businesses do. mike knew a lot about local business. as mentioned on the floor by

senator barrasso, his colleague, he was a small business owner iny e let, wyoming, running nz's shoe store. even as he went on to become mayor ofy e let at age 30, became a staff sergeant in the guard, air national state representative and a state senator, he was still always a small businessman from gillette. in 1996 when he was recovering from open heart surgery, then-senator al an simpson decided not to run for re-election. local leaders kept trying to talk mike into running when he really just wanted to have more time to hunt and fish. in the end, he ran and he won. husband career has many legislative successes using his 80/20 rule. i'll never forget the days when ted kennedy would come to the floor and talk about the compromise and the bargain he'd struck with you. i thought what a political odd couple. but the two of you did some remarkable things. poles apart in terms of

politicallo philosophy. they treated each other with respect, they had amazing successes to show for it. even when he had differing views on the t best way to resolve issues, mike enzi has shown a willingness to come to the table and discuss the areas where we can agree. in 2012 democratic senator dorgan retired. i called mike after byron had left and said could i take up byron's position in the fought for the workplace fairness act. he said, let's do it. we brought in senator lamar alexander -- that was a pretty smart move -- and then-senator heidi heitkamp who both made great contributions to our work with. it was our luck that heidi heitkamp was the petitioner in the 1992 supreme court case which made the marketplace fairness act necessary. we were an unexpected group of senators;wo two republicans, two democrats literally from all over the united states. we disagreed on some things,

sure, but we agreed that main street business needed a break and deserved fair treatment. we kept working on it with mike enzi's leadership, and in 2013 the marketplace fairness act passed the is senate overwhelmingly,ov 69 votes. unfortunately, the house of representatives once againen bre our heart and didn't act on it. we kept introducing the bill. main street businesses were still struggling existence the unfair advantage that -- against the unfair advantage. visitors to my office might have noticed a little something that's in my office, i brought it to the floor today, and wondered what this was all about. this was a gift from mike enzi after we were successful in the united states. it would w be a violation of the senate rules to blow the us whenning, but it was a gift from mike for our work together helping get the bill down the tracks of the legislative process. we were never able to get the house the take up the measure.

but in 2018ing the supreme court finally didd the right thing. in a 5-4 ruling, south dakota v. wayfair, the court closed the loophole we'd been struggling to fight and address for years. i'm proud to be part of that bipartisan coalition. in it's meant a lot. we estimate that our state has received $460 million in annual revenue by virtue of mike enzi's determination and leadership on aithe marketplace fairness fron. in this pandemic crisis, this revenue is more important than ever. mike has always been a force for fairness, a friend and a leader for whom i have have great respect. as we fight this pandemic, we should strive to abide by mike's 80/20 rule and remember that main street businesses are really hurting, and they need our help. i know mike will have more time now for fishing and hunting. i wish him and his wonderful wife diana -- and she is a wonderful person, and their grandchildren -- happiness. i look forward to reading about

the next chapter in mike enzi's life of giving and caring. prime minister, i yield the floor -- mr. president, i yield the floor. >> mr. president? >> senator from maine. >> mr. president, mike enzi and i were both sworn in to our first terms in the united states senate on january 7th, 1997. i immediately saw in the gentleman from wyoming a quiet, effective andth call leader -- and ethical leader focused not on partisan advantage, but rather, on results. results that would benefit the people who sent him to washington, and results that would benefit the american people as a whole. the nearly 24 years since then have only confirmed my initial

impression. for thefo first 14 of those yea, mike was the sole accountant in the senate. that discipline -- add discipline combined with his experience as a small business owner that has served him so ron his role as chairman of the senate budget committee. he knows how important it is to set a budget, to follow it and to control spending. his priority has always been the american taxpayer. and a as chairman of the budget committee and as a member of the senate finance committee, he has been a leader on tax issues as with. as well. he has shaped the 2017 tax reform act which has helped to boostos economic growth and the creation of more jobs.

mike's leadership style is characterized by his willingness to always search for common ground. he described today in great depth as what he he called his 80/20 rule. and anyone who has ever worked with mike enzi on any issue quickly learns about the 80/20 rule. through it he forges solutions where many others see only impasse. the key to success in moving legislation, as he told us today, to focus on the 80% of issues where agreement can be found and not waste time on the 20% where the disagreements are insurmountable. thatth rule served him well when

he sat at the helm of the senate health, education, labor and pensionsh committee along with the late senator ted kennedy. well, as mike has described today, it would be difficult to think of two individuals serving in the senate who had more different political philosophies than he and ted kennedy. and, yes, you could probably say that was true with his current ranking member of the budget committee. but together he and senator kennedy crafted dozens of laws. neither side got 100% of what they wanted. they put aside the areas of discuss agreement. for them it was -- disagreement. for them it was far more

important thathe progress was me for the american people. serving with mike on the health committee, i have seen him employ this rule over and over again to bring about real progress. he led efforts to help insure everyone can receive a quality education. he has helped provide americans with access to affordable, quality health care. he he has helped to protect workers and to foster job training opportunities. as the leader of the committee, he worked to oversee the biggest revision in pension laws in 30 years to strengthen funding rules to enhance retirement security for millions of americans. finish mike comes from a small business background. and as senator durbin just

described, he was passionate about the marketplace fairness act to enable states to collect sales and use taxes from out-of-state, online retailers. he recognized that the brick and mortar, main street businesses that provide local jobs should not be penalized. mike and i also worked together on successful legislation to improve workplace safety for postal employees and to better the american people from deceptive maulings that mimic official -- mail ifings that mimic official government documents. mr. president, senator mike enzi has compiled a long record of selfless s service as a business leader, as a member of the wyoming air national guard, as a

mayor, as a state legislator and as an involved citizen. when he announced his intention early last year to leave the senate,he he says that he has no definite plans other than finding other ways to serve. i am 100% certain that the author of the 80/20 rule will continue to contribute to husband community -- his community, his state and to our nation. and i want to wish him and his beloved wife diana all the best in the years to come. thank you, m president. >> mr. president >>g senator from rhode island. >> prime minister, i've had -- mr. presint, i've had the pleasure of working with my chairman on the budget committee on budget reform initiatives.

and i want to take this occasion to thank him for the wonderful way that he worked with me on those issues and for all of his support. and i want to make a pledge to him as well. the effort began with a lot of hearings in the budget committee to sort out how we could reform what we were doing. at the moment the budget committee is probably the most dysfunctional piece of this dysfunctional institution. and chairman enzi was determined to remedy that. and a lot of work went in at the committee level. then a bicameral committee was created to look at budget reform. primarily out of the house. and i had the opportunity to seserve on that bicameral committee. that was an opportunity that i owe to chairman enzi. he both advocated for me to his

leader that i should be on that committee, and he gave h up a st on that committee to make sure that there was a spot for me there. i hope and believe that i conducted myself in due accord with chairman enzi's wishes and principles in the course of that. we had the ability to use that but cameral -- bicameral committee process to do a test run at our budget reform. and i'm pleased to report that although the end product was never adopted between the two bodies, the product that came out of the committee included our budget reform as it was then constituted. raised our aspiration from the budget reform -- which was entirely voluntary -- to actually try to change the budget committee rules to force the process of the budget

committee into the mold of the voluntary structure. and we did good work on that, and we came to an agreement, and i'm sorry to say that its failure to p pass into law arose not from problems on the republican side of the aisle, but from problems on my side of the aisle that i was not able to yet surmount. but my pledge to you, chairman enzi, is that i will keep at it. senator blunt is here, and he hewas helpful in that regard. senator lankford, senator perdue. we have a good team along with senator kaine and senator king and myself and others on our side, senator shaheen. so this -- i are continue the work. i -- i will continue the work. i vow to you i will somehow find a way to get this done, and if i can find a way to call it the enzi reform, i will find a way to call it the enzi reform. i will long remember the relationship that we had and the good work that we did together.

i will long remember your 80/20 rule. and maybe, because i have a similar proposal in rules, maybe we'll even be able to get your phones and he can tronics -- electronics amendment passed. so thank you to you, sir, for doing what's right, doing your best and treating others as they would want to be treated. i yield the floor. >> senator from missouri. >> mr. president, i feel a little guilty as the chairman of the rules committee snding in front of the -- in between the enzi desire to get the devices on the floor, i have watched in recent weeks if you looked around on the floor, you'd assume that we'd adopted that rule. it's a pretty hard rule to enforce with all the information that senator enzi always knew was there and needed to be available in ways that we have not made it available yet. i just want to stand as a particular friend of mike enzi. we came to the congress the same time. i came to the house, he came to

the senate. he and diana and i were together on travel fairly early in that. we had an opportunity to go to lithuania as they were desperately trying to get included in nato. i think, mike, you remember driving around -- walking on that little square where people had their signs up, we want in nato. they'd beenan left behind one time, theyt didn't want to be left behind another time. but that's one of many memories i have with mike. another is just mike's incredible capacity to listen. i think without question and by plenty of evidence mike is the bestn listener in the senate. in fact, he has listening sessions in his state where what he does, shocking ily, listen. -- shockingly, is listen. his interest in taking in input from whoever wants to talk, if you can envision mike at the front of the room with his note pad talking notes on what

everybody says -- taking notes on what everybody says. and often the move from one speaker to the next is thank you, and let's hear what other people are to say. and he absorbs that in a great way. there are many times when i've come to mike in the senate and said tell me what you're thinking about this. and it's amazing -- [laughter] how much youan can learn by listening. and mike so often has a different view, a more nuanced view than others do because of that. i also thought the, mike, as you were speaking today, i know that your driver in the state is usually diana. and even describing the return from the jcs event back toy e let, i noticed who was driving. you've spent so many hours together and miles together in a state that maybe doesn't have the most people, but it sure has lots of distance. and i know it's a challenge to get home to wyoming every week

and then get to the place you live in wu, and gillette -- in wyoming and yes lit as often as you can, and that is not often possible. but what an and privilege observe with you, to spend this 24 years in the congress together and for me to get to spend the last 10 years of your senate time here in the senate with you. it's great honor, it's a great privilege. i'm trying to learn all i can about listening from the master listener who then takes all that information and actual produces, as we've heard here today, real results. thank you, mr. president. ♪ >> c-span's "washington journal," every day we take your calls live on the air of the news of the day, and we'll discuss policy issues that impact you. coming up thursday morning, a discussion on next year's 741 billion defense spending bill and then maryland democratic

congressman jamie raskin will talk about election legal challenges and white house transition. and tennessee republican congressman john rose on congress and the trump administration's pandemic response. watch c-span's "washington journal" live at season eastern thursday morning. and -- seven eastern. and be sure to join the discussion with your phone calls, facebook comments, texts and tweets. ♪ ♪ >> coming up tonight on c-span2, treasury secretary steve mnuchin and federal reserve chair jerome powell testify on the coronavirus response. then, a discussion about republican legislative priorities for the 117th congress. and lauter, the supreme court -- lauter, the supreme court oral arguments in edwards v. vanoy. >> a peaceful presidential transition of power in question,

sunday night on "q&a," historian susan shulton and eric rauschway talk about two of the most contentious presidential transitions in u.s. history. in 1861 between james buy cannon and abraham lincoln, and in 1933 between herbert hoover and franklin roosevelt. >> several southern states did not recognize the election of abraham lincoln as legitimate. they considered him a sectional president for the fact that, by and large, his support came from non-slave slates. and so -- states. is so no sooner had he been elected, then south carolina makes good with on its promise to proceed toward i seeding from the union. ..

testified on their agency's response to the coronavirus pandemic and the need for congress to provide additional relief. the house financial services committee hearing is two hours and 20 minutes. [inaudible conversations]