Michael B. Enzi was sworn in as Wyoming's 20th United States Senator on January 7, 1997. Since that time he has cast votes and worked on some of the most pivotal and historic issues of our time including resolutions authorizing the use of military force in the Middle East, the impeachment of a President, dramatic overhaul of the Medicare system, innovative educational reform and legislation connected to September 11, 2001, the date of the most brutal terrorist attack on American soil.

At the start of the 109th Congress 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. In his role as Chairman, Enzi will lead the Senate in its efforts to help ensure that everyone, no matter their age, can receive a quality education. Enzi will work to help provide Americans access to affordable, quality health care while protecting workers and providing them training to get the best jobs. Enzi will also work to oversee the security of pensions. Enzi has been a quiet leader moving the U.S. forward in its battle against AIDS on the world front. He continues efforts to open Cuba up to travel, trade and most importantly new ideas.

Enzi helped author the reauthorization of the Workforce Investment Act which creates a streamlined job training and employment system vital to employers and workers. He formed the Rural Education Caucus and strives to ensure the unique challenges small population schools face are not overlooked in federal education legislation. He was one of only two Congressional representatives to the U.N. General Assembly in the 108th Congress. He has authored innovative legislation that would reinvent our medical justice system.

Enzi is the Senate's only accountant by profession and he serves with distinction on the Senate Banking Committee. It does not bear his name, but there is a large part of Enzi in the Sarbanes-Oxley bill, bipartisan legislation that continues to have a greater impact on corporate behavior and financial reporting than any legislation of the recent past. There are provisions in the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act authored by Enzi regarding financial literacy and identity theft that will have a profound positive effect on many Americans.

His addition to the Senate Budget Committee has contributed to a more punctual and fiscally responsible federal spending blueprint the past few years and he continues to press for a balanced federal budget and payment of our national debt.

Enzi has stood beside the independent ranchers and farmers of our nation during times of drought, disease, foreign competition, industry concentration and predator infestation, sponsoring bills taking on captive supply problems, country of origin labeling and endangered species reform.

A former small business owner and member of the Senate Small Business Committee, Enzi has remained a strong advocate of small businesses by promoting or preventing legislation depending on its effect on small businesses in the same manner he advocates for rural interests. Small businesses and individual entrepreneurs and inventors have benefited from special conferences organized by Enzi. Enzi values our public lands. He advocates both access and responsible utilization and consideration of the local perspective in natural resource management decisions.