Election Emphasizes Need to Concentrate on Areas Where Agreement Possible

Election Emphasizes Need to Concentrate on Areas Where Agreement Possible

U.S. Senator Mike Enzi is disappointed with how many of the elections turned out, but he has also found areas of encouragement. Here is a statement from Enzi.

"I congratulate Wyoming voters for going to the polls and making decisions important to their lives. I applaud the candidates, winners and losers, for their desire to serve and for putting themselves and their beliefs to the test of public scrutiny. It's these acts of service that make our country great, especially on a state and local level where the impacts are so immediate and close to home.

"Naturally I'm disappointed in the outcome of the elections, but I'm encouraged by the comments about more bipartisan efforts. That's the way I've operated and how I've run the HELP Committee and worked on my other committees. I established the 80 percent rule years ago realizing that everyone agrees on 80 percent of the issues and 80 percent of each issue. That's how we passed 37 bills through committee, 25 bills through the Senate and 15 bills were signed by the President. That's how we were able to get 12 other bills signed into law on top of what we did with the HELP Committee.

"One of the concepts this election makes clear to us is that Americans do not want bickering, they want results. Unfortunately, disagreement is what people hear most because controversy gets covered. The debate on more than a dozen bills we were able to get through took less than five hours and received limited coverage. We've actually advanced some great legislation during this Congress, much of it through the HELP (Health, Education, Labor and Pensions) Committee. We passed the biggest revision to pension laws in 30 years, strengthening the retirement of millions of Americans. We passed the first revision of mine safety laws in 28 years. That bill will save lives. Voters heard the debate about medical liability caps, but many probably don't realize that we passed a bill that allows physicians to compare and analyze medical errors without fear of being sued. This helps them avoid errors in the future and improves patient safety. The debate about stem cell research was front and center during this election, but people didn't hear much about the progress we made in this area. We passed into law the Stem Cell Therapeutic and Research Act that establishes a National Cord Blood Stem Cell Bank Network to enable patient match, use and research.

"This election emphasizes my 80 percent rule. It works. Senator Kennedy, Ranking Member of the Senate HELP Committee and I as the chairman have been able to accomplish quality and a quantity of work. In fact, we are planning three hearings for next week, the topics include Indian Healthcare, food and drug safety. I worked with Hillary Clinton to pass a bill into law that protects military personnel from fraudulent sales practices. Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid and I worked to pass a law ensuring states remain in charge of wildlife management, not the federal government. These are examples of where we have worked together. We need to continue and increase cooperation. We respect each other even if we disagree and that's key.

"This election was not so much a disagreement of the American people with basic platforms of the majority, but rather that they want to see more progress. They don't want to just hear about deficits being reduced, they want to see deficits reduced. Many Democrats campaigned on this. I'm going to give them plenty of chances to help me pass legislation reforming not just how much government spends, but how it spends. We've got to change the system, treat the disease rather than just the symptoms. Candidates campaigned on cutting health care costs. I've got a bill lined up that will allow small businesses to band together to help each other help their employees afford it. I have another bill ready to go that will help form a nationwide health information technology system to avoid duplicative tests, reduce medical errors and cut costs. If they disagree on some parts of the legislation then I hope they'll work with me to get to at least the 80 percent because 80 percent of a good bill is still a good bill.

"My Republican colleagues and I are going to continue to insist on private property rights protection, including gun rights. We're going to work to simplify and reduce taxes. We will continue to employ an energy strategy that moves us away from dependence on foreign countries. Border security, bio defense, anti-terror measures, we all agree these are problems. I'm hopeful the new members and old members in both the Senate and House will be able to make great strides toward meeting these and the other challenges we have before us."

http://enzi.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=NewsRoom.NewsReleases&ContentRecord_id=c949ce41-802a-23ad-4f2e-a1c7f66157e7