Senator Mike Enzi - September Newsletter

Press Release

Stop the Washington exemption from Obamacare

U.S. Senators Enzi, R-Wyo, and Vitter, R- La., introduced legislation this month that would require the president, vice president, political appointees, and members of Congress to purchase their health insurance on the Obamacare exchanges without the help of taxpayer funded subsidies. Congressional staff would be prohibited from receiving any contribution greater than what they would receive if they were not employed by a congressional office.

The Senators introduced the bill in response to a recent decision issued on August 2 by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) stating that the government would be able to continue to make employer contribution to the health plans of congressional members and staff. According to Enzi, the OPM's ruling essentially shielded Congress and the administration from higher costs, limited access, and confusion that the rest of America will feel due to Obamacare.

"Not only Congress, but the president and the Administration should live under the same rules they are forcing on the American people," said Enzi. "Delays, exemptions, special treatment is the name of the game with this massively complex and onerous new law, but it's no game. This is people's health care and they deserve fairness. This bill will help them get it."

Congressmen Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.) and Dennis Ross (R-Fla.) introduced companion legislation in the House of Representatives and will also offer it as an amendment to House version of the Continuing Resolution.

Wyo Delegation Secures return of Mineral Revenue for State

After "legal review" and "careful consideration", the U.S. Department of the Interior has decided to do what U.S. Senators Mike Enzi and John Barrasso, as well as Rep. Cynthia Lummis, all R-Wyo., argued that the Obama Administration was required to do in May -- return sequestered mineral revenue owed to the states. Wyoming will get back approximately $50 million that was scheduled to be sequestered in fiscal year (FY) 2013.

"The sequester has been used to justify a lot of questionable policy decisions but I'm pleased that Wyoming's money will be returned next year. This revenue helps pay for vital investments in our communities and should never have been taken in the first place," Enzi said.

In 2013, the Obama Administration decided that the states' share of mineral revenue under the Mineral Leasing Act would be subject to sequestration -- the automatic, across-the-board federal government spending cuts. The Wyoming delegation, along with lawmakers from other Western states, opposed the move. In addition to discovering and advancing the legal argument for the reimbursement of sequestered revenue, the Wyoming delegation introduced legislation that would allow states to collect their own share of mineral revenue.

Enzi bill sends federal land back to Powell

Thanks to legislation introduced by Senator Enzi, the Powell Recreation District will soon be the proud owners of the property they have operated for years. Passed by the Senate and House, in June and September respectively, the Bureau of Land Management will transfer the land once it is signed by the President.

"I'm glad to see this land on its way back to the people of Powell," said Enzi. "They have been excellent stewards of this land for years and I'm confident they will continue to manage the site responsibly in the future."

Enzi would vote against military action in Syria

Senator Enzi stated that he had not seen a proposal for U.S. military action in Syria that he supported and that he would vote "no" if given the opportunity.

"We shouldn't use our military to intervene in the conflict without specific, definable and achievable U.S. policy and strategic objectives. It is too much to risk," said Enzi.

American people deserve full account of Benghazi

U.S. Senators Enzi and Barrasso, R-Wyo, joined a bipartisan group of senators recently in introducing a resolution that calls for a joint select committee to be established to investigate and report on the Benghazi attack in Libya that killed four Americans, including the first U.S. Ambassador to be murdered since 1979.

In the resolution, the senators state that, "President Barack Obama declared in his first address to the nation about the attack on September 12, 2012, "make no mistake, we will work with the Libyan government to bring to justice the killers who attacked our people,' yet there has been no action of reprisal and no justice rendered."

Amendment to strip EPA authority to regulate haze

According to Senator Enzi, the Environmental Protection Agency's decision to partially disapprove of Wyoming's plan to regulate regional haze will create an economic and bureaucratic nightmare that will have a devastating impact on Western economies.Enzi introduced an amendment that would protect state rights to regulate their own regional haze, stripping the authority from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

"The haze we most need to regulate, in fact, seems to be the one that is clouding the vision of the EPA as it promotes a plan that would impose onerous regulations on power plants that will in turn pass those increased costs, in the form of higher energy prices, on to consumers" Enzi said.

Source