Sen. Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.) spoke to the GW College Republicans Wednesday night about how he made decisions about the most recent and controversial bills in the Senate.
He said that the campaign finance reform bill, filibustered by the Senate Monday, was created more for publicity purposes than for the good of the country.
This was a bill that gives away a lot of the Republicans’ capability to compete financially in an election and doesn’t affect the Democrats at all, Enzi said.
Enzi said he was disappointed that the bill’s creators would not leave much room for compromise.
Enzi, a GW graduate, told the CRs how he became a United States senator and talked about his views of politics in the United States. He told the CRs the best way to get involved in government is to begin at the local level.
Local government is where all the real governing is done, Enzi said. If you really want to make a difference, go work on a campaign for someone running for a local office.
After his speech Enzi answered students’ questions, which focused on nationwide headline issues. When asked who he supported for the Republican presidential nomination, Enzi said he has not made up his mind yet but that he has talked about the issue with several colleagues.
Enzi said he was talking with Sens. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), Bob Smith (R-N.H.), and John McCain (R-Ariz.) when someone asked him whom he is going to support for president.
In an effort to deflect the question, I asked them why they thought so many people were flocking to Governor (George W.) Bush’s campaign, Enzi said. The general consensus was that there was a lot of guilt about not getting his father re-elected.
When it came to voting against the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, Enzi said he believed national security was at risk. He said that since India and Pakistan could set off nuclear tests without the United States having prior knowledge, he does not think the intelligence community could properly monitor other countries’ nuclear programs.
When you hear something from a senator himself, it means more than anything that you could ever read in The Washington Post, freshman Bill Norman said.
