Mike Enzi: “I appreciate the honor of closing up today and sending everyone on their way back to their homes with the joyous news…”

“I appreciate the honor of closing up today and sending everyone on their way back to their homes with the joyous news that there is highway money. I go back to Wyoming almost every weekend and travel 1,200 miles across Wyoming's vast open spaces, and we will appreciate that highway money. It truly has been a landmark achievement. I want to congratulate the senior Senator from Wyoming, Senator Thomas, for his outstanding efforts on that bill. He did some early drafting and formulas that have helped tremendously in this. I have also appreciated his guidance since I have been here. Now we are heading back to our respective States. The other thing that we have done this week is spend some time debating the tobacco settlement, debating how we can get teens to quit smoking, debating how we can solve the problems of tobacco. I hope that all Senators go back to their States and talk about this landmark piece of legislation that is before us--landmark in that it will be the largest tax increase in my memory, a tax increase that will be placed on a separate segment of the people. I am going to stop right here and mention that I have not taken any money from the tobacco companies.”