In my email I just received from Senator Ensign



Final Weekly Update

I wanted to take one final opportunity to express to you how incredibly rewarding it has been to serve you in the United States Senate. It is with great sadness that I walk away from the privilege of my professional life. While I will no longer fight on your behalf or be your voice in Washington, D.C., I will still see many of you as I go back to my life in Nevada with my family. As I see you out and about around the state, please don’t hesitate to come up and speak with me as there have been few things in my life that I have found as rewarding as hearing each of your stories. I hope that I have served you well in the fifteen years that I have been in office, and I look forward to seeing what the future may hold for me. Again, I cannot fully express the honor that it has been to be your United States Senator, and may God continue to bless you and your loved ones.

Humbly,

John Ensign



Senator Ensign’s Farewell Address

As prepared for delivery.

Mr. President, I rise today to deliver my farewell speech to the United States Senate.

Serving as Nevada's 24th United States Senator has truly been the greatest professional privilege of my life. Growing up with a single mom in very humble surroundings, I simply never imagined that I would one day end up as a member of this august body. Unfortunately, the amazing experiences that stem from the more than ten years of my Senate service cannot simply be summed up in one final speech.

I owe a humble thank you to the many people who helped to get me here, and who helped me serve effectively. From campaign volunteers, staff and donors, to some of the best people who I have ever worked with, my Senate staff, I cannot thank you enough for the honor of the past many years. Each of you has helped me to achieve more than my talents alone could have ever accomplished.

When I look back over my time both here in the Senate and in the House of Representatives, I am very proud of the many accomplishments that we, together, have been able to achieve. I would like to take a moment just to mention a few:

The beauty of the state of Nevada has been greatly enhanced and protected for the enjoyment of future generations because of my work in authoring the Southern Nevada Public Land Management Act and other important lands bill across our state. Because of these very important lands bills, Nevada has been able to keep the over $3 billion that has been raised from land sales in southern Nevada; this is money that did not have to come out of the United States Treasury. In the past, BLM land was exchanged for sensitive land around our state. But as a result of the lands bills that I have worked to author, we were able to instead auction BLM land, raising far more money for the state of Nevada than the exchanges were able to do.

This land revenue has been used to purchase sensitive land to protect it for future generations and to construct over 100 beautiful parks and trails in southern Nevada. I cannot tell you how proud I am when I drive around Las Vegas and see so many families enjoying these beautiful areas; SNPLMA has made the great quality of life that we enjoy in Nevada that much better.

Additionally, for those in northern Nevada, I think my love for Lake Tahoe has been evident throughout the years and I have worked hard to ensure that the beauty of those tranquil waters and surroundings are just as beautiful decades from now as they are today; SNPLMA has helped to achieve this goal. Through this legislation, hundreds of millions of dollars have been devoted to help preserve its ecosystem and important fuel reduction projects around our state will help prevent the catastrophic wild fires that threaten the future of Nevada’s breathtaking landscape.

Additionally, I have been a passionate advocate for education reform, and SNPLMA has directed millions of dollars to Nevada schools as an endowment that our state will reap the benefits from for many years yet to come.

I want to thank Senators Reid and Bryan for their cooperation in helping to draft these great pieces of legislation that our state benefits from so greatly. I also want to thank folks on my staff such as John Lopez who worked so hard to turn this legislation into law.

Speaking of legislation that became law, I would like to highlight another accomplishment of mine of which I am proud. As the only bipartisan provision in the so-called Obamacare bill, Senator Tom Carper and I worked against some powerful interest groups to get the Healthy Behaviors Act added to the health reform bill. Our provision was modeled after efforts by Safeway in the private sector to both improve healthcare delivery and reduce costs. Essentially, our provision rewards people in the form of lower healthcare premiums for making healthy choices such as smoking cessation. If we as Americans continue to eat too much, exercise too little and smoke, then it does not matter what kind of health reform we enact; costs will continue to escalate. I hope that this provision will highlight the individual contribution that we can all make to reduce our healthcare costs. Certainly this legislation would not have become law were it not for the spectacular job that Michelle Spence from my office did.

As I mentioned earlier, I simply cannot list the number of things that I believe that my staff and I have accomplished through the years in one speech. I could speak at length about my fight for lower taxes, individual freedoms, protection of constitutional rights, the dignity of our servicemen and –women, education reform, and so much more, but there just is not time. I hope that my voting and legislative record here in the United States Senate will continue to speak for me long after I have left this chamber.

I would like to speak to a few of the observations that I have made through the course of my time here. When I first ran for office back in 1994, I was a rather naïve, idealistic person who simply wanted to make a difference in our country. Through the years, I may have lost my naivety, but I never lost my idealism. I still strongly believe that the United States is the greatest country in the history of the world, and it is worth fighting for and protecting. I will leave this place knowing that there are some outstanding people here who are just as idealistic as I ever was, if not more, and who are willing to take the tough political votes that are necessary to save this country from bankruptcy. My prayer is that more people will join them in their courage. Our children and our grandchildren deserve to have the same country that we have enjoyed, and it is up to the House, Senate, and White House to stand with the American people to save the future of the United States from self-destruction.

When I was first arrived in the Senate, I observed several people who were so caught up in their own importance and busyness that arrogance dripped from them; unfortunately, they were blind to it and everyone could see it but them. When one takes on a position of leadership, there is a very real danger of getting caught up in the hype surrounding that status. Often times, the more power and prestige a person achieves, the more arrogant a person can become. As easy as it was for me to view this in other people, I was blind to how arrogant and self-centered I had become; I did not recognize that I thought mostly of myself.

The worst part about this is that I even tried not to become caught up in my own self-importance, unfortunately, the urge to believe in it was stronger that the power to fight it. This is how dangerous the feeling of power adulation can be. My caution to all my colleagues is to surround yourself with people who will be honest with you about how you really are or what you are becoming, and then make them promise not to hold back no matter how you may try to prevent them from telling you the truth.

I wish that I had done this sooner, but this is one of the hardest lessons that I have had to learn.

I believe that had I learned this lesson earlier, I would have prevented myself from judging two of my colleagues when I had no place to do so. As Chairman of the NRSC, I was confronted with the personal issues facing Senators Larry Craig and Ted Stevens. Following Larry’s admission and Ted’s guilty verdict, I too deeply believed in the power of my leadership position and I called on both to resign. This has haunted me for years, and I have sincerely struggled with these decisions. So much so that I went to each of them after a few weeks and admitted that what I did was wrong, and I asked them for forgiveness. Each of these men was gracious enough to forgive me, even though publicly I did not show them that same grace; I am very grateful to them both. When I announced my personal failure two years ago, Larry was one of the first to call and express his support. I truly cannot tell you what that meant, and still means to me.

The purpose of me speaking about this is to humbly show that in life a person understands mercy a lot more when they need it and it is shown to them. Again, this is a hard lesson that I have learn, but I hope that I can now show mercy to people who come into my life and need it.

To my Senate colleagues, I would like to take a moment to apologize for what you have each gone through as a result of my actions; I know that many of you were put in difficult situations because of me, and for that I sincerely apologize.

As I conclude, I have a few others to thank.

My wife, Darlene, who has been through so much with me and has fought through so many struggles, is owed more than I could ever repay. I do not deserve a woman like her, but I love her and am so grateful that the Lord has put her in my life.

Our children, Trevor, Siena and Michael have really never known anything other than dad leaving during the week to go to D.C. for my work. All three of them are incredible, and it has been a blessing and a privilege just to be their dad.

I have also been very blessed with a great set of parents and extended family. I also have wonderful friends who have been there with me and my family through the highs and the lows.

Lastly, and most importantly, I want to thank God for allowing me to be here. I have been encouraged by some not to mention God because it looks hypocritical because of my own failings, but I would argue that I have not mentioned Him enough. I am glad that the Lord not only forgives but likes when I give Him thanks. So Lord, thank you for all that you have done in my life. I hope I can do better in the future, and can learn to love You with all my heart, soul and strength, and to love others as myself.

My colleagues, I bid you farewell. Know that you'll be in my prayers.



To watch Senator Ensign’s Farewell Address on the Senate floor, click here.

To view all of Senator Ensign’s Legislative Accomplishments, click here.



Kathyet