Friday, Dec. 21, 2001 | 4:10 a.m.
WASHINGTON -- Former Republican National Committee Chairman Frank Fahrenkopf was in an exclusive GOP strategy session in the U.S. Capitol this summer when then-Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., pulled out a cardboard poster.
Listed on it were five issues Lott wanted to make party priorities.
"No. 2 -- No. 2! -- on this list was 'Ensign prison bill,' " Fahrenkopf said.
The reference was to a proposal advocated by a freshman senator who was already turning heads: John Ensign, R-Nev., said Fahrenkopf, a top gambling lobbyist and veteran Washington insider.
The proposal requires federal prisoners to work to help pay incarceration costs and restitution to victims. Despite Lott's interest, Sept. 11 sidetracked the proposal, and it never became a bill. But party leaders noticed, Fahrenkopf said.
"We're talking about a guy in his first year in the Senate," said Fahrenkopf, a longtime friend of Ensign's. "I have been kicking around a long time, and this was very impressive."
By many accounts, Ensign had a solid first year. The 43-year-old senator is still a low-profile lawmaker compared to some veterans. Many of the bills he introduced centered on relatively small-time issues, including naming post offices and earmarking federal land for a seniors' center.
But Ensign also dabbled in high-profile projects and emerged from his first year with a few notable accomplishments, allies said.
Among them: winning the admiration of Republican leaders, who tapped him for key spots on major education and Medicare reform initiatives; spearheading a near-defeat of anti-gambling legislation; and, as part of the Nevada delegation, battling the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste project.
In short, Ensign fits into the club, party leaders said.
"He's off to a fantastic start," said Sen. Don Nickles of Oklahoma, the No. 2 Republican Senate leader who at times has turned to Ensign for advice. "When you said this was his first year in the Senate, I said 'What?' You don't think of him as someone who is a new member trying to find his way around."
Perhaps Ensign's most notable triumph: forging an important alliance with former enemy Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., University of Nevada, Las Vegas political science professor Ted Jelen said.
The two seem to be genuinely committed to working together on Nevada-related issues, he said. "When the chips were down, (Ensign) made it clear he put Nevada first and Republicans second."
Critics have been relatively muted this year.
Environmentalists, who once put Ensign on their list of Dirty Dozen lawmakers, threw fewer barbs this year. The League of Conservation Voters praised him for voting to reduce arsenic levels in drinking water and for opposing anti-environmental language in a farm bill. But it chastised him for supporting oil and gas drilling on public lands.
"He's kind of living up to his 'Dirty Dozen' designation," league spokesman Dan Vicuna said.
Reid's close relationship with Ensign may have stifled some liberal criticism -- the Nevada State Democratic Party dropped the rhetoric used to attack Ensign during the 2000 campaign.
Ensign sided with Republicans on several major issues, most notably President Bush's tax cut that Congress passed in the spring, state Democratic Party spokesman Jeff Burbank said. "That didn't help many Nevadans."
But Burbank threw few other darts.
"We're really at the point where it's good to work out ways to work together," he said. "The Democratic Party doesn't want to be sniping too much."
New digs
Ensign, one of two veterinarians in the Senate (Sen. Wayne Allard, R-Colo., is the other), is a long way from his Las Vegas clinic, South Shores Animal Hospital.
The four years -- 1995 through 1998 -- that Ensign spent in the cramped quarters of the faster-paced, 435-member House seem long ago.
"In the House, you're trained to talk in one minute," Ensign said. "In the Senate, they can't say anything in less than five." After reconsidering: "Ten."
These days, Ensign spreads out in an ornate nine-room suite in the Russell Senate Office Building.
Photographs hang in the waiting area: Ensign with pro golfer John Daly; with Tiger Woods; with Reid and Vice President Dick Cheney.
Another photograph shows a beaming Ensign with then-Vice President Al Gore swearing in the new senator on Jan. 3. On the photograph, a message was scrawled by Senate Chaplain Lloyd Ogilvie: "To John Ensign, God's man, senator, leader. Power to you!"
Earlier this month, Ensign began his day as he often does, with a 9:30 a.m. update from his aides who track legislative issues. They zoomed through a number of topics, barely pausing to discuss some, spending a few minutes on others: struggling airlines that serve Las Vegas; a nuclear waste issue; federal transportation money for Nevada; a farm bill.
The most important topic of the day was education.
This year Ensign served on a panel of 39 House and Senate lawmakers to hammer out the details of a sweeping education bill advocated by Bush. The previous day the panel reached a final compromise after a year of work.
Ensign was pleased with the bill and scheduled a conference call for later in the morning to brief Nevada's school superintendents.
"There's going to be more money flowing, more flexibility (for districts), even though there is going to be more accountability, which I think was an important part of the bill," Ensign said loudly into the speaker phone.
Ensign's greatest victory was his provision that mandates annual head counts of poor children in every state, which will benefit fast-growing states such as Nevada.
Ensign said he had to fight several lawmakers behind the scenes to keep the measure in the bill.
Committee leader Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., confirmed Ensign's account. Gregg and Lott hand-picked Ensign to serve on the panel.
"We felt strongly that he had spoken eloquently on education issues and that he would be effective for us on the committee," Gregg said. "He's a player."
Yucca Mountain
Perhaps no legislative issue tests Nevada lawmakers more than Yucca Mountain. The fight to sidetrack the federal plan to bury the nation's nuclear waste at Yucca has been long and difficult, with few breaks.
But this year -- finally -- was an important year of breakthroughs, Ensign said.
On one front, the law firm hired by the Energy Department to handle Yucca work quit amid controversy; on another, a General Accounting Office report criticized the project and recommended delaying it indefinitely.
Ensign first heard about the GAO report from Reid on Nov. 28, shortly after Reid obtained a draft. It was the most damning piece of evidence against Yucca yet, the senators agreed.
"He said wait 'til you see what's in this thing," Ensign recalled. "The language that is in there is so strong. It was like, 'Wow.' "
Ensign is a key part of a re-energized effort by Nevada's four-member delegation to attack Yucca as a repository. Among other tactics are plans to use lawsuits and the national media to fire shots at the site.
When pressed on whether he believes that the Energy Department might actually scrap Yucca some day, Ensign said, "I don't want to get that optimistic. But I do think we have a chance now."
Gambling bill
Gambling issues are probably the second most important for Nevada lawmakers, and Ensign nearly caused the demise of an anti-gaming bill.
On May 3, Ensign -- the most junior member of the Senate Commerce Committee -- challenged committee Chairman John McCain, R-Ariz., to a duel.
McCain is the force behind a bill that would hurt Nevada by outlawing bets on college games in the state's sports books. McCain had planned a quick committee vote to send it to the full Senate, but Ensign was ready.
Two months before the hearing, Ensign quietly began lobbying other committee Republicans, whispering that the bill would not accomplish McCain's objective: restore integrity to college sports. Ensign enlisted five senators to vote against McCain.
Reid was impressed.
"I will never forget the look of shock on (Reid's) face," Ensign said. "I said, 'Can you get some Democrats?' He said, 'I'll get to work on it right now.' "
Behind the scenes, Ensign aides were scrambling to reach Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, a committee member who they said backed Ensign.
But Stevens was stuck in another hearing on Capitol Hill. To vote with Ensign by proxy, Stevens had to register his vote in person or in writing with McCain. He never did because of last-minute confusion, his aides said.
But Stevens intended to back Ensign, spokeswoman Melanie Alvord said.
Ensign and his allies tried to stall, but McCain moved for a vote. The final count: a 10-10 tie -- one vote from killing the bill in committee. Ensign declared a moral victory even though he had lost -- according to procedure, tie votes send bills to the floor.
"Ten-ten was big," Ensign said. "Now Sen. McCain knows he will have a very tough fight."
McCain aides downplayed Ensign's effort and his contention that he threw a scare into McCain.
"John McCain has never lost a major vote," the committee's Republican staff director Mark Buse said. "That's because we whip it -- we knew exactly how many votes we had. If we would have seen that we were going to lose, we would have pulled it from the agenda."
In a private conversation later, an irked McCain offered Ensign no congratulations, said Ensign, who declined to discuss the conversation further.
"I'll keep that between us," he said.
Sept. 11
Perhaps no topic dominated the Senate's attention this year more than terrorism. Amid anthrax and vague warnings about future terrorist attacks, this year was at times bizarre and tragic for lawmakers in Washington.
On Sept. 11, Ensign had been in his morning staff meeting when American Airlines Flight 77 hit the Pentagon about 2 1/2 miles away. He and his aides prayed. When their building was evacuated, they headed for the townhouse Ensign rents with six House members near the Capitol.
His housemates and their aides soon filled the place, making phone calls and huddling around televisions.
"There must have been 100 people in there," Ensign said.
Ensign spokeswoman Traci Scott said a few people were crying, and it was very quiet despite all the people, "very intense."
Later that night, Ensign was on the Capitol steps where 150 lawmakers gathered, vowing to continue Congress' work. They sung a chorus of "God Bless America" that Ensign said was a genuinely spontaneous outpouring of emotion.
Ensign later was among the majority of lawmakers who approved an unprecedented spending spree that included $40 billion to fight terrorism and $15 billion to bail out airlines.
"It refocused everyone's priorities," Ensign said of the terrorist attacks.
Ensign was among about 50 senators who made a trip Sept. 20 to ground zero in New York to survey the damage. During the visit, he watched workers struggle to weld a U.S. flag to a beam.
Sept. 11 focused Republican and Democratic lawmakers away from partisan politics, Ensign said.
"Now we've gotten back to where arguments are just about fundamental differences," Ensign said. "And people do have philosophical differences."
In the moments immediately after the terrorist attacks, and in many moments this year, Ensign has turned to the "most important part of my life" -- God.
The devout Christian meets each week in two faith-based settings in the Capitol: a Senate prayer breakfast and a smaller, more formal Bible-study class. Senators discuss how the Scriptures are relevant to Washington lawmakers.
"He is very involved in the biblical text and the application of it in our lives," Ogilvie said. "He is very supportive of any deepening of the spiritual life in the Senate, or Congress as a whole."
Ensign said he prays often, but wishes he had the discipline to pray even more.
"Hopefully I pray in good times and bad, during times of joy and stress, and not just when we are driven to our knees by something like Sept. 11," Ensign said.
Recently Ensign has been reading a lot about George Washington, who prayed every night and day, Ensign said.
"All our Founding Fathers -- they really understood they needed divine guidance to make decisions," Ensign said. "I want to be a good leader. And the best example of a good leader was Jesus, because he was a servant leader. He was willing to lay down his life for others."
Family
At 43, Ensign is the third youngest senator, with one of the youngest families 2,500 miles away in Las Vegas. The toughest part of being a senator is being away all week, he said.
His office travel budget allows him to fly home every weekend, and he talks with his three children, ages 4, 6 and 10, almost every day. Unlike many lawmakers, Ensign skips official events during his weekends in Nevada.
When asked about how he juggles life as a senator and father, Ensign's face became sullen. Missed school events, recitals and other lost moments are topics he discusses often with a handful of other senators who have young children.
"It's hard," Ensign said. "I miss things more often than I would like to."
After the first Senate anthrax scare Oct. 17, a Wednesday, Ensign was one of just three senators who left town that night. Votes were scheduled for the following day and 97 senators stayed to prove anthrax scares wouldn't deter their work.
Reid had urged Ensign to go home to his children, telling him the vote would not be close anyway.
Ensign made no apologies for skipping town.
"You're constantly trying to make it work," he said. "Life is a balance, and you are constantly making sure that it doesn't tip too far to one side."
Next year
The next step for a freshman senator is to become an expert on an issue, to become synonymous with a cause, such as McCain with campaign finance reform, Jelen said.
Ensign's plans for next year include remaining a player on education and Medicare reform, he said. And the battle against Yucca Mountain will continue.
Ensign likely also will become an active, behind-the-scenes lawmaker on the continuing effort to pass a patients' bill of rights, Nickles said.
Ensign has the stuff of a future party leader, Nickles said.
"He has a great personality, does his homework, and people like him," Nickles said. "And you can't say that about every member."
archive
