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Senator John Ensign DVM


Self Description

February 2006: "Senator John Ensign has served the people of Nevada from his days as a veterinarian, small business owner, and U.S. Congressman to his present role as the 24 th U.S. Senator for Nevada.

Senator Ensign was raised in northern Nevada and moved to southern Nevada where he graduated from Clark High School. He attended UNLV and earned a Bachelor's degree from Oregon State University. He received his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from Colorado State University in 1985. Senator Ensign immediately began practicing veterinary medicine and opened the first 24-hour animal hospital in Las Vegas.

Throughout his career, Ensign has fought for smaller, more effective government; lower taxes; a strong national defense and aggressive approach to combating terrorists; increased parental control in education choices; and quality health care for Nevada's seniors and veterans.

Senator Ensign was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2000 and serves on the following committees: Armed Services; Budget; Commerce, Science and Transportation; Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP); and Veterans Affairs. Ensign is Chairman of the Readiness and Management Support Subcommittee of the Armed Services Committee and of the Subcommittee on Technology, Innovation and Competitiveness of the Commerce Committee. In addition, Senator Ensign chairs the Republican High Tech Task Force and serves as Vice Chairman of the Republican Steering Committee, a group that shapes the party's legislative agenda..."

http://ensign.senate.gov/about/about_index.htm

Third-Party Descriptions

October 2009: "In acknowledging the affair, Mr. Ensign cast it as a personal transgression, not a professional one. But an examination of his conduct shows that in trying to clean up the mess from the illicit relationship and distance himself from the Hamptons, he entangled political supporters, staff members and Senate colleagues, some of whom say they now feel he betrayed them."

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/02/us/politics/02ensign.html

September 2009: "Last year, Reps. Sam Johnson (R-Texas) and Earl Pomeroy (D-N.D.) introduced a bill that would remove work-issued cell phones from the list of taxable fringe benefits. Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and John Ensign (R-Nev.) introduced an identical bill. The proposal passed the House but was held up by the Senate. The bills were reintroduced earlier this year."

http://thehill.com/business-a-lobbying/57457

June 2009: "Congress passed a law requiring the value of employer-issued cellphones to be included in workers' gross income, unless an employee kept detailed records showing the phone was used only for work.... Sens. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) and John Ensign (R-Nev.) have introduced a similar bill [to repeal the law-Ed.] this year."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/11/AR2009061104239.html

August 2007: "The GOP leadership consists of McConnell, Assistant Minority Leader Trent Lott of Mississippi, Conference Chairman Jon Kyl of Arizona, Policy Committee Chair Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas, and Senatorial Committee Chair John Ensign of Nevada."

http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/08/28/craig.arrest/index.html

September 2006: One of the most successful champions of these trade-offs has been Senate Minority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.), who has written three bills in the past six years designating 2.1 million acres of wilderness in his state. To gain support, his two most recent bills -- both of which were co-sponsored by GOP Sen. John Ensign (Nev.) -- allowed Nevada authorities to pipe water to Las Vegas from hundreds of miles away and to auction off thousands of acres of federal land to the highest bidder.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/23/AR2006092301124.html

February 2003: Republican Senator from Nevada.

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/02/15/politics/15AIDS.html

Relationships

RoleNameTypeLast Updated
Student/Trainee (past or present) Colorado State University (CSU) Fort Collins Organization Feb 15, 2006
Student/Trainee (past or present) Oregon State University Organization Feb 15, 2006
Member of (past or present) US Senate Organization Feb 15, 2006
Student/Trainee (past or present) University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) Organization Feb 15, 2006
Family Member Michael S. Ensign Person Feb 1, 2005

Articles and Resources

Date Fairness.com Resource Read it at:
Oct 17, 2009 Congressional Ethics Inquiries Drag on, Despite Vows to End Corruption

QUOTE: The record illustrates how Congress has struggled to police itself after years in which its ethics committees were often derided as ineffectual.

 New York Times
Oct 16, 2009 Wellness Incentives Could Create Health-Care Loophole: Workers Who Fail Medical Tests Could Pay More

QUOTE: By more than doubling the maximum penalties that companies can apply to employees who flunk medical evaluations, the [new healthcare] legislation could put workers under intense financial pressure to lose weight, stop smoking or even lower their cholesterol,

 Washington Post
Oct 01, 2009 Senator’s Aid After Affair Raises Flags Over Ethics

QUOTE: Several experts say those activities [of Senator John Ensign] may have violated an ethics law that bars senior aides from lobbying the Senate for a year after leaving their posts.

 New York Times
Sep 06, 2009 IRS asked to repeal cell phone tax: Businesses are urging the IRS to cease taxing the personal use of work-issued cell phones.

QUOTE: A message is being conveyed by lobbying groups for a wide array of industries... cell phones are so ubiquitous and have become such an essential business tool that it’s nearly impossible to keep track of the line between professional and personal use [to document for income tax purposes].

 Hill
Jun 13, 2009 Employees May Be Taxed for Texting If IRS Updates Work Cellphone Rules

QUOTE: ...IRS would more strictly enforce an existing law that classifies company-issued cellphones as a taxable benefit -- an idea decried by employers and wireless companies who argue that mobile phones are now essential tools in the workplace...

 Washington Post
Jun 12, 2009 IRS Seeks to Simplify Workers' Cellphone Tax Law

QUOTE: the Internal Revenue Service is weighing whether a portion of a work-related cellphone bill should be taxed as income....The law was designed to prevent employees from using employee-issued cellphones for personal calls and then writing them off as a work-related tax deduction.

 Washington Post
Aug 28, 2007 Craig: I did nothing 'inappropriate' in the airport bathroom

QUOTE: On Tuesday, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington filed a complaint with the Senate Ethics Committee, asking that the senator's conduct be investigated. The group, which largely targets Republicans, asked the committee to probe whether Craig "violated the Senate Rules of Conduct by engaging in disorderly conduct," a statement said.

 CNN (Cable News Network)
Sep 24, 2006 Wilderness Designation Trade-Offs Faulted: Environmentalists Say Bills to Protect a Million Acres Come With Too High a Price

QUOTE: Congress is on the verge of approving half a dozen bills that would protect as much as 1 million acres of wilderness areas across the West, but the move has infuriated environmentalists who charge that lawmakers are giving away too much pristine public land to real estate developers and local communities in the process.

 Washington Post
Jul 26, 2006 Senate Removes Abortion Option for Young Girls

QUOTE: The Senate passed legislation Tuesday that would make it a federal crime to help an under-age girl escape parental notification laws by crossing state lines to obtain an abortion...could result in criminal charges against close relatives or clergy members who interceded to help in a time of personal crisis.

 New York Times
May 09, 2006 Take Two of These and Call Us Next Year

QUOTE: "These bills address the medical liability and litigation crisis in our country, a crisis that is preventing patients from receiving high-quality health care -- or, in some cases, any care at all," Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) said yesterday.

 Washington Post
Feb 15, 2006 Senate Foes Block Proposed Trust Fund For Asbestos Victims: Vote Short Against Budgetary Challenge

QUOTE: ...the Senate derailed legislation to create a trust fund for asbestos victims, a victory for Democrats and their trial-lawyer allies who waged a relentless campaign to defeat a bill that took five years to negotiate.

 Washington Post
Jan 01, 2006 Hill Gift Limits Often Exceeded, Lobbyists' Records Show: BellSouth Document Illustrates Gap Between the Rules and the Realities

QUOTE: More than 80 lawmakers and Capitol Hill aides are listed as having accepted entertainment from lobbyists for BellSouth Corp. at levels that appear to exceed congressional gift limits....one of the capital's worst-kept secrets: Congressional gift restrictions are frequently ignored.

 Washington Post
Feb 01, 2005 Balancing Nevada, National Interests: Reid Protects Gaming and Mining Industries While Advancing Democratic Agenda

QUOTE: Like former Democratic leader Thomas A. Daschle (S.D.), Reid at times has had to balance his party's national political agenda against his state's more parochial economic interests.

 Washington Post
Apr 11, 2003 Tech Firms Lobbying for Own Tax Cut

QUOTE: The nation's battered technology industry is pushing hard for a tax cut to entice corporations to bring earnings from overseas operations back to the United States, a plan companies say could spur billions of dollars in U.S. investment and jump-start the ailing economy.

 Washington Post
Feb 15, 2003 Bush Eases Ban on AIDS Money to Pro-Abortion Groups Abroad

QUOTE: ...Bush has decided to allow organizations that promote or perform abortions in poor countries to qualify under some circumstances for part of the $15 billion he has proposed to fight AIDS in Africa and the Caribbean

 New York Times