By News Director Leslie Stratmoen

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Wyoming’s United States Senator Mike Enzi says the dollar amount of the cuts that could mean shutting down the federal government are dwarfed by the spending cuts that need to be done in order to prevent the country from falling.

Sen. Mike Enzi spoke recently at the Intertribal Center dedication in Riverton. Photo by Leslie Stratmoen

The Republican Senator said: “We have to show that we are serious in Washington about restraining spending and get to this year’s budget.” Those were his words.

Enzi is on the Senate Budget Committee and supports the 2012 budget plan presented by Republican U.S. Representative Paul Ryan of Wisconsin who is the budget committee chairman for the House. He appreciates the thought that went into Ryan’s plan, he said, and called the blueprint a “real budget for a real problem.”

Enzi went on to say that Chairman Ryan’s plan helps put the country’s finances in perspective because he was on the President’s debt commission so understands the current financial crisis. The Republican’s plan contrasts greatly with President Obama’s plan which, Enzi said, adds $9.1 trillion to the national debt over the next decade.