Richard Bryan

Richard Bryan
United States Senator
from Nevada
In office
January 3, 1989 – January 3, 2001
Preceded by Chic Hecht
Succeeded by John Ensign
Chairman of the Select Committee on Ethics
In office
January 3, 1993 – January 3, 1995
Preceded by Terry Sanford
Succeeded by Mitch McConnell
25th Governor of Nevada
In office
January 3, 1983 – January 3, 1989
Lieutenant Bob Cashell
Bob Miller
Preceded by Robert List
Succeeded by Bob Miller
27th Attorney General of Nevada
In office
January 1, 1979 – January 3, 1983
Governor Robert List
Preceded by Robert List
Succeeded by Brian McKay
Member of the Nevada State Assembly
In office
1972–1978
Personal details
Born Richard Hudson Bryan
(1937-07-16) July 16, 1937
Washington, D.C., U.S.
Political party Democratic (1971–present)
Spouse(s) Bonnie Belinda Fairchild (1962–2016; her death)
Children 3
Residence Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.
Profession Attorney
Military service
Allegiance  United States
Service/branch  United States Army
Years of service 1959–1960

Richard Hudson Bryan (born July 16, 1937) is an American attorney and politician who served as the 25th Governor of the U.S. state of Nevada from 1983–89, and as a United States Senator from Nevada from 1989 to 2001. He is a member of the Democratic Party.

Early life

Bryan was born in Washington, D.C. and graduated from the University of Nevada at Reno in 1959 where he was a member of Alpha Tau Omega and the president of ASUN.[1] He earned his law degree from the University of California, Hastings College of Law. In 1963 he was admitted to the Nevada Bar.

Political career

1972–1989

Bryan served as a member of the Nevada Senate from 1972 to 1978. In 1979, Bryan became the Nevada Attorney General, and served in the position until 1983. Bryan was the Governor of Nevada from 1983 to 1989.

U.S. Senate (1989–2001)

After that, he represented Nevada in the U.S. Senate from 1989 until 2001. Bryan served on the following Senate Committees: Finance, Banking, Vice Chairman-U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and Commerce. He chose not to run for re-election in 2000.[2]

Bryan was an opponent of SETI and introduced an amendment to the 1994 budget that secured the cancellation of the High Resolution Microwave Survey and terminated NASA's SETI efforts.[3][4]

NASA criticized Bryan for his opposition to its SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) program, especially because Bryan ignored the meeting requests from NASA staff.[5]

Another focus was on preventing Yucca Mountain, Nevada, being used as a nuclear waste long-term storage site. Though the repository would be built during Bryan's time in the senate, his opposition, along with numerous others', delayed any actual storage occurring. This opposition would continue long after Bryan had retired before plans for storage were discontinued by President Obama.[2]

References

  1. ↑ "Famous ATOs". Alpha Tau Omega. Retrieved 11 June 2011.
  2. 1 2 Bryan Not to Seek Re-election Washington Post, 19/02/99, Retrieved 12/04/18
  3. ↑ Alexander, Amir. "A History of SETI - Explore the Cosmos". The Planetary Society. The Planetary Society. Archived from the original on September 9, 2009. Retrieved February 4, 2010. But less than one year after their launch, both searches were suddenly and irrevocably terminated, victims of a new wave of Congressional budget cuts. This time it was Senator Richard Bryan of Nevada who led the charge against governmental expenditures on SETI. "The Great Martian Chase," he said, "may finally come to an end. As of today millions have been spent and we have yet to bag a single little green fellow. Not a single Martian has said take me to your leader, and not a single flying saucer has applied for FAA approval."
  4. ↑ H. Paul Shuch, ed. (2011). Searching for extraterrestrial intelligence: SETI past, present, and future. Berlin: Springer. ISBN 978-3-642-13195-0.
  5. ↑ Garber, Stephen. "Searching for Good Science: The Cancellation of NASA's SETI Program" (PDF). Nasa History Office. Journal of the British Interplanetary Society. Retrieved October 9, 2014.
  • United States Congress. "Richard Bryan (id: B000993)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
  • A Guide to the U.S. Senatorial Papers of Richard H. Bryan, Special Collections, University Libraries, University of Nevada, Reno.
  • How Richard Bryan destroyed the NASA's SETI project
  • Richard H Bryan's current professional page
  • Appearances on C-SPAN
Legal offices
Preceded by
Robert List		 Attorney General of Nevada
January 1, 1979 – January 3, 1983		 Succeeded by
Brian McKay
Political offices
Preceded by
Robert List		 Governor of Nevada
January 3, 1983 – January 3, 1989		 Succeeded by
Bob Miller
Preceded by
Terry Sanford		 Chairman of the Senate Ethics Committee
January 3, 1993 – January 3, 1995		 Succeeded by
Mitch McConnell
U.S. Senate
Preceded by
Chic Hecht		 U.S. Senator (Class 1) from Nevada
January 3, 1989 – January 3, 2001
Served alongside: Harry Reid		 Succeeded by
John Ensign


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