Alan Simpson

Alan Kooi Simpson
United States Senator for Wyoming
In office January 1, 1979 – January 3, 1997
Preceded by	Clifford Hansen
Succeeded by	Mike Enzi
Senate Majority Whip
In office January 3, 1985 – January 3, 1987
Leader	Bob Dole
Preceded by	Ted Stevens
Succeeded by	Alan Cranston
Senate Minority Whip
In office January 3, 1987 – January 3, 1995
Leader	Bob Dole
Preceded by	Alan Cranston
Succeeded by	Wendell Ford (Kentucky)
Co-Chairman with Erskine Bowles (North Carolina) of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform
In office February 18, 2010 – December 1, 2010
Wyoming State Representative for Park County
In office January 1, 1965 – January1, 1977
Born	September 2, 1931 Denver, Colorado.
Died	American
Political party	Republican
Relations	Milward Simpson (father) Peter K. Simpson (brother)
Children	Three children, including Colin M. Simpson (former state representative)
Alma mater	University of Wyoming at Laramie (BA and JD)
Occupation	Attorney
Religion	Episcopalian
Military Service
Service/branch	United States Army
Years of service	1954–1956
Rank	Second Lieutenant
Unit	5th Infantry Regiment 2nd Armored Division

Alan Kooi Simpson (born September 2, 1931) served Wyoming in the U.S. Senate from 1979 to 1997. Despite his connection to the Republican Party, he is a liberal on social issues. He originally benefited from the conservative reputation of his father, Milward Simpson, who served Wyoming in the U.S. Senate from 1962 to 1967, after having been governor of Wyoming from 1955 to 1959. Simpson has been an advocate of fiscally conservative positions and argued strongly for entitlement reform. However, on social issues, he supports abortion and same-sex marriage. Simpson is most known for the Simpson-Mazzoli Act, which granted amnesty to three million illegal aliens. He was a co-chairman of the Simpson/Bowles committee. Since leaving the Senate, Simpson has taught at his alma mater, the University of Wyoming at Laramie.

Simpson's political leanings can be summed up in his own words:

Any education that matters is "liberal." All the saving truths, all the healing graces that distinguish a good education from a bad one or a full education from a half empty one are contained in that word.

In the 2002 gubernatorial election, Simpson accused two primary candidates, Ray Hunkins of Wheatland and Bill Sniffin of Lander, of having lied about the record of Eli Bebout, Simpson's choice for the party nomination. Simpson claimed that Hunkins and Sniffin had misrepresented Bebout's position on nuclear waste dumping and water rights: "These gents running for governor - I mean Ray Hunkins and Bill Sniffin - wouldn't seem to know the truth if it bit 'em on the fanny."^[1] Simpson subsequently apologized to Hunkins.^[1] Bebout won the nomination but was defeated in a close vote by the Democrat Dave Freudenthal in the general election.

In July 2022, Simpson cut a television commercial for liberal Republican U.S. Representative Liz Cheney and attacked former President Donald Trump, who has endorsed her primary challenger, Harriet Hageman. Simpson called Trump "a vicious animal" who "poisoned democracy." He declared the party of which he was a former assistant Senate leader has become "a cult" under the influence of Trump.^[2]

References[edit]