[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 18]
[Senate]
[Pages 26271-26272]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                         SENATOR RICHARD BRYAN

  Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, Senator Dick Bryan  is one of few people 
who has served in this Chamber who has literally devoted nearly his 
entire life to serving the people of his state and nation.
  Senator Bryan's distinguished career started the day he took the oath 
of office as president of his 8th grade class at John S. Park 
Elementary School. It

[[Page 26272]]

continued when he took office as president of his sophomore and senior 
classes at Las Vegas High School and student body president at the 
University of Nevada-Reno.
  After graduating from law school, he served as deputy district 
attorney in Clark County and was then appointed as Clark County's first 
public defender at age 28. He did two terms in the Nevada State 
Assembly. Two terms in the Nevada State Senate. A term as Attorney 
General. Two terms as Nevada Governor. And he's now done two terms in 
the United States Senate.
  He is the only Nevadan ever to have served as his state's Attorney 
General, Governor, and United States Senator.
  He's also one of few, if any, Senators who've managed to pull an 
extraordinary triple play and serve on the three major fiscal 
committees--Finance, Commerce, and Banking.
  And he's used these positions to fight harder than just about anyone 
else here to protect American consumers.
  As former member of the Consumer Affairs Subcommittee, he passed an 
amendment requiring the installation of passenger side air bags in all 
cars sold in America. Over the years, this piece of legislation has 
saved hundreds of lives.
  Senator Bryan was also one of the early leaders on privacy issues in 
this Congress. He led the charge to enact the Children's Online Privacy 
Protection Act--the first ever federal Internet privacy protection 
legislation. He has also been leading the fight to add new privacy 
regulations into the banking industry.
  In addition, Senator Bryan authored laws to reduce telemarketing 
fraud and to give consumers new rights in combating errors on personal 
credit reports. He passed the PMI legislation which protects people 
from having to pay hundreds, sometimes thousands of dollars to private 
mortgage insurance lenders once they have enough equity in their homes. 
And he was one of the lead sponsors of Airline Passenger Bill of 
Rights.
  Along with Senator McCain, he passed important boxing reform bills to 
protect the health and safety of boxers and to maintain the integrity 
of the sport.
  And finally, he has worked tirelessly to protect his constituents 
from nuclear waste dumping in Nevada.
  The one consolation I take when I think about him retiring from the 
Senate is that he'll finally get to spend more time with his terrific 
wife, Bonnie. I'm hopeful that the two of them will set aside some time 
to come out and visit me in Iowa, especially since Senator Bryan 
actually has roots in my home state. His father, Oscar Bryan, was born 
in Des Moines. And Senator Bryan's uncle by marriage, Keith More, 
practiced law in Harlan, Iowa for years. Keith's brother, Jack More, 
was chair of the Democratic State Party in Iowa and headed up Truman's 
efforts in 1948.
  But, no matter what his current plans are, I have a sneaking 
suspicion that Senator Bryan isn't going to stop serving his State and 
his country for a long time to come. He has done it honorably since he 
was a boy, and he still has a tremendous amount to offer.

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