Editorial: Sen. Bryan leaves large shoes to fill

Tuesday, Feb. 23, 1999 | 10:36 a.m.

Sen. Richard Bryan possesses rare talents for a politician. He can passionately defend a point of view without losing his cool or stooping to petty partisanship. He conducts business as a gentleman.

The Nevada Democrat also is a masterful tactician. Working in tandem with fellow Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., Bryan has used every maneuver possible to block Congress from shipping high-level nuclear waste from other states to Nevada, where it is not wanted.

That is just one reason why it was a sad day for Nevada when Bryan, one of its most loyal public servants, made the stunning announcement last Thursday that he would not seek re-election when his term expires in 2000.

Bryan would have been a heavy favorite to win his third term in the U.S. Senate, but disclosed that he had fulfilled all of his political goals and was ready to pursue new challenges. No wonder the shock waves were felt all the way to the White House.

When Bryan was growing up in Las Vegas, his father told him that everyone had to pay "civic rent."

Now 61, Bryan parlayed that advice and a law degree into an impressive career in government, including service as a Nevada legislator, attorney general and governor before winning a pair of six-year terms in the Senate.

Along the way, his savvy and squeaky-clean image frustrated campaign opponents but earned him respect from Republicans as well as Democrats. He received high marks from colleagues for his work on the Senate Ethics Committee when it recommended in 1995 that then-Sen. Bob Packwood, R-Ore., be expelled from Congress for sexual misconduct. Packwood subsequently resigned.

Though Bryan votes with fellow Democrats most of the time he also has an independent streak he often reveals on key issues.

In 1993 he voted with Republicans in an unsuccessful attempt to stop Clinton's budget reconciliation package because of concerns about the proposed tax increases. He was also one of the few Democrats who supported the use of force in the 1991 Persian Gulf War.

When it comes to protecting Nevada's interests Bryan defends the gaming industry as fiercely as he opposes the shipment of nuclear waste to this state. He often criticizes the anti-gaming faction of the National Gambling Impact Study Commission, which is examining the industry.

Consumers throughout the country also owe Bryan a debt of gratitude. One of the most pro-consumer voices in the Senate, Bryan was chiefly responsible for legislation that required automobile air bags, provided credit bureau reform, and cracked down on telemarketing scams. He was rightfully proud of his insistence on air bags because of the thousands of lives that law has saved.

The senator also has frequently acted as a budget hawk, pursuing cuts in programs he considered wasteful, such as wool and mohair subsidies and extraterrestrial research.

Bryan unabashedly defended his years in public service, especially when critics charged him with being a career politician. Many of those critics forgot that he had also spent 10 years in the private sector, much of it in a one-man law office where he went through some lean years.

During his last re-election campaign in 1994, Bryan said he wasn't in the public sector to make money. Financial disclosure records bear that out. The senator is not leaving Congress with the kind of net worth that a man of his talent could have been expected to earn in the private sector.

It is not a stretch to put Bryan in the same company with other respected men such as Warren Rudman of New Hampshire and Bill Bradley of New Jersey, who also left the Senate before their time.

We welcome Bryan back to Las Vegas but only with a good deal of reluctance.

For such a small state to replace such a potent voice in Washington, D.C., is going to be a very tough assignment for Nevada to fulfill.