Simpson, Alan Kooi (1931-…), a Wyoming Republican, was elected to the United States Senate in 1978 and reelected in 1984 and 1990. He did not run for reelection in 1996. Simpson served as Senate majority whip (assistant leader) from 1984 to 1987 and minority whip from 1987 to 1995.
Simpson became prominent as coauthor of the proposed Simpson-Mazzoli bill, which called for major reform in U. S. immigration law. The bill was named after Simpson and Representative Romano L. Mazzoli of Kentucky, a Democrat. Congress blocked the bill in 1984, but it passed a revised version in 1986. The law offered amnesty to several million aliens who had been living illegally in the United States since before 1982.
Simpson was born on Sept. 2, 1931, in Denver, Colorado. He received a bachelor’s degree in 1954 and a law degree in 1958 from the University of Wyoming. In 1959, he became assistant attorney general of Wyoming. From 1964 to 1977, Simpson served in the Wyoming House of Representatives.
After retiring from the U.S. Senate in 1997, Simpson began teaching at Harvard University. From 1998 to 2000, he served as director of Harvard’s Institute of Politics. In 2000, Simpson left Harvard to teach at the University of Wyoming.
