Simpson Won’t Seek Reelection in ’96 : Congress: ‘It is time,’ the 17-year Wyoming senator says. He cites family priorities.

Republican Sen. Alan K. Simpson told a hometown crowd Saturday that he will not seek another term after 17 years in Congress, saying simply, “It is time.”

Surrounded by his wife and three children, Simpson said he wants to spend more time with his wife and wants to try something new when his term ends in January, 1997.

“We are very excited about that, about doing something else,” the senator told a crowd of more than 200 at a local chamber of commerce. “We know not what.”

Republican sources had predicted the announcement a day earlier.

Simpson is the third senator in the past month, after Mark O. Hatfield (R-Ore.) and Nancy Landon Kassebaum (R-Kan.), to announce plans not to seek reelection.

Four Republicans, including Simpson, and eight Democrats are leaving the Senate when their terms end 13 months from now. The last time that many senators retired was a century ago, in 1896.

Simpson, 64, won his first U.S. Senate race in 1978 and easily defeated Democratic challengers in reelection bids in 1984 and 1990.

As a senator, he became known for his quick wit and sharp criticism leveled at those in both parties who he felt were acting irrationally.

Simpson was also a frequent critic of the media.

He was a driving force behind the effort in the late 1980s and in recent months to overhaul the nation’s immigration laws.

His support for abortion rights cost him a number of Republican backers in Wyoming and Washington, and his moderate views cost him his position as GOP whip when Republicans took over as the majority party in 1994.

Simpson most recently has taken on entitlement programs, urging Congress to slow growth in spending, and lobbying groups such as the American Assn. of Retired Persons, which he said should be forced to pay income taxes.