Howard Curtis Nielson is a U.S.

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 Republican

Republican Party (United States)

The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

 politician

Politician

A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...

.

He was born in Richfield, Utah

Richfield, Utah

Richfield is a city in and the county seat of Sevier County, Utah, in the United States, and is the largest city in southern-central Utah. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 7,551. It lies in the Mormon Corridor, just off of Interstate 70 about 40 miles east of its junction with...

. He studied at the University of Utah

University of Utah

The University of Utah, also known as the U or the U of U, is a public, coeducational research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. The university was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret by the General Assembly of the provisional State of Deseret, making it Utah's oldest...

, the University of Oregon

University of Oregon

-Colleges and schools:The University of Oregon is organized into eight schools and colleges—six professional schools and colleges, an Arts and Sciences College and an Honors College.- School of Architecture and Allied Arts :...

 and Stanford University

Stanford University

The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...

.

Nielson and his wife Julie had seven children.

Prior to his election to congress he was a member of the Utah House of Representatives

Utah House of Representatives

The Utah House of Representatives is the lower house of the Utah State Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Utah. The House is composed of 75 representatives elected from single member constituent districts. Each district contains an average population of 35,000 people...

 and speaker of that body from 1973 to 1974.

He was elected as a Republican to the United States House of Representatives

United States House of Representatives

The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...

 from Utah

Utah

Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...

 and served four terms, from January 3, 1983 to January 3, 1991.

While in Congress, Nielson sponsored two resolutions calling on Israel to reopen Palestinian schools and colleges. He also cosponsored a bill to limit tobacco advertising. He also was a leading proponent of releasing the names of people who tested positive for AIDS

AIDS

Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...

 to Public Health Officials. Nielson was also one of the main negotiators of the 1990 Clean Air Act. Nielson was an early promoter of rating of song lyrics.

Nielson currently resides in Provo, Utah

Provo, Utah

Provo is the third largest city in the U.S. state of Utah, located about south of Salt Lake City along the Wasatch Front. Provo is the county seat of Utah County and lies between the cities of Orem to the north and Springville to the south...

.

Nielson retired from congress so he could serve a mission with his wife. They served as missionaries in both Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

 and Hungary

Hungary

Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...

.

In 2000 Nielson was elected to the Utah State Senate

Utah State Senate

The Utah State Senate is the upper house of the Utah State Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Utah. The Senate is composed of 29 elected members representing an equal number of constituent senatorial districts. Each senatorial district is composed of approximately 91,000 people...

.

Nielson's first wife died in 2003. He later married the sister of one of his former House colleagues, Ron Packard

Ron Packard

Packard was only the third person to be elected to Congress as a write-in candidate. The two previously successful congressional write-in candidates were U.S. Rep. Joe Skeen in 1980 and Sen. Strom Thurmond in 1954. Upon being sworn in, Packard joined the Republican caucus...

 of California.

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