Richard Paul Weiland (born July 26, 1958) is an American businessman, politician and member of the Democratic Party from the state of South Dakota.

Weiland was the chief executive officer of the International Code Council, was appointed by Bill Clinton to the Federal Emergency Management Agency and served as senior advisor to former U.S.

Weiland's father and mother owned and operated a local ambulance service and funeral home, serving Madison and the surrounding communities.

[5] In 2002, with Thune giving up his seat in Congress to unsuccessfully run for the U.S. Senate against incumbent Tim Johnson, Weiland ran again.

[citation needed] After the 1996 election, Weiland was appointed by President Bill Clinton to serve as the Region VIII Director of FEMA,[6] and the family, by then including daughters Taylor and Alexandra, moved to Evergreen, Colorado.

[citation needed] In 1997, as Weiland was being installed as regional director of FEMA, the Red River swamped its banks, causing unprecedented flooding to North Dakota and Minnesota, inundating all of downtown Fargo and causing the evacuation of Grand Forks, North Dakota in an event known as the 1997 Red River flood.

Weiland and his staff helped to coordinate work among disparate agencies to provide public affairs support to local law enforcement.

[9] In 2000, Weiland again worked with then-Governor Bill Janklow to coordinate the Federal response to the Jasper fire in Black Hills, South Dakota.

As CEO, Weiland spearheaded efforts to create the nation's first Green Construction Code and Standards for commercial and residential structures.

Weiland spoke to numerous municipalities and other governmental agencies all over the United States and the world, including China where he was invited by the Chinese government to speak to its officials about implementing safer and sustainable Building Codes.

[22] Weiland called for opening up Medicare for all Americans, sometimes referred to as a public option; expanding Social Security; fighting the Keystone Pipeline; and adopting a Constitutional amendment overturning Citizens United.