Don Young

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For other persons of the same name, see Donald Young (disambiguation) .

Don Young

Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Alaska's At-large district
Incumbent
Assumed office March 6, 1973–
Preceded by	Nick Begich
Succeeded by	Incumbent

Born	June 09, 1933 (age 73) Meridian, California
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Lu Young
Religion	Episcopalian

Donald Edwin (Don) Young (born June 9, 1933) has been the sole congressman from Alaska in the United States House of Representatives since 1973 (map). He is a Republican.

1 Early life
2 In Congress
3 Recent controversies
4 Quotes
5 Committees and caucus
6 References
7 External links

[edit] Early life

Young was born in Meridian, California. He earned an associate's degree in education from Yuba Junior College in 1952 and a bachelor's degree from Chico State College (now California State University, Chico) in 1958. He served in the Army from 1955 to 1957.^[1]

Young moved to Alaska in 1959, not long after it became a state. He eventually settled in Fort Yukon, a 700-person city on the Yukon River, seven miles above the Arctic Circle in Alaska’s central interior region. He made a living in construction, fishing, trapping and gold mining. He captained a tugboat and ran a barge operation to deliver products and supplies to villages along the Yukon River. He still holds his mariner's license today. During the winter, he taught fifth grade at the local Bureau of Indian Affairs elementary school.

Young began his political career in 1964 when he was elected mayor of Fort Yukon. After only one term, he was elected to the Alaska House of Representatives and served two terms before being elected to the Alaska Senate in 1970.

Young is married to the former Lula Fredson. They have two daughters. The Youngs are Episcopalians.

[edit] In Congress

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Alaska's at-large congressman, Democrat Nick Begich, disappeared in a plane crash on October 16, 1972. He was reelected to the House that November, but was declared dead on December 29. Young, who had been the Republican candidate against Begich in November, ran in the special election in March 1973 and won, just barely defeating Democrat Emil Notti. He won a full term in 1974 in another relative squeaker, largely due to his role in fighting for the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System. However, he didn't face another serious opponent until 1990. That year, John Devens, the mayor of Valdez, nearly defeated him because of dissatisfaction with Young's role in the investigation of the Exxon Valdez spill. Devens ran another close race against Young in 1992, but Young was reelected in 1994 with 57 percent of the vote and had not faced serious opposition until the 2006 election year, with Democratic challenger Diane Benson. He was reelected to his 16th full term in 2004 with 72%, the most votes ever for a single candidate in a statewide election in Alaska. In 2006 He won re-election for his House seat against Diane Benson (D) 56%-42%. Though he was never expected to lose the election, his much smaller margin of victory compared to the 2004 election is notable.

Young is the 8th-longest serving House member, and the 3rd most senior Republican (ranked only by Bill Young of Florida and Ralph Regula of Ohio). Due to his long tenure in the House and that of Senator Ted Stevens, Alaska is considered to have clout in national politics far beyond its small population (it has long been one of the smallest states in population and is currently 47th, ahead of only North Dakota, Vermont, and Wyoming). He is often called "Alaska's third senator."

Young's voting record is relatively moderate by Republican standards. However, he vigorously opposes federal control of Alaska's land and resources. He is also a strong proponent of opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling.

Young chaired the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee from 2001 to 2006. He also chaired the Resources Committee from the 1995 Republican takeover of the House until 2001 and strongly supported legislation, known as the "Young Bill" to move the United States territory of Puerto Rico to choose statehood or independence as its ultimate political status. He currently serves as the Republican minority's Ranking Member on the Resources Committee.

According to The New Republic, Young is "well-known for his sharp elbows and generous appetite for legislative pork."[1] His reputation for steering federal dollars to Alaska is almost as legendary as that of Stevens. For example, in the 2005 Highway Bill, Young helped secure "$941 million for 119 special projects," including a $231 million bridge in Anchorage which a rider in the bill would name for Young himself.[2]

He was listed as one of the ten worst congressmen by the popular magazine Rolling Stone, and dubbed "Mr. Pork" due to his involvement in Bridge to Nowhere incident.[3]

[edit] Recent controversies

[edit] The "Bridge to Nowhere"

In 2005, Young and Stevens earmarked $223 million for building an enormous bridge from Ketchikan to Gravina Island (pop. 50), which also contains Ketchikan's airport. The bridge would be used for access by emergency vehicles, as well as passengers. Currently there is a small car and passenger ferry that travels the 1/4 mile crossing in 3 to 7 minutes and runs every half hour. Critics assailed this as pork barrel spending at taxpayers' expense and dubbed it the "Bridge to Nowhere". After criticism from citizens and others in Congress, lawmakers defunded the bridge specifically, and instead funneled the money to the State of Alaska, Department of Transportation, allowing Alaska's Governor to start road construction after the Alaska Legislature funded the project with the directed monies.[4]

[edit] Abramoff scandal

Published reports have linked Young to the Jack Abramoff Indian lobbying scandal, although no wrongdoing has been alleged[5]. In September 2002 Young and fellow Republican Steve LaTourette of Ohio wrote to the General Services Administration urging the agency to give preferential treatment to groups such as Indian tribes when evaluating development proposals.[6] In particular, the letter referred to a historic building, the Old Post Office Pavilion in downtown Washington, DC.[7]

[edit] Cape Wind

According to an editorial in the Boston Globe on February 26, 2006 [8], Young sponsored a proposal to the fiscal 2006 Coast Guard authorization bill that would have banned offshore wind turbines within 1.5 nautical miles of navigation channels, a measure opposed by the Coast Guard, and, according to the Globe, intended to block the Cape Wind energy farm off Cape Cod, Massachusetts. The measure, now in conference committee, has been drawn more narrowly so that it would only apply to Cape Wind, as well as stating that the Coast Guard or governor may quash the project if they find it to be unsafe or otherwise unsuitable.

[edit] Fake Abraham Lincoln quotes

On February 15, 2007 Congressman Young attributed to Abraham Lincoln "Congressmen who willfully take action during wartime that damage morale and undermine the military are saboteurs, and should be arrested, exiled or hanged." The quote was actually made by J Michael Waller in 2003 who attributed it to Lincoln; when informed of this, the Congressman apologized for the misattribution but according to his spokeswoman Meridith Kenny, "he continues to totally agree with the message of the statement."

[edit] Quotes

"Environmentalists are a self-centered bunch of waffle-stomping, Harvard-graduating, intellectual idiots" who "are not Americans, never have been Americans, never will be Americans."[9]
"If you can't eat it, can't sleep under it, can't wear it or make something from it, it's not worth anything."[10]
"There is nothing on that island. Nothing! The island has no trees. It's a bare island. It is a bare island! -- To say that now that you can't have other animals there -- is dead wrong!"[11] Referring to Santa Rosa Island, California.