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| According to '']'', Young is "well-known for his sharp elbows and generous appetite for legislative ]." His reputation for steering federal dollars to Alaska is almost as legendary as that of Stevens. For example, in the ], 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. | According to '']'', Young is "well-known for his sharp elbows and generous appetite for legislative ]." His reputation for steering federal dollars to Alaska is almost as legendary as that of Stevens. For example, in the ], 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. | ||
| == A Bridge to Nowhere -- Ketchikan, Alaska== | |||
| In 2005, with a $ 400 billion dollar federal budget deficit, Representative Young earmarked onto the federal transportation bill an appropriation for a bridge the size of the ] to be build from ], AK, (pop. 8,000) to Gravina Island, (pop. 50) at a cost to the federal government of $223 million dollars, or $28,000 per resident. Critics, of course, assailed this congression pork. It was later taken out of the transportation bill. | |||
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Revision as of 23:51, 9 February 2006
- For the baseball player, see Donald Young
Donald Edwin Young (born June 9 1933), is the at-large member of the United States House of Representatives from Alaska (map). He is a Republican.
Early life
He 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
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, 7 miles above the Arctic Circle in Alaska’s central interior region. With a lifelong taste for adventure, he made a living in construction, fishing, trapping and gold mining. He captained a tugboat and ran a barge operation to to deliver products and supplies to villages along the Yukon River. 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 State House and served two terms before being elected to the Alaska State Senate in 1970.
In Congress
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-Alaskan Pipeline. He didn't face another serious opponent until 1990. That year, John Devens, the mayor of Valdez, nearly defeated him. Devens ran another close race against Young in 1992, but Young was reelected in 1994 with 57 percent of the vote and has not faced serious opposition since. He was reelected to his 16th full term in 2004 with the most votes ever for a single candidate in a statewide election in Alaska.
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 size (it has long been one of the smallest states in population and is currently 48th, ahead of only 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 Alaska National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling.
Since 2001, Young has chaired the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. He also chaired the Resources Committee from the 1995 Republican takeover of the House until 2001.
According to The New Republic, Young is "well-known for his sharp elbows and generous appetite for legislative pork." 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.
A Bridge to Nowhere -- Ketchikan, Alaska
In 2005, with a $ 400 billion dollar federal budget deficit, Representative Young earmarked onto the federal transportation bill an appropriation for a bridge the size of the Golden Gate Bridge to be build from Ketchikan, AK, (pop. 8,000) to Gravina Island, (pop. 50) at a cost to the federal government of $223 million dollars, or $28,000 per resident. Critics, of course, assailed this congression pork. It was later taken out of the transportation bill. ]
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