Thank you, Rep. Young for 40-years of service

Rep. Don Young’s colorful service in the U.S. House of Representatives and many contributions to establishing Alaska as a state will be remembered long after he has left this mortal soil.

After 40 years of service in Congress, there can be no doubt of Young’s lasting impact on Alaska and its fortunes.

Thursday marked the anniversary of the first time Rep. Young took the oath of office — March 14, 1973 — to serve as the congressman for all Alaskans. Where each state is allotted two U.S. senators, members of the House of Representatives are allotted in proportion to the state’s population. Thus, Alaska, Delaware, Wyoming, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota and Vermont have one representative, while California — the most populous state — has 53 representatives in the House.

Rep. Young has served as Alaska’s sole delegate to the House since winning a special election March 6, 1973, to fill the seat left vacant by the death of Rep. Nick Begich, father of U.S. Sen. Mark Begich.

Rep. Begich disappeared in a plane crash in Alaska in Oct. 16, 1972. Although he was later declared dead Dec. 29, 1972, posthumously Rep. Begich managed to wrap up 56 percent of the votes to Young’s 44 percent. In the special election the next year, though, Young was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, where he has served continuously since.

“Alaska has been blessed with many wonderful things, from the scenic natural beauty to the abundance of natural resources. But its greatest asset has always been the people that call Alaska home. I am humbled, honored and blessed to be able to come to work every day and fight on their behalf,” Rep. Young says in a press release celebrating the milestone. “Over the last 40 years I have told eight presidents, thousands of members of Congress and government officials alike about the unique needs and aspects of representing a state like Alaska; large in geography, small in population, and far away from the halls of Congress.”

Saturday, Rep. Young cemented another footstep in state history when his record of service surpassed U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens as Alaska’s longest serving member of Congress. Stevens served in the U.S. Senate from Dec. 24, 1968, to Jan. 3, 2009, and remains the longest-serving Republican senator in history.

Rep. Young was born Donald Edwin “Don” Young on June 9, 1933, in Meridian, Calif. He completed his bachelor’s degree at Chico State College in 1958 after serving in the U.S. Army from 1955 to 1957.

He moved to Alaska in 1959, shortly after statehood, and settled in Fort Yukon, just above the Arctic Circle in the Interior. There, he made a living by teaching fifth-grade during the winter, and in the summer working construction, fishing, trapping, gold mining and as a riverboat captain, delivering freight to villages along the Yukon River.

He entered politics in 1964 when he was elected mayor of Fort Yukon. After serving one term as mayor, he was elected to the Alaska House of Representatives, where he served two terms before being elected to the Alaska Senate in 1970. Currently, Young is the second most senior Republican serving in Congress. While Alaskans may not always agree with Rep. Young’s tactics — known among colleagues and constituents for the copious use of his sharp elbows and tongue — no one doubts the sincerity of his long service.

Thank you, Rep. Young, for four decades of service in Washington, D.C., as Congressman for all Alaskans.