Don Young.Photo: Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call
Alaska congressman Don Young — a Republican and the oldest current member of both the House and Senate — died on Friday at the age of 88, his office announced.
Young was the longest-serving Republican in the House of Representatives.
On Monday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced that Young would lie in state in National Statuary Hall in the United States Capitol on Tuesday, March 29.
“For five decades, he was an institution in the hallowed halls of Congress: a serious legislator always bringing people together to do the People’s work,” Pelosi said in a statement. “The photographs of him with ten presidents of both parties who signed his bills into law that proudly cover the walls of his Rayburn office are a testament to his longevity and his legislative mastery.”
In his ownstatement, President Joe Biden said he had known Young “a long time,” calling him “a consensus builder.”
The statement continued: “There is no doubt that few legislators have left a greater mark on their state. Don’s legacy lives on in the infrastructure projects he delighted in steering across Alaska. In the opportunities he advanced for his constituents. In the enhanced protections for Native tribes he championed. His legacy will continue in the America he loved.”
First sworn in to Congress after winning a special election in March 1973, Young served 25 terms as Alaska’s only member of the United States House of Representatives.
He became Dean of the House (the term for the longest continuously serving member) in 2017.
Though a seasoned veteran of Congress, Young was actively seeking reelection, tellingThe New York Timesin 2020 when asked how long he planned to serve: “God will decide that, or the voters.”
In 2007, theWall Street Journalreported that Young was under federal investigation on suspicion of taking bribes from an Anchorage-based oil services company. Elsewhere during his tenure in Congress, Young has faced criticism for remarks he’s made about Hispanicmigrant workers.
According to Alaska Public Radio, Young died while traveling home to Alaska and was with his wife, Anne, who is aflight nurse.
source: people.com
