While leftists on the Anchorage Assembly are adamantly resisting Mayor Dave Bronson’s effort to rename the Port of Alaska after late U.S. Congressman Don Young, U.S. Rep. Brian Mast (R-Florida) is determined to get Young’s name on the main hearing room for the U.S. House Committee on Transportation & Infrastructure.
Mast is currently sponsoring a resolution to honor Young for being “a tireless advocate for his state and someone who understood that infrastructure is what keeps this country moving.”
Mast’s effort comes amid a standoff in Anchorage between Bronson and hard-leftist Assembly members who are vehemently against renaming the city’s main port after the colorful and sometimes controversial 49-year congressman.
Mast has none of the misgivings expressed by the likes of Anchorage Assemblywoman Karen Bronga, who claimed at the most recent assembly meeting, “Don Young had his day for Alaska, but he aged into someone who was insensitive, a bully and disrespected women. Rewarding a public figure for this bad behavior because he brought the state money is not in the best interest of our city.”
On his website, Mast described Young as a “fearless, resilient, mountain of man, and his love for Alaska came second only to his love for his family.”
In addition to being the longest-serving Republican in the history of the U.S. House, Mast’s office said he wanted to honor the former Dean of the House for his extended history of working on infrastructure issues.
ALASKA WATCHMAN DIRECT TO YOUR INBOX
“First elected in 1973, he served on both the Committee on Merchant Marine & Fisheries and the Committee on Post Office & Civil Service, which were later incorporated into the modern Committee on Transportation & Infrastructure,” Mast’s website states. “As Chair of the Transportation & Infrastructure Committee from 2001 to 2007, he worked tirelessly to strengthen the nation’s infrastructure with legislation like the Safe, Accountable, Flexible Efficient Transportation Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU) to improve and maintain everything from highways to bike paths, supported federal recovery efforts following Hurricane Katrina, was a fierce advocate for our U.S. Coast Guard, and fought to ensure that our aviation system was accessible to all Americans. Often referred to as ‘Alaska’s third senator,’ his top priority was always his beloved home state. He secured countless investments into its infrastructure and championed its vast resources. For many Alaskans, he was the only representation they had had in the House as the Congressman for all Alaska.”
Young died on March 18, 2022 after being elected 24 times to the U.S. House. He was succeeded by Rep. Mary Peltola, D-Alaska, who is co-sponsoring Mast’s resolution, which was sent to the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.
8 Comments
Leave the existing name, then no controversy.
Pretty sure this entire thing is about erasing our history. I do not know too many people, including Lucinda (?), that think we should be changing the names.
The cancel folks sure have it out for any.one with testicles or testicular fortitude, I really think we need to fortify drinking water with testosterone.
Young, 81, has never been known for his social grace. In the ’90s, the former tugboat captain brandished a walrus penis bone — also known as an oosik — at a committee hearing. Still, that may have been an improvement on the time in 1988 when he allegedly brandished a knife in a House hallway after Democrat Robert Mrazek offered a bill restricting Alaskan logging.
Or the 1995 high school auditorium incident in which Young, also a former teacher, expressed outrage over the homoerotic art of photographer Robert Mapplethorpe. After students expressed confusion over what Young found so “offensive,” he ditched his veiled language for a more blunt assessment.
“Butt-f@#*ing,” he said. “You think that’s art?”
Homosexuality is immoral and a sin. Why do you and your Marxist comrades insist on grooming children into sexual perversion?
You’re stuck in misinformation, cruelty and religion.
This assembly cannot find their backsides with both hands.
For once I agree with Lucy. Leave the Anchorage Port name alone. Young not the person that D.C. thought he was. He developed a personality “bigger than life” while playing the Alaskan Native card and his permanent home in a remote village. I have visited his permanent residence, a sheet metal tool shed. Don’t continue to be fooled by this “great white hunter.”