April 28, 2022 — The U.S. House of Representatives honored the late Don Young on Tuesday, 26 April, by passing legislation the longtime Alaska Republican congressman sponsored.
Young first won the state’s only House seat in 1973. He was the “Dean of the House,” a term given to the longest-tenured member in Congress. He died at age 88 on 18 March while traveling back to the state from Washington, D.C.
Read the full story at SeafoodSource
April 8, 2022 — The bill to reauthorize the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act is being put on hold until Alaskans elect a new member of Congress following the passing of Alaska Republican Rep. Don Young.
Young passed away on March 18 at the age of 88. As SeafoodNews editor Peggy Parker reported, Young was the historical constant in the evolution of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, serving in the house when Senator Ted Stevens represented Alaska in the Senate, and he and Washington Senator Warren Magnusen introduced the original legislation. Young introduced legislation two years ago with several updates to the law.
Now, Representative Jared Huffman, the chair of the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water, Oceans and Wildlife, said his bill to reauthorize the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act will be put on hold until a replacement for Young is elected.
April 6, 2022 — The death of Alaska Republican Rep. Don Young will delay consideration of a long-awaited overhaul of the nation’s premier fishing law.
Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.), the chair of the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water, Oceans and Wildlife, said his bill to reauthorize the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, a 1976 law, will be put on hold until Alaskans elect a replacement for Young, who died on March 18 at the age of 88.
“Although we often differed politically, we were always able to have productive conversations when it came to fisheries management, and he was a brilliant negotiator for this landmark bill,” Huffman said in a statement.
Calling Young’s death “a tremendous loss for Alaska, the country and all of us who had the honor of working with him,” Huffman said he wanted to wait until a successor is elected this summer to “ensure the voices of the Alaskan people are represented” before the bill moves through the House.
“I am grateful for the progress Rep. Young and I accomplished together as we neared the finish line with this bill, and I look forward to finalizing it with whomever takes the torch from the venerable Don Young,” Huffman said.
Read the full story from the office of Congressman Jared Huffman
March 25, 2022 — The following was released by the office of Rep. Jared Huffman:
Today, Congressman Jared Huffman (D-San Rafael) released the following statement regarding the status of his Magnuson-Stevens Act (MSA) reauthorization legislation, the Sustaining America’s Fisheries for the Future Act, in light of Congressman Don Young’s passing:
“Over the past three years, I have worked to update and reauthorize the Magnuson-Stevens Act – traveling coast to coast to hear from stakeholders, releasing discussion drafts for public review, and partnering with lawmakers from across the country in what has been a uniquely inclusive and comprehensive process. As part of this effort, I have had the privilege to work closely with the MSA’s original author, Congressman Don Young,” said Rep. Huffman. “Although we often differed politically, we were always able to have productive conversations when it came to fisheries management, and he was a brilliant negotiator for this landmark bill. His death is a tremendous loss for Alaska, the country, and all of us who had the honor of working with him. I’ve always said it’s important all voices be heard in this MSA reauthorization process – and so, we will be pausing further committee consideration of the legislation until his replacement is elected and we can ensure the voices of the Alaskan people are represented before the bill advances further through the House. I am grateful for the progress Rep. Young and I accomplished together as we neared the finish line with this bill, and I look forward to finalizing it with whomever takes the torch from the venerable Don Young.”
More information on the Sustaining America’s Fisheries for the Future Act and the reauthorization process can be found here.
March 21, 2022 — Don Young, the irascible riverboat captain who did not so much represent Alaska as personify it for half a century in Congress, died Friday as he was flying home to Alaska for yet another political campaign.
Young was 88, the oldest and longest-serving member of the current Congress. In serving the 49th state for 49 years, he had become the longest-serving Republican congressman in history.
No cause of death has yet been given. The congressman lost consciousness on a flight from Los Angeles to Seattle and could not be revived. His wife, Anne, was traveling with him.
Young was first elected to Alaska’s only seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in a special election in March 1973. Four months earlier, he had lost the regular election to Democrat Nick Begich, the incumbent congressman who had disappeared on a campaign flight but would not be declared dead until December.
Read the full story at the Anchorage Daily News
March 21, 2022 — The following was released by the National Fisheries Institute:
Congressman Don Young was a champion of Alaska fisheries. A co-author, stalwart supporter, and defender of the Magnuson Stevens Act—his commitment to fisheries management was acclaimed far from just the bountiful waters of the state he represented.
His long history of legislative work was appreciated by his constituents and colleagues. After 49 years in office, as the longest serving Representative, he was the Dean of the House.
His delivery and dialogue were often called colorful, but his passion and commitment were never questioned. His dedication to Alaska and the men and women who work its waters, as well as his willingness to get even the difficult things done will be missed.
John Connelly
President
March 21, 2022 — U.S. Rep. Don Young, the Alaska Republican who served as that state’s only congressman for nearly half a century, died unexpectedly Friday, 18 March, 2022. He was 88.
According to the Anchorage Daily News, Young fell unconscious while on a flight heading back to Alaska and could not be revived.
Read the full story at SeafoodSource
March 19, 2022 — Don Young, the Alaska congressman who secured pork-barrel billions for his state over nearly a half-century and became the longest-serving Republican in the House of Representatives and the oldest current member of both the House and Senate, died on Friday. He was 88.
Mr. Young died while traveling home to Alaska, his office said. His wife, Anne Young, was with him.
In a state whose small population allows for two senators but only one representative, Mr. Young, who cultivated the image of a rugged frontiersman with outsize clout in Washington, was sometimes called Alaska’s “third senator.” To this day, most Alaskans have had no congressman in their lifetimes but Mr. Young, who was first elected in 1973, during the Nixon administration.
Early in his 24th term in 2019, he became the longest-serving Republican in House history, surpassing the tenure of the former speaker Joseph Gurney Cannon of Illinois, who as a teenager had followed the 1858 Lincoln-Douglas debates and went on to serve 23 House terms in three discontinuous segments between 1873 and 1923. At his death Mr. Young was in his 25th term and 49th year in Congress. (John Dingell, a Democratic House member from Michigan for 59 years, was the longest-serving member of Congress in American history.)
When asked in 2020 how long he planned to serve, Mr. Young told The New York Times, “God will decide that, or the voters.”
March 16, 2022 — State and federal lawmakers from Alaska are applauding the Biden administration’s decision to ban Russian seafood imports. It’s part of a series of escalating sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine. Sen. Dan Sullivan and Rep. Don Young released statements Friday welcoming the move.
Legislators at the state and federal levels have been calling for a Russian seafood ban for years. Kodiak Republican state Sen. Gary Stevens says the White House is finally paying attention to the issue.
“I’m really pleased the President has made this announcement, and I think it’s extremely important for Alaska and the Alaska seafood industry, you know, it’s been a totally unfair relationship in the past,” Stevens said.
Russia slapped an embargo on American fish and seafood products in 2014 in response to U.S. sanctions imposed over its annexation of Crimea.
November 18, 2021 — On Tuesday the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water, Oceans and Wildlife examined Congressman Don Young’s Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSA) reauthorization bill and Subcommittee Chairman Representative Jared Huffman’s MSA reauthorization bill.
“Alaska’s seafood industry is one of the primary drivers of our economy, and for over forty years, the Magnuson-Stevens Act has allowed our fishermen, processors, and coastal communities to thrive,” said Congressman Young. “It has also assisted in the preservation of subsistence and recreational fishing, which are both essential to our state’s way of life.”
Congressman Young, along with Congressman Gerry Studds, first drafted the bipartisan legislation in 1976. And now Young says that he’s ready to continue defending the bill in Congress.
“The truth is MSA has worked and worked well,” explained Young. “As with any law, it is wise to ensure policies keep pace with changing times. While I believe some changes merit discussion, I do not believe in throwing the baby out with the bathwater.”