Alaskan congressman Don Young is a salty fellow–but, then, that’s one of the perks of incumbency in a state that only has one member in the House of Representatives. Young’s been in Congress since 1973, and is probably best known for co-sponsoring the legislation that would have funded the famous “Bridge to Nowhere.” He’s eighty-two years old; he’s a political conservative in a hugely conservative state–basically, Don Young’s got tenure. He can say whatever he wants pretty much free from worry about backlash. Which is how you get statements like the one he made this week, to Interior Secretary Sally Jewell during a hearing on the budget for the Department of the Interior. Congress = Video, though, so let’s go to the tape:
The rant Young goes off on stems in part from the letters 79 members of Congress wrote to Secretary Jewell, urging her to keep the gray wolf on the endangered species list. Wolf hunting is a thing in Alaska, though (we all remember that). And, to be fair to the state and to Young’s broader point, they are a bigger problem for Alaskans than the citizens of probably any other state.
It’s also true that–to extrapolate from Young’s statement–the focused introduction of wolves into other Congressional districts would, most likely, result in a reduction in the homeless population of those districts, if only because homeless people do not have homes into which they can run when they see confused, angry wolves running toward them in packs. What isn’t clear is whether Representative Don Young is a big Johnathan Swift fan. He could be, strange though that may sound. Stranger things have happened in Congress.
(Photo credits: Grinderman; Don Young via Facebook)
