Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Missouri for yielding. What a great tribute, to be naming this Coast Guard reauthorization bill after Don Young. While we mourn his loss today and pay tribute to Don in Statuary Hall, his family was here, and as you are paying tribute to a great life, the dean of the House who served 49 years in this great Chamber from the 49th State of Alaska, you can't help but think of all the Don Young stories. Clearly, there is a tie to this bill because Don served on the Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Subcommittee for his entire tenure that the committee was in existence. Don loved the Coast Guard, loved the relationship they had in Alaska, just trying to get more icebreakers so that we could keep up with Russians continuing to open up their shipping lanes, but our not having the ability to get enough Coast Guard cutters to break ice in Alaska. Don Young was always a champion for Alaska. He was a great friend. He was somebody who you knew where he stood all the time. And if you stood in his way, he would make it clear that he was going to keep moving forward. As we look at the seat that Don Young always sat in, in a Chamber of 435 people where there are no reserved seats, everybody knows that is where Don Young sat. When you look over there today, it is a little bit sad, but you can only think of great memories of Don Young when you see the black cloth draped over that seat.…”