Alaska's sole delegate to the United States House of Representatives was once again sworn into his office yesterday to begin his 21 term as Alaska's Representative to Washington.

Representative Young has served in his position since 1973, when after the death of Nick Begich, won his seat in a special election against Democrat Emil Notti. He would win his first full term the following year. Young credited his victory to his leadership for the fight for the Trans-Alaska Pipeline.

Mr. Young was born in Meridian , California and moved to Alaska in 1959 after serving in the Army from 1955 to 1957. He worked construction, fished and trapped and tried his hand at goldpanning in Fort Yukon. He also captained a tugboat along the Yukon River and taught fifth grade at the BIA elementary school.

Mr. Young’s political career would begiin in 1964 when he was elected mayor of Fort Yukon. He would hold that office for only one term before being elected to the Alaska House of Represetatives, where he served two terms. He would be elected to the Alaska Senate in 1970.

Representative Young released a statement after being sworn in, where he said, “I am honored and blessed to be sworn in for my 21st term in office today, representing the state I love and continuing my fight on behalf of all Alaskans.”He went on to say, “As the second most senior Republican, I look forward to working with Members on both sides of the aisle, old and new, to get the American economy back on track.”

Speaking on the current situation in Washington, Young said, “I believe it is time to hit the reset button in Washington, and in the 113th Congress, I look forward to working toward fixing the extreme partisanship that has hung over us these past few years, because we are all in this together. My priorities this Congress are to solve the out of control spending problem that is bankrupting this country, cut the bureaucratic red tape that has a stranglehold on economic growth, and work to continue moving America toward true energy independence.”

Representative Young will continue to serve as the Chairman of the Indian and Alaska Native Affairs Subcommittee as well as the senior member of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

Young will also retain his position on the Republican Policy Committee.

Representative Young has been in his current capacity as Alaska’s Representative for 40 years.