Anchorage Mayor Dave Bronson announced on March 21 that he wants to rechristen the Port of Alaska to honor the late Congressman Don Young (R-AK), who died three days earlier.
A news release from the mayor’s office stated that Bronson plans to seek approval from the state Assembly to convene a citizen panel and start the process to rename the port the “Don Young Port of Alaska.”
The mayor called Young a champion for the state and a big supporter of the port. As chair of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, Young was instrumental in bringing federal dollars to the port.
“His tireless work for Alaska over the last 49 years has made a tremendous impact across generations for the Port of Alaska, which provides food and supplies for 90% of the state,” Bronson said. “He met with my administration multiple times to help expedite permitting, secure funding and advance the Port Modernization Program. I am asking for the Anchorage Assembly to join me in honoring Congressman Young in recognition for all that he did for the municipality.”
Young, who was re-elected to the 117th Congress in 2020 to serve his 25th term as Alaska’s only member of the U.S. House of Representatives, died aboard a commercial flight from Los Angeles to Seattle. He fell unconscious and could not be revived.
First sworn in as a freshman to the 93rd Congress after winning a special election on March 6, 1973, Young became Dean of the House—the longest-serving member of the House of Representatives—in 2017.