[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 119 (Monday, August 3, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Page S8643]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                                LU YOUNG

  Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, my colleague mentioned the passing of a 
very dear friend. I wish to take a moment this afternoon to also 
acknowledge the passing of Lu Young.
  This is a sad day for us in Alaska as we come to grips with the very 
sudden passing of Congressman Young's wife. They have been a team for 
some 46 years. She died this weekend at their home in Great Falls, VA. 
She was only 67 years old.
  Lu Young was an Athabascan Indian from the village of Fort Yukon. 
Fort Yukon, you may have seen on Senator Begich's map, is in the 
interior part of the State. It sits 7 miles above the Arctic Circle on 
the north bank of the Yukon River. It is about 145 air miles north from 
Fairbanks.
  Congressman Young met Lu in Fort Yukon. This is back in the days when 
he was a tugboat captain operating a barge, carrying products and 
supplies up and down the river. Don taught in the wintertime at the BIA 
schools. Lu was the bookkeeper there in the village. They met, they 
married, and had 46 years of honest wedded bliss.
  I have to tell you, it is not often one can look at a couple after 46 
years of marriage and still see the love and the gleam and the warmth 
between two individuals, one for another. Every day we saw that. If Lu 
wasn't with Don, Don was talking about Lu.
  He used to joke when he was in his campaigns: ``You get two for the 
price of one.'' He wasn't kidding. Don was in his office every day, and 
Lu was also in the office every day over at the Rayburn Building. She 
would greet Alaskans as they would come in. She would make sure they 
were comfortable or if she thought they were taking too much of Don's 
time, she would tell them that too. She would take people over to the 
restaurant for lunch. She welcomed Alaskans as part of their family.
  We have a very close and intimate relationship with those we 
represent in Alaska. As my new colleague is recognizing, we are a long 
way from home, so we kind of band together. We are part of an extended 
family.
  Lu was a constant in Don Young's office. She ensured that Alaskans 
who traveled to Washington, DC, would know that the Congressman for all 
Alaska was going to take care of you. She was also reminding Don every 
day: Don't forget where you come from. Anyone who has ever been to 
Don's office knows it looks and feels very much like Alaska. Lu made 
sure that was never going to change.
  Today the people of Alaska are not thinking of Lu's contributions to 
Don's political career. They are reflecting on the truly remarkable 
love between the two of them. In a statement this morning, Congressman 
Young summed it up. He said: ``Lu was my everything, and I am 
heartbroken.'' That loss breaks the golden hearts of all Alaskans as we 
remember our own experiences with Congressman Young's partner, his best 
friend, and his heart.
  Congressman Young has lost the love of his life, and Alaskans have 
lost a great friend. Regardless of political persuasion, all of Alaska 
grieves with Congressman Young, his daughters, Joni and Dawn, and their 
husbands, 14 grandchildren, and an extended family of lifelong friends 
throughout the great land.
  I yield the floor.
  Mr. ALEXANDER. Mr. President, of course, all of us extend our 
sympathies to Congressman Young and his family. The remarks of the 
Senators from Alaska spoke for all of us.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Tennessee.

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