WASHINGTON -- Rep. Don Young said Monday he plans to speed a new version of his transportation bill through committee and to the House floor in less than 40 days, though he wouldn't say whether any Alaska projects, such as the Knik Arm bridge, are still part of the measure.
The Alaska Republican also predicted speedy action on a House energy bill that would include opening the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to drilling. Any such measure would face a far less certain future in the Senate, where it would need 60 votes to prevent a filibuster.
Young made his comments in a wide-ranging interview session with Alaska reporters in his House office, where he also showed off his new, snow-white goatee, a possible entry in a furry-face competition later this year. Over some 45 minutes, he also ridiculed the president's assertions about a Social Security crisis, voiced continued opposition to the USA Patriot Act, expressed hope that the Iraq election represented an improving situation there, and announced he may introduce a bill guaranteeing universal health coverage for children under 18.
Young, who is chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, said he wasn't prepared yet to say how big the latest version of the transportation bill would be, except that it would be more than the bill at its introduction last Congress -- $275 billion. At one point, that bill had bloated to about $375 billion, though it was $284 billion when passed by the House. The bill died in the midst of a fight with the Bush administration and some Senate Republicans over its cost.
The five-year spending plan would be paid by highway taxes on gasoline, which Young also wants to raise.
He urged people to "look beyond" the costs of the bill, and rather focus on the nation's needs.
Asked whether the price tag of the measure indicated it would still include some $200 million for the Knik Arm crossing and millions more for the Gravina Island bridge in Ketchikan, Young wouldn't say.
"Alaska will be adequately taken care of," he said. "You can surmise all you want -- it will be adequately taken care of."
Those projects have been satirized as "bridges to nowhere" and opposed by a coalition of taxpayer groups and environmentalists, who would rather see a cheaper bill with money for ferries and existing corridors.
Young predicted the transportation measure would reach the House floor during the week of March 7. An ANWR bill could come even sooner, he said.
"Energy is one of the major issues for the president. It is for the nation," he said. An ANWR bill would likely clear the House with at least two more votes than it did last session, Young said.
"Don't ask me what the Senate is doing," he added.
With 60 votes needed to block a filibuster, the handful of Democrats who support drilling haven't overcome the handful of Republicans who oppose it. Though the pro-drilling math may have changed a little in the last election, opposition continues. Sen. Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn., announced Monday that he and several other members will lead an anti-development rally Wednesday near the Capitol. Lieberman also plans to introduce a bill to grant permanent wilderness status to the ANWR coastal plain.
On other issues, Young scoffed at President Bush's claims that Social Security needs an immediate fix.
"We do have a slight problem," he said. "I think there's a possibility of a problem 45 years from now."
And Young said he remained "very unsold" on Bush's solutions to privatize Social Security.
"I'm not overly confident the average American knows how to invest in stocks," he said. "I don't want Wall Street involved in this."
Young said he would support making current individual retirement accounts more attractive through tax-law changes.
Young said the election in Iraq was a hopeful sign.
"Can you imagine?" he said. "I can't get people to vote in America, and (in Iraq) you've got a chance to get your head blown off and they show up in big numbers."
But Young said he would continue to oppose any reauthorization or extension of the Patriot Act if it continued to restrict civil liberties.
"If we impede the commerce of this country, the bad guys have won," he said. "If we take away the freedoms of any individual that is an American citizen, the bad guys have won."
Young said he didn't attend last weekend's GOP retreat at the Greenbriar Resort in West Virginia, opting instead for an earlier speaking engagement before a meeting of the Safari Club International in Nevada. The Bush Social Security plan was at the forefront of the agenda in Greenbriar.
Daily News reporter Richard Mauer can be reached at 1-202-383-0007 or rmauer@adn.com.
