Anchorage Daily News

Sen.-elect Mark Begich spent three days in Washington, D.C., last week, going through orientation for his new job as Alaska's first Democrat in Congress since 1981.

Begich met with his Republican Senate counterpart from Alaska, Sen. Lisa Murkowski and Republican Rep. Don Young, and had lunch with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada. He even got an offer of babysitting for his son from the 13-year-old daughter of his Democratic colleague from Minnesota, Sen. Amy Klobuchar.

The Daily News interviewed him on his third day in town, in a cramped but temporary office in the basement of the Dirksen Senate Office Building.

Q.Describe your first day.

A. Monday we got right busy. From interviewing potential folks that will work for us, to orientation, to a meeting with individual senators. Monday I had lunch with Sen. Reid. As well as Monday night, I was making a call back to KUDO radio in Anchorage.

Q.What about your family, and living here? How are you going to work all that out?

A. For the first six to eight months, I will commute and probably have an apartment here. Jacob is finishing first grade and we want to keep him there. We want to take the time to look for a location, and this spring, Deborah will come back and we'll look at opportunities and in the summer we'll hopefully make a decision. It's not like tomorrow we'll have to do it.

Q.How was the meeting with Sen. Reid and what did you talk about?

A. It's kind of an interesting advantage being late in being certified, because when the other new guys came and had lunch with Sen. Reid, they all did it together. So I just got a one-to-one. It was great, I re-emphasized my issues and what committees I'm interested in. We talked about family. It's clear that a lot of senators want to make sure you get situated.

Q.You've said publicly you've got your eye on a couple of committees. What are they and what chances do you think you have?

A.Anyone would love to be on Appropriations, which of course I asked for. Finance, Commerce I think is very important for us. Armed Services, Small Business and Public Works and Environment. I'm trying to make sure that I'm kind of in that process of constantly reminding folks. Sen. Reid makes the final decision and I had a great opportunity to have a conversation with him about it. I got my own moment.

Q. It seems like Appropriations is kind of a long shot for a freshman.

A. Yeah, I think it is. But all the pieces are moving. And something might happen, so you just don't want to be in the situation where, well, you just didn't ask. And I've made that my No. 1 choice.

Q. You met with Sen. Murkowski too. What did you talk about?

A. About how we'll, as a delegation, meet on a regular basis. We talked about our priorities together, just making sure that we're coordinating. The other piece that we talked about was how we'll coordinate back with the state. Most of these first meetings are not about, here's 17 issues. Despite the fact that every time I see a senator ... every one of the senators I've met with has gotten an issue from me. Even in the subway, with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), I introduced myself and he was telling me he's off to the committee on health care. And I, of course, launched into it and said, "Here are some ideas." And when I met with Sen. Baucus (D-Mont.) I said, "Hey, you know, municipal governments can't refinance their debt more than once, we should change that." And he thought that was an interesting idea. There's a huge advantage being mayor because you have a huge encyclopedia of stuff.

Q. So you probably have some ideas about this infrastructure stimulus package?

A. I campaigned on it, I love it. Six months ago, that wasn't even a part of the national discussion. In our campaign, it was. When I talked to Don Young, we talked about how we love getting federal money but it can take two to three years longer and add more cost for the exact same road that we're complying with all the environmental requirements and all the regulation, but we can do it faster. If we're going to do an infrastructure bill, you can talk all you want about getting money to roads, but if you do it through a federal system, it'll be five years from now before you even touch the ground. And that's not going to help any jobs. Or like, when someone says to me about what Obama talked about with federal buildings being energy efficient, well, we laid out a whole plan on our Web site on how to do that without new tax dollars and how to do it quickly. The goal is, with infrastructure, the whole recovery act is about creating jobs now. But the way the system works, it could take some time if they don't fix some of the processes.

Q. You talked to Don Young too?

A. He and I actually have a great relationship. We meet all the time, so we'll extend that effort. We talked about the transportation bill, which he's obviously very involved in. I'm very interested in it. We talked about what to do in the transition, making sure our staffs get to know each other, more of that kind of discussion. But transportation, because he loves infrastructure too, we talked a lot about that. Congressman (James) Oberstar (D-Minn.), who is the chairman of the (transportation) committee, we have a family relationship, so one of the ideas was at some point we all get together and have a conversation. A lot of people think the Senate stays in one side, the House in another ... that's not how I'm going to operate.

Q. Where do you see yourself fitting into the Democratic caucus?

A. I don't know! I think they're nervous about where I might fit in. I think they're going to see me as someone who's very direct and not afraid to talk about things, but also willing to throw out ideas. And I'm going to work very hard on the stuff I put forward. I'm not going to just get out there and jawbone about it. If I lay something out in the caucus, I'm going to go do it. And if it's contrary to Alaska's interests, I will tell the caucus: You can forget it. And they can do whatever.

Q. What are you hearing from constituents? Do you feel like because you just went through a campaign you have a feel for what people are interested in right now?

A. Most of it's just connecting. But everything from fisheries, energy issues, health care issues, education. It's the gamut of Alaska issues. I feel very confident about the issues that I think Alaskans are struggling with, as well as what my role can be to help deal with those issues. I don't want to say I'm ready for all, but we did a lot of policy in our campaign. We did so much of that that it gave me an opportunity, in this position, to be ready.

Q. Do you ever think "These are big shoes to fill?"

A. I think every person will define their role. In my situation there's a lot of history there. But I do think there's a lot of excitement by people who are here, people who are actually part of the Senate today, as well as Alaskans, who are very excited, because they see me as a different way to approach these issues.

Q. Should Ted Stevens go to jail?

A. I think in a lot of ways, he's 85 years old, he's committed an offense, he's been convicted, he needs to pay the consequences. But jail time may not be the most appropriate at his age. And house arrest, those types of things, are a different opportunity. There are other people who are a danger to society who we need to think about, them behind concrete.

Q. What would you say your top three goals are, locally and nationally?

A. An energy plan, which is both national and state. I think the issue, working on the economic recovery, is going to be the topic, so you don't get the chance of that one. With health care, there are some things that can be done, better access, and also for veterans, we've talked about the "Hero's Health Card," which gives them access to health care anywhere, anytime. They get reimbursed by the VA so they don't have to look for a VA hospital. I think services for veterans and active military are going to be very important as a lot of them come back with huge needs in medical services, job retraining and education opportunities.

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