Rep. Young to attend RSC meeting

Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska) is scheduled to attend a meeting of the Republican Study Committee (RSC) Wednesday, but it is unclear whether he will make amends for a recent outburst on the floor, according to sources familiar with the meeting.

The RSC and Young’s office would not confirm whether the lawmaker would attend the meeting. Sources also could not confirm what the nature of the meeting would be or whether Young would apologize to Rep. Scott Garrett (R-N.J.).

{mosads}Young, who is not a member of the RSC, outraged several members of the group after he indirectly criticized Garrett on the House floor on July 18.

The New Jersey lawmaker had offered an amendment that would have stripped millions of dollars from a Young provision in the Labor, Health and Human Services and Education appropriations bill. Garrett said his provision targeted the funding in Alaska because the money was already included elsewhere in the bill.

The amendment failed by a large margin, but it prompted an outburst from Young before the vote.

Young derided New Jersey  “a state that doesn’t have the greatest reputation” and referred to the funding for the “Strengthening Alaskan Native and Native Hawaiian-Serving Institutions” as “his money.” He also accused Garrett of trying to take funds from needy children, yet stopped short of referring to him by name.

“I have been able to represent my state better than New Jersey. I suggest New Jersey ought to elect themselves some new congressmen. I suggest [that constituents elect members] that can do the job,” Young said, as laughter echoed through the chamber. “I truly believe that if they can’t do the job, they should elect somebody new.”

Garrett retorted that part of the problem with Congress is that some members view appropriations as personal bank accounts. He also took a shot at the “Bridge to Nowhere,” a $200 million earmark that Young introduced in the House last year that would have benefited 80 people on a remote island.

“When the gentleman from Alaska comes forward and says, ‘It’s my money,’ well, maybe that’s why in some respects when there are projects that are appropriated, such as bridges to nowhere and the like, the American public says, ‘That’s our dollars going to Washington,’” Garrett said.

After Young’s remarks, RSC members jumped to Garrett’s defense on the floor, including RSC Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas).

“Any member of Congress who confuses taxpayer money with their own has clearly spent too much time in Washington,” he said.

At a weekly meeting following the comments, several RSC members spoke out against Young and called for an apology, according to sources familiar with the discussions. The conservative group also reviewed the tape of Young’s outburst during the meeting.

Young’s friction with the RSC is only one of the troubles he has encountered this term. He recently came under fire following reports that he requested questionable earmarks in another member’s Florida district and that he took illegal campaign donations from the Pacific Seafood Processing Association. He spent nearly $300,000 on legal fees in the second quarter of 2007.

When asked whether Young would be asked to step down from his committees, House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) said leadership was withholding judgment at this time.

“When this new Congress began, Republican leadership made it clear to our members and to the American people that we were going to hold our members to the highest ethical standard,” Boehner said Tuesday morning. “We’ve done that and we are going to continue to do that as the year goes on.

“There are some questions that have been raised about one of our members, we are continuing to have those discussions with him … and continue to do what we have always done, holding our members to the highest standard,” he added.

Republicans Reps. John Doolittle (Calif.) and Rick Renzi (Ariz.) stepped down from their committees after the FBI raided their properties.