By Rachel Kleinman
Come again, congressman?
Alaska Republican Rep. Don Young – who made headlines in July for twisting the arm of a staffer on Capitol Hill – suggested during a hearing Thursday in Washington, D.C. that wolves could solve an area’s “homeless problem,” the Associated Press reported. “I’d introduce ‘em in your district, you wouldn’t have a homeless problem anymore,” Young said, responding to those fighting to protect the gray wolf in the continental U.S. Young claimed the wolf’s advocates don’t live in areas populated by the predatory carnivore.
Of course, Young’s spokesperson Matt Shuckerow insisted Young didn’t mean his comment literally. Rather, he said Young used hyperbole to emphasize the threat gray wolves pose to wildlife and communities alike.
Young’s unfiltered remarks have landed him in hot water before. In March 2013, Young referred to Latino farm workers as “wetbacks.”