Alaska's D.C. big three: up close and personal with Alaska's powerful, hard-working congressional delegation in Washington, D.C.

• Author: McCorkle, Vern C.

Prestige, power, position--three words that describe Alaska's Congressional Delegation in Washington, D.C.: Sen. Ted Stevens, Rep. Don Young and Sen. Lisa Murkowski. Now in his 36th year as a member of the U.S. Senate, Washington, D.C.'s protocol of seniority places Stevens third in line to succeed to the U.S. presidency, ranking only behind the U.S. vice president and the speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. In the Senate, he is the fifth most senior member and the first in rank among Republican members. He is also president (pro tem) of the Senate, an office traditionally held by the U.S. vice president. Next to the president himself, Stevens is arguably the most powerful man in Washington, D.C.

Don Young is serving his 16th term as Alaska's only member in the House of Representatives, in which he is the ninth most senior member and the fourth highest-ranking Republican member. He chairs the powerful and influential Transportation and Infrastructure Committee that has meant so much to Alaska and the Western U.S. He is also a member of the House Select Committee on Homeland Security.

Lisa Murkowski, Alaska's sixth U.S. senator, began her career on Dec. 20, 2002, when she was appointed by her father to fulfill his unexpired term as senator when he became Alaska's 11th governor. She is the first Alaska-born senator to serve the state, and in the Senate she is the Deputy Whip, chosen over fellow senators for her exceptional organizing skills, to help the Majority Whip on voting strategy and other leadership functions. She is only the 33rd female member of the Senate in its history. Sen. Murkowski must run for her own first full term in November 2004.

SEN. LISA MURKOWSKI ALASKA'S JUNIOR SENATOR

Sen. Lisa Murkowski lives on Capital Hill when she is in Washington, D.C., not far from the House wing of the Capitol Building.

After an early wake-up and breakfast at home ("I like oatmeal if I have time, with juice and coffee with extra cream."), she heads for her office in the Hart Senate Office Building. Traffic is already a snarl as she navigates Constitution Avenue in her used, gray-toned Toyota Camry. ("After a Washington rain, its original color, probably silver, I think, sort of shows through.")

Members of her staff have preceded her, some by as much as an hour and a half. There she does a quick review of e-mails arranged in order of urgency, and returns calls to East Coast officials and dignitaries before going to her first meetings. She will make calls back to Alaska...