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Wednesday, August 18, 2010

postheadericon Biden, McConell among speakers at Stevens funeral

Over 25 current and former U.S. politicians will attend the funeral of former Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) on Wednesday in Anchorage.

Vice President Joe Biden, nine former senators, 11 current senators, two congressmen and five Alaska governors are expected to attend the service for Stevens, whose four decades of service in the Senate made him a political giant.

{mosads}Among the speakers are Biden, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii), who was one of Stevens's closest friends in the upper chamber.

Stevens's former Alaska colleague, Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R) is also expected to deliver remarks.

Stevens -- the longest serving Republican in Senate history -- died last Monday at the age of 86 when a small plane on which he was traveling crashed in southwest Alaska, killing him and four others.

The service at the Anchorage Baptist Temple is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. Ala! ska time, or 6 p.m. on the east coast.

The other senators who plan to attend are Mark Begich (D-Alaska), Bob Bennett (R-Utah), Kit Bond (R-Mo.), Thad Cochran (R-Miss.), Chris Dodd (D-Conn.), Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), Pat Roberts (R-Kan.), Arlen Specter (D-Pa.)

Begich defeated Stevens in 2008 after a controversial court battle over the latter's alleged failure to report gifts.

Long-time Alaska Rep. Don Young (R) and Rep. Norm Dicks (D-Wash.) are expected to be at the service.

Dicks is the chairman of the House defense appropriations subcommittee and Stevens spent much of his Senate career as chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, helping steer large amount of federal money to Alaska.

Alaska Gov. Sean Parnell (R) is expected to be in attendance as is former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R), who has arguably become the highest-profile politician from Alaska since Stevens.

Among the former senators who plan to attend are former Senate Majority Leader Howard Baker (R-Tenn.), John Sununu (R-N.H.), Norm Coleman (R-Minn.), Alfonse D'Amato (R-N.Y.), who preceded Sen. Charles Schumer (D) and Dennis DeConcini (D-Ariz.), who retired in 1994 due to his involvement in the Keating Five savings and loan scandal.

A full list of attendees can be found after the jump:


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