Jim Oberstar | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 2009 | |
| Chair of theHouse Transportation Committee | |
| In office January 3, 2007 – January 3, 2011 | |
| Preceded by | Don Young |
| Succeeded by | John Mica |
| Ranking Member of theHouse Transportation Committee | |
| In office October 10, 1995 – January 3, 2007 | |
| Preceded by | Norman Mineta |
| Succeeded by | John Mica |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromMinnesota's8th district | |
| In office January 3, 1975 – January 3, 2011 | |
| Preceded by | John Blatnik |
| Succeeded by | Chip Cravaack |
| Personal details | |
| Born | James Louis Oberstar (1934-09-10)September 10, 1934 Chisholm, Minnesota, U.S. |
| Died | May 3, 2014(2014-05-03) (aged 79) Potomac, Maryland, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse(s) | Jo Garlick (deceased) Jean Kurth |
| Children | 4 |
| Education | University of St. Thomas, Minnesota (BA) College of Europe (MA) |
Oberstar supporting the Maritime Pollution Prevention Act of 2008. Recorded March 26, 2007 | |
James Louis Oberstar (September 10, 1934 – May 3, 2014) was an American politician andCongressman who served in theUnited States House of Representatives from 1975 to 2011.[1] Hailing fromMinnesota and a member of the state's localDemocratic–Farmer–Labor Party, he represented the northeasterneighth congressional district, which included the cities ofDuluth,Brainerd,Grand Rapids,International Falls, andHibbing, within an area of Minnesota known as theIron Range. He chaired theHouse Transportation and Infrastructure Committee from 2007 until his departure, having been the ranking minority member since 1995. In November 2010, he was defeated by a margin of 4,407 votes byRepublicanChip Cravaack. He had the longest tenure of any Congressman from Minnesota.
Oberstar was born inChisholm, Minnesota, and on his deathbed, he still owned his original family home in Chisholm. His father Louis, of German ancestry, was an iron ore miner and the first card-carrying member of theUnited Steelworkers (USW) on theIron Range of Minnesota.[2] Oberstar also has Slovenian ancestry.[3]
Oberstar graduated fromChisholm High School in 1952 and went on to the College of St. Thomas (now theUniversity of St. Thomas) in St. Paul, Minnesota where he received his B.A. degree in 1956.[4] He received a master's degree in European Studies from theCollege of Europe inBruges, Belgium in 1957,[4] with further study atUniversité Laval inSainte-Foy, Quebec, Canada andGeorgetown University in Washington, D.C.
He spent four years as a civilian language teacher in theUnited States Marine Corps, teaching English toHaitian military personnel and French to American Marine officers andnoncommissioned officers.[5]
He served on the staff of Minnesota's 8th District U.S. RepresentativeJohn Blatnik for 12 years, from 1963 to 1974,[4] rising to chief of staff. He was also the administrator of the Committee on Public Works for the U.S. House of Representatives from 1971 to 1974.[4]
Oberstar was an internationally recognized expert onaviation andaviation safety. He served on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee during his entire time in the House. (His predecessor Blatnik had chaired the committee, then known as the Public Works Committee, during his last two terms in Congress, with Oberstar as staff administrator.) He was also a member of thePresident's Commission on Aviation Security and Terrorism.
In 1965, Oberstar helped create theEconomic Development Administration, the only federal agency devoted to the creation and retention of jobs in economically distressed American communities.[6]
Oberstar was a strong supporter of the Duluth-based aircraft manufacturerCirrus Aircraft and even helped bring the company to Minnesota in 1994 from its first home in Baraboo, Wisconsin.[7][8] That same year, he assisted in passing theGeneral Aviation Revitalization Act, which was said to have reinvigorated thegeneral aviation industry nationwide.[8]
An avidcyclist, Oberstar championed the creation of trails for cycling and hiking to promote active lifestyles. In 2005, he authored, co-sponsored, and helped to pass theSAFETEA-LU act, a $295 billion program[9] that funded transportation infrastructure, including highways, bridges, and public transportation, such as subways, buses, and passenger ferries and which includes the Safe Routes to Schools program. At the 2007 BikeWalk California conference and other bicycling conferences, Oberstar advocated converting the U.S.'s transportation system "from a hydrocarbon-based system to a carbohydrate-based system."
He was rated the third most liberal member of the Minnesota delegation in the109th Congress, scored at 13% by aconservative group[10] and 86%progressive by a liberal group.[11]
Along withJohn Conyers, in April 2006, Oberstar brought an action againstGeorge W. Bush and others alleging violations of theU.S. Constitution in the passage of theDeficit Reduction Act of 2005.[12] The case, (Conyers v. Bush), was ultimately dismissed.[13]
Within days after the collapse of theI-35W Mississippi River bridge, Oberstar introduced and succeeded in passing legislation to appropriate $250 million to theMinnesota Department of Transportation to quickly build areplacement bridge.[14]
In 2004, Oberstar led the opposition to the Commercial Space Launch Amendments Act of 2004, a bill that established a regulatory framework forprivate suborbital spaceflight, arguing that the bill did not sufficiently safeguard passenger and crew safety. "I do not want to see people dead from a space experiment, and then the federal government comes in to regulate".[15]
During his tenure in Congress, Oberstar held leadership positions on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, was House Democratic At-Large Whip, and was a member of the executive committee of the Democratic Study Group. He also served on the International Relations Committee. He was co-chair of the Great Lakes Task Force and was a member of the Upper Mississippi Task Force and the Democratic Homeland Security Task Force. He co-chaired the Congressional Travel and Tourism Caucus and was a member of the following caucuses: the Bike Caucus; the Caucus for Sustainable Development; theCongressional Caucus on Global Road Safety; theCongressional Human Rights Caucus; the Congressional Steel Caucus; the Medical Technology Caucus; the Mississippi River Caucus; the Native American Caucus; and the Renewable Energy Caucus.
Oberstar was ananti-abortion Democrat, and believed it should only be allowed if the pregnancy resulted from rape or incest, or if the life of the mother was endangered.[16][17] He sponsored multipleconstitutional amendments to enshrine aright to life provision, and to prohibit abortion services unless the mother's life was in danger.[18][19]
One of his first congressional achievements was the passage of an amendment in 1976 to prohibit federal funding of theprocedure. While the amendment, known as theHyde Amendment, was officially introduced by fellow freshman memberHenry Hyde (R-IL), Oberstar formulated the text himself, handwriting it on a slip of paper; due to the appeal of a Republican co-sponsor, and Hyde's seat on theHouse Judiciary Committee, it was determined the amendment would have an easier chance of passing if Hyde introduced it.[20][21] Prohibition of federal funding of abortion services, through the amendment, was one of the first legislative gains made by theanti-abortion movement after theRoe v. Wade decision, which legalized abortion nationwide.[22]
He voted in 2003 to banintact dilation and extraction, also known as "partial-birth abortion", and was present at the bill's signing by President George W. Bush.[23][24] He showed his full support in 2005–2006 to theNational Right to Life Committee (NRLC).[25] Oberstar voted againstlegislation in 2005 to require theDepartment of Health and Human Services (HHS) toresearch embryonic stem cells, and again in 2007, one of the only 14 and 16 Democratic members respectively to do so.[26][27] He co-chaired the Congressional Pro-Life Caucus, along with RepublicanChris Smith ofNew Jersey.[28]
Oberstar supported the bill to move theTerri Schiavo case to federal court, and appeared at a press conference with then-House Majority leaderTom DeLay to urge its passage.[29]
During his congressional tenure, Oberstar had a generally supportive record onLGBT rights. TheDefense of Marriage Act passed in 1996 with the support of 118 House Democratic members, including Oberstar.[30] However, after that vote he started to vote more in line with LGBT advocacy groups, such as theHuman Rights Campaign (HRC), which gave him ratings of 86%, 88%, 69%, and 88% for the 108-111th Congress'.[31][32] He voted in favor ofmaking crimes motivated by discrimination against sexual orientation or gender identity a federal hate crime in 2009, and cosponsoreda bill in 2003 to prohibitemployment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.[33][34]
Oberstar was a strong supporter of theHead Start Program, a national program from to promote school readiness by enhancing social and cognitive development of children through the provision of educational, health, nutritional, social, and other services.[35] He considered it to be one of the most successful federalanti-poverty programs ever created.[36] Oberstar also supported theAmerican Association of University Women (AAUW), which has been a leading voice promoting education and equality for women and girls nationwide;[37] he fully supported the AAUW in 2007 and 2008.[38] Interest groups, like the American Association of University Women (AAUW) and the National Association of Elementary School Principals (NAESP), scored him at 100/100.[39] In the early 1980s, Oberstar gave federal aid to the establishment of theNatural Resources Research Institute at the University of Minnesota Duluth to provide applied research and technology development to Minnesota's natural resource-based economy.
Oberstar was rated 100 by Environment America and the League of Conservation Voters in 2009.[40] TheAmerican Wind Energy Association also gave him a rating of 100 in 2006.[40] He voted to pass the Energy and Environmental Law Amendments, which aimed to establish a program to regulate greenhouse gas emissions in 2009.[40] He also voted to pass a bill, Trade-in Vouchers for Fuel-Efficient Cars, in 2009, which granted a $3,500 voucher for trading in an old vehicle for one that got least 4 miles per gallon more, to increase the purchase of fuel-efficient cars.[40] However, Oberstar went against most Democrats and voted in favor of allowing drilling inANWR.[41]
Oberstar was a strong supporter oforganized labor. He was given an 100% rating by theAFL-CIO.[40] Oberstar was also rated 92 by the American Federation of Government Employees in 2009 and 90 by Federally Employed Women in 2009.[40] He voted for three unemployment benefits extension bills in 2010 and three Employment Discrimination Law Amendments in 2009.[40]
According to the Minnesota Congressional Election 2008Political Courage Test, Oberstar supported having taxation of corporate earnings, gasoline, and cigarettes.[42] In 2008,Americans For Fair Taxation (AFFT) gave Oberstar their lowest possible rating,[38][43] and theNational Taxpayers Union gave Oberstar an "F".[38][44] He supported a tax plan containing tax relief for working families, investment tax credits for small businesses, and support for the states, including incentives for transportation construction projects that would immediately put people back to work.[45] Oberstar did not supportfree trade agreements, such asNorth American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) or theCentral American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA).[45] He believed that free trade under NAFTA and CAFTA offered little or no economic opportunity for American workers and producers due to inadequate provisions in the agreements.[46]
When John Blatnik opted not to run for a 15th term in 1974, he endorsed Oberstar as his successor. Oberstar won and was reelected 16 times without serious difficulty. Democrats Blatnik and Oberstar held the seat from 1947 until 2011. Oberstar's lowest winning percentage was 59 percent in 1992, but after that, until 2010, he did not earn less than 60 percent of the vote. He is the longest-serving member of either house of Congress in Minnesota's history, having served in the 94th through the 111th Congresses from January 3, 1975, to January 3, 2011.
During the 2006 elections, Oberstar's Republican opponent was formerUnited States SenatorRod Grams, whose lived in the southwestern corner of the 8th. Grams was the first reasonably well-funded Republican to run in the 8th in decades. Although some polls showed Oberstar only ahead by two points, in the end, he won by over 30 points and did not lose a single county in his district.
During the 2008 elections, Oberstar's Republican opponent was political neophyte and businessman Michael Cummins. Cummins campaigned throughout the district but did not drum up enough support to pose a serious challenge to the veteran Democratic incumbent. Oberstar won with more than 67 percent of the vote. During the 2008 campaign, Oberstar appeared alongside other public officials in a TV ad[47] supporting the reelection of Puerto Rico GovernorAníbal Acevedo Vilá, a fellow Democrat.
During the 2010 elections, Oberstar lost a close race to political newcomer and Tea Party favoriteChip Cravaack, who won a plurality of 48 percent of the vote. The race was seen nationwide as a major upset for Democrats.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Chip Cravaack | 133,474 | 48.2 | |
| Democratic (DFL) | James Oberstar | 129,067 | 46.6 | |
| Independence | Timothy Olson | 11,876 | 4.3 | |
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic (DFL) | James Oberstar | 240,586 | 67.6 | |
| Republican | Michael Cummins | 114,588 | 32.2 | |
| others | 573 | 0.2 | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic (DFL) | James Oberstar | 194,677 | 64 | |
| Republican | Rod Grams | 101,744 | 34 | |
| Unaffiliated | Harry Welty | 6,535 | 2 | |
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic (DFL) | James Oberstar | 228,509 | 65 | |
| Republican | Mark Groettum | 112,657 | 32 | |
| Green | Van Presley | 8,931 | 3 | |
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic (DFL) | James Oberstar | 193,959 | 69 | |
| Republican | Bob Lemen | 88,423 | 31 | |
Oberstar and his first wife, the former Jo Garlick, had four children; she died in 1991. He later married Jean Kurth. The couple lived inPotomac, Maryland, and also maintained Oberstar's boyhood home inChisholm, Minnesota. Oberstar died at his home in Potomac on May 3, 2014, at the age of 79.[48][49]
In 2009, Oberstar received theTony Jannus Award for distinguished leadership in commercial aviation.[50]
In May 2011, aGreat Lakes ore carrier, of theInterlake Steamship Company, which typically transportstaconite pellets fromDuluth,Silver Bay andMarquette tosteel mills nearDetroit,Cleveland, andChicago, was renamed after him, dubbed theMV Honorable James L. Oberstar.[2][51]
On June 19, 2012, Oberstar was made Commander in the FrenchOrdre national du Mérite.
In October 2015, the new passenger terminal of theDuluth International Airport was named in honor of Oberstar, who helped secure funding for the facility before its 2013 opening. A sculpture of him was also unveiled during the renamed terminal's introduction.[52]
In 2016, he was posthumously inducted into theMinnesota Aviation Hall of Fame.[53]
TheCongressional Papers of James L. Oberstar are available for research use. They include photographs, sound and video recordings, legislative materials, campaign and political activities, committee work, and legislative staff topical files documenting Oberstar's service as a U. S. Representative from Minnesota's 8th Congressional District (1975–2011). The collection emphasizes Oberstar's activities on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, demonstrated by an extensive series of staff office topical files addressing various issues, projects, and legislation related to aviation, highways and bridges, railways, waterways, and bikeways. Additional significant content focuses on economic development in the Iron Range, travel and tourism, trade, and environmental protection of Minnesota's land and water resources.[54]
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromMinnesota's 8th congressional district 1975–2011 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Ranking Member of theHouse Transportation Committee 1995–2007 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Chair of theHouse Transportation Committee 2007–2011 | |
| Public Buildings and Grounds (1837–1947) |  | |
|---|---|---|
| Rivers and Harbors (1883–1947) | ||
| Roads (1913–1947) | ||
| Flood Control (1916–1947) | ||
| Transportation and Infrastructure* (1947–) | ||
| Note | * Alternately namedPublic Works in 80th through 93rd Congresses andPublic Works and Transportation in 94th through 103rd Congresses. | |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
