Jim Oberstar

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Jim Oberstar
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Minnesota's 8th district
Incumbent
Assumed office  January 3, 1975
Preceded by	John Blatnik
Born	September 10, 1934 (1934-09-10) (age 73) Chisholm, Minnesota
Political party	Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party
Spouse	Jean Kurth
Religion	Roman Catholic

James Louis "Jim" Oberstar (born September 10, 1934) is a United States politician. Oberstar has been a Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party member of the United States House of Representatives since 1975, representing Minnesota's 8th congressional district, one of eight congressional districts in Minnesota. The district is located in the northeastern part of the state. Minnesota's third largest city, Duluth is in the district; it also includes Brainerd, Grand Rapids, International Falls and Hibbing.

With the Democrats' victory in the 2006 midterm elections, Oberstar has become chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. Within days after the collapse of the I-35W Mississippi River bridge, Oberstar introduced and succeeded in passing legislation to appropriate $250 million to Mn/DOT to quickly build a replacement bridge.^[1]

[edit] Background

He was born in Chisholm, Minnesota, and still owns his original family home in Chisholm. He received his B.A. at the College of St. Thomas (now the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul). He also received a Master's degree in European Studies from the College of Europe in Bruges, Belgium, with further study at Université Laval in Sainte-Foy, Quebec, Canada and Georgetown University. He spent four years as a civilian language teacher in the United States Marine Corps, teaching English to Haitian military personnel and French to American Marine officers and noncommissioned officers.^[2]

[edit] Political career

Oberstar served as chief staff assistant to 8th District Congressman John Blatnik for 12 years. When Blatnik didn't run for a 15th term in 1974, he endorsed Oberstar as his successor. Oberstar won and has been reelected 15 times without serious difficulty. The Democrats—in the persons of Blatnik and Oberstar—have held the seat since 1947. His lowest winning percentage was 59 percent in 1992, but since then has not earned 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, 95th, 96th, 97th, 98th, 99th, 100th, 101st, 102nd, 103rd, 104th, 105th, 106th, 107th, 108th, 109th, and 110th congresses, (January 3, 1975–present).

Oberstar is an internationally recognized expert on aviation and aviation safety. He has served on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee since his first term. Blatnik had chaired the committee during his last two terms in Congress (when it was known as the Public Works Committee), with Oberstar as staff administrator. Oberstar was a member of the President's Commission on Aviation Security and Terrorism (PCAST), which was set up in September 1989 to review and report on aviation security policy in the light of the sabotage of Pan Am Flight 103 on December 21, 1988. An avid cyclist, Oberstar has been a champion of creating trails for cycling and hiking to promote healthy living and more active lifestyles. In 2005 he authored and had passed the Safe Routes to Schools act, a $200 million program that helps school districts address the growing problem of childhood obesity by building biking and walking paths to schools, hiring crossing guards and promoting safety programs.^{[citation needed]}

Oberstar generally has a liberal voting record, but opposes abortion and opposes gun control. The latter stand is fairly common among DFLers outside the Twin Cities, as Minnesota is a "pioneer state" with a long hunting and fishing tradition. Many DFL officials are hunters and anglers. He is the co-chairman of the Congressional Pro-Life Caucus, along with Republican Chris Smith of New Jersey.

In 2007, along with Gene Taylor, Brad Ellsworth and others, Oberstar was one of 16 Democrats who voted against federal funding for stem cell research [1].

He is considered to be the third most liberal member of the Minnesota delegation in the 109^th Congress, scoring 13% conservative by a conservative group^[3] and 86% progressive by a liberal group.^[4] Minnesota Congressional Districts shows the scores for the entire delegation.

Along with John Conyers, in April 2006 Oberstar brought an action against George W. Bush and others alleging violations of the Constitution in the passing of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005^[5]. The case (Conyers v. Bush) was ultimately dismissed^[6].

Oberstar resides with his wife, Jean, in his home in Potomac, Maryland, a suburb of Washington, D.C. and maintains his boyhood residence in Chisholm, Minnesota.

During the 2006 elections, Oberstar's Republican opponent was former United States Senator Rod Grams, whose home is in the southwestern corner of the 8th. Grams was by far the strongest opponent Oberstar had ever faced, and the first reasonably well-funded Republican to run in the 8th in decades. And 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.

Oberstar is one of two committee chairmen from Minnesota, the other being Collin Peterson of the neighboring 7th District.

[edit] Committees and Affiliations

[edit] Committees

• House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure - Chair
  • Subcommittee on Aviation -Ex Officio
  • Subcommittee on Coast Guard & Maritime Transportation -Ex Officio
  • Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings and Emergency Management -Ex Officio
  • Subcommittee on Highways, Transit & Pipelines -Ex Officio
  • Subcommittee on Railroads -Ex Officio
  • Water Resources & Environment -Ex Officio

[edit] Committee assignments in the 109th Congress (2005-2006)

• House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure - Ranking Minority Member

[edit] Coalitions and Caucuses

• Bike Caucus
• Caucus for Sustainable Development
• Congressional Human Rights Caucus
• Congressional Steel Caucus
• Co-Chair, Congressional Travel and Tourism Caucus
• Democratic Homeland Security Task Force
• Executive Committee, Democratic Study Group
• Co-Chair, Great Lakes Task Force
• House Democratic At-Large Whip
• International Relations Committee (On Leave)
• Medical Technology Caucus
• Mississippi River Caucus
• Native American Caucus
• Renewable Energy Caucus
• Upper Mississippi Task Force

[edit] Boards and other Affiliations

• Board Member, Board of Trustees, Kennedy Center, 1995-present
• Board Member, Mineta I.I.STPS Institute, San Jose State, 1995-present.

[edit] Electoral history

• 1974 DFL Primary for U.S. Representative — 8th District
  • Jim Oberstar (DFL), 49%
  • Tony Perpich (DFL), 29%
  • Florian Chmielewski (DFL), 19.5%

• 1974 Race for U.S. Representative — 8th District
  • Jim Oberstar (DFL), 62%
  • Jerome Arnold (R), 26%
  • William R. Ojala (Economic Justice), 10%
  • Robert C. Bester (Independent), 2%

• 1976 Race for U.S. Representative — 8th District
  • Jim Oberstar (DFL) (inc.), unopposed (100%)

• 1978 Race for U.S. Representative — 8th District
  • Jim Oberstar (DFL) (inc.), 87%
  • John W. Hull (AM), 13%

• 1980 DFL Primary for U.S. Representative — 8th District
  • Jim Oberstar (DFL) (inc.), 49%
  • Thomas E. Dougherty (DFL), 39%

• 1980 Race for U.S. Representative — 8th District
  • Jim Oberstar (DFL) (inc.), 70%
  • Edward Fiore (IR), 28%
  • Ilona Gersh (SW), 2%

• 1982 DFL Primary for U.S. Representative — 8th District
  • Jim Oberstar (DFL) (inc.), 87%
  • Bernard Sydow (DFL), 13%

• 1982 Race for U.S. Representative — 8th District
  • Jim Oberstar (DFL) (inc.), 77%
  • Marjory L. Luce (IR), 23%

• 1984 DFL Primary for U.S. Representative — 8th District
  • Jim Oberstar (DFL) (inc.), 65%
  • Tom Dougherty (DFL), 33%

• 1984 Race for U.S. Representative — 8th District
  • Jim Oberstar (DFL) (inc.), 67%
  • Dave Rued (IR), 32%

• 1986 Race for U.S. Representative — 8th District
  • Jim Oberstar (DFL) (inc.), 73%
  • Dave Rued (IR), 27%

• 1988 Race for U.S. Representative — 8th District
  • Jim Oberstar (DFL) (inc.), 74.5%
  • Jerry Shuster (IR), 25.5%

• 1990 Race for U.S. Representative — 8th District
  • Jim Oberstar (DFL) (inc.), 73%
  • Jerry Shuster (IR), 27%

• 1992 DFL Primary for U.S. Representative — 8th District
  • Jim Oberstar (DFL) (inc.), 78%
  • Leonard J. Richards (DFL), 22%

• 1992 Race for U.S. Representative — 8th District
  • Jim Oberstar (DFL) (inc.), 59%
  • Phil Herwig (IR), 30%
  • Harry Robb Welty (PCP), 8%

• 1994 Race for U.S. Representative — 8th District
  • Jim Oberstar (DFL) (inc.), 66%
  • Phil Herwig (IR), 34%

• 1996 Race for U.S. Representative — 8th District
  • Jim Oberstar (DFL) (inc.), 67%
  • Andy Larson (R), 25%
  • Stan Estes (Reform), 6%

• 1998 Race for U.S. Representative — 8th District
  • Jim Oberstar (DFL) (inc.), 66%
  • Jerry Shuster (R), 26%
  • Stan Estes (Reform), 5.7%

• 2000 Race for U.S. Representative — 8th District
  • Jim Oberstar (DFL) (inc.), 68%
  • Bob Lemen (R), 26%
  • Mike Darling (Independent), 5.7%

• 2002 Race for U.S. Representative — 8th District
  • Jim Oberstar (DFL) (inc.), 68.5%
  • Bob Lemen (R), 31.2%

• 2004 Race for U.S. Representative — 8th District
  • Jim Oberstar (DFL) (inc.), 65%
  • Mark Groettum (R), 32%

• 2006 Race for U.S. Representative — 8th District
  • Jim Oberstar (DFL) (inc.), 64%
  • Rod Grams (R), 34%
  • Harry Welty (UP), 2%

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Congressman Jim Oberstar official U.S. House website
• Jim Oberstar for United States Congress official campaign website

• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Voting record maintained by The Washington Post
• Campaign finance reports and data at the Federal Election Commission
• Campaign contributions at OpenSecrets.org
• Biography, voting record, and interest group ratings at Project Vote Smart
• Issue positions and quotes at On The Issues
• Profile at SourceWatch Congresspedia
• MPR — Campaign 2006: Jim Oberstar profile from Minnesota Public Radio

This article incorporates facts obtained from the public domain Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.