James L. Oberstar

Why He Matters

Oberstar, a longtime presence on and currently chairman of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, is credited with an encyclopedic knowledge of federal transportation programs.

Oberstar was first suggested as a possible Secretary of Transportation by Rep. Nick Rahall (D-West Va.) in May 2008. Rahall said he would urge President Barack Obama to appoint Oberstar to his cabinet. Oberstar is "the true builder of America," Rahall said. "This committee has done more for this nation than any other committee."http://www.minnpost.com/stories/2008...tion_secretary Oberstar was also listed on the Obama campaign’s short list to fill that post, along with Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.).

But Oberstar replied that he wouldn’t accept the position if offered. "It would take a lot. The bar is high. I'd have to have very keen assurance — a meeting of the minds between President-Elect Obama and myself, on the agenda that I foresee for transportation for the future," Oberstar said.http://minnesota.publicradio.org/dis.../oberstar_sec/

In fact, Obama chose Oberstar’s former colleague, ex-Rep. Ray LaHood (R-Ill.), for the cabinet job. But Oberstar may end up with equal clout as Obama’s point man for the massive public works program promised by the new president.http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/07/us...s/07radio.html  

Oberstar will also be at the helm of debate in the 111th Congress over how to reauthorize the 2005 transportation bill known as SAFETEA-LU.

Path to Power

Oberstar was born and raised in the Iron Range city of Chislom, Minn. Oberstar’s father, an iron miner and union official, sent him to St. Thomas College with $2,500 saved in quarters at the Slovenian National Benefit Society. 

In 1956 Oberstar graduated summa cum laude with degrees in French and political science.  He went on to earn a Masters degree in European Studies from the College of Europe in Bruges, Belgium, in 1957.

The Congressman’s career of service began soon after college when he moved to Port-au-Prince, Haiti, to work for the U.S. Naval Mission teaching French and Creole to Marines, and French and English to Haitians.

In 1963 Oberstar landed his first job in politics. The 29-year-old was hired as chief of staff to Congressman John Blatnik (D-Minn.) Baltnik was a force on the House Public Works Committee, which would later be renamed Transportation and Infrastructure, and Oberstar served as the committee’s administrator. Eleven years later, Blatnik retired from representing Minnesota’s 8th Congressional district and Oberstar stepped in to fill his boss’s shoes and take his seat on Transportation and Infrastructure.

He has been a tireless advocate for increased spending on transportation. In 1995 he became the ranking minority member on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and served in that role for 12 years. In 2007, after Democrats recaptured the House, Oberstar became the committee’s chair.

While still in the minority, Oberstar worked for six years with Chairman Bud Shuster (R-Pa.) to increase the committee’s power. Their biggest accomplishment was the 1998 Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century, or TEA-21, which authorized $217 billion over six years for spending on highway, highway safety and transit programs. The largest public works bill in history at the time, TEA-21 expanded on its predecessor, the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act, which expired in 1997.https://www.nysdot.gov/programs/tea21/what-tea

In 2007 Oberstar was outraged at the collapse of Interstate Hwy. 35W bridge over the Mississippi River in his home state. In response to the tragedy, which killed 13 people and severed a prime commuter artery in the Minneapolis-St. Paul metro area, he proposed a five-cents-per gallon increase in the federal gasoline tax to fund a bridge inspection and maintenance program. "If you are not prepared to invest an additional 5 cents in bridge reconstruction and road reconstruction, God help you," he said.http://www.startribune.com/local/11552136.html

The proposal was eventually dropped due to Republican opposition. But Oberstar was able to get the National Highway Bridge Reconstruction and Inspection Act of 2007 through the House. The bill, which has yet to be voted on in the Senate, would authorize $1 billion in each of fiscal years 2008 and 2009 to reconstruct structurally deficient bridges.

Oberstar is the longest-serving member of Congress in Minnesota’s history and has won re-election 17 times. He sought his Democratic Farm Labor Party’s endorsement for a Senate nomination in 1984, but when that failed, he held his House seat. His closest race came in 1992 when he won with 59 percent of the vote.  While he won re-election in 2006 over former U.S. Sen. Rod Grams (R-Minn.), it was the first time in years that Republicans sent a formidable candidate to run against Oberstar.Biographical information based on the Almanac of American Politics, 2008 edition

The Issues

A Catholic, Oberstar’s views fit into the liberal Catholic tradition. He strongly believes in an economically active government and has little faith in economic markets. He has long opposed American military involvement abroad, especially in Central America. He’s been an outspoken opponent of the War in Iraq and voted against the Iraq War Resolution in 2002.

As the representative for much of Minnesota’s Iron Range, Oberstar is a strong ally for the labor movement. He is supported by the AFL-CIO as a friend of labor and voted against NAFTA in the 90s.

The Congressman voted with his party 97 percent of the time in the 110th Congress.http://projects.washingtonpost.com/c...mbers/o000006/Still, Oberstar differs from his fellow Democrats on some key social issues, including his opposition to abortion and gun control.

The Network

With more than 30 years in the House, Oberstar has developed allies on both sides of the political aisle — from Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.), who co-chairs the Congressional Pro-Life Caucus with Oberstar, to President Barack Obama, who received Oberstar’s support early in the Democratic primaries.

Among the congressmen’s closest allies are fellow members of the Minnesota Democrat Farm Labor party, including Tim Walz, Betty McCollum, Keith Ellison, Collin Peterson and Al Franken, whom Oberstar endorsed in the 2008 Senate election.

Rep. Nick J. Rahall (D-West Va.) is one of the many allies Oberstar has made on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. While still in the minority, Oberstar worked closely with the Republican chairmen of the committee, Bill Shuster(R-Pa.) and Don Young (R-Alaska) to increase spending on America’s roads.