41 Facts About Jim Oberstar

James Louis Oberstar was an American politician and Congressman who served in the United States House of Representatives from 1975 to 2011.

Jim Oberstar chaired the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee from 2007 until his departure, having been the ranking minority member since 1995.

Jim Oberstar had the longest tenure of any Congressman from Minnesota.

Jim Oberstar was born in Chisholm, Minnesota, and on his deathbed, he still owned his original family home in Chisholm.

Jim Oberstar's father Louis, of German ancestry, was an iron ore miner and the first card-carrying member of the United Steelworkers on the Iron Range of Minnesota.

Jim Oberstar received a master's degree in European Studies from the College of Europe in Bruges, Belgium in 1957, with further study at Universite Laval in Sainte-Foy, Quebec, Canada and Georgetown University in Washington, DC.

Jim Oberstar 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.

Jim Oberstar was the administrator of the Committee on Public Works for the US House of Representatives from 1971 to 1974.

Jim Oberstar was an internationally recognized expert on aviation and aviation safety.

Jim Oberstar served on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee during his entire time in the House.

In 1965, Jim Oberstar helped create the Economic Development Administration, the only federal agency devoted to the creation and retention of jobs in economically distressed American communities.

Jim Oberstar was a strong supporter of the Duluth-based aircraft manufacturer Cirrus Aircraft and even helped bring the company to Minnesota in 1994 from its first home in Baraboo, Wisconsin.

An avid cyclist, Jim Oberstar championed the creation of trails for cycling and hiking to promote active lifestyles.

In 2004, Jim Oberstar led the opposition to the Commercial Space Launch Amendments Act of 2004, a bill that established a regulatory framework for private suborbital spaceflight, arguing that the bill did not sufficiently safeguard passenger and crew safety.

Jim Oberstar 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.

Jim Oberstar co-chaired the Congressional Travel and Tourism Caucus and was a member of the following caucuses: the Bike Caucus; the Caucus for Sustainable Development; the Congressional Caucus on Global Road Safety; the Congressional Human Rights Caucus; the Congressional Steel Caucus; the Medical Technology Caucus; the Mississippi River Caucus; the Native American Caucus; and the Renewable Energy Caucus.

Jim Oberstar sponsored multiple constitutional amendments to enshrine a right to life provision, and to prohibit abortion services unless the mother's life was in danger.

Jim Oberstar voted in 2003 to ban intact dilation and extraction, known as "partial-birth abortion", and was present at the bill's signing by President George W Bush.

Jim Oberstar voted against legislation in 2005 to require the Department of Health and Human Services to research embryonic stem cells, and again in 2007, one of the only 14 and 16 Democratic members respectively to do so.

Jim Oberstar co-chaired the Congressional Pro-Life Caucus, along with Republican Chris Smith of New Jersey.

Jim Oberstar supported the bill to move the Terri Schiavo case to federal court, and appeared at a press conference with then-House Majority leader Tom DeLay to urge its passage.

Jim Oberstar was a strong supporter of the Head 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.

Jim Oberstar considered it to be one of the most successful federal anti-poverty programs ever created.

Jim Oberstar supported the American Association of University Women, which has been a leading voice promoting education and equality for women and girls nationwide; he fully supported the AAUW in 2007 and 2008.

Jim Oberstar was rated 100 by Environment America and the League of Conservation Voters in 2009.

Jim Oberstar voted to pass the Energy and Environmental Law Amendments, which aimed to establish a program to regulate greenhouse gas emissions in 2009.

Jim Oberstar 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.

However, Jim Oberstar went against most Democrats and voted in favor of allowing drilling in ANWR.

Jim Oberstar was rated 92 by the American Federation of Government Employees in 2009 and 90 by Federally Employed Women in 2009.

Jim Oberstar voted for three unemployment benefits extension bills in 2010 and three Employment Discrimination Law Amendments in 2009.

Jim Oberstar 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.

Jim Oberstar did not support free trade agreements, such as North American Free Trade Agreement or the Central American Free Trade Agreement.

Jim Oberstar 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.

Democrats Blatnik and Jim Oberstar held the seat from 1947 until 2011.

Jim Oberstar 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.

Jim Oberstar won with more than 67 percent of the vote.

Jim Oberstar died at his home in Potomac on May 3,2014, at the age of 79.

In 2009, Jim Oberstar received the Tony Jannus Award for distinguished leadership in commercial aviation.

On June 19,2012, Jim Oberstar was made Commander in the French Ordre national du Merite.

In October 2015, the new passenger terminal of the Duluth International Airport was named in honor of Jim Oberstar, who helped secure funding for the facility before its 2013 opening.

The Congressional Papers of James L Oberstar are available for research use.