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 74) Chisholm, Minnesota
Political party	Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party
Spouse	Jean Kurth
Residence	Chisholm, Minnesota
Alma mater	College of St. Thomas, College of Europe, Universite Laval, Georgetown University
Occupation	political assistant
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 fifth 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]

Contents 1 Background 2 Political career 3 Committees and Affiliations 3.1 Committees 3.1.1 Committee assignments in the 109th Congress (2005-2006) 3.2 Coalitions and Caucuses 3.3 Boards and other Affiliations 4 Electoral history 4.1 2008 4.2 2006 4.3 2004 4.4 2002 4.5 2000 4.6 1998 4.7 1996 4.8 1994 4.9 1992 4.10 1990 4.11 1988 4.12 1986 4.13 1984 4.14 1982 4.15 1980 4.16 1978 4.17 1976 4.18 1974 5 References 6 External links

[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. 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 program, as a co-sponsor of the SAFETEA-LU act, a $295 billion program^[3] that funds transportation infrastructure, including highways, bridges, and public transportation, such as subways, buses, and passenger ferries.

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 [2].

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^[4] and 86% progressive by a liberal group.^[5] 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^[6]. The case (Conyers v. Bush) was ultimately dismissed^[7].

During the 2008 electoral campaign[8], Oberstar appeared alongside other public officials in a TV ad^[8] supporting the reelection of Puerto Rico Governor Aníbal Acevedo Vilá.

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.

During the 2008 elections, Oberstar's Republican opponent was political neophyte and businessman Michael Cummins. Cummins campaigned throughout the district, but was unable to drum up enough support to pose a serious challenge to the veteran Democratic incumbent. Oberstar won with more than 67 percent of the vote.

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

In 2004 Oberstar led the opposition to the Commercial Space Launch Amendments Act of 2004, a bill which established a regulatory framework for private suborbital spaceflight. Oberstar argued that the bill did not do enough to 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," Oberstar said at the time. Proponents argued that the bill contained an adequate regulatory footing^[9].

[edit] Committees and Affiliations

[edit] Committees

• Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure (Chairman)
  • As Chairman of the full committee, Rep. Oberstar may serve as an ex officio member of all subcommittees.

[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

[edit] 2008

2008 Eighth Congressional District of Minnesota Elections
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	James Oberstar	240,586	67.6	+3.6
	Republican	Michael Cummins	114,588	32.2	-
	N/A	others	573	0.2	-

[edit] 2006

2006 Eighth Congressional District of Minnesota Elections
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	James Oberstar	194,677	64	-1
	Republican	Rod Grams	101,744	34	-
	Unaffiliated	Harry Welty	6,535	2	-

[edit] 2004

2004 Eighth Congressional District of Minnesota Elections
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	James Oberstar	228,509	65	-4
	Republican	Mark Groettum	112,657	32	-
	Green	Van Presley	8,931	3	-

[edit] 2002

2002 Eighth Congressional District of Minnesota Elections
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	James Oberstar	193,959	69	+1
	Republican	Bob Lemen	88,423	31	+5

[edit] 2000

2000 Eighth Congressional District of Minnesota Elections
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	James Oberstar		68	+2
	Republican	Bob Lemen		26	-
	Independent	Mike Darling		5.7	-

[edit] 1998

1998 Eighth Congressional District of Minnesota Elections
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	James Oberstar		66	-1
	Republican	Jerry Shuster		26	-
	Reform	Stan Estes		5.7	-0.3

[edit] 1996

1996 Eighth Congressional District of Minnesota Elections
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	James Oberstar		67	+1
	Republican	Andy Larson		25	-
	Reform	Stan Estes		6	-

[edit] 1994

1994 Eighth Congressional District of Minnesota Elections
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	James Oberstar		66	+7
	Independent Republican	Phil Herwig		34	+4

[edit] 1992

1992 Eighth Congressional District of Minnesota Elections
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	James Oberstar		59	-14
	Independent Republican	Phil Herwig		30	-
	PCP	Harry Robb Welty		8	-

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

[edit] 1990

1990 Eighth Congressional District of Minnesota Elections
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	James Oberstar		73	-1.5
	Independent Republican	Jerry Shuster		27	+1.5

[edit] 1988

1988 Eighth Congressional District of Minnesota Elections
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	James Oberstar		74.5	+1.5
	Independent Republican	Jerry Shuster		25.5	-

[edit] 1986

1986 Eighth Congressional District of Minnesota Elections
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	James Oberstar		73	+6
	Independent Republican	David Rued		27	-5

[edit] 1984

1984 Eighth Congressional District of Minnesota Elections
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	James Oberstar		67	-10
	Independent Republican	David Rued		32	-

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

[edit] 1982

1982 Eighth Congressional District of Minnesota Elections
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	James Oberstar		77	+7
	Independent Republican	Marjory L. Luce		23	-

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

[edit] 1980

1980 Eighth Congressional District of Minnesota Elections
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	James Oberstar		70	-17
	Independent Republican	Edward Fiore		28	-
	SW	Ilona Gersh		2	-

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

[edit] 1978

1978 Eighth Congressional District of Minnesota Elections
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	James Oberstar		87	-13
	AM	John W. Hull		13	-

[edit] 1976

1976 Eighth Congressional District of Minnesota Elections
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	James Oberstar		100	+38

[edit] 1974

1974 Eighth Congressional District of Minnesota Elections
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	James Oberstar		62	-
	Republican	Jerome Arnold		26	-
	Economic Justice	William R. Ojala		10	-
	Independent	Robert C. Bester		2	-

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

[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

United States House of Representatives
Preceded by John Blatnik	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Minnesota's 8th congressional district 1975 – present	Incumbent
Political offices
Preceded by Don Young Alaska	Chairman of House Transportation Committee 2007 – present	Incumbent

v • d • e Minnesota's current delegation to the United States Congress Senators Amy Klobuchar (DFL), Al Franken (DFL) Representative(s) Tim Walz (DFL), John Kline (R), Erik Paulsen (R), Betty McCollum (DFL), Keith Ellison (DFL), Michele Bachmann (R), Collin Peterson (DFL), Jim Oberstar (DFL) State delegations Alabama • Alaska • Arizona • Arkansas • California • Colorado • Connecticut • Delaware • Florida • Georgia • Hawaii • Idaho • Illinois • Indiana • Iowa • Kansas • Kentucky • Louisiana • Maine • Maryland • Massachusetts • Michigan • Minnesota • Mississippi • Missouri • Montana • Nebraska • Nevada • New Hampshire • New Jersey • New Mexico • New York • North Carolina • North Dakota • Ohio • Oklahoma • Oregon • Pennsylvania • Rhode Island • South Carolina • South Dakota • Tennessee • Texas • Utah • Vermont • Virginia • Washington • West Virginia • Wisconsin • Wyoming Non-voting delegations American Samoa • District of Columbia • Guam • Northern Mariana Islands • Puerto Rico • U.S. Virgin Islands

v • d • e Members of the U.S. House of Representatives from Minnesota   Districts 1-8 (active) 1st district Territorial Delegate, 1849-1858: Sibley • Rice • Kingsbury • 1863-1933: Windom • Wilkinson • Dunnell • While • T. Wilson • Dunnell • Harries • Tawney • Anderson • Furlow • Christgau • 1935-present: Andresen • Quie • Erdahl • Penny • Gutknecht • Walz 2nd district 1863-1933: Donnelly • E.M. Wilson • Averill • Strait • Poehler • Strait • Wakefield • Lind • McCleary • Hammond • Ellsworth • Clague • 1935-present: Ryan • O'Hara • Nelsen • Hagedorn • Weber • Minge • Kennedy • Kline 3rd district 1873-1933: Averill • King • Stewart • Washburn • Strait • MacDonald • D. Hall • O. Hall • Heatwole • Davis • Andresen • 1935-present: Lundeen • Teigan • Alexander • Gale • Gallagher • MacKinnon • Wier • MacGregor • Frenzel • Ramstad • Paulsen 4th district 1883-1933: Washburn • Gilfillan • Rice • Snider • Castle • Kiefer • Stevens • Van Dyke • Keller • Maas • 1935-present: Maas • Starkey • Devitt • McCarthy • Karth • Vento • McCollum 5th district 1883-1933: Nelson • Comstock • Halvorson • Fletcher • Lind • Fletcher • Nye • Smith • Lundeen • Newton • W. Nolan • 1935-present: Christianson • D. Johnson • Youngdahl • Judd • Fraser • Sabo • Ellison 6th district 1893-1933: Baldwin • Towne • Morris • Buckman • Lindbergh • H. Knutson • 1935-present: H. Knutson • Marshall • Olson • Zwach • R. Nolan • Weber • Sikorski • Grams • Luther • Kennedy • Bachmann 7th district 1893-1933: Boen • Eddy • Volstead • O. Kvale • P. Kvale • 1935-present: P. Kvale • Andersen • Langen • Bergland • Stangeland • Peterson 8th district 1903-1933: Bede • Miller • Carss • Larson • Carss • Pittenger • 1935-present: Pittenger • Bernard • Pittenger • Blatnik • Oberstar   Districts 9-10 and Statewide General Ticket (obsolete) 9th district 1903-1933: Steenerson • Wefald • Selvig • 1935-1963: Buckler • Hagen • C. Knutson • Langen 10th district 1915-1933: Schall • Goodwin General Ticket 1858-1863: Cavanaugh • Phelps • Windom • Aldrich 1933-1935: Arens • Chase • Christianson • Hoidale • Johnson • H. Knutson • P. Kvale • Lundeen • Shoemaker

 This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.