[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 108 (Monday, July 13, 2015)]
[House]
[Pages H5105-H5107]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
JAMES L. OBERSTAR MEMORIAL POST OFFICE BUILDING
Mr. DUNCAN of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and
pass the bill (S. 179) to designate the facility of the United States
Postal Service located at 14 3rd Avenue, NW, in Chisholm, Minnesota, as
the ``James L. Oberstar Memorial Post Office Building''.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
S. 179
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. JAMES L. OBERSTAR MEMORIAL POST OFFICE BUILDING.
(a) Designation.--The facility of the United States Postal
Service located at 14 3rd Avenue, NW, in Chisholm, Minnesota,
shall be known and designated as the ``James L. Oberstar
Memorial Post Office Building''.
(b) References.--Any reference in a law, map, regulation,
document, paper, or other record of the United States to the
facility referred to in subsection (a) shall be deemed to be
a reference to the ``James L. Oberstar Memorial Post Office
Building''.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Trott). Pursuant to the rule, the
gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Duncan) and the gentlewoman from the
District of Columbia (Ms. Norton) each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Tennessee.
{time} 1900
General Leave
Mr. DUNCAN of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that
all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend
their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill under
consideration.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Tennessee?
There was no objection.
Mr. DUNCAN of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I
may consume.
I rise today in support of S. 179, a bill to name a post office in
Chisholm, Minnesota, after a very distinguished former Member of this
body, Congressman James Oberstar.
The bill was introduced by Senator Amy Klobuchar, and our colleague
Congressman Richard Nolan has introduced House companion legislation.
Mr. Oberstar served in the House for a remarkable 36 years, and I
think it is very fitting and appropriate to honor his legacy by lending
his name to a post office in his hometown of Chisolm.
Congressman Oberstar was born in Chisholm, Minnesota, on September
10, 1934, and graduated from the high school there in 1952. Four years
later, he earned a bachelor of arts from the University of St. Thomas
in St. Paul, Minnesota. He later earned a master's degree from the
College of Europe in Bruges, Belgium. A lot of people knew he was very
fluent in French and liked to express himself on many trips in French.
Before running for Congress himself, Congressman Oberstar served on
the staff for Congressman John Blatnik of Minnesota from 1963 to 1974.
In that capacity, he worked with Congressman Blatnik on all of the
legislation from the Public Works and Transportation Committee. In the
last 3 years he was with Congressman Blatnik, Congressman Oberstar
became the chief of staff for that committee.
Congressman Oberstar was first elected to represent the people of
Minnesota's Eighth District in 1974. Among many notable achievements,
he served as chairman of the Committee on Transportation and
Infrastructure in the 110th and 111th Congresses. In total, he served
in 18 Congresses.
Sadly, Mr. Oberstar passed away on May 3, 2014, in Potomac, Maryland.
He certainly was a devoted public servant who left a remarkable legacy
of service to the citizens of Minnesota and the United States.
Earlier in this Congress, there was another tribute for Congressman
Oberstar. At that time, I said this:
It is an astounding figure to think that a man worked on
this one committee for 47 years of his life, but he did so
with great honor and distinction. In fact, I think most
everybody knew that there was no one in the Congress and
probably never has been anyone in the history of the Congress
who has known transportation issues and understood them and
worked on them longer and harder and with more effectiveness
than Jim Oberstar did.
At one point, he was chairman of the Aviation Subcommittee.
In 1994, after the election, the Republicans took control,
and I had the honor of becoming the chairman of the Aviation
Subcommittee, and I served for 6 years in that position,
which was the maximum allowable on our side.
When I took over as chairman of the Aviation Subcommittee,
I frequently heard Jim Oberstar referred to as ``Mr.
Aviation.'' So I went to him and asked for his help, and he
helped me, guided me, and gave me advice that, to this day, I
appreciate very much. He did so in a very kind and humble
way.
Of course, then he reached the pinnacle and became chairman of that
committee, a committee that he loved. He was a great chairman. He
worked across the aisle in a very bipartisan way, and I think he tried
to help everyone on both sides of the aisle and others in any way that
he possibly could.
I just wanted to join in this opportunity to pay tribute to a man who
was a great American and a great Member of this body, Congressman James
Oberstar.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
I certainly associate myself with the remarks of Mr. Duncan.
I am asking my colleagues to join me in supporting S. 179. That is
the bill that would designate a United States post office located at 14
3rd Avenue Northwest in Jim Oberstar's hometown, Chisholm, Minnesota;
and it would be called the James L. Oberstar Memorial Post Office.
Mr. Speaker, I am speaking today for a memorial for Jim Oberstar not
only because of my position on the committee, but for me, this is an
act of love and respect. I am speaking for a man known in this House as
one of singular intellect and personal qualities.
Jim was a native of Chisholm. He graduated--and anybody who knew Jim
will not be surprised at this--summa cum laude from the University of
St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota; then he got a master's degree in
Belgium. That may be where he picked up his French, which he playfully
used on us at every opportunity.
Jim was not long out of college when he began working in this House,
and working in this House was to determine his destiny for the rest of
his life. He first served as clerk of the Committee on Rivers and
Harbors, as it was then called. He became administrator of the
Committee on Public Works--now called Transportation and
Infrastructure--when Representative John Blatnik became chairman in
1970.
Four years later, Jim, himself, ran for Congress, succeeding Mr.
Blatnik who retired from Minnesota's Eighth District of Congress. Then
Jim served 36 extraordinary years in this House, and he became the
longest serving Member from Minnesota in the House of Representatives.
During that period, Jim Oberstar became the leading expert on
transportation and infrastructure in the Nation.
Mr. Speaker, for example, he served as chairman of the Subcommittee
on Aviation when it passed legislation, increasing our investment in
airports and air security, which we are still benefiting from.
Later, he became ranking member of the full committee. There, he
worked
[[Page H5106]]
tirelessly for something we are trying to get in this House now, for
that gas user fee, which used to be bipartisan and was often raised and
helped Jim and those who served with him improve and make our system
reliable on the transportation and infrastructure that we so often
celebrate today--and I mean, all of it, roads, bridges, and transit
alike.
We were very fortunate when in 2007, Jim Oberstar was elected
chairman of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. It was
during his chairmanship that the economy went down; and we really
needed an expert on transportation and infrastructure, since investment
in transportation and infrastructure is the best investment for the
dollar during a recession and that, of course, was the deepest
recession since the Great Depression.
Jim's work during that period is still blossoming in the States. He
held 300 hearings and passed almost 300 bills and resolutions out of
committee and through the House. Nearly 200 of those pieces of
legislation were approved by both Houses, including the Water Resources
Development Act, the bill that authorized the maintenance and
construction of America's harbors, as well as funding for important
wildlife habitat projects.
Mr. Speaker, Jim also was a cyclist. He took transportation
seriously. He cycled on the trails that he helped get built and that he
so loved. His knowledge of our work was so encyclopedic that Democrats
and Republicans alike, when Jim spoke, listened hard because they knew
they were getting a once-in-a-lifetime lesson in the complexities
associated with transportation and infrastructure in our country. He
was a particular leader on intermodalism, which we know as the
transportation wave of the future today.
It was with enormous sadness that we learned that Jim Oberstar passed
away on May 2, 2014. He was 79 years old. Jim will long be remembered
for his dedication to public service and for leaving his mark on
transportation in our country. It is a mark that will never be erased.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. DUNCAN of Tennessee. I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the
gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Nolan), a sponsor of the House companion
of S. 179, a member of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee
and the gentleman who represents the very same district that Jim
Oberstar represented.
Mr. NOLAN. Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank Representative Duncan
and Representative Norton for the fine tributes to a fine Member and a
real credit to this institution.
This bill honors our friend and our colleague, the late Jim Oberstar,
in an important way, by naming the United States post office in his
hometown of Chisholm, Minnesota, the James L. Oberstar Memorial Post
Office.
I will never forget the first day that Jim walked into the Chamber
through one of the side doors over here as a former Member of Congress.
As he walked in and proceeded down the aisle, Members recognized him,
and they started spontaneously, Democrats and Republicans alike, to
applaud Jim Oberstar.
By the time he got to the well, the whole House was engaged in this
spontaneous, bipartisan, genuine, loving, and appreciative applause for
Jim Oberstar. I, quite frankly, have never seen anything like it. I
hope to see a lot more things like it in the days to come, but what a
remarkable moment that was.
It was a real genuine spirit of affection for someone who worked
really hard, knew his material as well or better than anyone, and was
such a good nonpartisan when it came to what is good for America; I
have never quite seen anything like it.
Jim received more honors than he could count in life; quite frankly,
he received even more in his passing, but I think it is safe to say
that no honor would please him more than being recognized by his
colleagues in the hometown of Chisholm where Jim grew up.
Chisholm, on Minnesota's Iron Range, is where he learned the value of
ideas as a star on his high school debate team. They say he was a
pretty good football player, too, but he liked to recall that the
editor of his hometown said to him on a couple of occasions, ``Jim, you
are a really good debater. You really know how to argue. You might want
to keep working at that''--and how fitting that he would end up in the
Congress of the United States.
It is also in Chisholm where he learned about public service with his
first working job for that editor, peddling papers to the miners and to
the mining families and learning about the politics of the community.
It is also where he learned hard work from his parents. Jim's dad
worked in the mines his entire life and hardly ever missed a day's
work.
Chisholm is also the place where Jim learned those old-fashioned
values that brought him to the House of Representatives.
He believed that a good idea was a good idea, and it didn't matter if
it was a Republican idea or a Democratic idea. All that mattered was
that someone had offered the idea; and he had such enormous respect for
the process and for his colleagues that he gave every good idea an
open, an honest, and a fair hearing.
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And if it turned out to be something good for the Nation, why, it was
good enough for Jim, regardless of the origin.
So, in urging my colleagues to honor Jim by passing this bill, I
would like to ask that we honor him by rededicating ourselves to that
spirit of bipartisanship, that spirit of working together, that spirit
of getting things done that enabled Jim Oberstar to accomplish the many
things that he did that were cited by my colleagues here just a few
moments ago. That was the spirit that epitomized Jim Oberstar, and that
is how he was so successful in getting things done.
Mr. Speaker, I strongly urge my colleagues to pass this legislation.
Mr. DUNCAN of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I continue to reserve the
balance of my time.
Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from
Minnesota (Ms. McCollum).
Ms. McCOLLUM. Mr. Speaker, I thank the ranking member for the time.
I rise to honor the late Jim Oberstar, the Congressman from
Minnesota's Eighth District.
For 36 years, Jim Oberstar proudly served the residents of
Minnesota's Eighth Congressional District. During his decades of
service on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee,
Representative Oberstar made investing in the future prosperity of this
country a top priority.
His commitment to laying the foundation for a 21st century
transportation system helped make travel safer and kept millions of
Americans working on the job and strengthened our economy. He worked
and accomplished all of that.
On August 1, 2007, the Interstate 35W bridge collapsed in Minnesota.
Thirteen people lost their lives, including some of my constituents,
and many more were injured.
Chairman Oberstar moved with incredible speed to draft legislation to
respond to the tragedy, and within 48 hours, he had passed a bill on
the floor. On August 6, less than 1 week after the disaster, funding
for construction of a new bridge was signed into law.
But he didn't stop there. Chairman Oberstar worked to call attention
to the epidemic of weak bridges all across our country. He fought to
make bridge repair and replacement the focus of the American Recovery
and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Because of his commitment, thousands of
bridges were thoroughly inspected, repaired, or, in fact, replaced.
Not that Jim's response was anything out of the ordinary, throughout
his career, Jim remained committed to fighting for the people he served
and the causes he believed in.
It is fitting that the post office in Chisholm, Minnesota, will be
named the James L. Oberstar Memorial Post Office, because we know the
success of a post office, after all, is inextricably linked with
interstate highways, runways, docks, railways, and roads, because that
is how the mail gets delivered and that is how we are connected
throughout this world.
[[Page H5107]]
The imprint left by Congressman Jim Oberstar on every mode of
transportation throughout our country cannot be overstated.
And if I may, on a personal note, Jim, both professionally and
personally, helped give the new Congresswoman from Minnesota a lot of
thanks.
So, with that, I want to just say, again, it is more than appropriate
that the post office in his hometown of Chisholm, Minnesota, be known
as the James L. Oberstar Memorial Post Office Building, a testament to
his life's work.
Jim, we thank you.
Mr. DUNCAN of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I continue to reserve the
balance of my time.
Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from
Illinois (Mr. Lipinski).
Mr. LIPINSKI. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of S. 179, to honor the
memory of Jim Oberstar, a colleague, mentor, and friend to me and to
many more.
From his time serving as a staff member to his tenure as the chairman
of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, Jim spent
every day of his 47 years on Capitol Hill working to improve our
Nation's infrastructure and, in turn, the lives of Americans across the
country.
I was proud to serve with Jim on the T and I Committee for 4 years
and to share in his passion for all the things that help ensure that
our quality of life is high and that our economy is strong.
Jim's thoughtful, forward-thinking approach to our Nation's
infrastructure needs was built from years of experience and careful
deliberation, and it earned him the well-deserved nickname, Mr.
Transportation. During his time as chairman, committee members knew
that they were going to learn something when they arrived at the
committee room, and they are going to leave on a mission.
Jim was truly a visionary when it came to our Nation's infrastructure
system, but he didn't just talk about what needed to be done. Whether
it was modernizing our Nation's airspace, improving rail safety, moving
freight on time, repairing our roads, rehabilitating transit systems,
or advancing cycling, Jim got things done. That is because Jim had a
tireless work ethic and was as a great leader and friend as he was a
policy expert. Jim treated people well, and it didn't matter whether
you were Republican or Democrat; he was willing to work with you and
help your district and constituents.
My bicycle is a fixture in my office, and its presence reminds me of
Jim and the time I spent cycling with him, when I learned more than I
ever expected to be able to learn on a bike ride.
Jim was known for his love of the French language, and he spoke it
flawlessly. What fewer people know is that Jim perfected his French
while serving in a volunteer program that preceded the Peace Corps. He
was teaching French and Creole to Americans helping out in Haiti.
Jim loved helping people. He was a big promoter of adoption and a
defender of life. It was all an outgrowth, I believe, of his strong
Catholic faith.
Mr. Speaker, Congress and the Nation are better because of Jim
Oberstar, and those of us who worked closely with him are better public
servants, colleagues, and people because of him. S. 179 is a fitting
tribute to Jim Oberstar, and I urge its passage.
Mr. DUNCAN of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I continue to reserve the
balance of my time.
Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 2 minutes to the
gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee).
Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, let me thank the ranking member and the
manager of this legislation.
I have had the privilege of being here during the mighty leadership
of Jim Oberstar, and I would really call him America's Congressperson.
He would be an eloquent spokesperson today for not isolating his
advocacy for his own region or State, but he would rise up on the floor
of the House to speak eloquently about the need for the refurbishing,
the rebuilding, the restoration of America's infrastructure,
transportation infrastructure, from highways and bridges and dams to
airports and train stations and tracks.
Mr. Speaker, I just came in today from Philadelphia on Amtrak, and as
you know, on trains, we engage with our fellow travelers. I guess we
are called passengers, but we are fellow travelers.
It was interesting to engage with these constituents of America who
were using this mode of transportation. They made a very valuable
point. They said it is not the equipment of Amtrak or whether the Acela
can move faster than any other train, it is the infrastructure upon
which the train travels. It is the train tracks. It is the investment
in that infrastructure to make Amtrak what it needs to be.
Now, Congressman Oberstar certainly did not live in this part of the
country, but he could see the general landscape of what America needed.
I was very interested in hearing my colleague from Minnesota speak of
that time when the bridge collapsed. What a tragic incident. All of us
were appalled and saddened, and it was amazing how ``General
Oberstar,'' if you will, took the leadership role to help America.
So I rise today to support this underlying legislation and to simply
thank him and to thank his family for sharing Jim Oberstar, the
Frenchman, as he would like to say.
And in concluding my remarks, might I say ``merci beaucoup'' to you,
to the late Jim Oberstar, a man who loved America and could be called
America's Congressperson.
Mr. DUNCAN of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I continue to reserve the
balance of my time.
Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.
Mr. Speaker, Jim Oberstar was a rare Member. He managed to awe us by
his knowledge at the same time that he nurtured us with his warmth and
his kindness. That is why you have heard Members speak so eloquently
about him today. He left his mark in this House.
I am very pleased that, with this bill, he will leave his own mark in
his own hometown with a memorial, a post office named for Jim Oberstar.
I urge Members of this House to vote for this bill.
I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. DUNCAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.
I will just close by saying that I am very grateful to Jim Oberstar.
He helped me obtain many things for my district. His last year in
Congress, in August of that year, he came to my district to dedicate a
beautiful new transit center which the city of Knoxville was kind
enough to name after me. I always was grateful for his spending that
day with me in Knoxville.
I can tell you that I am now in my 27th year in Congress. Twenty-two
of those years were spent working with Congressman Oberstar. This
Nation, as Mr. Lipinski said a few minutes ago, is a better place today
because of the work of Congressman Jim Oberstar.
I urge all of my colleagues to support passage of this bill, and I
yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Duncan) that the House suspend the rules
and pass the bill, S. 179.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the
rules were suspended and the bill was passed.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
____________________