[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 5]
[House]
[Pages 7037-7038]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




          HONORING THE LIFE OF FORMER CONGRESSMAN JIM OBERSTAR

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Oregon (Mr. Blumenauer) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. BLUMENAUER. Mr. Speaker, today is National Bike to School Day. 
How fitting is it that Congressman Jim Oberstar's family's request for 
the remembrance of our beloved Jim is a contribution to the National 
Safe Routes to School program?
  Tens of thousands of children can get to school today more safely and 
millions will be more safe in the future because of his tireless 
efforts over two decades on behalf of that program.
  Jim Oberstar, I must confess, was like an uncle to me. Together, we 
spent hundreds and hundreds of hours in consultation, planning, 
touring, and legislating. It was the most effective mentoring possible.
  There are those who have been known as ``a man of the House,'' and 
Jim Oberstar certainly was ``a man of the people's House.'' But even 
more, he was a man of the T&I Committee, the Public Works Committee.
  He rose through the staff ranks to become staff director. Then, 
succeeding his Congressman, Congressman Blatnik, he became a Member of 
Congress, and ultimately became its chair. This is something no one 
else has done, serving as staff director of a committee and then 
ultimately presiding over it.
  As staff, committee member, or chair, or as a member of all the 
subcommittees, whether in the majority or minority, Jim Oberstar had an 
outsized influence on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee 
for decades. It is safe to say that over the last 50 years no one had 
more influence than Jim.
  For almost 20 years he was the top Democrat, but most feel he was the 
top member, period. He was totally seeped in policy, the history, and 
the mechanics of transportation. But it was not just transportation. It 
was aviation, marine, the waterways, and waterworks of America as well. 
They were all his areas of expertise.
  Jim Oberstar was a partisan--and not necessarily a political 
partisan, but he was an infrastructure partisan. A true expert. That is 
why his partnership with Congressman Bud Shuster, although they were of 
different parties, was so effective. Bud was Jim's partner for years on 
the committee, even before either of them assumed their respective top 
leadership positions.

[[Page 7038]]

  Infrastructure came first, partisanship second.
  One of my most vivid memories was how our Transportation and 
Infrastructure Committee, under the leadership of Jim Oberstar and Bud 
Shuster, beat Speaker Gingrich and President Clinton when it mattered 
on our highway bill in 1997.
  Jim was a man of remarkable memory and learning. He spoke a half-
dozen languages. He never stopped fighting for what he believed in and 
what he knew for his district, his State, or for the American people.
  He was a man of faith that never wavered. But as much as he loved the 
job of being Congressman, his people, his bicycle, his first love was 
his family. I don't think he ever recovered from the loss of his first 
wife, Jo, but then he found Jean. They were married 20 years. They were 
a remarkable team.
  Jean is a knowledgeable and experienced transportation professional 
in her own right. She knew what Jim's speeches were about. In fact, she 
could encourage him occasionally, in good humor, to shorten them just a 
little bit.
  Over the years, dozens of members of my staff felt in a sense that 
they worked for Jim Oberstar as well, because of his commitment, his 
skill, and his innate decency. I am hearing of their sense of loss from 
people around the country.
  We all knew that Jim Oberstar had a lot to say. What he said was 
worth listening to. America is a better place not just because of what 
he said, but what he did in a remarkable career spanning almost 50 
years.
  Few people had more lasting impact on this institution of Congress 
and on America than Jim Oberstar. We are all richer for his life of 
outstanding service.

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