Minnesota
Related: About this forumJim Oberstar, longtime representative in Congress, dies at 79
Jim Oberstar, the Democratic Congressman who represented northeastern Minnesota in Washington for decades, has died at his home in Maryland.
Sources tell Eyewitness News Oberstar passed away in his sleep Friday night. He was 79.
James Louis Oberstar was born in Chisholm on September 10, 1934 and graduated from Chisholm High School in 1952. He received degrees from the College of St. Thomas in St. Paul and the College of Europe in Belgium.
http://www.wdio.com/article/stories/S3422026.shtml?cat=10335
riverwalker
(8,694 posts)"
During his political career, Oberstar, nicknamed "Mr. Transportation," chaired the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and was influential in aviation and aviation safety.
The former U.S. Representative served for 36 years and held the longest number of Congressional terms in Minnesota history.
http://www.northlandsnewscenter.com/news/local/Former-Congressman-Jim-Oberstar-Dead-at-79-257797461.html
shenmue
(38,506 posts)gopiscrap
(23,758 posts)Thank you for your service to our nation!
CatholicEdHead
(9,740 posts)You did much good work for Minnesota both for the Iron Range and greater Minnesota and the US. Thank you for your service.
The Velveteen Ocelot
(115,683 posts)question everything
(47,476 posts)Happens with many politicians who spent many years in Washington. They buy a house there and choose not to come back home to the farm after they've seen Paris. (Or however the phrase goes.)
I did not know him or much about his work, but rode some of the bike trails that he championed.
I think that he tried to get involved in the fight to prevent the conversion of the Marines Base at El Toro, California, to a mega airport. Did not appreciate his intervention...
Still, he obviously served his district well. May he rest in peace.
dflprincess
(28,075 posts)A post-WWI hit.
It used to be common for members of Congress to move their families out to D.C. when they were elected when Gingrich became speaker he discouraged that. There is a school of thought that that has helped fuel the incivility in Congress. It's harder to be as hostile when your kids are in the same schools and you're running into each other at school events or little league.