Recent Streetsblog USA posts about James Oberstar

Remembering Jim Oberstar, Architect of Federal Bike Funding Programs

By Tanya Snyder | May 5, 2014 | 3 Comments

Rep. Jim Oberstar died peacefully in his sleep early Saturday morning at the age of 79. He represented Minnesota’s 8th Congressional district for 18 terms, from 1975 to 2011. Oberstar served on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee the entire time, and as its chair for the last four years. He was known for his passion for […]

Lessons From the Former Chairman: Oberstar on Ending the Interstate Era

By Tanya Snyder | Oct 14, 2011 | 2 Comments

Streetsblog had a chance today to ask the former Democratic chief of the House Transportation Committee, Rep. James Oberstar of Minnesota, about life since the 2010 election, when he lost by a hair to Republican Chip Cravaack. He said he’s spending his post-Congress time traveling to France, getting paid to say things he used to […]

And the Streetsies Go To…

By Tanya Snyder | Jan 3, 2011 | No Comments

Happy 2011! May this year bring peace, harmony, and a six-year transportation reauthorization. The best part about 2011 is that it’s not 2010. Last year was a tough one at the federal level: constant extensions of both the transportation bill and the general budget, no progress on an adequate funding source for infrastructure investment, and […]

House Passes Extension of Transportation Reauthorization

By Tanya Snyder | Dec 9, 2010 | 2 Comments

Remember those heady days in mid-2009, when Rep. Jim Oberstar (D-MN) introduced an ambitious, half-trillion dollar reauthorization that would transform the country’s infrastructure? What the House passed last night, as part of the continuing resolution that will keep the government running at current spending levels through the end of the fiscal year, was no transformational […]

Oberstar’s Final Words of Wisdom

By Tanya Snyder | Nov 16, 2010 | 5 Comments

Outgoing Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chair Jim Oberstar (D-MN) just wrapped up a roundtable conversation with reporters. He looked back on his 36 years in Congress – starting in January 1963 as clerk of the the Rivers and Harbors Committee, which eventually morphed into the T & I Committee. He said the history of the […]

Eliminate Waste or Kill Good Projects? Earmark Ban Could Cut Both Ways

By Tanya Snyder | Nov 4, 2010 | 10 Comments

As the election news sunk in yesterday, President Obama sought common ground with the incoming Republican leadership. His olive branch: earmarks. In a nod to the likely new House Majority Leader, Eric Cantor (R-VA), Obama singled out an earmark ban as an area of agreement for the two parties. Cantor has called earmarks “the poster […]

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