Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 4926) to designate the ``James L. Oberstar Memorial Highway'' and the ``James L. Oberstar National Scenic Byway'' in the State of Minnesota, as amended. Mr. Speaker, I ask…
Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 4926) to designate the ``James L. Oberstar Memorial Highway'' and the ``James L. Oberstar National Scenic Byway'' in the State of Minnesota, as amended.
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 before us, H.R. 4926.
Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I might consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 4926. This bill designates the segment of Interstate Route 35 between mile post 133 at Forest Lake, Minnesota, and mile post 259 at Duluth, Minnesota, as the James L. Oberstar Memorial Highway.
This is a small but well-deserved and fitting tribute to a former colleague, a leader for many years, first on the staff of the Transportation Committee in the House of Representatives, where he was an aide, and then later succeeded his predecessor in the House of Representatives, the Honorable John Blatnik, who represented the Iron Range for many years, and I think who also has a bridge and some other important locations named after him, and then of course who served on the Transportation Committee as an active member, chairman of many of its subcommittees and, ultimately, chairman of the full committee for many, many years.
I got to know Jim Oberstar personally, and we were competitors on a lot of issues, but we were also very much friends. He was a person with strong family values and a great sense of obligation to the working people of the Iron Range in northern Minnesota.
His father had worked on the mines, one of many who came over from what is now Yugoslavia to work in northern Minnesota, creating enormous wealth for our country, helping to build the steel industry, and arm our Nation and also build the railroads, materials and all the rest, and who shared in that, but only modestly, compared with many, many others.
He was a very interesting man with many, many sterling qualities, a natural linguist. I have been at meetings with Jim Oberstar where the French Ambassador would say, ``Now, where did you learn French? You must have lived in France.'' ``It was at the University of Minnesota,'' that is where he learned French.
He also became a very good speaker of the dialect that people speak down in Haiti. He knew three or four other languages. He had a natural facility for languages.
Jim also had a great interest in transportation policy and in history, and I think, as someone said at his memorial service, he felt everyone that he talked with shared the great love he had for all the details and history and facts of different situations, but he was wrong, but if you were interested, it was fascinating to spend time with Jim Oberstar.
He loved the outdoors. He fought to make sure that the lakes and rivers of northern Minnesota and the Boundary Waters and so on were, to the extent possible, properly managed for the environment, but also available for the working people of that area for their recreation and all the rest, rather than just a few.
He was an example for many of us who served in this House of dedication and putting country and his citizens before self, and he liked to have fun. I had many opportunities to share his love for the outdoors on bicycle trips and other occasions. He was kind enough to come to my district on a number of occasions to help encourage support for different facilities in our area.
He was always a real gentleman, so far as I was concerned in dealing with him, and an example of people who serve in this House from varying backgrounds who have definite and strong feelings, but also who try to make sure that, at the end of the day, they work with people with whom they disagree in order to accomplish something good for our country, and so Jim is sorely missed.
This is a small but fitting memorial for him, and I am sure that he and his wife, Jean, appreciate the fact that the Congress is taking this action today.
I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. Speaker, there are a lot of stories we could tell about the Jim Oberstar, and I think it is probably not fully appropriate to do that at this time but just to say that he was a self- made person, he had great intellectual abilities, and he used them well on behalf of his constituents, his State, and our country.
He had an ability, I think, to work very well with people with whom he would disagree on some issues. He was a man of faith and believed that, at the end of the day, we are all sinners, we couldn't expect perfection. There is going to be a certain disagreement there, but, at the other hand, there are some redeeming qualities in us human beings too, and let's look for those and work with others.
Mr. Speaker, I, again, thank my colleagues for bringing this legislation forward. I have no further requests for time, and I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. Speaker, I encourage all Members to support this bill.
I yield back the balance of my time.
