Chisholm Post Office to be Renamed After Late Congressman

Jim Oberstar Served Minnesota for 36 Years

Sorry, this video is no longer available

U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken, along with Representative Rick Nolan, announced that their bill to rename the Chisholm Post Office in memory of former Representative Jim Oberstar has passed the House.

The legislation, which Klobuchar led and Franken cosponsored, has already passed the Senate, so it will now head to the president’s desk to be signed into law.

Oberstar, who passed away last year, was born in Chisholm and represented the people of northern Minnesota for 36 years.

“Jim Oberstar was a man of purpose and grit who never stopped fighting for the people of northern Minnesota,” Klobuchar said. “From supporting critical transportation projects throughout the state to strengthening the safety of miners on the Iron Range, Jim always remembered his roots. This action will help ensure his hometown post office stands as a tribute to all he did to make his district and our nation a better place.”

“When our friend Jim Oberstar passed away, the community of Chisholm lost a true hometown hero,” Franken said. “Jim, who served the Eighth District virtually his entire adult life, left an enduring legacy both? in Minnesota and all across the country. By getting this bill passed, we’ve been able to ensure that the post office in Chisholm becomes a testament to Jim’s life and legacy.”

Urging passage of the measure, Nolan, who sponsored the House version of the Klobuchar bill, told colleagues on Monday: “Jim received more honors than he could count in life – and even more with his passing. But no honor would have meant more to him than being recognized by his colleagues in the town where he grew up.”

“Chisholm – on Minnesota’s Iron Range – is where Jim learned the value of ideas as a star on the high school debating team. Chisholm is also where he learned about public service with his first job – delivering newspapers to the miners and the mining families. Chisholm is where he learned about hard work from his parents. Jim’s dad worked the mines his entire life – hardly ever missing a day. And Chisholm is the place where Jim learned those old-fashioned values he brought to Congress. Jim believed that a good idea is a good idea. It didn’t matter whether it was a Democrat or a Republican who offered an amendment or proposed a piece of legislation. If it was good for the nation – it was good enough for Jim.”

Some of Oberstar’s notable accomplishments include:

• Chaired the Transportation Committee, during which the Committee held 317 hearings, producing 179 public laws and resolutions
• Served as a member of the Transportation Committee for 36 years and prior to that, as a staff member for 12 years
• Coauthored the milestone Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users, which authorized more than $280 billion dollars to modernize transportation infrastructure in the United States
• Introduced the bill that provided emergency funding to replace the I-35W Bridge in Minneapolis after its tragic collapse in 2007
• Advocated for improving aviation safety and served as chair of the Aviation Subcommittee
• Secured funding for the lakewalk in Duluth,new bridges along Interstate 35, a new airport terminal in Duluth, a customs and border control facility in International Falls, the Paul Bunyan Bike Trail that has seen 650,000 users, and the Gitchi-Gami State Trail along the North Shore
• Advocated for bike safety measures and bike trails in transportation funding bills as early as the 1990s, including pioneering the federal Safe Routes to School Program, which improves safety on walking and bicycling routes to school and encourages children and families to travel between home and school using these modes
• Supported the concept of “intermodality,” which focuses on connecting highways, subways, city buses, intercity rail, and bike paths