On the recordMay 8, 2014
I come to the Senate floor today to honor the life of a truly remarkable man--a devoted husband, a loving father and grandfather, a dedicated friend, and a true public servant. Jim Oberstar was a man of purpose and grit who never stopped fighting for the people of his district, the people of northeastern Minnesota. His resilience was the resilience of the people he represented. He was one of those rare people who was just as comfortable in the Aurora, MN, parade in khakis and tennis shoes as he was at the French Embassy. One unique thing about Jim Oberstar was that he always broke into French at a moment's notice, and he would literally speak French at the French Embassy and in Paris, but he might also speak French at the Aurora parade, even though no one else there spoke French. Whether he was biking the Mesabi Trail or fishing on Sturgeon Lake or hanging out with some of his constituents at Tom & Jerry's Bar in Chisholm--which is where he grew up--he always loved northern Minnesota and the people he represented. Jim never lost sight of where he came from or the values he grew up with. He knew that, among other things, his job in Washington was to be an advocate, and he approached every day with a fierce but disciplined urgency of purpose. What I loved most about him was that, in a day of sound bites and quick fixes, he was never afraid to give that long, long explanation of why he voted for something or why he thought it was important to his constituents.…
