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Leaving politics aside for a moment…
Bicyclists lost an incredible champion in the U.S. Congress last night. James Oberstar, chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee lost his seat representing Minnesota’s 8th Congressional district after serving 18 terms in a distinguished career.
I’m not going to lie – I’m depressed.
I’m depressed because the United States Congress lost a decent, honorable public servant who tried so hard to keep alive the bipartisan tradition of the Committee he served for decades. I’m sad because it throws another wrench into the works of passing a badly-needed and long-overdue transportation bill – Oberstar knows the ropes like no one else, and his passion for all things transportation will be sorely missed. I’m sad because he is a proud member of the League and because I’ve had the pleasure of working with him on our issues since the late 1980s when I first arrived on these shores.
And I’m sad because he is a true champion of bicyclists issues in Congress. Over the past 20 years, you can trace many of the gains we’ve made straight back to the desk of Jim Oberstar. Broad eligibility for transportation funds, the Safe Routes to School Program, state bicycle coordinator positions, the requirement to plan for bicyclists at the state and regional level, the non-motorized pilot projects all started with him. So, whichever way you spin it, bicyclists and the bicycling movement have lost a friend in Congress.
Going in to last night, I guess we foresaw a future where he was no longer Chairman of the Committee. Political winds change in Washington all the time and as a bi-partisan, not-for-profit organization we learn to work with all sides of the political spectrum. But a future without Oberstar in Congress, on the Committee, challenging us to keep moving, leading the charge… That’s going to take some adjustment.
Oberstar Partaking in a League Ride With the Crown Prince of Denmark and Caron Butler
We’ll be digesting all the other results and reporting them out on the blog and in our e-news and such. We’re looking over the list of Congressional Bike Caucus members to see who’s back in and who’s out. But I can tell you right now that we are going to miss Congressman James L. Oberstar (D-MN) in Congress. Maybe we’ll get to enjoy his company some more on the road and trail; he’ll be able to break out his League cycling socks more often and put in even more miles on his favorite bikes. I hope so, because if anyone deserves to enjoy the simple pleasure of a bike ride, it’s Jim Oberstar.
Read local news coverage here.
Andy Clarke
League President
Andy Clarke was appointed to the position of Executive Director in April of 2004 after successfully leading efforts to create, interpret and implement the various transportation programs that are available to improve conditions for bicycling and walking as the League’s State and Local Advocacy Director. Before joining the League in February 2003, Clarke was on contract to provide technical assistance to the highly regarded Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center on site at the Federal Highway Administration. He is on the Board of Directors for America Bikes, and a member of the Association of Pedestrian and Bicycling Professionals.
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November 3rd, 2010 at 11:53 am
[...] The huge loss of Congressman James Oberstar of Minnesota is quite devastating for bicycle advocacy in the U.S. Andy Clarke, Executive director of the League of American Bicyclists says, “I’m not going to lie – I’m depressed.” [...]
November 3rd, 2010 at 1:01 pm
For me, this morning was the political equivalent of a cheap-whiskey hangover. My sense is that the American people may have thrown out the baby with the bathwater.
One can cut the size and scope of Government, but when translated into real world terms, suddenly you find yourself doing without things you take for granted. The problem is not just the size of government but the shrinking of the U.S. economy to the point where it can’t support things we are used to having. Like good roads, good schools, and medical care. Somehow we have to grow our economy back, pay our bills, and start building and exporting things again.
As I said yesterday, I think bicycling advocates are going to have to be ready with some compelling arguments on why using bicycling (and other alternatives to the car) are cost-effective in a new political era where the House (which originates Federal spending bills) looks at every Federal expenditure with a sharp knife. That is going to mean talking to a lot of new Republicans who have been elected on the promise of shrinking government. Their constituencies often look critically at transportation alternatives and will have to be convinced.
Perhaps more cycling advocacy should be delegated to the state and local levels, and highest bang for the buck League projects, such as LCI network expension, should be stressed.
As Andy said, one of our best friends is gone. Single point failures, as we say in my business, are not good.
November 3rd, 2010 at 2:47 pm
I realize that this is a biker organization, so it makes sense that people here would vote based on cycling. But personally I am not a single issue voter. I look at ALL of the issues when I vote, not just cycling. If you are sad that Oberstar is gone, you can blame Nancy Pelosi and Pres. Obama. Because they are the reason millions of people came out to vote Republican.
As far as cycling goes, I hope we can ignore the political parties and reach out to whomever is going to be in charge of transportation now. Even if he/she doesn’t have a pro-cycling past, we can still hope that we can successfully communicate the importance of our agenda to this new leader.
November 3rd, 2010 at 5:40 pm
I hope so too, Jake.
November 3rd, 2010 at 8:38 pm
I think an important takeaway here is that education can be effective in all fiscal seasons, precisely because it’s so much cheaper than paint and pavement, and relieves the dependency on expensive special infrastructure and funding thereof. One more reason to continue and strengthen our commitment to education.
November 3rd, 2010 at 10:48 pm
I’m depressed at this result also.
What these Tea Party voters don’t realize is that the U.S. healthcare system is headed for fiscal Armageddon, no matter how it is set up, unless we take URGENT action to get more people active. I say this because the CDC recently predicted a full THIRD of Americans will have Type 2 diabetes by 2050 if nothing is done.
Sorry, but education alone won’t work. We need infrastructure, and we need it NOW. I’ve ridden both in areas with attempts at mostly education (Asheville NC), and in areas with substantial infrastructure (Austin TX). The riding is FAR and AWAY safer and better where the infrastructure is present. There are MANY MORE bicyclists and children walking to school in Austin, where the infrastructure has been built.
November 3rd, 2010 at 11:09 pm
Good points, Ruth. But…
The bottom line is that most Americans have expectations based on 1960′s visions of American economic hegemony but in an era of U.S. economic dissipation. People are pissed off because we fell off the cutting edge and are looking for someone to blame. Frankly, it ain’t us that are to blame. But we gotta prove that.
I agree with Ruth that we need to pull an Eisenhower and get Americans fit again, but we are going to have to do it on an austerity budget and in a politically hostile environment. That is going to be the hard set of political questions. What critical programs can we protect and how do we protect them?
I was a young kid during the Eisenhower and Kennedy administrations. We were doing pushups and running because we saw it as the only way to survive in a threatening Cold War world. Frankly, I was lousy at it and endured a lot of ridicule.
In my teens, I was riding my bike on rural highways, sharing the road with eighteen wheelers. We rode our bikes to the baseball fields of rural upstate New York. Most of us knew that we should ride like drivers of vehicles. None of my classmates ever got hit by a car or truck. Motorists and cyclists both had high expectations.
Closing in on my sixth decade spinning around the Sun, I can dust off most of my peers, who lost that cutting edge mentality a long time ago.
Not much has changed as far as a challenging world, just the definition of the challenges. What has changed is that far more Americans are fat and lazy. THAT has to change, and government cannot do it for us. Leaders can lead and the rest have to get off their asses and follow.
November 3rd, 2010 at 11:26 pm
To take it back to Andy’s original point, the loss of Jim Oberstar is a huge loss for cyclists and for America. As Andy noted, he’s been a public servant in the truest sense, working across party lines, but still passionately pushing for things he thought were right (and damn, we were lucky that bicycling was one of them). Thanks Mr. Chairman and tomorrow we get back into the fray. For me, the silver lining is that we have a lot of good work to build on, with a growing network of great organizations at all levels.
Jim Sayer
Adventure Cycling Association
November 4th, 2010 at 9:09 am
Hear, hear, Jim.
November 4th, 2010 at 2:08 pm
[...] Andy Clarke, president of the League of American Bicyclists, said Oberstar’s defeat in Minnesota is the toughest blow to cycling advocates. [...]
November 4th, 2010 at 4:21 pm
[...] Andy Clarke, president of the League of American Bicyclists, wrote on the group’s website the morning after the elections. Clarke was commenting specifically on the defeat of U.S. Rep. [...]
November 4th, 2010 at 9:18 pm
@John Brooking- bicycling education is eligible for funding under TE and Safe Routes to School has done a lot to deliver bicycling education in schools across the country. Don’t let your misguided ideology cut off your nose to spite your face. The important takeaway is that now is the time to put away petty differences and work together to protect the funding for all of the E’s regardless of which one we prefer.
November 4th, 2010 at 11:24 pm
“…Don’t let your misguided ideology cut off your nose to spite your face…”
Um. Jason, didn’t you in the same breath tell us to put away petty differences?
November 5th, 2010 at 7:24 pm
@Khal-
The irony was intentional, lighten up. Given all the hate coming from you all I wouldn’t have suspected you to be so thin-skinned.
November 6th, 2010 at 12:02 am
Hate? Get a grip, man.
November 6th, 2010 at 11:07 am
Easy, guys. Keep it civil.
November 8th, 2010 at 10:23 pm
The loss of Congressman Oberstar is a major loss to the bicycling community nationwide.I worked for Congress for 19 years and worked with the Congressman on many cycling projects in the state of Minnesota. This present Congress can’t begin approach the class and dedication demonstrated by Congressman Oberstar over his years in Congress……….
November 9th, 2010 at 1:40 am
What part of cycling is not an expression of conservative values? Keeping local money local rather than sending it to foreign governments in return for oil? Neighborhoods where families can walk and bike, stay fit, without the danger of traffic? Healthful exercise that makes employees more productive and reduces an overgrown health care budget? Protection of our natural resources so people can enjoy our nation’s bounty hiking, hunting, and fishing? When we make this case to objectors, what is their retort? That people won’t bike? That is when you remind them, that we once were a nation of people who could do anything, and ask, when did they lose faith in America?
November 9th, 2010 at 12:01 pm
Disaster.
November 9th, 2010 at 1:23 pm
[...] Andy Clarke, president of the League of American Bicyclists, said Oberstar’s defeat in Minnesota is the toughest blow to cycling advocates. [...]
March 2nd, 2011 at 11:46 pm
[...] like all finances, HTF funding is strained, and significant recent changes in leadership of the committee and of Congress are not boding well for cyclists and pedestrians. While the [...]
July 25th, 2011 at 1:39 pm
N Pelosi has got to turn out to be one of the the majority of liberal politicians within the region. It’s hard for me personally to believe exactly how folks can certainly reelect her within their right thoughts.