<NEWS RELEASE>

Duluth— Eighth District Congressman Jim Oberstar and DFL-endorsed U.S. Senate candidate Al Franken ended a two-day swing through Northeastern Minnesota on Monday with a press event at Duluth's Labor Picnic.

The pair spent Sunday and Monday celebrating Labor Day and talking transportation and infrastructure investment with Labor supporters.  Franken also unveiled a $3 billion infrastructure initiative he says will create jobs, grow our economy, and make badly-needed investments in infrastructure.

Oberstar, chair of the House Transportation Committee, outlined the importance of investing in infrastructure projects.  "Creating a more efficient transportation system will reduce our dependence on fossil fuels, move our people and goods to market, and create good paying jobs right here at home,” Oberstar said.

Many politicians have not kept focus on the future or the issues that are important to Minnesotans.  They have run negative ads and focused their efforts on personal attacks.  "My campaign will not sink to that level," said Oberstar.  "As a candidate for Congress, you owe it to the people to run a clean campaign based on issues.  I've defended myself from attacks when I've had to, but I have never stopped talking about the issues that matter to my constituents." 

Franken's proposal includes $2 billion in immediate funding for roads and begins to address the 590,750 structurally deficient bridges on our nations roadways.  Another $1 billion would be used to fund Oberstar's Multi-Modal Transportation Plan, including high speed rail, light rail, and buses.

"Today, I'm calling for a new stimulus package, one that is specifically designed to create jobs and bolster the middle-class economy while at the same time doing something our economy badly needs -- rebuilding our infrastructure and investing in new transportation options,” Franken said.  "Each billion dollars we spend on transportation and infrastructure creates as many as 47,000 new jobs, so my plan would create up to 150,000 new, good-paying middle-class jobs. And at the end of the day, we'll have repaired our roads and bridges.”

Oberstar also made the case for Minnesotans to send Franken to Washington.  Citing a slim majority in the U.S. Senate has led to gridlock.

"The filibuster in the U.S. Senate is holding up our bridge replacement and reconstruction legislation,” Oberstar said "the way to fix that is to get people in the U.S. Senate who will vote for the people's agenda. I'm proud to support Al Franken; he understands the importance of investing in infrastructure and in the lives of working families.  We can count on him to be a leader in the Senate.”