Members of Congress returned from their Thanksgiving recess this week and began a three-week sprint of activity before they depart again at Christmastime.
There are lots of things that Congress intends to accomplish soon, including a long-term government funding plan and aid for Israel and Ukraine. But none of that got done this week; instead, the House expelled one of its own members, while the Senate confirmed one new New Jersey judge and continued the process to confirm another.
Here’s some of what New Jersey’s 14 members of Congress did this week.
Santoast
The flashiest news coming out of Congress this week was the expulsion of Rep. George Santos, a colorful and allegedly criminal New York Republican who has been charged with wire fraud, identity theft, and more. The overall House vote to expel him was 311-114, with nearly all of the “no” votes coming from Republicans.
But New Jersey’s bipartisan House delegation was unanimous in voting to oust Santos; all 12 representatives voted for the expulsion resolution, including four who hadn’t supported an earlier expulsion effort last month.
“The revelations surrounding Mr. Santos, from fabricating nearly his entire life biography to the serious charges in the federal indictments, are deeply troubling and he must be held accountable,” Rep. Tom Kean Jr. (R-Westfield), a swing-district Republican who voted for both expulsion resolutions, said in a statement. “As public servants, we must hold ourselves to the highest standards and Mr. Santos has fallen seriously short of those expectations.”
Now that Santos is gone, most members of Congress are itching to move on.
“Quite frankly, even commenting on this gives him more air,” said Rep. Donald Norcross (D-Camden), who voted “present” on the initial expulsion resolution but supported the one that came up today. “He’s been a disgrace to the House. We need to move past him and get on to the business of what we need here in America – do the business of the people, not of this clown who we just threw out.”
Judgement Day
The Senate officially gave New Jersey a new federal judge this week: Jamel Semper, an assistant U.S. Attorney who was confirmed 54-44 on Wednesday to join the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey. He’s President Joe Biden’s ninth nominee to successfully make it onto the 17-member court.
There could soon be a tenth in U.S. Magistrate Judge Edward Kiel, whose nomination was approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee yesterday. Kiel could now be brought to the Senate floor at any time, though he may have to wait weeks or months to be confirmed.
“Judge Kiel is a highly qualified jurist who has dedicated his career to justice, fairness, and the law,” Senator Cory Booker, who spearheaded Kiel’s nomination, said in a statement. “His nomination is the full-circle realization of the American Dream: if confirmed, he will serve in the same courthouse where his parents were naturalized as American citizens. I’m confident he will serve New Jersey with integrity and distinction when confirmed by the full Senate.”
New Jersey’s ferry godmother
New Jersey’s ferry systems got some good news this week, in the form of federal grants from the Federal Transit Administration (FTA)’s Passenger Ferry Grant Program.
The FTA has given $6.9 million to NJ Transit to convert two NY Waterway ferries from diesel to electric, and another $6 million to construct a floating dock system for a new ferry in South Amboy that was launched in October. The South Amboy ferry, which was championed by Rep. Frank Pallone (D-Long Branch), connects the small Central Jersey city with Manhattan.
“The floating dock system will make the ferry more accessible to passengers and bolster the dock’s resilience against fluctuating tides and flooding events,” Pallone said of the FTA’s investment. “The South Amboy ferry is already giving residents a new way to commute between Central Jersey and New York City, and I’m going to continue to work to improve transportation infrastructure in our state.”
Let my bishop go
Rep. Chris Smith (R-Manchester)’s Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Global Health, Global Human Rights and International Organizations met this week on the matter of Bishop Rolando Álvarez, a Catholic bishop detained by the Nicaraguan government.
Smith, whose focus in Congress has long been international human rights abuses, used the hearing to demand that Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega release Álvarez, a critic of Ortega’s government who was sentenced earlier this year to 26 years in prison. The hearing also featured testimony from fellow Nicaraguan clergypeople who fled Ortega’s regime.
“Bishop Álvarez is an innocent man enduring unspeakable suffering,” Smith said in his opening remarks. “Today, we appeal to President Daniel Ortega: release him from prison. Let Bishop Álvarez go… The international community can no longer turn a blind eye to what is happening to the people of Nicaragua, including and especially people of faith.”
Four N.J. representatives recruited for NDAA Division I team
One other big task that Congress needs to accomplish this month is negotiating a version of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that can pass both the Senate and the House. Each chamber passed its own version of the NDAA, but the House’s version was filled with conservative provisions that won’t pass muster in the Senate.
The task of negotiating a bicameral deal has fallen to the NDAA Conference Committee, which met on Wednesday to work on the bill. Four New Jerseyans – Pallone, Norcross, Rep. Andy Kim (D-Moorestown), and Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-Montclair) – are members of the conference committee; the latter three are also on the regular House Armed Services Committee that drafted the original NDAA bill.
“I am encouraged by the commitment to bipartisanship and compromise shown at this week’s bicameral meeting,” Sherrill said of the Wednesday meeting. “I have fought hard to ensure that the final, conferenced legislation reflects the House Armed Services Committee’s bipartisan work to best support our troops and has blocked the amendments added by right-wing extremists, including a ban on reimbursements for abortion care-related travel and attacks on the LGBTQ community.”
Other Garden State plots
• Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-Wyckoff) continued on the anti-congestion pricing warpath this week, blasting New York City’s newly released pricing plans and insisting that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) look into financial institutions’ involvement in the proposed system.
“Are you concerned at all that these banks will be making money off of gouging middle-class Americans with exorbitant tolls from their new congestion tax, and will you commit to investigating the revenue that financial institutions are making from this congestion tax?” Gottheimer demanded of CFPB Director Rohit Chopra, a New Jersey native, at a hearing of the Financial Services Committee.
“I will look into this and get back to you,” Chopra responded.
• Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-Paterson), alongside Pennsylvania Republican Brian Fitzpatrick, reintroduced a bipartisan bill this week that would create a new tax credit for the production of renewable chemicals from biomass. Pascrell has been pushing for the bill since 2017, with little success so far.
“Our bipartisan bill will help increase production of renewable energy sources and chart a course towards a more sustainable and environmentally conscious future,” Pascrell said in a statement. “I urge my House colleagues to support this vital legislation that will boost American energy independence while preserving our environment for our children and grandchildren.”
• As senators negotiate a deal behind closed doors that would include aid to Israel and Ukraine as well as new border security policies, Senator Bob Menendez is sounding the alarm over potential changes to the country’s immigration laws that would make it harder to seek asylum.
“It is the height of absurdity to claim that the price for assisting our international allies is gutting our asylum and humanitarian parole laws,” Menendez said in a speech on the Senate floor. “Democrats should not, and cannot, stand idly by while asylum seekers and immigrant families are imperiled by a handful of senators, operating in total darkness, without any meaningful feedback from a broader coalition of Hispanic, Black, and Asian legislators, advocates, and others who should be helping shape these negotiations.”
• Finally, on Tuesday, the New Jersey House delegation gathered on the House floor in remembrance of former Rep. Herb Klein (D-Clifton), who died last week at age 93.
“Herb only served one term in this institution, but he was a giant for New Jersey,” said Pascrell, who first got to Congress by defeating the Republican who had unseated Klein in 1994. “Our communities are tight-knit, hardscrabble, and fiercely loyal, and Herb embodied those qualities. It was Herb who laid the groundwork for what Passaic County is today.”
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September 15, 2023 -
