For nearly 28 years, Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-Paterson) represented New Jersey in the House of Representatives. Today, his colleagues from New Jersey and elsewhere paid tribute to him one final time.
Nine of the ten remaining members of New Jersey’s House delegation, alongside Pascrell’s friends from other states, came together on the House floor today to lead a moment of silence for Pascrell, who died last month at the age of 87.
“Bill’s life was marked by exemplary service, having served in the United States Army and as a high school history teacher and an adjunct professor before becoming a state assemblyman for five terms, mayor for two, and congressman for 28 years,” Rep. Chris Smith (R-Manchester) said. “He was dedicated to New Jersey families and an outspoken advocate for our law enforcement community, our firefighters, and our nation’s veterans.”
Pascrell, a Paterson native, was first elected to the House in 1996, and spent the following three decades as a force of nature intent on fighting for tax fairness and against Donald Trump. But as noted by Rep. Frank Pallone (D-Long Branch), Pascrell’s longtime friend, Pascrell never lost sight of where he came from even as he became a national figure.
“He spent his whole life in Paterson, and Paterson was how he identified: tough, gritty, industrial city; said what he pleased, always looked out for the little guy,” Pallone said. “And that was true in Congress as well… He was like America itself: big and strong, full of good intentions, always there when you needed him, a believer in simplicity, directness, and hard labor. That was Bill Pascrell.”
Pallone plans to introduce a bill in the House to rename the Paterson Great Falls National Historical Park and the Traumatic Brain Injury Fund – two causes near and dear to Pascrell – after the late congressman. Pallone said today that he’s working to get New Jersey’s delegation to sign onto the bill to ensure its swift passage through the House.
“We’re trying to get all the New Jersey members, Democrat and Republican, and I don’t think it’s going to be a problem,” Pallone said. “We’ll go to the Natural Resources Committee, and the idea is to try to get it attached to the end-of-the-year bill, the omnibus.”
Pascrell died late enough in the election cycle that there won’t be a special election to fill his seat. Instead, the regularly scheduled November election will proceed as usual, but with a new nominee: State Sen. Nellie Pou (D-North Haledon), who was chosen on August 29 to replace Pascrell on the ballot.
Tragically, Pascrell was not the first New Jersey congressman to die this year. Back in April, Rep. Donald Payne Jr. (D-Newark) died at the age of 65 following a heart attack; his successor will be chosen in a special election next week.
The deaths of Pascrell and Payne and the resignation of disgraced Senator Bob Menendez meant that, for a few weeks, New Jersey’s 14-member congressional delegation had three vacancies. The swearing-in today of interim Senator George Helmy, though, means that the state’s Senate delegation is once again at full strength.