Beloved, dogged, justice-committed, and tough-minded New Jersey Congressman Bill Pascrell (D-9), a proud son of Paterson and former Silk City Mayor, has died. The 87-year-old served as the U.S. Representative for his district since 1997 and demonstrated political organizing excellence and a winning depth of support in North Jersey when he fought off a GOP redistricting map and won reelection in 2012.
“It is with deep sadness that we announce that Bill Pascrell Jr., our beloved husband, father, and grandfather, passed away this morning. As our United States Representative, Bill fought to his last breath to return to the job he cherished and to the people he loved. Bill lived his entire life in Paterson and had an unwavering love for the city he grew up in and served. He is now at peace after a lifetime devoted to our great nation America,” a statement on Pascrell’s X account reads.
A straight-talking, tough retired educator and U.S. Army sergeant who represented one of the most diverse districts in the country, Mr. Pascrell had a reputation for fighting for working class voters. Notably, he battled Chris Christie for awarding deferred prosecution agreements (DPA) as U.S. Attorney that protected a powerful medical supply company that produced faulty prosthetics for senior citizens.
Mr. Pascrell took a grandson-of-Italian-immigrants work ethic to Washington D.C., famously showing up at Union Station with his briefcase the morning after he spectacularly won the 2012 Democratic Primary in a redrawn congressional district. Many insiders at that time believed he would lose his seat – payback for courageously taking on DPAs – to colleague U.S. Rep. Steve Rothman. But Mr. Pascrell put together one of the most complete campaigns in New Jersey in the last 20 years and demonstrated political mastery on every campaign front.
That year, he gave New Jersey – jaded by its own ugly politics – a thing of beauty called American politics, which the fiercely civic-minded and patriotic representative adored.
Socially engaging and accessible, a master communicator (a former literature teacher) who reveled in political infighting but did so with a twinkle in his eye, Mr. Pascrell leaned on local friends in Paterson built over years of door-knocking and public service, and powerful allies at the highest levels, including former President Bill Clinton and legendary U.S. Rep. John Lewis. Clinton campaigned for the congressman at his side in Paterson in 2012, and the late John Lewis sent an election eve letter defending his friend’s harvested vote-by-mail ballots. The galvanized support for Mr. Pascrell showed his political character, established over a lifetime, prompting one of his supporters to note, on the night that the congressman won, and the Rocky soundtrack blared at his Passaic County Community College victory party, “It’s rare to see a lion in winter pull the sword out of the stone.”
Asked about government and politics and its place in his life, Mr. Pascrell – a devoted family man and father of three sons – said, “It’s not the be all and end all, but it’s important.”
A member of the House Transportation Committee, the congressman worked to modernize roads, bridges, airports and mass transit systems. He secured funding for reconstructing New Jersey roads and bridges, including the Route 46 corridor. “In addition, he helped craft legislation to renew federal surface transportation programs, providing funding for New Jersey Transit. The legislation concerned projects of rail expansion between Passaic and Bergen Counties, bridge construction throughout Route 46, and the establishment of a bike-pedestrian path in South Orange.”
A fighter who loved language and debate and finally thrilled to the pursuit of justice in the public square, Mr. Pascrell during the 2008 general election cycle left a Democratic event on the run, rushing to meet a scheduled TV engagement and yelling over his shoulder to allies, “I’m going to go box with Fox.”
He would prove a strong opponent of then-President Donald Trump.
Perched atop the anthropological anthill otherwise known as Paterson, U.S. Rep Bill Pascrell (D-9) intends to aggressively continue his effort to put political pressure on President Donald J. Trump to release his tax returns.
“He hasn’t seen anything yet,” Pascrell told InsiderNJ.
“We’re going to take it to the floor of the House soon,” said the congressman, who added that he tried to forcefully make the case for the release to U.S. Rep. Kevin Brady (R-TX), arguing that it’s better that Trump do it now before the FBI full-court presses a case.
To no avail.
It’s a Republican-majority congress.
To date, all the Democratic leaders in congress signed on to Pascrell’s request, but the House Ways and Means Committee rejected it, leaving the congressman in Plan B scramble mode. He’s undeterred, he insisted, as the Democrat subsequently tried to get the attention of senators Orrin Hatch and Ron Wyden, who both sit on the Senate Finance Committee, with a letter.
So, there’s the upper chamber effort – and a continued press in his own chamber, he said.
Mr. Pascrell got results. From InsiderNJ, in 2022:
A lot of people try to painstakingly cultivate the self-image of an everyman in public office, without any understanding of – let alone passionate commitment to – the well-being of other every-men and women, who depend on representative government in this country.
U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-9), a member of the House Ways and Means Committee, never cultivated an image.
He just is obstinately that guy – Paterson born and bred – determined to hold an unwieldy system to
account, whether in the case of federal law enforcement abusing deferred prosecution agreements for corporate-connected pals; a dormant, nothing-to-see-here IRS office, or the President of the United States, in this case Donald Trump, taking advantage of what Pascrell routinely deride as an unjust two-tiered tax system.
Last night, on the heels of a six-year rail by Pascrell, a Ways and Means Committee report revealed that Trump – who refused transparency in the face of repeated efforts by the committee to determine his earnings and taxes – declared negative income in 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2020 on his federal tax returns, and that he paid a total of $1,500 in income taxes for the years 2016 and 2017. On their 2020 income tax returns, Trump and his wife Melania paid no federal income taxes and claimed a refund of $5.47 million, according to the report by the staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation.
“A great country proved itself again,” Pascrell told InsiderNJ in a telephone interview this afternoon. “No one is above the law in this country. Even with all your money, you better be telling the truth, or you’re going down. I’ve been on this for six years, going back to February of 201,7 just before Republicans came out with their ‘great’ tax plan to screw the little guy. They got clobbered in 2018 and thrown the hell out of office. And now these materials show us that Trump was getting away with murder, as he failed to pay any income taxes, claiming over-inflated losses and failing in his duty as a citizen.
“People have a right to know,” Pascrell said, in reference to the former president’s tax returns, which he covered up, and which his appointed IRS Commissioner, Charles Rettig, refused to release. “What needs to be changed is a system of a lot of bureaucrats who take the attitude that if they [regular people] don’t understand it, they don’t understand it.”
Pascrell had called on the chairman of the Committee on Ways and Means to invoke Section 6103 of the tax code to obtain Trump’s tax returns. In the 115th Congress, Republicans voted 18 times to block Democratic resolutions seeking the tax returns. The congressman had also called for Rettig’s resignation, prior to the IRS commissioner leaving his post in October. “We are closer to the dawn of a new day at the IRS,” the 9th District Congressman said in a statement following the commissioner’s departure. “The Biden administration is right to end the term of Donald Trump’s IRS commissioner. Under Mr. Rettig’s failed leadership the agency and its dedicated employees have suffered through scandal and incompetence. Americans are fed up with late refunds, unanswered calls, and a two-tier tax system.”
Pascrell said Trump appointed Rettig, and Rettig failed to comply with the time-honored tradition of the IRS auditing presidents. “Mr. Rettig was a good, good Nazi and a good, good Nazi follows orders to the nth degree,” the congressman stated.
His death will significantly impact New Jersey and represents the loss of a person of substance and integrity in a state where such virtues stands in short supply.
He was also the last of a legitimately tough breed.
Hospitalized last month, he fought his battle with cancer down to the wire.
Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr. suffered a setback during his extended hospitalization this week, and the 87-year-old congressman needed “breathing assistance,” his staff said.
Pascrell has been at St. Joseph’s University Hospital since he checked himself in on July 14 for what his staff said was treatment for a fever.
Pascrell chief of staff, Ben Rich, issued an update on his condition on Wednesday afternoon.
“While recovering from a respiratory infection in the hospital, Congressman Pascrell had a setback,” Rich said. “Since then the medical professionals at St Joe’s have given the congressman breathing assistance and are monitoring his condition.
“Doctors tell us he continues to improve and remain hopeful for a complete recovery,” Rich added.
From Chicago, New Jersey Democratic State Party Chairman LeRoy Jones released the following statement:
“We have all suffered a profound loss with the passing of Congressman Bill Pascrell. Bill was a longtime
friend and someone many of us looked up to over the years. He dedicated his entire life to public service as a teacher, an Assemblyman, and then as a member of Congress. His countless accomplishments over his brilliant career will be felt for generations.
“Bill never ran from a fight. He was an outspoken critic against some of Chris Christie’s most oppressive policies and he was on the frontlines in the fight against Donald Trump and the threat he represents to our democracy, most notably successfully securing Trump’s tax returns after years of dogged pursuit.
“One of my favorite memories of Bill Pascrell is from the aftermath of the bruising Primary fight he won in 2012. Bill was told from the beginning and straight through the morning of Primary Election Day that he could not win because the makeup of the district was supposedly not in his favor. Anyone who knew Bill Pascrell knows that wouldn’t discourage him – it was simply another challenge to be accepted and overcome and by mid-afternoon that Tuesday in June, there were lines outside of multiple voting locations of people waiting to cast their vote for Bill.
“But the most important part of the story is that after what turned out to be a not particularly close but definitely contentious North Jersey fight, Bill immediately went about the work of bringing Democrats back together again. These Democrats in Passaic, Bergen, and Hudson Counties all quickly came to realize what many of us had known for years: Bill Pascrell was truly New Jersey’s Progressive Fighter.
“Bill Pascrell was a good man, and he will be missed.”
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Congressman Bill Pascrell, a long-time representative from New Jersey, has passed away at the age of 84. Pascrell was a beloved figure in the state’s political scene, known for his dedication to serving his constituents and fighting for progressive causes.
Pascrell began his political career in the New Jersey State Assembly, where he served for over a decade before being elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1996. During his time in Congress, Pascrell was a vocal advocate for issues such as healthcare reform, gun control, and environmental protection.
In addition to his legislative work, Pascrell was also known for his bipartisan approach to politics. He was able to work across the aisle to pass important legislation and build relationships with colleagues on both sides of the aisle.
Pascrell’s passing has been met with an outpouring of grief and tributes from his colleagues and constituents. New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy praised Pascrell as a “true public servant” and a “champion for the people of New Jersey.”
As the state mourns the loss of Congressman Bill Pascrell, his legacy of service and dedication to the people of New Jersey will continue to inspire future generations of leaders.
