The grandson of Italian immigrants, William James Pascrell Jr. was born in Paterson, New Jersey, on January 25, 1937, the son of Roffie J.
[3] Pascrell spent 12 years as a high school teacher in Paramus, New Jersey, teaching several subjects including psychology,[5] before being hired as a professor at Fairleigh Dickinson University.
[6] Pascrell was first elected to office in 1987 when he ran for the New Jersey General Assembly seat, which was vacated by the retiring Vincent O. Pellecchia.
Facing Donald Hayden, who was appointed to the seat after Catania was selected to serve in a state administrative position, and Dennis Gonzalez in the general election, both emerged with significant victories and Pascrell once again topped out at 33%.
[6] Pascrell resigned from the General Assembly in January 1997 in order to take his seat in the House of Representatives; his replacement was Nellie Pou.
Pascrell faced City Council President Reverend Albert P. Rowe, Passaic County Freeholder Michael Adamo, and former councilman and police officer Roy Griffin in the nonpartisan election.
[15] Pascrell ran for a second term in 1994 and faced two challengers, his former District 35 rival Martin Barnes and long-standing Sixth Ward councilman and former mayor Tom Rooney.
[18] The district reverted to form, and Pascrell never faced another contest nearly that close again; winning reelection seven more times with at least 62% of the vote.
Fellow Democratic congressman Steve Rothman decided to move into the reconfigured 9th and challenge Pascrell in the primary.
"[21][22] Jewish Voice and Opinion publisher Susan Rosenbluth wrote that "a number of Arab-American constituents have come out with outrageous attacks on Rothman" and "I haven't heard a dual loyalty charge for years."
[29] Pascrell was also a member of the House Transportation Committee, where he worked to modernize roads, bridges, airports, and mass transit systems.
[30] In addition, he helped craft legislation to renew federal surface transportation programs, providing funding for New Jersey Transit.
[30] 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.
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ConTACT brings together a conference of experts to produce a guidelines for the treatment and care of concussions for middle- and high-school students.
[37] In January 2011, in response to the shooting of Representative Gabby Giffords, Pascrell said, "[t]here's an aura of hate and elected politicians feed it.
Pascrell said, "The text of the 14th Amendment expressly forbids Members of Congress from engaging in rebellion against the United States.
In 2013, Pascrell voted against the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act despite noting that he had "been against any government funding of abortion" throughout his congressional tenure.
[46] After the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, he wrote that "it is not the place for a judge or politician to interfere with a woman's bodily decision.
[49] Pascrell voted with President Joe Biden's stated position 100% of the time in the 117th Congress, according to a FiveThirtyEight analysis.
[64] On July 14, 2024, Pascrell was admitted to St. Joseph's Regional Medical Center in Paterson, where he was treated for a respiratory illness and spent some time in intensive care.