In The News

The bill, co-sponsored by Bill Pascrell Jr. of New Jersey and Lloyd Doggett of Texas, would establish a government-backed registry to track patients' results over time and help detect ineffective surgical practices and faulty devices.

Wednesday, April 15, 2009
BY MEREDITH MANDELL
NorthJersey.com
STAFF WRITER
PATERSON — After all the reporters, dignitaries and crowds disbanded, Jan Thomas stood alone at the edge of Overlook Park.“All my life I’ve been waiting for this,” said the 54-year-old carpenter, a lifelong resident who as a child spent many afternoons swimming in the river near the Great Falls.

The designation of the Great Falls of Paterson as a national park this week was long overdue.

For years, Paterson native U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr. had called for the legislation with the hopes that the city around it would be revitalized as well, and his persistence is to be commended.

FINALLY. If President Obama signs the legislation this week, Paterson's Great Falls will be named a National Historic Park, a designation the city has yearned for since the 1970s.

By RICHARD SANDOMIR

March 24, 2009

A New Jersey congressman asked the Treasury Department on Monday step in to end the Nets’ $400-million deal with Barclays Bank, which would put the British company’s name on the team’s proposed Brooklyn arena, because it indirectly received federal bailout funds.

In a letter to Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner, Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr., a Democrat, said that “it is appropriate for the U.S. to request that Barclays cancel this naming-rights agreement” because A.I.G. paid the bank $8.5 billion out of the $170 billion the insurance giant has received in taxpayer assistance to prevent its collapse.

George Peter, a Capitol cop, scowled when the aide tried to get to the House subway without ID -- until he found out the aide worked for New Jersey Congressman Bill Pascrell. Then he waved the aide through with a smile.