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Congressman Steven R.
Rothman is a Democrat from Fair Lawn representing the southern portion of Bergen County,
parts of northern Hudson County, and the Borough of Hawthorne in Passaic County
in New Jersey's
Ninth Congressional District. Now serving in his sixth term, Steve is a member
of the powerful House Appropriations Committee, which allocates all of the
funds in the federal budget. He sits on the Defense, Foreign Operations, and
Agriculture, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Subcommittees
of the Appropriations Committee. He is also a member of the House Science and
Technology Committee's Subcommittees on Space and Aeronautics and
Investigations and Oversight.
The Bergen Record,
one of New Jersey's
largest daily newspapers, has described Steve as "ethical and effective." The Herald
News, another New Jersey
newspaper, called Steve a "hard worker for the district" who has
"proven his dedication."
Saving the
Hackensack
Meadowlands
First sworn in to the U.S.
House of Representatives on January 3, 1997, Steve has championed environmental
causes and has led the effort to protect and preserve the entire 8,400
undeveloped acres of the Hackensack Meadowlands with the ultimate goal of
turning them into an environmental park. The Record said Rothman's
Meadowlands long-term plan, "is a far-sighted vision, and it merits
support from everyone who wants to play a role in the future of this marshy
swath of New Jersey."
Fighting
Aircraft Noise and Pollution at Teterboro
Airport
Steve has worked tirelessly
on many other fronts to improve the quality of life for all the residents of
the Ninth District. He has been the leader in the fight against aircraft noise
and pollution at Teterboro Airport, most recently brokering an historic
agreement among operators at Teterboro Airport that will ultimately create a
curfew on flights between 11:00 pm and 6:00 am, keep heavy planes from ever
operating at the airport, improve safety and security, and eliminate Stage 2
noisy planes at the airport.
Previously, Steve secured a
ban on the noisiest planes at the airport as well as a ban on large corporate jets. By stopping Stage 2 planes - the next
set of noisy aircraft - the agreement Steve brokered will eliminate the rest of
the 15 percent of planes which cause 90 percent of all noise violations at
Teterboro. Steve's leadership against aircraft noise has been well-noticed with
the Leader newspaper writing, "Lots of political muscle is behind
the cause, but Congressman Steve Rothman is proving to be the MVP."
Delivering
Federal Funds for New Jersey
As a member of the House
Appropriations Committee, Rothman is constantly working to secure the federal
support and dollars that the municipalities and people of the Ninth District
deserve. Steve has brought home hundreds of millions of dollars for improvements
to local and overcrowded roads, including funds to help relieve nightmarish
traffic on Route 17, bring commuter rail to Bergen County, and expand public
transportation into and out of Manhattan and around New Jersey. He has also
successfully secured millions of dollars to clean up the pollution of the Passaic River, fix local sewers, fund the
renovation and improvement of area hospitals, and pay for after-school
programs.
Standing
Up for Working Families
Throughout his terms in
Congress, Rothman has been a strong voice for working families and individuals.
He has fought for funds to improve the quality of education children receive
both by modernizing schools and classrooms and hiring skilled teachers. He has
consistently supported policies that provide better working conditions and
benefits to the men and women of labor who keep the economic engine of the
country moving forward, and has consistently supported tax cuts that help
families, individuals, and small businesses who need them most. In addition to
his work on the Meadowlands, he has been a strong advocate of environmental
measures that promote clean air and water locally and across the country.
Improving
School Security
As a lifelong resident of Bergen County
and the father of two school-aged children, Steve has aggressively sought ways
to keep our schools and communities safe and drug-free. As a former member of
the House Judiciary Committee, he authored and got passed the ‘Secure Our
Schools Act,' which allows local school districts to apply for grants from the
federal government to pay for metal detectors, security cameras, training of
personnel, better lighting and locks, and any other measures that bolster their
security measures and procedures. As a member of the House Appropriations
Committee, he has secured $50 million for the program over the past five years.
In New Jersey,
nearly 80 Secure Our School grants have been awarded to our law enforcement
agencies and school districts. Those grants were worth over $6 million and
helped secure 160 schools.
Protecting
Social Security and Reforming Health Care
Rothman has also maintained
a strong commitment to the nation's seniors and has worked to ensure they
receive the rights and benefits that they deserve. From the moment he was first
elected, Steve has worked with moderates in both parties to protect and
strengthen Social Security, and has vehemently fought against any plans to
privatize Social Security which would jeopardize benefits for seniors. He has
also been a strong advocate for a voluntary prescription drug benefit for all
seniors under Medicare and is committed to reforming the nation's health care
system and returning the power of decision making to doctors and their patients
from insurance company accountants.
Supporting
Veterans
In recognition of the
bravery and service exhibited by America's 25 million military
veterans, Rothman has also been a leader in efforts to provide our former
troops with the benefits they deserve and were promised for serving our
country. In order to provide additional and better services to veterans, Steve
helped increase the level of funding for the Department of Veterans Affairs in
the Fiscal Year 2006 budget to $70.2 billion, which is $3.7 billion more than
President Bush requested.
Rothman is also recognized
as a leader in Congress in the fight to reverse the Bush Administration's
budget cuts and restore health care benefits to Priority 8 veterans - those who
annually earn more than a geographically-mandated, low-income threshold.
Additionally, Steve has been
at the forefront of the battle to fix the injustice that more than 437,000
disabled military retirees face each month when their military pay is reduced
by the amount of their disability benefit. Rothman is the cosponsor of
legislation that would allow veterans who were wounded while serving their
country to receive both veterans' disability compensation and retirement
benefits at the same time.
Personal
History
Steve is married to
Jennifer and between them they have five children, ranging in age from fifteen to twenty-one, and a dog. Steve
Rothman brought to Congress a distinguished reputation as an effective,
fiscally responsible leader with universally recognized personal integrity from
his tenure as the two-term Mayor of Englewood (1983-1989) and as the Bergen
County Surrogate Court Judge (1993-1996). Born on October 14, 1952, Rothman
graduated from Tenafly High School in 1970, Syracuse
University in 1974 with a bachelor's
degree in Political Philosophy, and the Washington University
in St. Louis School of Law in 1977. From 1978-1993, he practiced as a private
attorney and won awards for providing free legal service to the poor, disabled,
and elderly.
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