By Rachel L. West, MSW, LMSW
Democratic legend Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) died today at the age of 89. According to a statement on his official website the Senator died at 4:02 am at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell from complications due to viral pneumonia.
Sen. Lautenberg was first elected to the United States Senate in 1982 where he served until 2001. Then in 2002 Lautenberg decided to run again when then Senator Bob Torricelli was facing federal corruption charges.
Sen. Lautenberg returned to the Senate in January 2003 at the age of 79. He was still serving at the time of his death which means that Republican Governor Chris Christie will get to appoint an interim senator until the next election. In all likelihood Christie will be appointing someone from his own party.
A few months ago it was rumored that Newark, New Jersey Mayor Cory Booker was looking into running for Lautenberg’s seat if the Senator decided to once again retire. It is too early to know at this point who will be running for the late Senators seat in 2014.
Born January 24, 1924 to “poor but hard-working immigrant parents,”(source) Frank Lautenberg’s life was an American success story. His parents were Polish and Russian immigrants who struggled to make a living. After Graduating high school Lautenberg enlisted in the US Army where he served in World War II. He was the last member of Congress to have served in that war.
Following his military service he became a successful businessman. He was a co-founder and Chairman of Automatic Data Processing, better known as ADP (take a look at your pay stub) which was the nation’s first payroll processing company. He decided to enter politics because he “always knew that his success was a uniquely American story. He wanted to give something back to the nation that had given him so many opportunities.” (source)
Senator Lautenberg’s Political Legacy
Sen. Lautenberg was concerned about many social issues including ending gun violence, protecting the environment and supporting military members and veterans. Below is a list of some of the key issues he worked on during his political career.
Gun Violence – He wrote the Domestic Violence Offender Gun Ban, also known as the Lautenberg Amendment. This piece of legislation prevented individuals facing Domestic Violence charges from owning firearms. He was also a supporter of the Brady law and closing the gun show loophole.
Education – He supported and fought to increase funding for Head Start and Early Head Start programs. He also helped to write the America COMPETES Act which called for the country to invest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education and workforce development.
Health Care – He fought to keep and expand New Jersey’s Children’s Health Insurance Program which provided insurance to thousands of that state’s children. He also supported the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. He worked to protect a woman’s right to choose and authored the Responsible Education About Life (REAL) Act that sought to provide comprehensive sex education as well as the Access to Birth Control (ABC) Act that would make it illegal for a pharmacy to deny access to contraception.
