In The News

The final bill setting U.S. defense policy protects Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, the state's second largest employer, from a new round of base closings has cleared the House.

The House on Thursday passed the annual National Defense Authorization Act, which sets Congress' defense priorities for the 12 months beginning Oct. 1 and includes $716 billion in military spending. The final bill was negotiated with the Senate, which is expected to clear the legislation.

The best social program is a good job with fair wages and the dignity that comes with it.

Last week, Governor Murphy reiterated that raising the state minimum wage to $15 an hour is one of his top three legislative priorities this year, and I not only applaud his strong stance, but urge my friends in the state legislature and my colleagues in Congress to heed our shared call to raise wages.

I've spent my life fighting for good pay for workers, and spent years working as an electrician installing and restoring power for New Jersey homes, businesses and industrial sites. Raising wages for hardworking families is the first issue I talked to the governor and the new team in Trenton about. In fact, we brought together Murphy, Senate President Steve Sweeney, D-Gloucester, and Assembly Leader Craig Coughlin, D-Middlesex, for their first joint public appearance after last year's election to call for a $15 minimum wage.

“I support the unanimous conclusion of America's intelligence community that Russia hacked the 2016 U.S. presidential election,” Norcross, a Democrat from Camden, said on Twitter. “This is not a partisan issue, we must treat it as a serious national security breach & take action to protect the very fabric of our democracy.

U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez and U.S. Rep. Donald Norcross visited the CAMcare Gateway Health Center on Federal Street Monday afternoon to highlight the importance of access to affordable healthcare.

According to both Democratic officials, President Donald Trump’s impending U.S. Supreme Court Justice nominee is a threat health care rights for women, protections for patients with pre-existing conditions and the health care system — particularly the repeal of the Affordable Care Act.

At 9 p.m., President Trump is expected to announce his nominee to replace retiring U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy, a decision Menendez called “momentus.”

Video chats on Skype from a Camden detention center has been the only lifeline for a child separated from his family as he tried to cross the border into the United States.

Rep. Donald Norcross, D, 1st, said he wasn't sure what to expect of the conditions for children being held in New Jersey after they were separated from their families as a result of stepped up border enforcement by the Trump administration.

The federal government wouldn't let him in for the past two weeks.

He had tried to visit a site run by the Center for Family Services with no success. When he finally got in Monday, he immediately reported what he saw.

"I wanted to make sure these kids were being held in an appropriate manner, one that is worthy of being called an American system," Norcross said during an afternoon news conference from the downtown Camden headquarters of the center. "After holding us back for two weeks, they never showed up."