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Hours before leaving for Capitol Hill, U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-NJ-8) visited the Passaic County Workforce Development Center to speak with job seekers and reiterate the message that no Congress members should return home without extending unemployment insurance (UI) benefits and this year's payroll tax cut.As Congress resumes it business this week, a number of provisions benefitting job seekers and the middle class, including unemployment insurance, are due to expire by the end of the month. Failure to extend UI benefits would affect 60,000 people statewide by the end of January, and up to 100,000 people by the middle of 2012.

U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-NJ-8) visited the Cedar Grove UPS Store owned by West Orange resident George Helmy (center) to deliver a simple message to the press: "Now is not the time for Congress to sit idle on tax breaks for small businesses and working families." Cedar Grove Councilman Romeo Longo, right, welcomed the Congressman to the community. Rep. Pascrell called for House action to extend and expand the Social Security payroll tax cut. By cutting the Social Security payroll tax down further to 3.1 percent of the first $110,000 next year, 4.8 million people in New Jersey will save $6.7 billion, or an average of $1,395 each. In New Jersey's Eighth Congressional District, the savings would go even further with the typical worker in Essex and Passaic County saving more than $1,600.

U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-NJ-8) reported on federally-funded efforts to help Passaic County clean up debris left behind by Hurricane Irene and the October snowstorm. The U.S. Department of Labor awarded in September a $2.6 million Federal Hurricane Irene Disaster National Emergency Grant, $711,287 of which was disbursed to Passaic County. The funding is being used to create enough temporary jobs for 75 workers. Five temporary workers have been dispatched to Woodland Park working daily shifts from 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.

U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-NJ-8) and U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) visited the City of Clifton to continue their fight to keep federal funding for for local community policing efforts. The Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) program, which provides competitive grants to help local police departments hire and keep officers on the job, was eliminated by Republicans in the House of Representatives, while the Senate provided $200 million. As a result, a group of House and Senate members are this week charged with finalizing the Justice Department’s spending bill.

U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-NJ-8), a former teacher and school board member, met with local teachers and other leaders in education at the upcoming meet of his Education Advisory Committee. This committee consists of education professionals from throughout the 21 towns in New Jersey's Eighth Congressional District. It meets to discuss issues as they arise both in New Jersey and on the national level. Among the topics discussed were the reauthorization of No Child Left Behind and keeping teachers on the job.