The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“GOV. WILLIAM T. CAHILL” mentioning the U.S. Dept of State was published in the Senate section on pages S8383-S8384 on July 19, 1996.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
GOV. WILLIAM T. CAHILL
Mr. LAUTENBERG. Mr. President, on July 1, New Jersey lost one of its most dedicated public servants, former Gov. William T. Cahill. Whether as a New Jersey assemblyman, U.S. Congressman or Governor, Bill Cahill was always ready to fight for what he thought was right, regardless of whether it was expedient or popular. As he once remarked:
It's not the role of the Governor to do what is popular. His role is to tell the people what's good for New Jersey.
Undeniably, Governor Cahill was good for New Jersey.
A blue collar Irish kid from a gritty Camden neighborhood, Governor Cahill was described by both friends and foes as a fighter; he continually battled for the environment, for education, for fairness in the tax system. In fact, his single term, from 1970 to 1974, is remarkable for the number of successful initiatives which he left as his legacy to New Jersey.
Governor Cahill was in the vanguard of both the environmental and the consumer protection movements. He created the State Department of Environmental Protection, the Division of Consumer Affairs and the Board of Public Utilities. During his administration, the State passed the Coastal Area Facility Review Act to block construction of proposed offshore oil refineries and high-rise buildings. Cahill also fought for a series of unprecedented wetlands protection laws and strong air pollution control measures.
His legacy has touched virtually every aspect of life in the Garden State. The Governor's initiatives led to the Nation's first daily lottery, which yielded new revenues to ease the burden on New Jersey's taxpayers. During his tenure, Cahill helped get no-fault auto insurance enacted and established full-time county prosecutors. He more than quadrupled State aid to New Jersey's economically challenged cities.
Bill Cahill never shied away from a fight that he thought would benefit New Jersey. He even criticized then President Nixon, a fellow Republican, for not paying attention to domestic problems such as those that existed in Newark.
In probably his best remembered role, Governor Cahill scored the ultimate touchdown for New Jersey. He helped to establish the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority and the Meadowlands Sports Complex, and he personally intervened to lure the Giants to the new stadium. When the New York financial community tried to ruin the deal, Cahill took the negotiations into overtime; he worked with the incoming Democratic administration to assure that New Jersey companies would finance the enormous project.
Yet, some of Bill Cahill's most impressive accomplishments have largely been forgotten. On Thanksgiving Day, 1971, a violent inmate uprising erupted at Rahway State Prison. The memories of the Attica riot, only a few months before, still lingered in the public's and the inmates' minds. Cahill immediately went to the prison; his constant intervention, negotiation and steadying influence was credited with ending the riot, without a single life lost. He was hailed as a national hero for preventing Rahway from becoming another Attica.
With all of his achievements, Bill Cahill could have rested on his laurels and perhaps easily won reelection to a second term as Governor in 1974. Instead, because he believed it was the right thing to do, he launched the on- going battle in New Jersey over education financing.
While Governor, Cahill was the prime defendant in a 1973 case where the State Supreme Court ruled that the system of funding education through property taxes discriminated against children in poor districts. Due to the ruling, the State enacted the Thorough and Efficient Education Act. But the Governor was not finished.
The New Jersey tax system, with its heavy reliance on property taxes, had always bothered Cahill. Specifically, the Governor wanted a broad-
based income tax and an equalized State property tax. The income tax would be used to fund public education and, hopefully, would reduce inequities between rich and poor school districts. In essence, the Governor's dream was to give all children a chance at a decent education.
So he tossed a politically risky revision of the tax code into the political ring. He pushed the State legislature for an income tax and an equalized State property tax. The legislature, however, took the gloves off and slaughtered the plan in the assembly.
The promotion of the very unpopular tax, coupled with scandals in his administration, none of which ever directly involved or implicated him, ended Bill Cahill's career in government. He lost the Republican nomination for Governor in 1974. But when reflecting on his decision to attempt to revise the tax code, the courageous decision which cost him his political career, Cahill remarked,
We were right then, and while many describe it as our worst defeat, I believe it was our finest moment.
During those years in the Governor's office, Cahill demonstrated that he was a pragmatist, not a partisan. He often appointed Democrats to key positions, if he thought they could best serve New Jersey. These included former Governor Richard Hughes as chief justice of the State supreme court and future Gov. Brendan Byrne to the State superior court.
The only thing that Governor Cahill was ever uncompromisingly partisan about was the State he loved. Early in his term, he was on a commercial flight from Washington to Newark. When the plane landed, the flight attendant welcomed everyone to the Port of New York. The very next day, Cahill was on the phone to officials at the Port Authority of New York, which operates Newark International Airport. Shortly afterward, the Port Authority redesignated itself ``The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.'' Among New Jersey's champions, he was always a heavyweight.
Whether we agree with his decisions and priorities or not, Governor Cahill was a man who stood by his convictions, no matter what the consequences. As he once told an aide, forget about politics for a minute. What's the right thing to do? His concern was policy, not politics.
Thomas Fuller once noted that ``Great and good are seldom the same man.'' He obviously never knew William T. Cahill. In his continual striving to do what was right, he proved himself a great Governor, and a great man. Undeniably, he always fought the good fight for New Jersey.
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