Chris Smith: “I rise, along with my colleagues, to convey our deepest sorrow on the passing of our good friend, six-term, New Jersey…”

“I rise, along with my colleagues, to convey our deepest sorrow on the passing of our good friend, six-term, New Jersey Congressman, Donald Payne, Jr. of the 10th Congressional District. We are grateful for his public service, and offer our prayers and condolences to his wife, Beatrice, and their children, Donald III, Jack, and Yvonne. Like his father before him--Congressman Donald Payne, Sr., who I served with and who was also a great man--Donald Jr. was a dedicated public servant who tirelessly and tenaciously worked to improve the lives of New Jersey families, especially the poor. He was a kind and compassionate lawmaker who cared deeply for the people of his district, our State, the country, those in need, and especially the sick. As a diabetic, he fought to lower the cost of insulin. He wrote the House-passed Removing Barriers to Colorectal Cancer Screening Act and the Amputation Reduction and Compassion Act to provide full coverage for PAD to help reduce amputations. His TEST for Lead Act was designed to protect children from lead- contaminated drinking water in schools, and he wrote the DHS Interoperable Communications Act that became law in July 2015. As chairman and then ranking member of the House Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials Subcommittee, Donald helped lead the charge to improve America's transportation infrastructure, played a key role in securing the Gateway project, and was a powerful ally of Amtrak.…”