Sen. Lautenberg of New Jersey Dies at 89

This story appears in the June 10 print edition of Transport Topics.

U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg, a key figure in national transportation policy over the past 30 years, died last week after a lengthy illness. He was 89.

The New Jersey Democrat succumbed to pneumonia June 3.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, a Republican, announced at a news conference June 4 that he has set a special election in October to fill the Senate seat. But he didn’t say whom he’ll appoint to represent the state in the meantime — only that he has a list of possibilities.

Lautenberg championed infrastructure investment, public transit and highway safety, but for his three decades in the Senate, he led opposition to heavier, longer trucks. Nevertheless, trucking executives and government leaders paid tribute to the senator for his leadership on policy issues.

“Frank’s tireless advocacy for transportation safety saved many lives — he truly was the Safety Senator,” said outgoing Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood.

“Senator Lautenberg was a passionate and tireless advocate for transportation and, in particular, of making our roads, bridges, railways and skies safer to travel,” American Trucking Association President Bill Graves said “He served his state and his nation with distinction, and he will be missed.”

Lautenberg announced in February that he would not seek re-election next year. First elected in 1982, he was the last World War II veteran in the Senate.

A multimillionaire with a rags-to-riches story, he founded Automatic Data Processing, the payroll services firm, with two boyhood friends in a basement in Paterson, N.J.

He was as driven by national politics, his colleagues said.

“We have lost a remarkable fighter and wonderful man. His voice will be sorely missed in the halls of Congress,” said U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.).

As for transportation safety and security, there was no greater champion than Lautenberg, said Edward Wytkind, president of the Transportation Trades Department of the AFL-CIO. “He understood that our government has a sacred obligation to ensure that workers come home safely every day, and he served to fulfill this responsibility.”

Edward Hamberger, president of the Association of American Railroads, said Lautenberg “understood our nation’s interdependent intermodal supply chain and how important it is to America’s economy.”

Throughout his career, Lautenberg “helped to pass landmark transportation legislation . . . to improve the health and safety of the traveling public, and his tireless work on the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation and [the] Environment and Public Works committees will be missed,” said “Bud” Wright, executive director of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials.

The committees have jurisdiction over transportation reauthorization bills, such as the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act, the 1991 measure that included the ban, promoted by Lautenberg, on longer combination vehicles on the parts of the National Highway System receiving federal aid.

Likewise, the latest reauthorization bill, MAP-21, contains provisions he supported: a comprehensive truck size and weight study under way by the U.S. Department of Transportation, a drug and alcohol clearinghouse for driver records and electronic logging devices on trucks and buses.

One of Lautenberg’s last appearances was May 16, when he was wheeled into an EPW committee meeting to vote on the nomination of Gina McCarthy to head the Environmental Protection Agency.