[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 107 (Friday, July 19, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8383-S8384]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         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-

[[Page S8384]]

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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