Early life and education

Rothman was born on October 14, 1952, in Englewood, New Jersey, to Philip and Muriel Rothman; he and his twin Arthur joined an older sister Susan. Steve attended the Roosevelt Public Elementary School in Englewood until the fifth grade when the family moved to nearby Tenafly, where he completed his education in the Tenafly Public School System.^[2]

Rothman graduated in 1970 from Tenafly High School,^[5] where he was senior class president, Best School Citizen, was first clarinet, first chair in the Tenafly High School Orchestra, was a member of the Tenafly High School Madrigal Singers, played the lead in Tenafly High School's drama Twelve Angry Men, wrestled, played soccer and tennis. He was a freestyle and backstroke swimmer in a New Jersey Jewish Community Center swim league and completed his Water Safety Instructor Certificate in 1971.^[6][7]

In his senior year in high school, Rothman became the chair of the 18-Year-Old Vote Campaign for Tenafly, New Jersey, seeking to secure the New Jersey legislature's support for the proposed 26th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, ensuring 18-year-old U.S. citizens the right to vote.^[8]

In 1974 he earned a B.A. degree from Syracuse University, where he majored in political philosophy.^[2] In 1972 he was selected by a student-faculty-administrator search committee to serve on the university's student supreme court (University Judicial Board) for his sophomore, junior and senior years. He was elected Chief Justice of the UJB by its members for 1973–74.^[9]

While at Syracuse, Rothman was lead singer in a folk-rock music group named "Sweet Rock."

From 1974 to 1977 Rothman attended the Washington University School of Law in St. Louis, Missouri, where he was awarded a Juris Doctor degree in 1977.^[2]

In each of his three years at law school, Rothman was a High School Law Project member, teaching a course he wrote on the "U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights" to urban and suburban high school students in the St. Louis City and Metropolitan area. In 1975, Rothman won the "Best Oralist" Award in the Washington University School of Law Moot Court Competition. In 1976, Rothman and his partner Gerald Kline placed first among twelve teams representing six law schools at the Eighth Circuit Regional Moot Court Regional Competition in Rapid City, South Dakota, also winning "Best Brief."^[10]

Rothman was admitted to the New Jersey bar in 1977 and became a practicing New Jersey attorney. In 1982, he was admitted to practice law also in New York. In 1984 he was admitted to practice law before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Early career

Rothman started his legal career as a trial associate at the firm of Miller, Hochman, Myerson and Schaeffer in Jersey City, New Jersey, in 1977. In January 1980, he started his own firm for the general practice law in Englewood in a two-room office over a barber shop on Depot Square. In 1977, Rothman moved his residence from Tenafly to Englewood.

Rothman became active in Englewood community affairs, serving as president of the Scarborough Manor Tenants' Association, where he performed pro bono legal services for the poor and elderly faced with eviction following condominium conversion.^[11] He also was the co-founder of the Englewood Hispanic Lion's Club and a member of the United Jewish Community of Bergen County and member of the Board of Governors of the Jewish Community Center on the Palisades.^[12]

Politically, he was Campaign Coordinator for various Englewood City Council-member races as well as a member of the Englewood Democratic Club, the Englewood Democratic Municipal Committee, the Bergen County Young Democrats, and the New Jersey Young Democrats. He held the office of Treasurer for the Bergen County Democratic Party, for State Senator Matthew Feldman, as well as for various Bergen County Democratic Freeholder (county legislature) campaigns.

Englewood's mayor

In 1982, Rothman ran for and won the city's Democratic Party nomination to be Englewood's mayor. Rothman was also endorsed by the Englewood Black Clergy Council and the Englewood Patrolman's Benevolent Association (the first time those two organizations had ever endorsed the same candidate for mayor). He won the Democratic primary and the November 1982 general elections. At his January 1983 swearing in, he was 30 years old. Rothman served two terms from 1983 to 1989.^[13] He remains the youngest mayor in Englewood's history.^[14]

Rothman served two terms as Englewood's mayor, from 1983 to 1989. In 1992, he was elected as the Bergen County Surrogate Court judge and remained in this position until running for Congress in 1996.^[14]

Personal

Rothman and his first wife had two children, John and Karen. His subsequent marriage also ended in divorce. Rothman now resides in Englewood, New Jersey.

Post-mayoral activities

Rothman continued his general practice of law in Englewood, expanding his offices and staff.

In 1989, Rothman ran unsuccessfully as one of three Democratic candidates to fill three openings on the Bergen County Board of Chosen Freeholders (the county legislature). Bergen County was the largest county in New Jersey with 850,00 people. Rothman lost the election by less than 2,000 votes.^[22]

In 1989, Rothman was appointed Chairman of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Northern New Jersey (JCRC).^[23] In 1991, Rothman hosted 500 Christians, Jews, Muslims, Bahais and Sikhs for the 5th Annual Brotherhood/Sisterhood Interfaith Breakfast, sponsored by the JCRC.^[24]

In 1990 and 1991, Rothman served as Treasurer of the respective Bergen County Democratic Party Freeholder races.

In 1990 and 1991, Rothman was also active in local affairs, joining the Wyckoff Democratic Municipal Committee and serving as its chairman. During that time, he also served as Campaign Manager for Jack Van Horne for Wyckoff Township Council. He and his wife were also members of "Wyckoff Partners In Pride," a community beautification committee of volunteers.

Bergen County Surrogate Court judge

In 1992, Rothman ran for and was chosen by the Bergen County Democratic Party to be their candidate for the elected position of Bergen County Surrogate Court Judge. Under New Jersey law, each of the state's twenty-one counties, including Bergen County (its most populous) is required to elect a Judge of the Surrogate's Court who is responsible, among other duties, for the probating and administering of the estates of all that county's residents. Rothman won the general election in November 1992, becoming the first attorney to serve in that position in the 148 years the position had been an elected one.^[25]

During Rothman's administration, he provided the Bergen County Surrogate's Office with uniformly modern computers, which enabled a 55% increase in cases processed while reducing the number of employees by 10% through attrition. He facilitated improved access to the public by adding office phone lines and making the public documents on file in the Surrogate's Court more available by computerizing indexes and expanding availability. As Surrogate, among other personnel changes, his first hire there was an Hispanic college graduate, the first Hispanic or Spanish-speaking member of the Bergen County Surrogate's Court in history.^[26]

In March 1995, Rothman wrote and had published an 18-page booklet entitled "The Three Legal Documents Recommended For Every Bergen County Adult," which dealt with the operations of the Bergen County Surrogate's Court, probate, self-proving wills, living wills, and durable powers of attorney. Approximately 23,000 booklets were published and distributed, in English and Spanish. Rothman conducted more than 100 seminars on wills, living wills, probate and powers of attorney, speaking directly to over 10, 000 Bergen County residents.^[27]

Rothman also invested over $75 million in assets for minors who received settlements or judgments in Bergen County. During his three years in office, his federally-insured investments realized the highest rate of return of any surrogate in the state.^[28]

Elections

In a district that was 90 percent non-Jewish, with no Jewish House members then representing New Jersey, Rothman was elected the first Jewish-American House member in the history of the 9th congressional district.

He was reelected to that seat seven more times.

In 1996, incumbent Democratic U.S. Representative Robert G. Torricelli of New Jersey's 9th congressional district decided to run for the United States Senate that was being vacated by Bill Bradley, creating a vacancy in the House seat.^[29] Rothman was encouraged by Democratic leaders and laypeople to run for the seat. However, the New Jersey Supreme Court required him to step down from his position as the judge of the Bergen County Surrogate's Court in order to be a candidate. Thus, in January 1996, he resigned as Bergen County Surrogate to run for the 9th congressional district House seat. In June 1996, Rothman prevailed in the Democratic Party primary to be their candidate in the general election for Congress.^[30]

• 1996: In the general election, Rothman defeated Republican County Clerk and Chairperson of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, Kathleen Donovan, 56.6%–42.2%, with two independent candidates taking up the remainder of the vote.^[30]
• 1998: Rothman won reelection to a second term, defeating Mayor Steve Lonegan of Bogota, New Jersey 64.6%–33.8%, with three independent candidates receiving less than 2% of the vote.^[30]
• 2000: won reelection to a third term, defeating Joseph Tedeschi 68%–30% with two Independent candidates receiving 2% of the vote.^[30]
• 2002: won reelection to a fourth term, defeating Joseph Glass, 70%–30%.^[30]
• 2004: won reelection to a fifth term, defeating Edward Trawinski 67–32%, with the Libertarian candidate receiving 1% of the vote.^[31]
• 2006: won reelection to a sixth term, defeating Vincent Micco 71%–28%, with the Moderate Choice candidate receiving 1% of the vote.^[31]
• 2008: won reelection to a seventh term, defeating Vincent Micco 68–31% with the Independent/Progressive candidate garnering 1%.^[31]
• 2010: won reelection to an eighth term, defeating Michael A. Agosta 61%–38%, with the Green Party candidate receiving 1%.^[30]

Electoral history

Committee assignments

Judiciary Committee (1997–2001)

House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime (1997–2001)

• Participated in the Impeachment Hearings of President William Jefferson Clinton, including cross-examining Independent Counsel to the House of Representatives former Judge Kenneth W. Starr (1998)
• House Foreign Affairs Committee (1997–2001)
• Subcommittee on International Economic Policy & Trade (1997–2001)
• Subcommittee on The Western Hemisphere (2001–2003)
• House Appropriations Committee (2001–2013)
• Subcommittee on Foreign Operations and State: the 11-member panel that, among other duties, recommended all Foreign Aid from the U.S., as well as recommended the U.S. State Department's budget (2001–2013)
• Subcommittee on Defense (the 13-member panel that recommended all the military spending for the U.S.) (2007–2013)
• Subcommittee on Homeland Security (2009–2011)
• Subcommittee on Agriculture (2007–2009)
• Subcommittee on Transportation, Treasury, HUD, The Judiciary, District of Columbia and Independent Agencies (2003–2007)
• Subcommittee on Treasury, Postal Service and General Government (2001–2003)
• House Science and Technology Committee (2007–2011)
• Subcommittee on Space & Aeronautics (2007–2011)
• Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight (2007–2011)

During his time in Congress, Rothman traveled to, among other places, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Kuwait, Egypt, Turkey, Israel, the West Bank and other locations to visit with U.S. troops, their commanders, foreign heads of state, as well as U.S. and foreign diplomatic, military and intelligence leaders.

Caucus memberships

Constitutional Amendment to limit campaign contributions and expenditures

On March 18, 1997, Rothman became one of 15 co-sponsors of H.J.Res 17 (105th Congress), a bill to amend the U.S. Constitution to allow Congress and each state "to set reasonable limits on campaign donations and expenditures made in support of or in opposition to candidates for Federal office."^[42]

Clinton impeachment

Rothman voted for Censure and against Articles of Impeachment. Rothman argued that while the President's conduct was "irresponsible and reprehensible," it did not rise to the level of an impeachable offense under the U.S. Constitution ("treason, bribery or other high crime and misdemeanor").^[43][44]

Hackensack Meadowlands

As a U.S. congressman, Rothman played a key role in preserving the Hackensack Meadowlands, successfully securing millions of dollars in federal funding for the protection, remediation and study of the area.^[45][46] He lobbied against the Mills Mall project which had been proposed in 1996 and had caused a "decade long fight"^[47] from local environmental and lobby groups. In 2003, the Mills Corporation agreed to relocate the mall to the Continental Arena in East Rutherford,^[46] and the state began to purchase land to create the "Meadowlands Preserve"^[46] and rezone the area as undevelopable. From 2001 to 2007, Rothman secured $10 million in federal funds, plus additional state and local matching funds, to buy land to create an 8,400 acre ecological preserve in the Hackensack Meadowlands.^[48]

Teterboro airport

In 2002, Rothman worked with the Port Authority to ban "Stage 1" aircraft from Teterboro airport, and against Boeing Company, which had been working since 1996 to allow 737 jets into the airport. Boeing filed an F.A.A complaint, and the agency proposed a policy change requiring airports to provide evidence of the potential damages that occasional heavier planes would cause.^[49] The port authority and Rothman both criticised the proposed exceptions, and in 2003 Rothman authored a measure to stop the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) from lifting the 100,000-pound weight limit at Teterboro Airport, which was approved by the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate and signed into law by President George W. Bush.^[50][51][52]

Secure Our Schools Act

Rothman authored "The Secure Our Schools Act," (2000) which provided hundreds of millions of federal matching funds to communities across his district and across the country so that schools could attempt to keep weapons and strangers out of schools. Under the Act, towns can apply for funds to be used for school security assessments, security training of personnel and students, and for improved coordination with law enforcement officials as well as to install metal detectors, locks, and improved lighting.^{[53][54][55][56][57][58][59][60][61][62]}

Pro-Israel support

Having served as a member of both the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense and the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Foreign Operations, Rothman advocated the importance of the U.S. Israel relationship, stating that the national security of the United States is directly affected by the national security of the State of Israel.^[63][64]

In 2010, Rothman worked with his congressional colleagues and the White House to obtain funding for Israel's Iron Dome defensive missile system and David's Sling, Arrow 2 and Arrow 3.^[65] The Iron Dome system was purchased by the US military in 2019 and Arrow 3 was successfully tested by the US and Israel in Alaska in July of that year.^[66]

Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP)

On October 3, 2008, Rothman voted against the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), saying that while the Bush administration was asking for $700 billion in relief for giant financial institutions, it had refused Rothman's and other members' requests that those institutions be required to allow the modification of principal and interest obligations to underwater mortgage-holding homeowners that would prevent them from being foreclosed upon and losing their homes. He also criticized the bill for failing to make the regulatory changes to make the banks no longer "too big to fail."^[67]

Obama campaign 2007–2008

In July 2007, Rothman became the highest-ranking Democrat in New Jersey to support then U.S. Senator Barack Obama for U.S. president.^[68] In 2013, in a Record article describing his twenty-five-year career in public office, Rothman noted that he believed "history will remember Obama not only for his deliberate and smart accomplishments as President, but for the permanent and positive effects the mere fact of his presidency has had on the psyche and character of America."^[69][70][71]

Mary Ann Collura Post Office Building

On March 11, 2004, Congressman Rothman introduced H.R. 3939 "To re-designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 14–24 Abbott Road in Fair Lawn, New Jersey, as the "Mary Ann Collura Post Office Building". Rothman's bill was passed by the House and Senate; and then it was signed by President George W. Bush on June 25, 2004. Collura, an 18-year veteran of the Fair Lawn Police Department, and the Borough's first female officer, was killed in the line of duty on April 4, 2003, in Fair Lawn. She was 43 years old at the time of her death. The renaming ceremony took place on November 1, 2003, in Fair Lawn, New Jersey.^[72][73][74]

Staff Sergeant Frank T. Carvill and Lance Corporal Michael A. Schwarz Post Office Building

On April 22, 2010, in response to a request by their families and local officials, Rothman sponsored H. R. 5133 "To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 331 1st Street in Carlstadt, New Jersey, as the "Staff Sergeant Frank T. Carvill and Lance Corporal Michael A. Schwarz Post Office Building". Rothman's bill was passed by the House and Senate; and then it was signed by President Barack Obama on January 4, 2011. Army National Guard Staff Sergeant Carvill was killed by an improvised explosive device in Baghdad, Iraq on June 4, 2004. He was 51 years old at the time of his death. Marine Lance Corporal Schwartz was killed by a sniper in Anbar province, Iraq on May 21, 2007. He was 20 years old at the time of his death. The renaming ceremony took place on April 27, 2011, in Carlstadt, New Jersey.^{[75][76][77][78]}

Malachy McAllister

From 2003 until the end of his congressional career in 2013, Rothman was involved in preventing the deportation of Malachy McAllister and his family from the United States, including intervention with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and proposing House legislation on McAllister's behalf.^[79]

In the 1980s, McAllister was convicted by a court in Northern Ireland of conspiring to murder a Royal Ulster Constabulary Officer. He served more than three years in a Northern Ireland prison and was released for time served by the British. Later, in 1988, masked gunmen sprayed his home in Northern Ireland with bullets as he, his wife and then four children were inside.

McAllister and his family then fled, first to Canada and then to the U.S., arriving in Rutherford, New Jersey in 1996, where he began working as a carpenter when U.S. Authorities sought to deport him and his family.

McAllister alleged that he was a political prisoner in Northern Ireland, that he had served his full prison time, had lived and worked in the U.S. without incident and that any deportation to Northern Ireland would put his and his family's lives in severe danger.^{[80][81][82][83][84]}

Affordable Care Act town halls

During the national debate on the Affordable Health Care Act, Rothman held 10 town hall meetings on that subject during August 2009.^[85][86]

War in Iraq

On October 10, 2002, Rothman voted to authorize the use of U.S. military force against Iraq necessary to defend the national security of the U.S. against threats by Iraq and to enforce all relevant U.N. Security Council resolutions regarding Iraq,^[87][88] and he explained why: "now, especially in the light and shadow of September 11, there is a new immediacy and power to Saddam Hussein's longstanding and oft-stated threats against America. For years, Saddam Hussein has been a well-known patron and financier of some of the world's most lethal anti-American terrorist and terrorist organizations. Now, al Qaeda has joined him....The thought of Saddam Hussein sending these same al-Qaeda 'martyrs' to America to spray chemical or biological poisons over America's reservoirs in our most populated cities, is a thought so horrifying, yet so real a possibility, that I cannot in good conscience especially after the surprise attack of Sept. 22, permit this to happen."^[89]

On December 7, 2005, Rothman signed on as a co-sponsor of Rep. Jack Murtha's bill calling for the redeployment of all U.S. troops from Iraq. The bill stated, in part, that U.S. forces have become the target of the insurgency, 45 percent of the Iraqi people feel that the attacks on U.S. forces are justified, and recent polls in Iraq show that 80% of the Iraqi people want the U.S. forces out of their country.^[90]

On February 22, 2006, at a press conference, as well as in an op-ed published in The Record newspaper the next day, Rothman became the first member of New Jersey's congressional delegation to publicly call for a withdrawal of all U.S. troops from Iraq.^[91][92]

On August 23, 2006, Rothman and Congressman Rush Holt led a public forum on the war in Iraq, in Edgewater, New Jersey, at the Edgewater Community Center, entitled "If Not Now, When?" The event was sponsored by Bergen Grassroots and Hudson Democracy for America.^[93]

For eight days in mid-February 2007, Rothman traveled to Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Turkey and Kuwait as one of 15 members of the House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee. There he met with foreign diplomats, intelligence officers, chief commanders and dozens of troops. In The Record article of February 28, 2007, entitled "Rothman: Get Troops Home In Six Months", Rothman said his visit to the war-torn region confirmed his belief that U.S. troops should leave Iraq within the next six months. Rothman was also quoted as saying "The United States should be involved as advisors to the military in Iraq and we should be playing a very robust diplomatic role instead of remaining in combat.^[94]"

Advocating for other legislative priorities

Rothman was also an advocate for tax reform and comprehensive immigration reform, reasonable gun control laws, gender and marriage equality, a woman's right to choose, clean air and water, smart land and energy use and conservation, and the humane treatment of animals.^[95]