William James Pascrell Jr. pass-KREL (born January 25, 1937) is an American politician who is the U.S. representative for New Jersey's 9th congressional district, having served in the House since 1997. A member of the Democratic Party and a native of Paterson, New Jersey, Pascrell represented New Jersey's 8th congressional district until 2013; due to the federally mandated redistricting after the 2010 United States census, which resulted in New Jersey losing a seat in the House, Pascrell's home city was placed in the 9th district, which he has represented since. Before his election to the House of Representatives, Pascrell served in the New Jersey General Assembly for four terms beginning in 1988, and was elected to two terms as mayor of Paterson.