Biography

Frank Pallone, Jr. is serving his 18th full term in the U.S. House of Representatives. Pallone represents New Jersey's 6th Congressional District, which covers most of Middlesex County, as well as the Bayshore and oceanfront areas of Monmouth County.

Throughout his career, Pallone has fought to make health care more affordable and accessible, protect and strengthen Medicare and Medicaid, and make the country's food system safer. Pallone has also fought to protect New Jersey's environment, including protecting our coast from dangerous offshore drilling, holding corporate polluters accountable for Superfund clean ups, and bolstering coastal resiliency. He is also a champion of the state's commercial and recreational fishing industries.

Pallone is the Ranking Member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which is the oldest continuous standing committee in the House and has one of the broadest jurisdictions of any congressional committee. The Committee's jurisdiction includes, but is not limited to, issues pertaining to health care, energy, environment, commerce, food and drug safety, consumer protection, and communications and technology.

During the 117^th Congress (2021-2022), as Chairman, Pallone was a leader in the fight to pass the Inflation Reduction Act—the most significant climate law in our nation's history. The law includes unprecedented investments in clean energy, methane pollution reduction, and environmental justice that will help protect our communities, create jobs, and lower energy costs for American families. The law will also lower prescription drug and health care costs for millions of Americans, while finally empowering Medicare to negotiate the cost of lifesaving prescription drugs for seniors, which Pallone has championed for years.

Pallone was also instrumental in the passage of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law that has delivered federal funding to New Jersey to bolster the state's electric vehicle infrastructure, invest in safe drinking water, and deploy affordable broadband. It also tackles dangerous PFAS chemicals and funds Superfund and brownfield cleanups. In addition, he also helped usher into law the CHIPS and Science Act to strengthen our economy and boost our domestic manufacturing industry.

In a federal spending bill for fiscal year 2023, Pallone fought for the inclusion of legislation that provides the Food and Drug Administration with the tools and resources it needs to oversee the cosmetics industry, which he first proposed over a decade ago. He also successfully pushed for provisions to provide continuous coverage for children and new mothers through Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program.

Pallone also continued to advocate for New Jersey, securing community projects in Middlesex and Monmouth County that will help rebuild infrastructure, promote public health, and bolster educational funding. He also introduced legislation to ban offshore drilling to protect New Jersey's coastline from disastrous oil spills and worked with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to complete multiple beach replenishment projects in Monmouth County.

In 2021, as the nation fought to recover from the unprecedented public health crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic, Pallone helped lead the passage of the American Rescue Plan to ramp up distribution of lifesaving vaccines, expand access to affordable health care coverage, keep Americans' lights on, and ensure students, parents, and teachers had internet access at home.

During the 116^th Congress (2019-2020), as the nation initially confronted the unprecedented public health crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting severe economic downturn, then-Chairman Pallone played a pivotal role in passing legislation through Congress that provided the resources Americans desperately needed to combat the pandemic, including the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, and the Coronavirus Aid Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.

Pallone also authored bipartisan legislation that was enacted to protect Americans by ending surprise medical bills, reducing and blocking robocalls, and replacing suspect foreign communications network equipment. Pallone successfully ushered into law critical legislation to combat climate change by phasing down the production and consumption of hydrofluorocarbons, mandating the repair of methane leaks, and marching toward a clean energy future.

As Ranking Member during the 115^th Congress (2017-2018), Pallone fought to prevent Republicans from repealing the Affordable Care Act (ACA), led efforts to pass bipartisan legislation for expanded opioid use disorder treatment, and helped reauthorize the Safe Drinking Water Act for the first time in 20 years.

In his first term as Ranking Member during the 114^th Congress (2015-2016), Pallone led Democrats in passing key health care and environmental bills that were signed into law by President Obama, including the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act, the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act, and the 21st Century Cures Act.

From 2007 to 2014, Pallone served as the top Democrat on the Subcommittee on Health. In 2010, as Subcommittee Chairman, Pallone played a key role in authoring and passing the ACA.

Pallone began his political career in Long Branch, where he was born and still resides. He was elected to the Long Branch City Council in 1982. In 1983, he was elected to the state Senate, representing the Monmouth County coastline. He was re-elected in 1987.

On November 8, 1988, Pallone was elected to the House of Representatives from New Jersey's former Third District, which included parts of Monmouth and Ocean counties. After a new Congressional district map was adopted in 1992, Pallone was elected to represent the Sixth District that included large portions of Middlesex and Monmouth Counties in November of the same year.

Pallone's Central Jersey district is an ethnically diverse area that includes New Brunswick, Asbury Park, and Perth Amboy. It is also home to a wide range of businesses and industry. Light and heavy manufacturing facilities provide jobs for thousands of area residents. Central Jersey is on the cutting edge of high technology research and development. The district is home to Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, and Monmouth University. Tourism along the Jersey Shore is vital to the regional economy.

Pallone married his wife Sarah in 1992. They have three children: Rose, Celeste, and Frank, and daughter-in-law Karin.