{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://pascrell.house.gov//media-center/press-releases/pascrell-menendez-deliver-440k-in-federal-sandy-funds-to-repair-secaucus", "Pascrell, Menendez Deliver $440K in Federal Sandy Funds to Repair Secaucus Marina", "2014-12-05", "2014", "2014-12", "Democrat", "House", "NJ", "Bill Pascrell", "P000096", "pascrell.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "SECAUCUS, N.J. \u2013 U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-NJ-09) and U.S. Senator Robert Menendez today announced that the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) has reconsidered and approved Secaucus\u2019 application for disaster recovery funding to repair damage to the Secaucus Public Safety Marina caused by Superstorm Sandy. \u00a0In September, Sen. Menendez and Rep. Pascrell sent a letter to FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate urging him to reconsider Secaucus\u2019 application and the importance of the marina to public safety.\u00a0\n\"In those days and months following Hurricane Sandy, many hard hit towns like Secaucus tried their best to recover and rebuild quickly in order to serve their residents,\u201d Rep. Pascrell said. \u00a0\u201cTheir priority was in people, not in paperwork, as well as it should have been. \u00a0This is why I was proud to fight alongside Senator Menendez to ensure that Secaucus received the federal rebuilding funds they were duly entitled to while ensuring our first responders have the resources they need to protect our communities.\u201d\n\u201cThis critical disaster recovery assistance will bring the marina back into full operating capacity, restore life-saving rescue operations in the Hackensack River and help protect the people of Secaucus and its surrounding communities,\u201d said Sen. Menendez. \u00a0\u201cI applaud FEMA for finally recognizing the inherent risk to public safety and awarding Secaucus the funds it was properly entitled.\u201d\nThe Secaucus Public Safety Marina, which serves both the Secaucus Fire Department Marine Unit and the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) Auxiliary Flotilla 32, suffered substantial damage from Superstorm Sandy. \u00a0FEMA initially denied Secaucus\u2019 application for assistance, despite significant sedimentation and the dispersal of debris from an old barge that has made it difficult, and at times impossible, for the boats that use the marina to operate, posing a public safety hazard.\n\u201cIt\u2019s tremendous,\u201d said Secaucus Mayor Michael Gonnelli. \u00a0\u201cSecaucus has the only emergency services marina on the Hackensack River north of Newark Bay, and the only fireboat in the water and ready to respond. \u00a0I want to thank Senator Menendez and Congressman Pascrell for their advocacy in helping us plead our case to FEMA. \u00a0This was a collaborative effort aimed at restoring a crucial public safety asset.\u201d\nThe funds being announced today will help pay for the removal of debris from the barge and the dredging of sediment in the Hackensack River to allow the Secaucus Public Safety Marina to fully support fire response, water rescue, homeland security patrols and emergency response operations.\u00a0\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["http://pascrell.house.gov//media-center/press-releases/pascrell-menendez-deliver-440k-in-federal-sandy-funds-to-repair-secaucus"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.6257630884647369, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}