Ben Rich strode through the Cannon House Office Building Rotunda, the homestretch of his solemn task of conveying the “Pease Cactus” from his late boss, Rep. Bill Pascrell, to its new caretaker, Rep. Jimmy Panetta.
As Pascrell’s longtime chief of staff, Rich was infused with a sense of history about the transfer ceremony on Sept. 18, among the duties left to him in settling the affairs of the 14-term Democrat from Paterson, N.J.
“What year was that? Seven years ago? 2017. All of a sudden, I’m sitting in my office, and in walks Pat Tiberi and Earl Pomeroy, with a frickin’ cactus. And I’m like, ‘What the hell’s going on here?’ … Bill didn’t know what was happening,” Rich recalled of the handing-over of the Pease Cactus from the retiring Tiberi, an Ohio Republican, to Pascrell.
The succulent in question is a totem of the House Ways and Means Committee, and its caretaking goes back to the tenure of the late Ohio Democratic Rep. Don Pease, who served from 1977 to 1993. When he retired, Pease bequeathed it to a fellow Ways and Meaner whose name started with a “P”: Jake Pickle, a Republican from Texas. (Hence its shorthand name, the “P’s Cactus.”)
From then to now, the tradition has been to find a member from the other party whose name, first or last, starts with “P.” Pickle bequeathed to Lewis F. Payne Jr., D-Va., who bequeathed to Rob Portman, R-Ohio, who bequeathed to Pomeroy, D-N.D., who bequeathed to Tiberi, R-Ohio, who, in 2017, bequeathed to Pascrell.
When Pascrell died somewhat unexpectedly on Aug. 21, the tradition was cast out of whack. Pascrell, 87, was running for reelection, with retirement, and future custody of his prickly ward, far out of mind. Complicating matters is that the Ways and Means Committee is without a Republican whose name, either first or last, starts with a “P.”
Regardless, the Pease Cactus needed a home. Panetta, a Democrat but the sole remaining Ways and Meaner with a name starting with “P,” was there. So it will stick with him.
“Bill would have liked Jimmy to have it. Jimmy was a good friend. His name [begins] with a ‘P.’ He’s Italian American,” Rich said.
Taking quickly to his responsibilities, Panetta asked: “In the sunlight, indirect sunlight? What are we talking?”
“Bill keeps it right in his window. It gets sunlight. I mean, it’s supposed to be in the desert. It’s OK. It likes the sun,” Rich replied.
Then it was time for business. “Anyway, should we hand it over?” Rich asked Pomeroy.
“Yes, yes,” Pomeroy said.
“I’m going to hand over tremendous responsibility to you, the Pease Cactus,” Rich said.
Task complete.
“There are obviously going to be many things that are going to remind me of the great Bill Pascrell in my daily work in the United States Congress. I don’t need a cactus to remind me of him. Although, definitely, looking at the prickliness of this cactus, when I do see it, it will bring up Bill Pascrell,” Panetta said to laughs in his Cannon Building office. “But, as well, the traditions that Bill represented and obviously his love for this institution,” he added.
Pomeroy, who has been personally involved in the last few handovers and was on hand for this one, summed up the whole experience, and history, with a simple sentiment.
“The cactus endures.”
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