MOONACHIE – U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr. (D-N.J.) says “the pain will begin immediately” following the March 1 sequester deadline and urges everyone to lobby federal lawmakers to not allow the cuts to go into effect.

The congressman told reporters during a Monday news conference that he has not spoken to Gov. Chris Christie about lobbying Congress on avoiding sequester, but explained the Garden State’s governor “knows what’s at stake.”

“He knows that this is not [a] drop in the bucket,” he said. “He doesn’t have to be told what to do, he’s a smart guy.”

Pascrell warned sequestration would hamper the state’s recovery following Superstorm Sandy, as well as being “disastrous to the economy” and middle-class Americans.

Pascrell joined Christie at a news conference last week when the governor announced a peer-to-peer assistance program for firefighters.

The governor thanked Pascrell for his work in Washington, D.C., following the storm and referred to the congressman he’s been known to be at odds with as “[his] partner in Congress.”