February 7, 2000 Vol. 2, No. 5

This Week in Washington...

For more information, contact Reva Price, Washington Representative at rprice@thejcpa.org

JCPA JOINS SCHOOL PRAYER CASE: The JCPA has joined in an amicus curaie ("friend of the court") brief in Sante FE ISD v. Doe, an important Supreme Court case involving the constitutionality of student-led prayers at public high school football games. The amicus brief asks the Court to uphold a ruling by the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, which held that such prayers violate the Establishment Clause. Other signatories to the brief are the American Jewish Congress, the Anti-Defamation League, the American Jewish Committee, Hadassah, the ACLU, People for the American Way, and Americans United for Separation of Church and State.

UNIVERSAL CHILD CARE: JCPA member agency The National Council of Jewish Women speaks out on the issue of child care, joining Congresswoman Connie Morella (MD) and others at a Capitol Hill press conference Tuesday. Declaring "It is time for us to ensure quality, affordable accessible child care for all," participants have signed a seven point Statement of Principles spelling out basic childcare concerns.

FOCUS ON HOLOCAUST ASSETS AGREEMENTS: The House Committee on Banking and Financial Services has scheduled two days of hearings this week to explore various Holocaust related settlements that have been agreed to or are still pending. On Wednesday, Deputy Treasury Secretary Stuart Eizenstat and Otto Lambsdorff will testify on the issue of forced and slave laborers. Paul Volcker, Chairman of the International Commission of Eminent Persons, will discuss the search for dormant Swiss bank accounts. On Thursday the Committee will hear from Lawrence Eagleburger, Chairman of the International Commission on Holocaust-Era Insurance Claims and other experts including Rabbi Israel Miller, President of the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany and Rabbi Andrew Baker, American Jewish Committee.

SECRET EVIDENCE TO GET PUBLIC HEARING: The House Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on Immigration will hold a hearing later this week on The Secret Evidence Repeal Act (HR 2121). The legislation would change the provisions of the 1996 anti-terrorism bill, which allowed for use of secret evidence in deportation hearings of suspected terrorists. Many of our member agencies would like to see these provisions remain in the law, but accompanied by new regulations from the Department of Justice which would provide for a higher level of review and extra precautions before using secret evidence. As of today, the American Jewish Committee is scheduled to testify at that hearing.

COEJL TO TESTIFY ON VEHICLE FUEL EFFICIENCY STANDARDS: Mark X. Jacobs, director of the Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life (COEJL), will be among those testifying before the House Committee on Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation and Related Agencies on February 10^th. The testimony will focus on the rider which has been attached to the Transportation Appropriations since 1995 preventing the promulgation of higher standards for vehicle fuel economy (CAFÉ standards), which have not been raised since the 1980’s. For over 25 years, the JCPA has advocated strong fuel economy standards, both to reduce U.S. reliance on imported oil and to reduce pollution. See www.coejl.org for the full text of Mark’s testimony after February 10^th.

This Week in New York...

For more information, contact Benita Gayle-Almeleh, Senior Community Consultant at bga@thejcpa.org

SATELLITE BROADCAST ON HOLOCAUST ERA INSURANCE CLAIMS: Next week, the International Commission on Holocaust Era Insurance Claims ("ICHEIC"), chaired by former U.S. Secretary of State Lawrence Eagleburger, will launch a claims process to address the subject of unpaid insurance policies issued prior to and during the Holocaust. The goal of this program is to resolve any insurance claims of Holocaust victims and their heirs. In preparation for this effort, ICHEIC, the JCPA and the Claims Conference, in cooperation with the United Jewish Communities (UJC), are co-sponsoring a national satellite broadcast on Thursday, February 10, 2000, 4:00 - 5:30 p.m. (East coast time) to provide Jewish professionals with important information, training and support. (See JCPA Memorandum, January 28, 2000) Contact lmallin@thejcpa.org for more information.

AGENDA FOR ACTION: The Agenda for Action by Plenum 2000 is being mailed to Plenum delegates today and will be available on the JCPA website, at www.jewishpublicaffairs.org later this week. Contact bga@thejcpa.org for more information.

COMMUNITY AGENCY REMINDER: The deadline for nominations for community representatives to the JCPA Board of Directors is February 14^th. Contact lrubin@thejcpa.org.

MATERIALS ON AUSTRIA: As a follow-up to last week’s World Jewry and International Human Rights Committee conference call moderated by Arthur Stern, materials will be sent to member agencies including: background material on Jorg Haider; statements issued by JCPA member agencies; key newspaper editorials; and JCPA letters to the Austrian Ambassador as well as to ambassadors of the EU countries. Contact mraffel@thejcpa.org for more information.

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