March 26, 2001 Vol. 3, No. 6

This Week in Washington...

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

The Buzz on Education: The House version of the Administration’s education plan was introduced last week by Rep. John Boehner. Boehner’s House Education and the Workforce Committee plans to meet twice this week to discuss the legislation, which would reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) and Education in America in 2001. The House version differs from the Senate draft reported out of committee in several ways: it includes provisions for children in schools that have failed to meet state achievement standard for three years to receive their share of Title I funds in the form of vouchers to transfer to better schools, either public or private, and it also includes the "Straight A’s" proposal to send federal education funds to the states in a block grant to be used for any educational purpose as long as they achieve better results. The President is calling this the "charter states" proposal. Of particular interest: a charitable choice provision allowing pervasively sectarian institutions to compete for federal after-school program funds without changing their religious character. The House Committee will likely finish work on the initiative after the spring recess. The full Senate is scheduled to consider its version of the bill in late April or early May. The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee chaired by Sen. Jeffords (VT) will hold a hearing on early education and daycare in the United States. This comes after news that Sen. Harkin (IA) plans to sponsor an amendment to the Senate budget bill which would provide $350 billion over ten years to significantly increase funding for early education programs, including Head Start and the Early Learning Opportunities Act. Call or write your Senators and urge them to support this amendment.

Focus on Terror: The House National Security, Veterans Affairs and International Relations Subcommittee chaired by Rep. Shays (CT) will hold a hearing on the lack of a comprehensive national strategy to combat terrorism. On the other side of the hill, the Technology, Terrorism and Government Information Subcommittee chaired by Sen. Kyl (AZ) will hold a hearing on domestic response capabilities for terrorism involving weapons of mass destruction.

HCPA Alert: The Local Law Enforcement Enhancement Act, a/k/a the Hate Crimes Prevention Act, will be introduced tomorrow afternoon.  The Senate bill will be introduced with 47 co-sponsors and in the House with 172.  Contact rprice@thejcpa.org for more information.

Reminder:  The Washington Action Office will be sponsoring the Washington Leadership Summit on April 24th and 25th in Washington DC.  The following issues groupings have been developed for use in meetings with legislators and policymakers: senior services with a concentration on elderly housing and demonstration projects to provide supportive services in Naturally Occurring Retirement Communities; support for the Social Services Block Grant; and discussion of the President's Faith-Based Initiative, supporting two proposals that would provide tax incentives for charities but opposing expansion of "Charitable Choice."  For registration and program information, contact Yvette Miller or Kayla Drogosz at the UJC Washington Action Office (202) 785-5900.

This Week in New York…

For more information, contact Benita Gayle-Almeleh, Director of Community Relations and Special Projects at bga@thejcpa.org

Diplomatic Wrangling: In anticipation of the Arab summit that is scheduled to begin tomorrow in Amman, Arab ambassadors at the United Nations, supported by the non-aligned countries, are pushing hard to get action today by the Security Council endorsing the idea of a UN observer force in areas of Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The United States is strongly opposed to this initiative and has threatened to use its veto authority if necessary. (It is worth noting in this regard that despite some concerns, Israel is cooperating with the U.S.-sponsored fact-finding commission led by former Senator George Mitchell.) The UN initiative is part of Yasser Arafat's ongoing attempt to "internationalize" the Palestinian issue, rather than doing what he and the Palestinian Authority should be doing: ending the violence, enhancing security cooperation with Israel and creating conditions that will enable the parties to get back to the negotiating table. JCPA member agencies are encouraged to continue communicating this message to members of Congress, the media and other opinion-molders. Contact mraffel@thejcpa.org for more information.

Here and There in the JCPA Family: A model worth replicating – Barbara and Michael Newmark of St. Louis have established an Emerging Leader Award, enabling Philip L. Deitch of St. Louis to attend the JCPA Plenum…..Andrew Lipman, Executive Director of the Jewish Federation of Albuquerque, was cited for his dedication, persistence and efforts in promoting human rights by the Albuquerque Human Rights Board.