March 27, 2000 Vol. 2, No. 10

This Week in Washington¼

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

Sunday, Busy Sunday: News junkies of every stripe were glued to coverage of so many different events on Sunday, March 26^th. What a combination: elections in Russia…efforts to jumpstart the peace process in Geneva…Pope John Paul II departing Israel…the Academy Awards, and so much more. Middle East peace process pundits will be mulling over the "what-ifs" on the heels on the less-than-successful Clinton-Assad summit in Geneva. Egyptian President Husni Mubarak is in Washington awaiting his own talks this week with President Clinton. Israeli-Palestinian talks continue this week at Bolling Air Force Base in Washington, D.C.

Rolodex Flippers and Palm Pilot-ers, take note: A conference call is planned tomorrow at 2:00 p.m. (NY time) by the NCSJ: Advocates on Behalf of Jews in Russia, Ukraine, the Baltic States and Eurasia (formerly the NCSJ) featuring Rabbi Pincus Goldschmit, Chief Rabbi of Moscow and Andrew Weiss of the National Security Council. They will discuss the election results and the implications for the Russian Jewish community. Early election results indicate than with more than 92% of the vote counted, Acting President Vladimir Putin captured 52.57% of the vote, compared with 29.45% for his closet rival, Gennadi Zyuganov. To participate in the call, RSVP to Dana Mueller

(202-898-2500/dmueller@ncsj.org). The call-in number is 212-547-0237, and the pass code is NCSJ . We encourage JCPA member agencies to participate in this call. For more additional background and updates, visit www.ncsj.org

Dollars and Sense: The House passed a blueprint for FY 2001 spending last week by a slim 211-207 margin. The resolution calls for tax cuts as well as cuts in discretionary spending on both the domestic and international front. The Senate Budget Committee will attempt to reach consensus on its version on Tuesday. Fighting continues among the Committee members as to the breadth and scope of the resolution. Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott says he will bypass the committee and take the budget resolution directly to the Senate floor if legislators do not reach agreement this week. Legislators are trying to complete work before the mandated April 15^th deadline for this portion of the overall budget process. The House is scheduled to work on a $9 billion supplemental spending bill which would add additional money to this year’s budget (FY2000) to pay for peacekeeping costs in Kosovo, provide relief for victims of Hurricane Floyd, and aid to the Colombia.

What a Week! The Senate kicks off the week with action on SJRes 14, a proposed constitutional amendment against the desecration of the flag, with language stating that "The Congress shall have power to prohibit the physical desecration of the flag of the United States." The House passed its version of the amendment last June by a vote of 305-124. It is unlikely that supporters will get the two-thirds vote necessary to send the amendment to the states for ratification. When the Senate last voted on this issue way back in 1995, the count fell three votes short of passage…After dealing with the supplemental, the House of Representatives is scheduled to vote on a proposal which would increase the amount parents can put into tax- preferred savings accounts. While legislation already exists to pay for college expenses, this Education Savings Account initiative would cover expenses for all school age children., permitting use of these funds for private school tuition and tutoring. The Senate passed a similar measure earlier this month. The President, calling this measure a gimmick that doesn’t help to improve schools, has already threatened to veto… The Empowerment Subcommittee of the House Small Business Committee will hold a hearing on Tuesday on initiatives to consider the issue of the "Digital Divide", with diminished access to the Internet and other electronic computer services for poor and minority communities… The Senate Foreign Relations Committee will hold a series of hearings on proliferation threats and the formulation of nonproliferation policy…The House Subcommittee on Oversight, Investigations and Emergency Management Subcommittee will hold hearings on U.S. preparedness against terrorist attacks involving weapons of mass destruction… The House Judiciary Committee is scheduled to "mark-up" legislation on to ban "so-called partial birth abortion."

This Week in New York¼

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

Historic Visit Concluded: After a six-day personal pilgrimage which included a moving visit to Yad Vashem, Pope John Paul II departed Israel on Sunday on an El Al jet appropriately named "Jerusalem". JCPA convened an "on-the-ground" international conference call following the Yad Vashem visit last Thursday with Rabbi A. James Rudin, Director of Interreligious Affairs for the American Jewish Committee and Rabbi David Rosen, Director of ADL’s Israel office. More than 65 JCPA member agencies participated in the call. Contact lmallin@thejcpa.org for talking points and notes from the March 23^rd conference call briefing.

"Must-Miss" TV: JCPA advised its member agencies that a made-for-TV movie entitled "The Rabbi" which was broadcast nationwide this weekend, was in fact produced by a Christian missionary organization. Member agencies were urged to disseminate this information to local Jewish press and to the community at large. For more information, contact ksenter@thejcpa.org.