June 26, 2000 Vol. 2, No. 22

This Week in Washington...

For more information, contact Reva Price, Washington Representative at rprice@thejcpa.org or Guila Franklin Siegel, Associate Director, Domestic Concerns at gfsiegel@thejcpa.org

Hate Crime Legislation Still Needs Your Attention! The Hate Crimes Prevention Act passed as an amendment to the Department of Defense Authorization bill last week by a 57-42 vote. Congratulations to all of you who have been working so hard on this measure! However the future of this important legislation is unclear. The Authorization bill is still bogged down on the Senate floor awaiting consideration of many more amendments. If and when the Senate does finish its work on this legislation, the HCPA will have to survive a conference committee with the House version of the bill, which currently does not include this provision. It is critical that we keep up the push for House co-sponsorship of HR 1082, (the bill currently has 192 co-sponsors) in order for House Leadership to feel they must address this issue. For a list of House co-sponsors or the complete Senate vote contact JCPA Washington Representative Reva Price.

Foreign Aid Bills Move Forward: The Senate passed legislation last week providing $2.8 billion in foreign aid to Israel in the next fiscal year. The House Subcommittee on Foreign Operations moved forward on its version of the bill defeating an amendment by a 6-9 vote introduced by Subcommittee Chairman Sonny Callahan to postpone disbursement of a portion of Israel’s military aid because of Israel’s plan to sell the Phalcon radar system to China. Rep. Callahan is expected to try this approach again this week when the bill is "marked up" by the full Appropriations Committee. The effort would postpone the disbursement of $250 million in military aid until either the Pentagon confirms that the sale of sophisticated equipment to China would not threaten US national security or Israel cancels the sale.

Argentina Resolution To Be Heard in House Committee: The House International Relations Committee is scheduled to "mark up" a resolution this week addressing the progress in the search for justice in the July 1994 AMIA bombing in Buenos Aires, Argentina.  Reps. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (FL) and Tom Lantos (CA) have introduced the resolution which among other things reiterates its condemnation of the attack on the AMIA Jewish Community Center and strongly urges the government of Argentina to fulfill its international obligations and promise to the Argentine people to find and punish all those involved.   Reps. Dan Burton (IN), Bob Menendez (NJ), Steve Rothman (NJ), Chris Smith (NJ), and Robert Wexler (FL) are also original cosponsors.  Sponsors hope the resolution will be passed during the week of July 18th, the sixth anniversary of the bombing.

This Week in New York...

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

Iranian 13 Petition Drive Continues, Help Include Your Governor: The Petition for Justice campaign has been extended until the verdicts and sentences in Iran are handed down. Please continue to gather signatures and send them to the JCPA office via mail, fax or email. Recent statements from Iranian officials indicate that the sentences will be handed down on July 1. There is also an effort underway to get governors signatures on the petition. Many governors signed a letter to President Khatami in April, although others who had expressed interest in doing so did not get the chance. The petition now being circulated is to President Khatami, and more importantly to the Ayatollah Khameni, and is part of an international effort that will continue until the verdicts are handed down. CRC's whose governors had signed onto the April letter are urged to explain that this is not a duplicative effort. For more information contact eyaari@thejcpa.org.

Supreme Court Ending Its Term: The Supreme Court will conclude this current term in the next few days. This year’s docket has provided many decisions which impact our agenda. The JCPA will convene a conference call on Wednesday July 5 at 3 p.m. eastern time to summarize and review the significant decisions from the Supreme Court's latest term. The number to call is 703-736-7278 and the confirmation number is 4351048. Marc Stern, American Jewish Congress, and Steve Freeman, Anti-Defamation League, will provide the analysis. For more information contact lmallin@thejcpa.org.

JCPA Washington representative Reva Price is featured for her efforts on behalf of social justice in the summer issue of Outlook, the magazine of the Women's League for Conservative Judaism. She is joined by, among others, Sammie Moshenberg, Washington director of the National Council of Jewish Women, a JCPA national member agency.