October 23, 2000 Vol. 2, No. 36

This Week in Washington...

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

Capitol Hill and the Middle East: House Concurrent Resolution 426 expressing solidarity with the State of Israel is still pending in the House, and so too in the Senate, a bill which would both prohibit United States recognition and assistance to the Palestinian Authority if they unilaterally declare an independent state is awaiting action. The Peace Through Negotiations Act (S.2938) is a companion to a similar bill passed in the House a few weeks ago. The House Armed Services committee will hold a hearing on Wednesday on the recent attack on the USS Cole in Yemen. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee will hold a hearing on Wednesday on Russia’s sale of weapons to Iran, with the House International Relations committee scheduled to hold a similar hearing on Thursday. The White House will be signing a free trade agreement with Jordan on Tuesday.

Money Makes the World Go ‘Round: Congress passed its fourth "Continuing Resolution" last week to keep the Government running until October 25^th. Several short-term extensions will need to be passed during the week to keep the government functioning until work on the last Appropriations bills is completed. Watch for a possible last minute tax cut bill this week which may be tied to efforts to increase the minimum wage and the Community Renewal/New Markets initiatives. The three "sticking points" holding up completion of the appropriations process include:

• Foreign Aid Appropriations bill which contains $2.8 billion in foreign aid to Israel. The bill is being held up over efforts to implement the global gag rule (a.k.a. "Mexico City" language) which would cut off US family planning assistance to any groups that provide, with their owns funds, legal abortion services or public information about abortions.
• Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations bill, the biggest ticket item of all, is being held up over a dispute over education spending. The President would like more money for school construction and new teachers to reduce class size. The Republican leadership would like these provisions to be block granted so that school districts can spend the money as they see fit. The White House will hold an event tomorrow to highlight this issue.
• Commerce, Justice, State Appropriations bill is being held up by, among other things, immigration provisions. The administration is insisting that a provision be included giving limited amnesty for illegal immigrants who have been in the United States since 1986. (see JCPA resolution, adopted June 2000)

Elsewhere in Washington: Bill Lann Lee, Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights and James Johnson, Treasury Department Undersecretary for Enforcement will meet with professionals from Jewish organizations to discuss recent Semitic incidents around the country… The National Student Campaign Against Hunger and Homelessness will hold their 13^th Annual conference at the University of Maryland from October 26-29^th. The Conference brings together students to discuss hunger and homelessness and develop ways by which students can effectively combat these problems by developing strategies to implement programs on campus and within the surrounding community. JCPA member agencies are urged to contact local Hillels so those student participants can brief local CRC leadership.

This Week in New York…

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

JCPA Chair to Ethiopia: JCPA Chair Len Cole is currently on a UJC mission to Ethiopia for a first-hand look at the processing of Ethiopian Jews wishing to go to Israel. He will report to the Israel Task Force at its upcoming meeting this Sunday.

Take a Stand: JCPA member agencies are reminded that the deadline for suggested resolutions topics is this Wednesday, October 25^th. Contact bga@thejcpa.org for more information.

Reminder: JCPA Task Forces will meet Sunday, October 29^th at UJA-Federation in New York from 1:30 –5:30 p.m. Participants are encouraged to attend a special briefing on the crisis in Israel from 1:30 – 2:30 p.m. JCPA’s Board of Directors will meet Monday, October 30^th from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. Contact hluftig@thejcpa.org for registration info.

OOPS: Please note that Hannah Rosenthal’s email is hrosenthal@thejcpa.org.