December 10, 2001 Volume 3, No. 39

This week in New York

For more information, contact Gaby Berger, Executive Assistant, at gberger@thejcpa.org.

AFL-CIO Statement on Terrorism and Violence in the Middle East: The AFL-CIO issued a statement denouncing terrorism in the Middle East on December 5 at their national gathering in Las Vegas. The organization called for a return to confidence-building measures and peace negotiations, and "extends [its] deepest condolences to the families of the victims of the Palestinian suicide bombers who attacked civilians at work and at rest in Jerusalem and in Haifa, Israel…We categorically condemn these acts of terrorism, which have again struck at the heart of working Israel…Chairman Yasir Arafat and the other leaders of the Palestinian Authority must find the political and moral courage to effectively bring those who plan and lead such murderous attacks to account. Now is not the time for silence nor acquiescence to the most extreme. Now is the time for bringing those responsible to justice." Please encourage your community to write letters of appreciation to Mr. John Sweeney, President of AFL-CIO at 815 Sixteenth Street, NW, Washington, DC, 20006. Please send copies of any letters to the JCPA and the Jewish Labor Committee.

Simmons-Harris v. Zelman: The JCPA has joined the court brief in Simmons-Harris v. Zelman, the Cleveland vouchers case. The brief, which was drafted by the American Jewish Committee, asks the U.S. Supreme Court to affirm the 6th Circuit Court's decision that Ohio's voucher program violates the Establishment Clause of the U.S. Constitution. That program provides tuition vouchers up to $2,500 per student for use in schools, including parochial ones. In 1998, after a year-long study of vouchers, the JCPA adopted the position that "no matter how neutrally designed a particular voucher program may be, if it includes private sectarian schools, the JCPA believes that it violates the Establishment Clause." Not only did the Ohio program provide vouchers for use in private sectarian schools, the 6th Circuit Court found that the primary affect of the program was to advance religion by sending students to parochial schools. This was because few non-sectarian schools were willing to accept the voucher as full tuition, as the program required.

Worldwide Remembrance of September 11: To commemorate the three-month anniversary of the September 11^th terrorist attacks against the United States, President Bush has asked that people around the world play the National Anthem at 8:46 AM on Tuesday, December 11^th. The White House has also requested information on any events that may be occurring in local communities, schools, churches, synagogues, and mosques. If your community is planning a special event, or is observing a moment of silence, please notify the White House at Matthew_E._Smith@who.eop.gov and the JCPA.

Upcoming TV Programs: On Thursday, December 13, PBS will broadcast "Promises," a series of interviews with Israeli and Palestinian children who live in Jerusalem, Beit El, and the Dehaishe refugee camp about their lives and views of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. After viewing the film, if you wish to express any comments or concerns you might have, please address them to P.O.V., P.O. Box 5034, Bowling Green Station, New York, NY 10274-5034 or e-mail them to pov@pbs.org. Please share copies with your local PBS affiliate and the JCPA. Another program entitled "Digging for the Truth: Archaeology and the Bible" premieres December 17 at 9 PM on the History Channel. This program explores the contention that both Israelis and Palestinians are using archaeological discoveries to justify their historical claims to the Holy Land and to delegitimize the claims of the other side.

Plenum 2002 is Coming: Only 67 days until the Plenum, which will take place from Saturday evening February 16, through Tuesday afternoon, February 19. Program information can be obtained from the JCPA website at www.jewishpublicaffairs.org or by calling JCPA at 212 684-6950.

This Week in Washington

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

Nutrition and Education on the Agenda this week: The Senate is expected to take up the Farm Bill (S1731) this week. The bill, which passed the Senate Agriculture Committee on November 14^th, includes $6.2 billion in Food Stamp improvements over ten years. The bill would reauthorize the Food Stamp program, restore benefits to certain vulnerable legal immigrants, and take important steps forward for other populations in need of help, such as working parents with children. Senator Richard Lugar (IN) is expected to offer an amendment to increase the nutrition title even further. A House-Senate conference on the Farm Bill is anticipated to take place immediately following its passage. The House bill (HR2646), which passed in October, includes only $3.6 billion in new nutrition spending. JCPA member agencies are encouraged to contact Senators to urge them to support a strong nutrition title that includes adequate food stamp funding, program improvements, and a restoration of food stamp benefits for legal immigrants. For more information see www.frac.org.

After nearly six months of negotiating, the Conference Committee charged with reconciling the House and Senate education bills has almost completed its work. One last meeting is scheduled to hammer out the remaining obstacle which centers around funding for special education. The legislation, a Presidential priority, could then come to a vote in both houses before the Congressional recess. Most of the controversy came over how to iron out the bill’s school accountability provisions. The plan calls for states to administer their own annual math and reading tests in third through eighth grade.

Election Reform Call-In Day: Senator Dodd (D-CT) is working together with Senators McConnell (R-KY), Schumer (D-NY) and Bond (R-MO) on developing a strong, comprehensive, bipartisan election reform bill. As we observe the one year anniversary of the Supreme Court Decision in Bush vs. Gore, the JCPA has joined together with our partners in the civil rights, voting and disability rights, labor, religious and consumer protection communities to make Wednesday, December 12, 2001 a national call-in day to members of the Senate. Please call 1-877-703-9491 during the day and you will be connected to the Congressional Switchboard. The message is simple: Our coalition is calling to urge every US Senator to join together to make voting easy and cheating hard. In addition, comprehensive electoral reform must include minimum standards for provisional balloting, voting systems that allow people with disabilities, language minorities, and others to cast a secret ballot, and voting systems that notify voters of overvotes and undervotes and allow them to correct their ballots before they are cast. Finally, it must include access for voters with disabilities to polling places. See JCPA resolution of February 2001.

Odds and Ends: Senators Biden (D-DE) and Helms (R-NC) led the Senate last week in the passage of Senate Concurrent Resolution 88 expressing solidarity with Israel in its struggle to eradicate terrorism. The resolution, similar in language to the initiative in the House (See JCPA Memorandum of 12/6/01) passed by unanimous consent. You are urged to thank your Senators for their support. Given the ongoing discussion of the Jackson-Vanik Amendment, NCSJ: Advocates on behalf of Jews in Russia, Ukraine, the Baltic States & Eurasia has compiled key information relating to this issue, and it is now available online at http://www.ncsj.org/#Jackson-Vanik . They will be updating this material regularly in the weeks and months ahead.

Jewish Council for Public Affairs
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