September 5, 2000 Vol. 2, No. 29

This Week in Washington¼

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

Urgent Action Needed on Hate Crimes Legislation: September 7^th has been designated "National Hate Crimes Prevention Call in Day." Please call your Representatives on Thursday and urge them to support inclusion of the hate crime amendment in the final Department of Defense (DOD) Authorization bill. (HR 4205/S.2549) The number for the Congressional switchboard is 202-224-3121. As you will recall, the Senate passed a hate crimes prevention amendment to the Department of Defense Authorization bill on June 20^th sponsored by Sen. Gordon Smith (OR) and Sen. Edward Kennedy (MA). This amendment, is an updated version of the Hate Crimes Prevention Act originally introduced in the House in 1999, however it is not included in the House version of the Authorization bill. In order for the amendment to become law, the House must agree to include it in the final DOD Authorization bill. Conferees trying to reconcile the House and Senate bills will be meeting in the next few days to finish their work making this week "crunch time." Several communities including Chicago, St. Louis and West Palm Beach put in extra time working to garner support and attention for hate crimes legislation by actively working with community coalitions on press conferences during the August recess. The community efforts were very successful, however with Congress trying to adjourn for the year by early October, this will prove to be a the pivotal week. For up-to the minute information about the status of the legislation, check www.unitedagainsthate.org !

Calls Needed On VAWA! Time is running out to renew funding for the essential programs funded under the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). The National Task Force to End Sexual and Domestic Violence will be sponsoring events on September 7th calling for reauthorization of VAWA by September 15. The JCPA will be joining NCJW who is spearheading a national press conference for the coalition with a long list of congressional leaders including Reps. Morella (MD), Conyers (MI), McCollum (FL), Biden (DE) and Hatch (UT) to just name a few. In addition, press conferences are scheduled around the country for the same day. If you haven’t called your Senators or Representatives about VAWA recently, call on the 7th and urge them to vote to reauthorize VAWA in both the House and Senate before October 1^st when funding for current VAWA programs will expire.

Don’t Take Your Finger off the Telephone Keypad! The National Immigration Forum will be having a nationwide "share the cost" conference call to discuss the Latino and Immigrant Fairness Act on Wednesday, September 6^th at 5pm. The JCPA resolution on US Immigration policy passed in June addresses the central part of the legislation, updating the "registry date" to 1986 which would allow long-time residents who are contributing to our economy to remain in the US permanently. The Forum has announced that September 13^th will be a "Lobby Day" on this issue. Please contact us for call information. The "hunger groups" have scheduled a National Call-In Day for the Hunger Relief Act on Tuesday, September 12. We are all be asked to call our members of Congress between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time that day to urge your elected official to make sure that Congress passes the Hunger Relief Act before adjourning for the year. Then, call the White House comment line at (202) 456-1111 and press 0 to speak with an operator. Leave a message asking President Clinton to push for passage of the Hunger Relief Act. (See Action Alert of June 13, 2000)

This Week in New York…

For more information, contact Martin Raffel, Associate Executive Chairman at Mraffel@thejcpa.org

Busy Week In New York City: More than 150 heads of state are expected in NYC for the Millenium Summit scheduled this week to begin on Wednesday and conclude on Friday. Jewish groups are taking the opportunity to make sure Iranian President Khatami hears the message to let the "Iran 10" out of jail. A press conference is scheduled on the topic on Tuesday morning. A decision is expected in the prisoners’ appeal by the end of next week. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak will be joining the gridlock as well. He is expected to meet with President Clinton as well as representatives of Jewish groups during his stay in New York.

Have You RSVP’d? Don’t forget that the JCPA Ad Hoc Committee on Constitutional Freedoms in the Age of Cyber-Technology will be meeting on Monday, September 11^th from 10:30-3:30 at the JCPA offices. "Share-the-cost" conference call participation will be available for those who cannot attend in person. Speakers will include Jules Polenetsky, Chief Privacy Officer for DoubleClick Inc; Mark Rotenberg, Executive Director, Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC); A representative of the FBI and Rachel Zenner, Hadassah’s Director of National American Affairs. To participate contact Leebie Mallin, Program Associate, Domestic Concerns at Lmallin@thejcpa.org.