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Jewish Council for Public Affairs Plenum Line-up a Blockbuster

Variety of Experts to Speak on Domestic and International Issues

New York City – January 19, 2000 – As the Jewish Council for Public Affairs Plenum 2000 nears, the program is coming together in a way that promises to provide fascinating insights into issues of concern to the Jewish community, and to the American public at large.

Confirmed speakers for Plenum 2000 include experts in the fields of education, human rights, anti-Semitism, civil rights and inter-religious affairs. The Plenum, which will take place in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor on February 26-March 1, 2000, is the highest policy making forum of the agency, the public affairs arm of the organized Jewish community. Delegates from across the country will gather to be briefed on and debate the myriad issues with which the Jewish community is involved. Community leaders will also have an opportunity to meet with student activists taking part in the Charlotte and Jack J. Spitzer Hillel Forum on Public Policy – the gathering for politically active college students.

The following is a list of confirmed speakers:

  • Elliot Abrams, President, Ethics and Public Policy Center
  • David Arnow, Director, Jewish Communal Relations, New Israel Fund
  • Dr. Steven Bayme, Director, Jewish Communal Affairs, American Jewish Committee
  • Elizabeth Colman, Director Civil Rights Division, Anti-Defamation League
  • Dr. Devra Davis, World Resources Institute
  • Ira Forman, Executive Director, National Jewish Democratic Committee
  • Dr. Nancy Grasmick, Maryland Superintendent of Schools
  • Anne Hoffman, Washington Lobbyist for UNITE
  • Nancy Kaufman, Executive Director, Boston Community Relations Council
  • H.E. William Cardinal Keeler, Archbishop of Baltimore
  • Michael Medved, Television and Radio Commentator
  • Hon. Kweisi Mfume, Executive Director, NAACP
  • Hon. Martin O’Malley, Mayor of Baltimore
  • Rabbi James Rudin, American Jewish Committee
  • Rabbi David Saperstein, Religious Action Center
  • Hon. Paul S. Sarbanes, Senator from the state of Maryland
  • Dr. Robert Slavin, Johns Hopkins University
  • Hon. Ephraim Sneh, Deputy Minister of Defense, Israel
  • Hon. Stephen Solarz, Former Member of Congress and Human Rights Expert
  • Joel Tauber, Chairman, Executive Committee, United Jewish Communities
  • Hon. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, Maryland Lieutenant Governor

Dr. Arnold Eisen of Stanford University, will serve as Plenum 2000 Goldman Scholar-in-Residence.

Many Plenum 2000 meetings will be open to the press, and interviews with the speakers can be arranged in advance through the JCPA office. For updates on additional speakers, see our website www.jewishpublicaffairs.org and click on the plenum box.

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The Jewish Council for Public Affairs is the public affairs arm of the organized Jewish community and serves as the national coordinating and advisory body for the 13 national and 122 local agencies comprising the field of Jewish community relations.