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National Jewish Community
Relations Advisory Council Guide to Program Planning Of the Constituent Organizations |
| Domestic Agenda |
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The Jewish community relations field, since the inception of the NJCRAC fifty years ago, has always given the domestic agenda a high priority in its advocacy efforts nationally as well as locally. This has been guided by the moral imperative on the Jewish community to pursue social justice, and our conviction that denial of equal rights, justice and opportunity breeds social tensions, conflicts and dislocations. These in turn can lead to threats to the democratic process in general and to the Jewish community in particular. For the 1994-95 program year, the NJCRAC and its constituent member agencies across the country are focusing their efforts on national health care reform, welfare reform, crime and violence, immigration, the environment and on continuing to strengthen intergroup relations. Activism on addressing domestic challenges has been the hallmark of the Clinton presidency, as demonstrated by the significant initiatives undertaken during this Administration's first year and a half in office. While each of the items on the domestic agenda presents complex challenges and forging a consensus on solutions is an arduous task, President Clinton and his Administration have been seeking real changes for the betterment of America.
The NJCRAC has hailed the significant movement on reform of the nation's health care system and is actively engaged in the national debate on President Clinton's plan, the Health Security Act. How national health care reform evolves is of importance to the Jewish community as consumers, as health care providers through a variety of communal institutions, and as institutional employers who will be required to adhere to new legislative guidelines. The NJCRAC calls for adequate and affordable health coverage for all individuals and families living in the United States. The NJCRAC will measure all legislative proposals against its own health care reform principles, which support a plan that breaks the dependence on employment and provides for the most efficient, cost effective system of administration, without jeopardizing the quality of service; ensures universality of coverage; maximizes choice of health care provider for the consumer; and does not place a greater burden for the costs of coverage on those who are less able to pay for it. The President's commitment to veto any bill passed by the Congress that does not provide for medical coverage for all Americans is heartening. To have 15 percent of Americans uninsured, many of whom are working, cannot be tolerated. Affordable, quality health care should be recognized as a basic civil right. The principles of the President's plan are consistent with the NJCRAC's health care reform principles adopted in June 1993.
While health care reform will be important, the problems associated with poverty are so pervasive that other aspects must be addressed urgently as well. Today a greater percentage of people in the United States lives below the poverty line than at any time in the past 30 years. The condition of persistent poverty puts a drain on the resources of this country and over the long term undermines the potential for increased productivity needed for the U.S. to be a major player in the global economy. Finding solutions will require examining longstanding poverty policies that have not produced the desired results. In this context, the Clinton Administration's welfare reform initiative is an important contribution to the effort to combat poverty. The NJCRAC vigorously supported the Administration's effort to expand the Earned Income Tax Credit, and also has been in the forefront of advocacy efforts to raise the minimum wage, two steps that would help make work pay for those seeking to rise above the level of poverty. The four principles of welfare reform enunciated by President Clinton - make work pay; improve child support enforcement; provide education, training and other services to help people get off and stay off welfare; and, time-limited transitional financial support followed by work - are generally supported by the organized Jewish community. However, the NJCRAC also cautions that any welfare reform, especially any time limits on cash assistance programs, must include elements that lead to durable self-sufficiency, such as adequately funded education, training programs, guaranteed job opportunities with transportation, affordable housing, health benefits, and child care and child support assurances. For those people who are legitimately unable to participate in training or job programs or cannot find jobs, there must be a financial safety net built into any welfare reform plan. Regarding legislative proposals to be considered by Congress, the Jewish community relations field is concerned about the need to adequately fund welfare reform. Insufficient funding or partial reform of the welfare system would not serve well the intended beneficiaries, nor would it benefit the country as a whole. While the NJCRAC recognizes that efforts by the Administration and the 103rd Congress to address poverty thus far have been limited by budgetary constrictions and the underlying pressures to address the federal deficit, the NJCRAC is alarmed by proposals to fund a welfare package by denying benefits to legal immigrants, working poor, disabled and other needy groups.
Continued economic growth in all likelihood will help the nation address health care and welfare reform; it also should work to dissipate the increased hostility towards newcomers to this country. Studies show that the overwhelming majority of immigrants to the United States enter legally to join family members; they do not cause increases in unemployment; and they use fewer welfare services than the average American-born family. The organized Jewish community and other groups are continuing to emphasize the positive contributions that newcomers make to American society and the economy. The United States government should continue its commitment to a generous refugee and immigration policy. With regard to refugees, the organized Jewish community continues to advocate sustaining current levels of admissions and fully funding all refugee slots. In this area, American Jews have a particular concern about maintaining existing refugee policies regarding Jews from Russia and the other republics of the former Soviet Union. A fair and equitable immigration policy also must provide for asylum seekers. Gross inadequacies in the current asylum system have created a climate that in large measure fosters the perceptions that underlies the hostility to newcomers, although asylum seekers constitute a small percentage of those seeking to enter this country legally. The NJCRAC calls for revamping the asylum system to expedite the process without jeopardizing the security and lives of applicants. Elements of a reformed asylum system must include the hiring of sufficient numbers of trained asylum officers, the guarantee of prompt hearings and the right of appeal for asylum applicants. In the case of Haitians seeking refuge in the United States, the recent shift in the Clinton Administration's policy to allow off-shore asylum hearings on American naval vessels and at sites in third countries is encouraging. This is a welcome change from the practice Of interdicting Haitians on the high seas and then returning them to Haiti without giving them the opportunity tto apply for asylum. The NJCRAC continues to urge the Administration to give full and fair off-shore asylum hearings to Haitians seeking refugee status and to admit those who have been found to have a credible asylum claim. Recognizing that certain states have been unduly burdened in providing social services for newcomers, the Jewish community relations field supports an equitable means of defraying the disproportionately high costs of immigration resettlement in states with the largest numbers of immigrants.
An American society that truly offers equal opportunity to all is vital to ensuring the cohesiveness of the rich mosaic comprising the population of this pluralistic democracy. In recognition of this reality, the Jewish community relations field historically has sought to help other minorities achieve their goals, and continues to build productive relationships in particular with the African, Hispanic, and Asian American communities, and, more recently, with Arab Americans. Increased tensions in urban centers among various ethnic groups competing for political influence and economic gain should not be allowed to fester and must be addressed by political, religious and other community leaders. Of immediate concern to the Jewish community, however, is the relationship between the African American and Jewish communities, a historically friendly and mutually supportive relationship that increasingly has been tested by the actions of black extremists such as Louis Farrakhan and his Nation of Islam. Expressions of anti-Semitism in the African American community, whether espoused by religious leaders, politicians or academicians on college campuses, must be firmly denounced and vigorously challenged by all. The organized Jewish community is deeply disturbed by these manifestations of anti-Semitism, and will speak out forcefully against them. At the same time, we recognize the need to increase efforts to build coalitions with blacks and others to address mutual concerns. The organized Jewish community has found encouraging the appeal by black leaders who have called for a strengthening of the coalition of blacks and Jews and others who are dedicated to addressing such issues as public education, housing, job training, employment, and crime and violence.
The organized Jewish community shares the nationwide concern over problems of crime and violence which continue to plague our schools, cities and suburban communities. The NJCRAC supported passage of the Brady Act and legislation banning the manufacture, sale, possession and transfer of military-style assault weapons as the first legislative steps towards achieving greater control of guns and ammunition. The NJCRAC further recognizes the need for a range of effective crime fighting strategies. A comprehensive policy on crime and violence, however, must address the underlying social and economic factors that allow criminal activity to flourish, including poverty, drug and substance abuse, lack of employment opportunities, and an inadequate education system. Punitive measures alone are not the answer. The NJCRAC opposes legislation that would expand the rubric of crimes punishable by death, and that would unduly restrict prisoners' ability to file habeas corpus petitions.
A perceived erosion of values in American society underlies an emerging debate over the role of religion in public life, a debate that will engage the organized Jewish community as well. While the Jewish community relations field is deeply concerned about finding ways, including religion, to strengthen an appreciation for civic values, American Jews also are mindful of the constitutional principle of church-state separation. That wall of separation has enabled religion to flourish in the United States as in few other nations. The First Amendment has assured religious liberty and the right of individuals and groups to vigorously assert their religious perspectives in the marketplace of ideas. As a result, throughout American history to the very present, religion has been able to play a prominent and forceful role in American life. The challenge is how to respond to those who hold that the reach of religion has been too circumscribed in its efforts to nurture basic values without undermining the bulwark of religious liberty and religious advocacy embodied in the First Amendment. The Jewish community relations field remains concerned about situations that threaten to undermine the separation of church and state, especially renewed efforts to introduce religion in the public schools. In the Congress as well as in a number of states and municipalities there are legislative efforts underway to support school prayer and the courts are considering actions regarding prayer at commencement exercises. The NJCRAC has a longstanding position in opposition to all forms of organized school prayer, whether led by students or individuals, including at graduation ceremonies, sporting events or at any other public school related event. The position of the Jewish community relations field in opposing school prayer includes all organized prayer, including silent prayer and "silent meditation." The NJCRAC considers strengthening the religious accommodation provisions of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to be a legislative priority during the second session of the 103rd Congress. The obligation of employers to accommodate the religious practices of an employee, unless they cause "undue hardship," was undermined by U.S. Supreme Court decisions in 1977 and 1986. A broad coalition of religious and civil liberties groups that includes the organized Jewish community is working to remedy those decisions through federal legislation. The court case challenging the creation of a separate school district in Kiryas Joel, a cohesive Chasidic community in New York, has raised difficult issues for the Jewish community relations field. The very compelling circumstances of the Chasidic group, involving its legitimate requirements for remedial education, make this case a particularly troublesome application of the establishment clause. With the exception of the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America, the NJCRAC has viewed the creation of a separate school district for the Kiryas Joel community as an unconstitutional endorsement of religion, opening the door to the creation of "religious" school districts around the country.
The Jewish community relations field continues to work closely with Catholic leadership on a range of issues, such as poverty, the environment and other social justice concerns, and international relief efforts. Similar coalitional work is continuing with Protestant groups and has begun with Muslims as well. As a result of the signing of the Israel-PLO agreement and further progress in the peace process, as well as the Vatican's establishment of full diplomatic relations with Israel, tensions that have long inhered in these interreligious relationships due to events in the Middle East are likely to diminish substantially.
Concern about the environment and the escalating degradation of the natural world has become a priority for the organized Jewish community as well as other faith communities, who together formed the National Religious Partnership for the Environment. The Jewish community's activity in this area is coordinated by the Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life (COEJL), a joint three-year project of the NJCRAC, the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, and the Jewish Theological Seminary. As concern for the environment cuts across ethnic and religious boundaries, this effort offers numerous opportunities for intergroup activities and advocacy, including action in the area of environmental justice, which addresses the placement of environmental hazards in or near areas with significant minority populations.
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