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October 20, 2005
Union
of Orthodox Jewish Congregations
Welcomes White House
Continuation of FEMA
Equal Treatment Policy for Disaster
Stricken Non-Profits; Policy Developed
by UOJCA
Advocacy for Seattle Day School
Today, the
Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America welcomed a
White House policy announcement Tuesday that
religious-non-profit providers of “essential government-type”
services whose facilities were damaged by Hurricanes Katrina and
Rita, will be treated on equal terms with secular-non-profit
providers of such services and thus be eligible for loans from
the Small Business Administration (SBA) and grants from the
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to fund their repairs
and reconstruction.
Federal law provides that non-profit providers of “essential
services” such as schools, nursing homes, health clinics and the
like are eligible for federal disaster aid once they exhaust
their private insurance awards. The policy toward a religious
non-profit provider was called into some question when, in 2000,
FEMA denied a reconstruction grant application by the Seattle
Hebrew Academy which had been severely damaged in an earthquake.
After the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations brought the
school’s situation to the attention of the White House,
President Bush issued and executive order in December, 2002,
directing FEMA to reverse its internal policy and – consistent
with the statutory provision – award the grant to the Hebrew
Academy on the same, religion-neutral terms as any other
disaster stricken non-profit school.
On Tuesday, White House director of faith-based & community
initiatives James Towey announced on behalf of the President
that this “equal treatment” policy remains in place and, thus,
religious schools, nursing homes, health clinics and the like
which qualify for federal disaster aid on the same terms as
their secular counterparts will receive such aid.
Union policy director Nathan J. Diament stated: “The Orthodox
Jewish community is deeply appreciative of the sensitivity and
fairness President Bush, Director Towey and other officials have
toward America’s religious non-profits. In situations such as
these following the hurricanes, we are not asking for special
treatment in rebuilding our community-serving institutions, we
are simply asking for fair and equal treatment. While some would
deny such fair treatment, we are grateful that the President and
his Administration have a principled, constitutional and
level-headed approach to such issues which will certainly aid
the affected communities with their recovery.”
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