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January 31, 2005
Union
of Orthodox Jewish Congregations
Commends Maryland Governor Bob Ehrlich on
Continuing Commitment to Securing Safety
of Jewish Community With $1 Million
in Grants to
Maryland Nonprofits
Today, the Union of
Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America - the nation's largest
Orthodox Jewish umbrella organization - commended Governor Bob
Ehrlich of Maryland for his continued commitment to providing
federal homeland security funds administered by the state to
Jewish community institutions for the purpose of upgrading their
physical security in the face of potential terrorist threats.
This afternoon in
Annapolis, Gov. Ehrlich will announce $1 million in new homeland
security funding for 34 non-profit institutions in Maryland,
including many Jewish institutions in Baltimore including: the
Shomrei Emunah and Ner Tamid Greenspring Valley synagogues as well
as to the Talmudical Academy and Bais Ya’akov schools. The Bais
Yaakov Middle School holds special significance in this funding
announcement. Governor Ehrlich was inspired to fund at-risk Jewish
institutions after learning of a suspicious incident where a Saudi
national was seen video taping the school during the Fall of 2003.
The availability of these
federal homeland security funds for grants to at-risk non-profits
comes from a successful effort mounted last year by the UOJCA and
a coalition of non-profit organizations to have the U.S. Congress
appropriate $25 million toward this specific purpose.
Nathan Diament, public
policy director for the Union, stated: “The Jewish community is
deeply appreciative of Gov. Ehrlich's ongoing commitment to
protecting our community's institutions. Gov. Ehrlich has been the
trailblazer in this arena as the first governor in the nation to
make federal homeland security funds administered by a state
available to secure the safety of Jewish institutions. We hope
that other state and local governments will follow his example and
provide funding to secure their at-risk Jewish institutions as
well. We thank Gov. Ehrlich for his outstanding and continuing
support.”
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