Washington Wire

December, 2000 Vol. 2, No. 3

106th CONGRESS - LEGISLATIVE ROUND UP

Two months after they had originally planned, the 106th Congress wrapped up its legislative work and adjourned. The 107th Congress - with a slim Republican majority in the House and a 50-50 split in the Senate - will convene in early January. Much of the Senate's early work of the 107th will be to confirm appointees to the incoming Bush Administration while the House is expected to begin to marshal around Mr. Bush's legislative agenda. Our next Washington Wire will focus upon initiatives of interest we can expect the 107th Congress to take up as well as those we will be working to put on its agenda. For now, it is worth reviewing those issues that were addressed by the 106th Congress. 

Religious Liberty Legislation Passed and Signed!

Efforts to pass a version of the Religious Liberty Protection Act have finally succeeded. The Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA) was passed by both houses of Congress on July 28, 2000. This measure restores a higher level of religious liberty protection for synagogues, churches and other houses of worship who are often harassed by land use and zoning authorities, as well as prisoners who often need special consideration for their religious needs. While this targeted measure does not deliver the breadth of protection once covered by RFRA, or even the RLPA passed by the House last year, political realities have dictated that we accept this targeted measure or accomplish nothing in this arena for the foreseeable future. IPA Director Nathan Diament was in attendance at the White House as President Clinton signed RLUIPA into law on September 22, 2000.

Pain Relief Promotion/Assisted Suicide Ban Suffers Senate Filibuster
The PRPA measure suffered the withering opposition of Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR). Despite having passed the House 237-174 and enjoying the support of the American Medical Association, National Conference of Catholic Bishops and Orthodox Union as well as bipartisan support - including Democrat Senator Joe Lieberman, a serious campaign of misinformation and political hardball was waged against this measure. PRPA contains three basic components: 1. It restricts federally controlled drugs from being used to assist someone to commit suicide; 2. It encourages aggressive palliation of pain by providing doctors with a safe harbor should a patient unintentionally die due to their pain medication; and 3. It funds education and research projects regarding palliative care. PRPA opponents have aggressively argued that the consequence of this bill will be exactly the opposite of what its proponents seek, and that it will suppress palliative care by making doctors fearful of investigation and prosecution. While lead-sponsor Sen. Don Nickles worked hard to attach the measure to another bill and secure its passage, Sen. Wyden worked just as 

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aggressively to persuade his Democratic colleagues to help him block PRPA. With Joe Lieberman out on the campaign trail and unable to counter Wyden's efforts, the bill failed to be passed. It is expected that this issue will be addressed in the coming year. It will then have a dimension within the Jewish community that it previously did not - last week the Reform Movement announced its opposition to PRPA. For additional information and background on PRPA, visit the Public Policy Library section of the IPA website -- http://www.ou.org/public/Publib/.

Other Issues in the 106th Congress

Even without the 50-50 split, the narrow margins of the 106th Congress made it much easier to stop legislation than to pass legislation. Thus, several initiatives that we were supportive of were blocked. They include a rollback of the tax code's marriage penalty, tax free education savings accounts and a sensible moratorium on death penalty executions. Again, many of these issues are expected to come up next year.

SUPREME COURT DOCKET

Two cases of significance to Orthodox Union interests are looming on the docket of the United States Supreme Court. The first if Good News Club v. Milford Central School. This case originates in New York and deals with New York State's policy that allows local school districts to make their facilities available for after-hours use to social and civic groups but not to religious groups for religious uses. Thus, if a congregation wanted to rent a public school gym to use for prayer services on a weekend it could be refused by the local school officials. This policy is being challenged by a Christian youth group that sought to use school facilities for an after-school club that would include readings from the Bible and some short prayers. The district court and U.S. Court of Appeals ruled against the club and the Supreme Court took the case for this term. The Union has jointly filed an amicus brief with the Christian Legal Society. The brief was authored by Notre Dame law professor Rick Garnett and contends that the law allowing religious groups to be refused the same access to public school facilities as other social and civic groups infringes upon the Free Speech and Free Exercise rights of the religious groups. Given the trend in recent Supreme Court cases toward a jurisprudence of "equality toward religion," we are hopeful the Court will rule in our favor. Oral arguments in the case are scheduled for late February.

The second case of great interest is that involving Cleveland's school voucher program. In early December, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit upheld the ruling of a district court finding the program to be an unconstitutional violation of the separation of church and state. It is as yet unclear whether the Supreme Court will hear this case, and if so whether it will do so this term.

LIEBERMAN SCHOLARS UPDATE

This fall saw the kick-off of the Lieberman Scholars program. Jointly sponsored with NCSY, this three-year program starts in the students' senior year in high school, continues in their year in Israel and finishes with their first year on campus. The goal of the program is to educate and cultivate leaders of the Jewish community and America. This year five scholars from across the country were chosen. Each scholar has selected an issue that they will follow, with the help of a local mentor, throughout their participation in the program. This year's scholars have selected a wide array of issues including parochial school choice, the death penalty moratorium, school prayer, prescription drug benefits and the Workplace Religious Freedom Act. The scholars will also work with local advocacy agencies and participate in a series of seminars and educational programs including ongoing programs sponsored by the OU, NCSY and the IPA. In November the Scholars gathered in Washington for a Shabbaton highlighted by meetings with respected Democratic pollster Mark Mellman and Tevi Troy, Policy Director for Senator John Ashcroft. The Scholars will next meet at the end of the month for NCSY's Yarchei Kallah and the OU National Convention. For additional information on the program please see our website at http://ou.org/NCSY/projects/lieb00.htm .  

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