Washington Wire
May, 2003 Vol. 5, No. 1

Even during the recently concluded conflict overseas, the capital has been engaged in the business of legislating and governing, thus, the OU/IPA has been very busy for the past few months. As part of our efforts to promote our community’s values and interests, the OU sponsored an Advocacy Day in Washington on March 12. During this very productive day, delegates were addressed by House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, met with their Representatives, participated in a Senate luncheon with several Senators at which Orrin Hatch was honored for his work in support of religious liberty, received high-level briefings at The White House and met with Israel’s Deputy Ambassador to the U.S. To read more about this event and see photos, visit http://www.ou.org/public/statements/2003/remarks.htm Here is a synopsis of the key issues the Orthodox Union’s Institute for Public Affairs is currently focused upon in the coming months, each of which were raised on March 12.

PRIORITY ISSUES

Support for Israel – In these critical days, the OU’s Washington Office is working in close concert with the broader pro-Israel community in support of Israel’s security and wellbeing. We have been in close communication with Administration and Congressional leaders over the substance and contours of the ‘Road Map’ plan soon to be proposed and passed by Congress to supported the financial aid package recently proposed by President Bush for Israel. For further details, visit http://www.ou.org/public/actionalerts/2003/betty2.htm

Education – The 108th Congress is in the process of reauthorizing the Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act (IDEA), the federal government’s primary funding program for special education services. We have been working over the past year with key staffers and allies toward improving IDEA’s treatment of special needs students in non-public schools. Too often, children with special ed. needs who attend parochial schools are underserved by this federally funded program. We must improve the processes and accountability measures for ensuring that all eligible children, including those attending Jewish schools, receive IDEA funded services. We are working with bipartisan members of the House and Senate and coalition partners to pursue this agenda. Over the last month, we have worked with key House members and leaders to insert language into IDEA that will yield greater special ed. services for our community’s children. Yesterday, the House passed its version of IDEA with this language included. We also worked with key members of the House to bring an amendment to the floor (led by Rep. Musgrave (R-CO)) that would allow local school districts to offer parents of IDEA eligible children in non-public schools a certificate in the amount of their share of IDEA funds (up to $1400) that they could use towards special ed. services. The amendment was defeated. See more information about this issue at http://www.ou.org/public/Publib/speced.htm

Charity Assistance/Faith Based Initiative - For several years we have supported efforts to open federal social welfare grant programs to religiously affiliated charities on terms equal to those which are secularly affiliated. Legislation embodying this principle was enacted four times under President Clinton, but have been stalled during the Bush Administration. In recent months, President Bush has advanced this agenda through executive orders and agency regulation reforms. (One example, of which we are proud of our direct involvement, arose from the plight of the Seattle Hebrew Academy which had been denied federal disaster aid in the wake of an earthquake; we alerted the Administration to this decision by FEMA and worked to have FEMA’s policy reversed; see http://www.ou.org/public/statements/2002/nate24.htm). There is still much that should be done through legislation, however. In early April, the compromise Lieberman-Santorum “CARE bill” – which contains a range of new tax incentives for charitable giving was passed in the Senate. We now await House action on this front. We expect additional proposals to be part of the welfare reauthorization process and other major legislative initiatives.

Religious Liberty - ‘WRFA’: To date, our perennial efforts to secure greater protections for religious people having their religious needs accommodated in the workplace have not succeeded under Republican or Democrat control of Congress. However, the Workplace Religious Freedom Act was introduced in the Senate on April 11 (http://ou.org/public/statements/2003/nate9.htm) with Senators Rick Santorum (R-PA) and John Kerry (D-MA) as the lead sponsors. The other original co-sponsors of WRFA (S.893) are Senators Gordon Smith (R-OR), Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), Sam Brownback (R-KS), Joe Lieberman (D-CT), John Ensign (R-NV), Patty Murray (D-WA), Orrin Hatch (R-UT), Jon Corzine (D-NJ) and Hillary Clinton (D-NY). We are hopeful that with the strong leadership of Senators Santorum and Kerry we will be able to see the enactment of this important piece of legislation.

‘HOWFSPRA’: A second significant religious liberty item pending in Congress is the ‘Houses of Worship Free Speech Restoration Act’ sponsored by Rep. Walter Jones (R-NC). This bill will remove the restrictions upon clergy and houses of worship (as defined in §501c3 of the tax code) from engaging in political activities. It will allow clergy to explicitly endorse or opposed political candidates during worship services. We are deeply concerned that, were it to pass, this legislation would put rabbis and other clergy in the position of being pressured to engage in political activity they otherwise wish not to. We continue to monitor the progress of this initiative.

Other Issues of Interest

“Cloning” Research – President Bush and many Republicans oppose federal funding for biotechnology research that includes the “cloning” of cells derived from embryonic cells. While the House passed a measure banning federal funding for this research again this year, the Senate has yet to take it up. We expect Senate action soon, although it remains unclear whether it would pass. The OU opposes such a ban and supports bipartisan legislation that would restrict such research being undertaken for reproductive purposes but allow the research for the purpose of developing cures to many kinds of diseases. Also on this front, the OU has been invited by the President’s Council on Bioethics to submit comments for its deliberations on these matters. We expect to do so soon.

INTERNSHIP PROGRAM

The IPA looks forward to again welcoming participants in the OU-IPA Washington Summer Internship program to Washington in early June. As in years past, interns will work on Capitol Hill and in prominent Jewish public policy offices in Washington as well as taking part in a series of lectures and shiurim that we hope will serve to make the summer experience even richer. The program is closed to further enrollment this year but please visit our website for updated information at http://ou.org/public/interns/
 
 

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