Washington Wire
Summer, 2001 Vol. 3, No. 4

MISSION TO WASHINGTON
The Union's first Leadership Mission to Washington to take place under the Bush presidency and 107th Congress took place on June 19. The one-day mission was an exciting and intensive opportunity for the 100 Union leaders and members who interacted with key policymakers. After being briefed on the most current Mideast and domestic policy issues, mission attendees spent the morning meeting with House members and staffers. They then proceeded to a luncheon in the U.S. Senate in which many senators (Brownback, Clinton, Corzine, Durbin, Hutchinson, Lieberman, Sarbanes, Stabenow, Wyden) joined. The mission then proceeded to the White House for closed-door briefings on Mideast policy with the Deputy Chief of Staff Josh Bolten; on education policy with Senior Adviser Sandy Kress; and on the faith-based initiative with Deputy Director Don Eberly. The mission closed out with a reception attended by members of congress and the diplomatic corps.

LEGISLATIVE ISSUES

Education Policy
The House of Representatives and the Senate have completed most of the work on re-authorizing the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. The measure is now in a conference committee to resolve differences between the two versions of the legislation. We had greater success in the House in securing a continued commitment to the equitable participation of parochial school teachers and students in supplementary educational service programs. We are working with the conferees to ensure that these provisions are retained in the final bill. A significant development coming out of the rejection of school choice proposals has been an increased interest by key legislators and Bush Administration officials in enacting some form of education-related tax credit that would benefit parochial school families. The Washington Office continues discussions with key officials to develop such proposals.

Faith-Based Initiative
Legislation designed to implement the President's plan to open federal social service grant programs to participation by religious organizations passed the House of Representatives on July 19 by a vote of 234-195. In the weeks leading up to the vote, Nathan Diament and other OU personnel were intensively involved in discussions of the bill's content and strategy. Diament testified before the House Ways & Means Committee on June 14 and met with many members of the House over the course of June and July. An opinion-essay by Diament addressing the initiative was published in The Baltimore Sun newspaper. In the wake of the contentious House vote, attention now turns to the Senate where we have been in close communication with Senator Joe Lieberman, the leading Democrat on this issue, as well as senior White House officials as the initiative's content and strategy is shaped again. 

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Washington, DC 20036 Email: ipadc@ou.org

Workplace Religious Freedom Act
We continue to work toward securing greater protection for the religious needs of employees in the workplace. Such protections are needed to secure the ability of employees to observe religious holidays and wear religious garb if not already allowed to do so by their employer. We are still in the process of discussing sponsorship of this legislation with key members of the House and Senate and have opened a dialogue on this topic with the White House as well.

Stem Cell, Cloning Research & Public Policy
The bioethical issues of stem cell and cloning research are at the forefront of public policy discussions today. The OU's views on this subject have been sought by policymakers and we convened a working group of rabbis, scientists and OU leaders to develop a position on these critical issues. After intensive discussions, the OU and RCA wrote a joint letter to President Bush on July 26, outlining our qualified support for federal funding for stem cell research. The text of the letter is accessible here: http://www.ou.org/public/statements/2001/nate34.htm

Temple Mount Preservation
The Washington Office has been working, in concert with the IPA's New York staff, in support of legislation recently introduced by Represenatives Eric Cantor (R-Va) and Anthony Weiner (D-NY) to protect the Har Habayit from Palestinian Authority sanctioned desecration. The Washington Office has helped secure additional House co-sponsors, such as Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, and solicited Senate sponsorship for companion legislation. A summary of the bill can be viewed here: http://www.ou.org/public/actionalerts/2001/templemount072501.htm 

CONGRESSIONAL INTERNSHIP PROGRAM UPDATE

This year's class of IPA Washington Interns have completed their time in the capital. Their reviews of the program have been very positive. They benefited from wonderful learning opportunities in congressional offices as well as a high-powered line up of shiurim and lectures from an array of Jewish public policy leaders including Undersecretary of Defense Dov Zakheim, U.S. Ambassador to Israel Daniel Kurtzer, Deputy Labor Secretary Tevi Troy and many others.

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