Texas Jewish Post (Fort Worth, Tex.), Vol. 46, No. 15, Ed. 1 Thursday, April 9, 1992 Page: 4 of 32
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WASHINGTON WATCH
Victory-Sort of-On
Foreign Aid
Pro-Israel activists emitted an
ambivalent sigh of relief last week,
when Congress passed a continu-
ing resolution providing foreign aid
funding through the end of the fis-
cal year.
As expected, the measure did
not contain loan guarantees to Is-
rael thanks to promises of a
presidential veto and a case of elec-
tion-year jitters by legislators.
But the stopgap funding mea-
sure did not tamper with Israel’s
basic foreign aid allotment; Pro-
Israel activists were enormously
relieved that the legislation con-
tained no unpleasant surprises.
On the House side, passage came
on what one Jewish activist on
Capitol Hill called a “quarterback
sneak.” Rep. David Obey (D-Wis.),
the powerful head of the House
foreign operations subcommittee,
played the final language of the
measure close to his vest until put-
ting it on the floor, in that way, he
protected it from amendments that
would have torpedoed the delicately
crafted package.
Such amendments-by Israel’s
friends or foes-could have resulted
in an empty bank book for the en-
tire foreign aid program and a messy
politically dangerous vote to re-
plenish it.
On the Senate side, legislators
sidestepped the rumored fight over
$10 billion in loan guarantees by
passing aseparate nonbinding reso-
lution urging “appropriate loan
guarantees for Israel-a weak con-
solation prize for the Jewish
community that contained no
money and no details about the
badly needed guarantees.
The loan guarantee resolution
passed by a 99-1 margin; Sen. Rob-
ert C. Byrd (D-W.Va.), a
longstanding thorn in the side of
pro Israel groups, was the lone dis-
Sen. Robert C. Byrd
sen ter.
The continuing resolution ap-
proved most aid programs at
previously appropriated levels. For
Israel, this means the second in-
stallment of its $3.2 billion in aid.
The continuing resolution con-
tained some better news for Soviet
Jews and other refugee groups: af-
ter weeks of furious inside politics,
funding for migration and refugee
assistance was actually increased
for the rest of the fiscal year, to a
total of $630 million-despite ear-
lier indications that it would
continue at the lower levels previ-
ously authorized. That includes
some $80 million for resetdement
in Israel, pro-rated according to a
complex formula.
Rep. Obey, who is not known as
a strong friend of Israel, played a
critical role in winning the increase.
"It was a genuine miracle-a real
Passover story,” said Mark Talis-
man, Washington director for the
Council of Jewish Federations.
Pro-Choice March Has
Strong Jewish Presence
When a half-million pro-choice
marchers choked downtown Wash-
ington on Sunday, Jewish groups
were well represented.
A number of organizations sent
large contingents to the march, in-
cluding the National Council of
Jewish Women, the American Jew-
ish Congress, the American Jewish
Committee, Hadassah, B’nai B’rith
Women, and coundess synagogues
and local Jewish groups from
around the country.
Despite an upcoming Supreme
Court decision in a Pennsylvania
case that could severely undercut
the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision,
Jewish pardcipants did not display
any sense of desperation.
"We understand that we do not
have the support of the courts any-
more,” said Ann Lewis, chair of the
American Jewish Congress Com-
mission for Women’s Equality.
“Only when we earn the right to
reproductive choice POLITI-
CALLY will we really keep it.”
The negative situadon in the
courts, she said, could be offset by
a grass-roots surge in pro-choice
sentiment-something that she sees
parucularly strong in the Jewish
community.
’’What we’re finding is that this
is an issue that has special reso-
nance for younger Jews-women
and men. They see this as a basic
right; participation by Jewish
groups around this issue is very
important to them.”
By James David Besser
Rep. Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.) ech-
oed these sentiments.
"What’s different today is that
women who have never been po-
liticized are getting activated,
because they feel this fundamental
right is under attack,” she said in an
Rep. Nita M. Lowey
interview at a pre-march rally spon-
sored by the American Jewish
Congress.
The Jewish leadership, she said,
has always been involved in the
pro-choice fight; now, she said,
Jews at the grass roots level are
becoming galvanized by the abor-
rion debate.
"There’s an excitement and a
determination in the air today,” she
said. “Women refuse to go back; as
an American woman, I am particu-
larly proud that our Jewish
community has sent such a large
At the annual policy conference
of the American Israel Public Af-
fairs Committee (AIPAC), a
number of participants attended the
opening session sporting pro-
choice buttons and weary
expressions after a day of march-
ing in a fierce Washington wind.
One of the youngest marchers
was Jewish-6 week old Jordan
Pelavin, daughter of AJ Congress
Washington Representative Mark
Pelavin, granddaughter of Michael
Pelavin, the longtime Jewish
honcho from Flint, Michigan.
Double Standard on
Leaks
Few politicians get as indignant
about news leaks as champion news
leakers themselves; afterall, it takes
a certain amount of personal famil-
iarity with the subject to understand
how important leaks can be in the
political process.
So pro-Israel activists have been
intrigued by the sudden silence of
the Bush administration on the
question of the leaked information-
which turned out to be
incorrect-suggesting that Israel had
resold Patriot missile technology
to China.
Last week, an official State De-
partment report officially
exonerated Israel on the Patriot
matter, no surprise to most observ-
ers who suspected that even the
image-deaf Israelis would not be
foolish enough to peddle the Patri-
ots.
"It’s particularly interesting to
see how the administration did a
full-court press to get the people
who leaked the information during
the Clarence Thomas confirmation
hearings—but did absolutely noth-
ing to go after the leakers of the
Patriot story,” said one congres-
sional source.
The Thomas leaks turned out to
be largely factual; the Patriot story
turned out to be a dud. The
administration’s silence, most ob-
servers agree, sends a message that
can only accelerate the deteriora-
tion in U.S.-Israeli relations.
Rep. Wayne Owens (D-Utah)
and Rep. Charles Schumer (D-
N.Y.) are circulating a “dear
colleague” letter on Capitol Hill,
calling on the president to
apologize for the damaging accu-
sations; there is some sentiment in
Rep. Charles Schumer
Congress to take a look intoexacdy
who leaked the damaging story to
see WASHINGTON WATCH page 27
Texas Jewish Post
Food/Home Susan Wisch
Adv. Representatives Judy Wisch, Wylma Hooker
Robert Brimmr, Sharon Wisch-Ray
Layout Patricia Hammons
Photography Sharon Wisch-Ray & Judy Wisch
Circulation Director Angie Englert
Editorand Publisher J.A. Wisch Since 1947
Managing Editors Co-Publisher Rene Wisch
Assistant Editor Sharon Wisch-Ray
Consultant Steve Wisch
Social Editor Linda Davidsohn
Typography Patricia Hammons
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Wisch, J. A. & Wisch, Rene. Texas Jewish Post (Fort Worth, Tex.), Vol. 46, No. 15, Ed. 1 Thursday, April 9, 1992, newspaper, April 9, 1992; Fort Worth, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth754778/m1/4/: accessed July 10, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; .