|
|
November 5, 2004/Cheshvan 21 5765, Vol. 57, No. 10
Republican gains worry Jewish groups
MATTHEW E. BERGER
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
WASHINGTON - Most Jewish groups say they are expecting much the same in the U.S. Congress over the next two years, with little legislative progress on their top domestic policy priorities.
At the same time, the new Congress, with 11 Jewish senators and 26 Jewish representatives, is expected to remain strongly pro-Israel.
With Republicans strength-ening their hold on both the House of Representatives and Senate, liberal Jewish groups are taking solace in the fact that Republicans would hold fewer than 60 votes in the Senate, giving Democrats an option to block legislation through a filibuster.
That could be crucial over the next few years on several issues, including Senate confirmations of U.S. Supreme Court justices. The illness of Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist and the age of others could mean several new appointments in the next few years.
But Orthodox Jews, the majority of whom voted to re-elect Bush, had a different spin. Many appreciate a social agenda that rejects abortion and promotes more federal funding for religious insti-tutions, often parting ways with a majority of other Jewish groups.
"The Orthodox segment was courted by the Bush campaign and very supportive at the polls of the president's re-election," said Nathan Diament, director of the Orthodox Union's Institute for Public Affairs.
"We expect to be able to pursue and promote the interests of our community - many of which are bipartisan - over the next couple of years."
But most Jewish organi-zations look to Democrats for support on their domestic agenda items. In the past several years, with Repub-licans holding majorities in Congress, and the focus on tax cuts and defense rather than domestic spending, little new money has flowed to the social welfare causes many Jewish groups advocate for.
That trend, analysts and Jewish activists say, is likely to continue.
"I think many of our domestic issues, how we fund programs, are in big trouble," said Hannah Rosenthal, executive director of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, the umbrella group for Jewish community relations councils.
She said Medicaid, a federal health-care program for the needy and disabled, was at the top of the list of programs likely to suffer.
Other health-care priorities, as well as Social Security reform and funding for educational programs, could take hits as well.
Some Jewish officials said they expected the focus in Washington to remain on homeland security and foreign affairs, further hampering the Jewish domestic agenda.
"The president and the country is engaged in a war against terrorism, a war in Iraq, a lot of priorities internationally that I think will engage the Bush administration for the next several years and probably not enable them to get too proactive on the domestic agenda," said Jack Rosen, president of American Jewish Congress.
But these officials expect that the new Congress would remain supportive of Israel and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's plan to disengage from the Pale-stinians by withdrawing from the Gaza Strip and parts of the West Bank.
Alos, President Bush's election means it will be he who appoints any new justices in the next four years, but Democrats - who hold more than 40 seats in the Senate - could filibuster any selection they view as too conservative.
That process right now, to filibuster extreme nominees, is a good measure that can be taken if need be," said Sammie Moshenberg, director of the Washington office of the National Council of Jewish Women.
Some Jewish activists said they hoped that Bush would cross party lines and reach out to moderates.
|
|
