Behind the Headlines: Religious Bills Are High Priority on Jewish Domestic Agenda in 1992

With Congress back in session, American Jewish organizations have already begun gearing up for a major campaign to secure billions of dollars in U.S. guaranteed loans for Israel, which it would use to help resettle the flood of immigrants from the former Soviet Union.

But in addition to this goal and the annual effort to obtain billions of dollars in U.S. economic and military aid for Israel, the Jewish community has its eyes on a number of domestic legislative issues.

Foremost among these is a number of religiously oriented bills that Congress is expected to act on before the fall election season.

These include a major religious liberties bill, which the Jewish community is unified behind, and another that has divided Jewish organizations: President Bush’s proposal to provide government aid for the purpose of sending children to religiously affiliated schools.

Another domestic legislative priority for Jewish groups is removing caps in last year’s civil rights bill on monetary compensation for discrimination based on gender, religion or handicap.

Last year’s bill allowed for unlimited damages only in cases of discrimination based on race or national origin. Adding gender discrimination to this list is seen as an especially popular move in a presidential election year.

The highest-profile of the religious issue bills is Bush’s proposal to allow six U.S. school districts to serve as pilot programs for what proponents call “school choice.” In the areas where those schools are based, economically disadvantaged parents would be allowed to use federal aid to send their children to private schools, including religiously affiliated ones.

Many Jewish groups strongly oppose such use of government aid as a grievous violation of the First Amendment’s call for separation between church and state. They also see it as a threat to the vitality of the public school system, which the Jewish community has traditionally supported.

ORTHODOX BACK BUSH PLAN

The Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations is among several Orthodox groups backing Bush on the issue.

The Orthodox Union argues that such aid has been denied until now because of a “wooden application of contrived notions of First Amendment principles” that “deny generally available public benefits to certain students and their parents only because they choose secular education in a non-public school setting.”

All the groups are united behind a bill that would make it harder for states to enact laws impinging on religious liberties.

That bill, sponsored by Rep. Stephen Solarz (D-N.Y.), is designed to circumvent a 1990 Supreme Court ruling that states no longer have to demonstrate a “compelling state interest” before barring certain religious practices.

The bill will likely be introduced by early February by Sens. Joseph Biden (D-Del.) and Orrin Hatch (R-Utah).

But the legislation is being opposed by several pro-life lawmakers who are afraid that women will use it to challenge state laws restricting abortion as violating their religious freedom.

Solarz wants to introduce two other religiously oriented bills, including one that would increase the burden of proof on an employer to justify why a worker has to work on the Sabbath or religious holidays.

The other bill would require those who make kosher products to register and file disclosure statements about their products with a U.S. government office. Before Solarz introduces it, Jewish groups, notably the Orthodox Union and Agudath Israel of America, will have to resolve disputes among themselves on the bill that have been lingering for months.

TOUGHER LAW AGAINST BOYCOTT

Another legislative concern will be enforcement of laws that bar U.S. companies from complying with the Arab economic boycott of Israeli goods and services.

Jewish groups will be working to ensure that the 1992 Export Administration Act increases maximum penalties for companies that comply with the boycott from $10,000 to $50,000, as promised by former Commerce Secretary Robert Mosbacher.

Jewish groups also will be monitoring reforms within the Commerce Department’s Office of Antiboycott Compliance, including an increase in staff and training staff to conduct criminal investigations.

A general area of concern for Jewish groups is the amount of government spending on social service programs.

More than $1 billion in government spending at the federal, state and local levels goes each year to Jewish hospitals, nursing homes, and vocational and family services, estimated Mark Talisman, director of the Council of Jewish Federations’ Washington office.

Those programs include Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, as well as funding for low-income housing and food stamps.

CJF is especially critical of a 1990 budget agreement between Congress and the Bush administration that bars money from being transferred from one budget account to another, such as from defense to social services.

If necessary to bolster spending aimed at curtailing poverty and unemployment, the National Jewish Community Relations Advisory Council would favor tax increases that are “non-regressive,” in other words, taxes that soak the rich rather than the poor.

NJCRAC is the umbrella policy-planning group of national and local Jewish agencies.