Njcrac Conclave Told That Many of the Social, Economic Programs It Favors Will Have to Be Slashed

The more than 400 American Jewish leaders attending the 40th anniversary plenary session of the National Jewish Community Relations Advisory Council (NJCRAC) were told today that many of the economic and social programs the NJCRAC has long favored will have to be cut even more in order to reduce the budget deficit which is nearing $200 billion.

But Sen. Robert Dole (R. Kan.) said he believes Congress will act in a bipartisan manner to take some type of action to begin reducing the deficit. “If we do nothing, we are inviting economic chaos” within the next 12 months, he said.

Alice Rivlin, a Democrat and former Congressional budget director, agreed, saying that if the deficit was not reduced and interest rates lowered, than even with economic growth the poorest people in the country will continue to suffer.

SAYS REDUCTIONS WILL NOT PLEASE EVERYONE

Dole, who is chairman or the Senate Finance Committee, noted that the reductions will not please everyone. “As long as we cut somebody else’s program, it doesn’t bother me,” Dole said describing the general attitude of most people. “But try to cut my programs and that’s not legislating, that’s meddling.”

Rivlin, who is head of the economics study program at the Brookings Institution said there will be “still more cuts in programs you care about.” Dole said he believes that his committee will begin making a start on substantial cuts that will be acceptable to both Democrats and Republicans before the presidential election campaign gets into full swing.

Rivlin proposed a modified freeze on spending with eliminating the cost of living increases except for the very poor. She called for holding defense spending to a three percent increase in real terms. She also urged an immediate fax surcharge but said what was eventually needed was a tax increase and a simpler, fairer and more efficient tax system.

At a luncheon today, Washington Mayor Marion Barry presented a key to the city to the NJCRAC which, is celebrating its 40th anniversary with a four day meeting at the Washington Hilton Hotel ending Wednesday.

‘VITAL ROLE’ OF NJCRAC CITED

Jacqueline Levine, who was re-elected to a second one-year term as the NJCRAC’s chairperson, said that during its four decades of existence the NJCRAC, which is the national coordinating and joint planning body for II national and III local Jewish community relations agencies, played a “vital role” in bringing about “revolutionary changes in the nature and character of American society.”

Noting the Jewish community’s commitment to “the strength of the American democratic system,” Levine cited its “singular contribution” in giving life to the First Amendment, to the principle of separation of church and state through legal briefs in the 1940’s and 1950’s that were adopted in Supreme Court decisions in the 1960’s.

Levine pointed to the “partnership with the NAACP in developing a total package of civil rights legislation” and in creating the national Leadership Conference on Civil Rights which operates today, as well as in cooperative action on the state and local level.

By the 1960’s, when civil rights legislation had “changed the face of America,” Levine noted, priorities were shifted. “We had been preoccupied with our status as Americans and the status of our fellow Americans, particularly the Black community,” she explained.

But “as threats to our security as American Jews diminished, we were moved in new directions as a result of threats to the security of our fellow Jews abroad.” She noted the focus is now on issues such as the plight of Soviet Jewry, support for Israel and the defense of other Jewish communities throughout the world.