I INSIDE WASHINGTON FASHIONS Featured Designers • Evenings by Raul Blanco Social Legislation Suffers As Congress Looks To Election RICHILENE JAMES DAVID BESSER • Exclusive Designer- Stefania Gracile Washington Correspondent I Holiday Dreams Do Come True At. COCKTAIL EVENING FASHIONS Crosswinds Mali Orchard Lake and Lone Pine (313) 851-7633 r CITY OF HOPE HELEN ROSENBERG CANCER FIGHTERS Presents GLAMORAMA A FASHION EXTRAVAGANZA PRODUCED AND DIRECTED BY LEAH MARKS Featuring Fashions By • COCKTAILS • VALENTINA'S • CHUDIK FURS • JOHN DARAKJIAN JEWELERS • KAPPY'S • MARIOMAX • D.O.C. OPTICS • TAMARA INSTITUTE DE BEAUTE ADAT SHALOM SYNAGOGUE, Middlebelt W. of Northwestern HOLIDAY SHOPPING AT OUR BOUTIQUES 10:00 a.m. LUNCHEON: 12 Noon Followed by Fashion Show DONATION $25 k BABY SITTING Ticket Info: Sylvia Epstei . n AVAILABLE 557-3519 DO YOU HAVE ANY GIFTS TO SEND? Come to . . . MAIL WORKS PLUS! 33290 W. 14 Mile Rd. • At Farmington Rd. • West Bloomfield Mon-Sat 9-6 pm 737-8910 COUPONS I SHIPPING ce ‘49.• _ Nc", nk • 30 -e ca 1 5% OFF 50 OFF I GIFT WRAP (Limit 1 Pkg.) \ Expires 10-21-88 FRIDAY, OCTOBER 14, 1988 Atve, A-41 tSr t's been a disappointing few weeks for Jewish groups who have worked long and hard for a lengthy list of social legislation. Last week, as Congress scrambled to get out of town and get down to the serious business of campaigning, the order of the day was politics, not statesmanship. Two bills that have been promoted by a wide range of Jewish groups — the Parental Leave Act, which would pro- vide unpaid leave for parents who need to care for sick or newborn children, and the Act for Better Child Care — were drowned in a flurry of parliamentary maneuvering. In both cases, carefully- constructed coalitions fell vic- tim to party discipline as the GOP dug in its heels over new spending programs. "It's been a very up and down session," said Sammie Moshenberg, Washington rep- resentative of the National Council of Jewish Women, a group that has expended con- siderable resources on both bills. "For those of us who work for non-partisan organi- zations, we could only watch with frustration as issues took a back seat to partisan wrangling." Moshenberg pointed to some positive accomplish- ments in recent months — the Civil Rights Restoration Act, the new fair housing law — but expressed clear disap- pointment that the "family issues" that provided good slogans for both parties did not translate into successful legislation. Mark Pelavin of the Ameri- can Jewish Congress echoed these sentiments. "The key is that before an election, the easiest thing is to fight every issue to a stalemate," he said. "In some ways it's been a good session. But we were very disappointed that the Brady amendment (on hand- gun legislation) and the minimum wage package did not survive." The Brady amendment would have required a seven day waiting period for the purchase of handguns. It was supported vigorously by a coalition of Jewish groups, in- cluding the American Jewish Congress, the American Jewish Committee and the Anti-Defamation League of the B'nai B'rith. But a nationwide public relations blitz by the Na- tional Rifle Association derailed a bill that Jewish ac- tivists believed would have special importance for elder- ly Jews living in big cities, where handgun crimes have experienced a steep rise in re- cent years. Yarmulke Amendment Survives Sen. Lautenberg: Swift intervention. The "Yarmulke amend- ment," the hard-won measure requiring the mili- tary to allow neat and ap- propriate religious apparel by servicemen, made yet another repeat performance in Washington last week. But thanks to swift inter- vention by Rep. Stephen Solarz (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-Pa.), two of the legislators in- strumental in the measure's passage in September 1987, a Defense Department attempt to sidestep the legislation was thwarted. Solarz and Lautenberg fought a quiet, rear-guard ac- tion against a February De- partment of Defense regula- tion governing the yarmulke bill. The regulation contain- ed a line that effectively re- versed the congressional directive. "A complete prohibition on the wearing of any visible items of religious apparel may be appropriate under unique circumstances in which the member's duties, the military mission or the maintenance of discipline re- quire absolute conformity," the policy directive said. Since the military had argued all along that the yar- mulke measure was danger- ous because all military discipline demanded absolute uniformity, the regulation, if implemented, would have ef- fectively gutted the bill. The regulation went on to allow the military to prohibit religious apparel during basic training. In May — without tipping off the press or Jewish organizations here — Solarz and Lautenberg went to work on Secretary of Defense Frank Carlucci. In a joint let- ter, they explained why the new regulation would reverse the entire intent of the bill. Solarz, according to his staff, lobbied Carlucci personally on the issue. Last week, Carlucci agreed, and reversed the directive. But some Pentagon watchers caution that there still may be hitches before the "yar- mulke amendment" is fully implemented; opposition to the measure remains deeply entrenched in the military hierarchy. Solarz and Lauten- berg plan to keep a close eye on the Defense Department's compliance. Making Amends On Investigating Israel The strange case of the U.S. Trade Representative Clayton Yeutter's decision to in- vestigate Israel for alleged labor abuses continues to per- colate through the Jewish community here. Recently, three top Jewish activists — Steve Silbiger of the American Jewish Con- gress, and Dan Mariaschin and Warren Eisenberg of the international counsel's office of B'nai B'rith — met with one of the signers of the original petition calling the investigation and came away with a retraction. The legislator in question was Nicholas Mavroules, a Democrat from Massachu- setts. "I don't think he quite understood what the Arab- American Anti- Discrimination Committee was," Silbiger said. "And he didn't entirely understand the implications of an in- vestigation — or that it would be perceived as a slap at Israel. This is a congressman who has been strongly sup- portive of Israel." There were also persistent reports that the State Depart- ment is working on a letter staking out the position that