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28
FRIDAY, APRIL 14, 1989
Marathon Refugee Hearings
Keeping Representatives Busy
JAMES D. BESSER
Washington Corespondent
A
ctivity on the refugee
and immigration
front has been fast
and furious in recent days.
Last week, marathon hear-
ings of the House Subcommit-
tee on Immigration, Refugees
and International Law
reviewed a number of bills
designed to provide tem-
porary cures for the Soviet
Jewry bottleneck in Rome
and Moscow — without pit-
ting Jews against other
ethnic groups.
But the real action may
have taken place in the ad-
ministration, where the
flurry of congressional activi-
ty may have pushed officials
in the direction of the
"emergency consultations"
with Congress that Jewish ac-
tivists have been working for
all along.
Most Jewish groups favor a
measure by Rep. Howard Ber-
man, (D-Calif.), which would
borrow money to clear up the
backlog from a program that
reimburses state _ s for their
assistance to new im-
migrants. Berman brought
together Jewish and Hispanic
groups in an effort to craft a
bill that would not provoke
howls of protest.
Rep. Bruce Morrison, (D-
Conn.), chairman of the house
subcommittee immigration
refugees and international
law, is working on his own
proposal, aimed at the up-
surge in Soviet Jews whose
applications for refugee
status have been turned down
in recent months.
-
But some Jewish activists
worry that the Morrison bill
goes too far by providing
blanket refugee status for all
Soviet Jews and Pentecostals.
At last week's hearings,
State Department witnesses
indicated that the ad-
ministration was now ready
to begin the consultation pro-
cess, something that could
make all this legislation
unnecessary.
But Soviet Jewry activists
are wary; the administration
has not indicated where addi-
tional money for refugee
resettlement would come
from — a sticky question as a
major showdown over the
budget deficit looms.
"There are almost too many
bills," said one Soviet Jewry
activist who has been trying
to keep up with the rush of
events. "It's almost impossi-
ble to keep them straight —
Rep. Berman:
Measure favored
and the `fact that we're work-
ing against a deadline only
makes it more of a jumble."
Orthodox Have
New Presence
In Washington
Last week, another Jewish
group came to town to flex its
political muscle — and to lay
the groundwork for a perma-
nent Washington presence.
Four-hundred participants
in the Orthodox Jewish
Political Coalition's
Washington Mission made all
the traditional stops on the
Washington circuit, including
the White House, where the
group was addressed by chief
of staff John Sununu.
At a luncheon, senators
were queued up to address
the group, including Rudy
Boschwitz, (R-Minn.), Orrin
Hatch, (R-Utah), Daniel
Patrick Moynihan, (D-N.Y.),
and Paul Simon, (D-I11.).
But the man who set the
tone for the Orthodox group
was Sen. Joe Lieberman, (D ,
Conn.), the only Orthodox
Jew in the Senate. Lieberman
urged the group to continue
their move in the direction of
greater political and social
activism..
-
"Over the years, this com-
munity has not been as in-
volved as it should be,"
Lieberman said. "Your
presence here today gives me
encouragement, and it sends
the message that this is an
open and free system — but it
only works if people get
organized, if they petition
their government?'
The group already had ab-
sorbed that message; current-
ly, plans are in the works for
a new Washington-based In-
stitute for Public Affairs
(IPA).
"Obviously, the purpose of
this would be to present the
Orthodox viewpoint on issues
of concern to the Jewish corn-
munity," said Jerry Gon-
townik, vice-chairman of IPA.
"This will range from
issues like Israel and Soviet
Jewry, where the Orthodox
community may not stake out
a position different from the
other Jewish organizations, to
issues like Sabbath obser-
vance and kosher foods,
where the other Jewish
groups do not take the lead."
The group stresses that it
will have a broader agenda
than Agudath Israel of Am-
erica, the Orthodox group
that last year opened a
Washington office.
"I think Agudah's presence
in Washington was one factor
in the decision to go. ahead
with this project," said. one
Orthodox Union official. "We
have a somewhat different
point on some issues; we
represent a much larger,
broader constituency. So why
shouldn't we be down in
Washington, making our
views known to the people
there?"
Administration
Wants To Renew
Arms Lease''
Some things in Washington
have a certain aspect of in-
evitability to them: the
cherry blossoms, city govern-
ment scandals andperiodic
squabbles over arms sales to
Arab nations.
In the last category, there is
evidence that another fight is
shaping up over Stinger
missiles, the sophisticated,
shoulder-fired anti-aircraft
missiles that worry anti-
terrorism specialists because
of their portability.
In 1987, the Reagan ad-
ministration compromised on
the sale of Stingers to
Bahrain by shipping the
missiles under a unique
"lease" agreement.
In June, that lease will ex-
pire; unless it is extended, the
Stingers will find their way
back to the United States.
The Bush administration is
sending clear signals that it
would like to see the lease
renewed, and Israel's sup-
porters in the Capitol are
working actively to develop a
strategy for dealing with the
sale.