PROFILE

Lady On The Hill

Continued from preceding page

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on Capitol Hill. Bills rarely
move in straight lines, and
the public statements of
legislators often have little to
do with the daily give-and-
take of the legislative process.
The lobbyist has to be
thoroughly tuned in to this
process in order to make the
best use of strategic
opportunities.
"Now, more than ever, you
have to be on top of the infor-
mation," Kurz said. "You
have so little time with any
single member; you have to
know how to condense so
many complex facts. It's im-
portant to know how to com-
municate in a clear and suc-
cinct way. And the strategy is
crucial; deciding what kind of
amendments should be push-
ed, knowing where you need
to do more work. The key is
knowing the right staff peo-
ple, knowing when things are
about to happen and keeping
up relationships."
Another ingredient of her
work is patience. To overload-
ed legislators, the - Middle
East is just one of a vast
assortment of controversial
issues competing for their
time; Kurz knows that it is
unrealistic to expect that
most legislators will share
her pro-Israel fervor.
She takes a pragmatic at-
titude toward members of
Congress whose knowledge of
Middle East affairs may be
limited. "The level of infor-
mation in Congress has not
kept pace with changes in the
Middle East. It's hard to com-
pete with 30-second sound
bites. But you can't afford to
write anybody off; we talk to
everyone as often as we can."
Kurz agrees that Israel's re-
cent problems have added
new layers of complexity to
the process of advocating on
Israel's behalf. Israel's sup-
port in Congress, she says, re-
mains firm; in her daily
forays to the Hill, she detects
a considerable reservoir of
sympathy for the difficult
choices Israel now faces.
But she is well aware that
Congress can be a volatile in-
stitution, subject to unex-
pected changes of direction.
"As a lobbyist, my biggest
fear is that you often don't
know what the impact of
something will be until it
happens. So much is tenuous
here."
A bigger concern for Kurz is
the rampant confusion within
the Jewish community over
Israel's predicament.
"I know there's a great deal
of anguish out there, a great
deal of concern," she said.
"That can translate up here
as disunity, as a split away
from Israel. Constituents are
not writing the way they us-

ed to, and this has an impact."
On a more immediate level,
Kurz — like lobbyists
representing a variety of
causes — is keeping close tabs
on the federal budget deficit,
and the possibility that
Gramm-Rudman-Hollings
cuts may be triggered later
this year, wreaking havoc on
the budget decisions now be-
ing made in Congress.
"Sequestration becomes im-
possible for us to deal with
because it's automatic," Kurz
said, referring to the process
of mandatory budget cuts
under the deficit-reducing
measure. "The budget process
is frustrating. But we just
keep making the argument

N

Ester Kurz:
Her work is her passion.

that the overall foreign aid
program is important; we
work to create a constituency
for foreign aid in general."
Kurz agrees that her job is
a grueling one of 11-hour days
and weekends at the office.
She insists she does not worry
about career burnout. "I en-
joy working hard," she says.
"It eats into personal time; if
I didn't have that strong at-
tachment to the issue, I
couldn't do it. It really has to
be a passion."
Some Congressional staf-
fers who have experienced
Kurz's brand of lobbying
describe her as exceptionally
smart and persuasive. "Some
lobbyists come at you with a
club," said one staffer for a
pro-Israel senator. "She has a
very rational, very low-key
approach; she understands
the give-and-take of Capitol
Hill, the fact that you still
have to work with people who
might disagree with you
about a particular issue."
Others describe her as
tough and single-minded,
qualities that are important
on capitol Hill and in a turf-
conscious organization like
AIPAC.

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