I INSIDE WASHINGTON I-

NEW
MOTHERPTODDLER
PROGRAMS

Beginning at Tyler-Tyndal Preschool
Located in Norup Middle School - Oak Park, MI
(Berkley School District)

Bush Administration Working
To Ease Backlog Of Refugees

Welcoming
Teacher Susie Katkowsky

JAMES D. BESSER

Washington Correspondent

Master's Degree in Early Childhood
Plus ZA Endorsement in Childhood Development

I

Continuing in our 16th Year.
A Developmentally Based Preschool Program
A.M., P.M., & Full Days

For Further Information and Application Call

543-5373 or 542-8176

Heating and

Air Conditioning

24 HOUR EMERGENCY DISPATCH

Serving the Tri-County Area

Specializing in Preventive Maintenance
FREE ESTIMATES • 642.4555 • 335.4555

$38

Expires 8/25/89 JN

WITH COUPON
INCLUDES
10 POINT
CHECK

10%
DISCOUNT
ON ALL
SERVICE
CALLS

WITH THIS COUPON. EXPIRES 8/25/89

.

JN

I Know I Am The Best I Can Be . .
One Of A Kind Designer Clothing As
Individual As You Are —
Catch The Feeling.
Come See This Wonderful Experience.

Rep. Lantos:
Against membership.

Inside

31409 Southfield Road

Emile Salon

642-3315

The Bright Idea:

Give a Gift Subscription

30

FRIDAY, AUGUST 18, 1989

THE JEWISH NEWS

Jews waiting for Immigration
and Naturalization Service
approval. There are reports
that many Soviet Jews who
have been denied refugee
status once are delaying reap-
plication in anticipation of
White House action — or, fail-
ing that, the passage of the
Morrison-Lautenberg bill.
"It is a good example of how
the political debate here in
Washington has far-reaching
repercussiohs," said one top
Soviet Jewry activist. "Some
groups are encouraging Soviet
Jews not to reiapply. But this
increases the financial burden
for Jewish organizations, who
are maintaining these people
in Rome. So it's becoming a
very complex and very sen-
sitive situation."

I

•

Lantos Opposes PLO
Bid For Tourism

Rep. 'Ibm Lantos, D-Calif.
has been a busy man in recent
weeks. As chairman of the
House Government Opera-
tions • Subcommittee on
Employment and Housing,
Lantos is a key figure in the
congressional investigation in-
to the Reagan-era scandal at
the Department of Housing
and Urban Development, and
sponsor of a measure to
outlaw the use of federal
money to pay consultants who
attempt to influence Congress.

RESIDENTIAL COMMERCIAL

FURNACE
CLEANING
SPECIAL

s the administration
quietly moving toward a
resolution of the problem
of refugee status denials for
Soviet Jews attempting to
enter the United States?
Administration officials are
reportedly readying a plan
that would ease the backlog in
Rome and Moscow, while not
going as far as measures
recently passed by the House
and Senate.
The issue involves Congres-
sional attempts to reverse new
administration procedures
which make it harder for
Soviet Jews to gain refugee
status. The House and Senate

bills, sponsored by Rep. Bruce
Morrison, D-Conn., and Sen.
Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J.,
have significant differences;
barring administration action,
a final version will be worked
out in conference next month.
The administration is con-
cerned about the budgetary
impact of the bills, since
refugee status entails more
federal support for those
entering this country.
But the debate is also part
of a ferocious turf battle bet-
ween the administration and
Congress over the respective
functions of each in setting
refugee policy.
The debate is taking place
against the backdrop of a
growing backlog of Soviet

Now Lantos, backed by
Jewish groups like B'nai
B'rith International, has turn-
ed his sights on the Palestine
Liberation Organization. Lan-
tos, the only Holocaust sur-
vivor in the House, has
authored a letter urging the
administration to press for re-
jection of the PLO's request

for membership in the World
Iburism Organization (WTO).
"What this represents is
another case of the PLO try-
ing to incrementally build its
international legitimacy," said
Dan Mariaschin, director of
public affairs for B'nai B'rith.
Mariaschin suggested that
PLO strategists chose the
obscure tourist agency
because the U.S. contribution

4

to its budget is only 4 percent
— a fact that may make it
easier for the organization to
buck pressure from
Washington.
B'nai B'rith is mobilizing its
international network to put
pressure on foreign govern-
ments to reject the PLO
application.
Currently, the Lantos letter
has more than 50 co-signers.

1

10

4

•

40-

4

Lee Atwater:
Born Again For Israel?

Republican National Chair-
man Lee Atwater, the consum-
mate political hardball player,
is apparently a pushover for
Israel.
In a meeting with the
Jewish press after his first trip
to Israel, Atwater revealed
that his first taste of gefilte
fish was accompanied by a
dash of his trademark Tabasco
sauce. He also indicated his
surprise at finding
knowledgeable rhythm and
blues musicians for a
Jerusalem jam session.
On a more serious note, At-
water termed his visit a "max-
imum impact trip." He also
announced a major new
Republican outreach effort in
the Jewish community.
Atwater, who learned his
way around Jerusalem by jog-
ging, said that his visit gave
him a new appreciation of
Israel's precarious geography.
"When you're over there, it
becomes so clear how fragile
Israel's geography is," he said.

He was also impressed with
the "absolute smorgasbord of
opinion over there" on the
question of talking to the
Palestine Liberation
Organization.
Atwater recommended that
Jewish groups send more U.S.
officials to Israel as a way of
conveying Israel's special
geopolitical problems.
During the week-long visit,
Atwater and his entourage
also visited Yad Vashem,
Masada, the West Bank and
an absorption center for
Ethiopian Jews
Atwater and his wife were
accompanied by a handful of
Jewish GOP luminaries, in-
cluding longtime Bush sup-
porter Gordie Zacks, Howard
Kohr, director of executive
branch relations for the
American Israel Public Af-
fairs Committee, Marshall
Breger, chairman of the Ad-
ministrative Conference, and
Ben Waldman of the National
Jewish Coalition.

4

•

ar.

