black-Jewish relationship.
"We march in consciousness
of the aid to civil rights of the
American Jewish communi-
ty," the litany read. "We pray
that our coalition of cons-
cience will be restored to
vigor."
Federations Work
To Change SSI Eligibility
Activists working for
Jewish federations are quiet-
ly pressing Congress for more
money for Supplemental
Security Income (SSI)
programs.
"We're working for minor
adjustments that still can
have a big impact on people,"
said Susan Banes Harris,
Washington representative
for the New York Federations.
"We would have liked to raise
the total amounts in the SSI
program, but it was clear that
this was politically unfeasible
this year. So it's better to
work incrementally, to work
for a number of small but im-
portant improvements."
Specifically, Harris is work-
ing for enhanced efforts to in-
form potential recipients
about the SSI program, fair
rules for judging the eligibili-
ty of recipients and elimina-
tion of inequities in accepting
disabled children into the
program.
"Some of these children
aren't disabled enough to
meet current requirements,
or have parents who make
just a little too much," Harris
said. "What we're arguing-is
that some of these children
end up in institutions, when
they could be home on SSI."
The New York Federations
interest in the issue stems
from a study by the group's
Brookdale Center on Aging,
which pointed to SSI as a ma-
jor problem for the elderly
poor — a group that includes
a growing number of Jews.
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Pro-Arab Group 'Mimed
Down By Trade Rep
The American Arab Anti-
Discrimination Committee
lost a round recently when
the group's latest request to
the U.S. Trade Representative
— the official charged with in-
vestigating the labor prac-
tices of governments seeking
favorable trade arrangements
with this country —was turn-
ed down.
In the latest chapter of the
saga, AADC asked for recon-
sideration of a ruling earlier
this year clearing Israel of
charges of labor abuses
against Palestinian workers.
The new AADC request
claimed that the in-
vestigating panel did not
follow its own rules in in-
vestigating Israel, and cited
new examples of alleged
violations of the rights of
Palestinian workers.
In a recent letter to AADC,
the trade commissioner said
that the Arab group's addi-
tional information was not
sufficiently new to warrant
reopening the case. The office
also acknowledged two
"minor" procedural errors in
its earlier consideration of the
issue.
AADC was invited to resub-
mit its petition next year — or
to sue the U.S. trade represen-
tative for procedural errors.
AADC sources indicated last
week that the group is cur-
rently reviewing its options.
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Report Shows U.S.-PLO
Dialogue Promises Little
When legislators return to
Washington next week, they
will have a surprise waiting
for them, courtesy of the
American Jewish Congress.
The group has just com-
pleted and distributed a
detailed analysis of the recent
Fatah General Congress that
offers a gloomy assessment of
the future of the U.S.-PLO
dialogue.
"What really strikes me
about the report is that it
shows a serious retreat from
Arafat's statements in
Geneva," said Mark Pelavin,
the group's assistant
Washington representative.
The report, Pelavin said, is
being distributed to key ,
members of Congress and the
administration. The AJCon-
gress has taken a cautiously
supportive view of the Tunis
dialogue.
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