INSIDE WASHINGTON

Soviet Jewry Activists In D.C.
Want Extension Of Deadline

•

JAMES D.BESSER

Washington Correspondent

ewish groups here con-
tinue the delicate pro-
cess of responding to
new administration policies
on the admission of Soviet
Jews to this country.
"We have a big job to do in
terms of educating people
about all these changes,"
said Shoshana Cardin,
chairman of the National
Conference on Soviet Jewry,
at the conclusion of NCSJ's
Leadership Assembly last
week.
Despite a grudging accep-
tance of the fact that refugee
ceilings are not likely to be
raised, Soviet Jewry ac-
tivists are expressing con-
cerns that the new pro-
cedures will not be ready to
be implemented by Oct. 1,
the start of the new fiscal
year.
Some of the proposed
changes include processing
visas in Moscow no longer
allowing those traveling on
Israeli visas to use them to
enter the United States.
Last week, 11 senators cir-
culated a letter urging the

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administration to postpone
the deadline — an effort
most observers expect to fail.
Action continued on a
number of other fronts. Last
week, Canada's minister of

Shoshana Cardin:
"Big job to do."

immigration was in town,
talking about the idea of
"burden sharing" under
which Canada, • as well as
countries like Australia,
would encourage some
Soviet Jews to come to their
countries.
Sen. Howard Metzenbaum,
D-Ohio, was informally

floating a proposal to de-
velop a loan program to help
finance applicants for un-
funded refugee slots, and
Rep. Chuck Schumer,
D-N.Y., was talking about
provisions that would allow
Soviet Jews who can afford
to pay their own way to
enter the United States as
refugees.
Last week, a bill by Sen.
Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J.,
that would facilitate the
granting of refugee status
for Soviet Jews and Viet-
namese was successfully
attached to the foreign
operations bill. The amend-
ment also contained re-
quirements for a com-
prehensive study by the
Comptroller General on the
new procedures.

And last week, the Voice of
America began letting
Soviet Jews know the details
of the new procedures — or
at least those details that
have been worked out.

"We're trying to present
the most up- to- date • infor-
mation," said a VOA
spokesman. "This is ob-
viously very important to
people who hope to leave."

Federation Says HUD
Formulas Are Outdated

tau

Fashion
in
Action

THE
STUDIO

SOUTHFIELD
Applegate Square
Northwestern at Inkster
356.6848

BIRMINGHAM
351 S. Woodward Ave.
540-0418

28 FRIDAY, OCTOBER 6, 1989

The mushrooming scandal
at the Department of Hous-
ing and Development (HUD)
is taking its toll on the
Jewish elderly.
B'nai B'rith International
and several federations are
working to shake loose funds
slated for Section 202 hous-
ing programs for the low-
income elderly. Both groups
use money from the program
to build subsidized housing.
"Because of the investiga-
tions at HUD, everything is
being slowed down," said
Susan Banes Harris,
Washington representative
for the New York federa-
tions. "And because of
efforts at cost containment,
they're still looking at the
building costs of many years
ago. And their fair-market
rent formulas make it less
attractive for non-profit
groups to get involved."

Harris and representatives
of B'nai B'rith are working
to attach language to the
HUD appropriations bill
that would free up some of
the money and update the

rent formulas. They are get-
ting a boost from Sen. Bar-
bara Mikulski, D-Md., Rep.
Bill Green, R-N.Y. and Rep.
Chuck Schumer, D-N. Y.
"In some of these projects,

we have waiting lists that
are eight times our
capacities," Harris said.
"This HUD scandal has
come at a very bad time for
us."

Jewish Elderly Sound Off
On Catastrophic Care

Former presidential con-
_ tender Bruce Babbitt called
it "the gift that blew up
under the Christmas tree."
Jewish activists here may
not appreciate Babbitt's
religious allusions, but they
agree that last year's
catastrophic health in-
surance bill has produced
one of the most explosive
reactions from constituents
in recent memory.
The program provides
benefits for some 33 million
elderly and disabled
Medicare recipients. But el-
derly taxpayers were • stung
when they discovered the ex-
tent of the new surtax that
funded the program.

"We heard from our
members in droves," said
the Washington represen-
tative of one major Jewish
organization. "It really put
us on the spot; we feel
strongly that this is a
critically important pro-
gram, and we recognize the
realities that the money has
to come from somewhere.
But we also have sympathy
for our members, who are
really worked up about this
surtax."
House and Senate offices
heard from constituents in
record numbers. Currently,
Congress is wrestling with
several proposals to alter the
plan.

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