INSIDE WASHINGTON
DETROIT'S
HIGHEST
RATES
Minimum Deposit of $500
12 MONTH CERTIFICATE OF DEPOSIT
8.500%
8.775%*
Effective Annual Yield*
Approval Of Major Child Care Bill
Angers Some Jewish Activists
JAMES D. BESSER,
Washington Correspondent
H
ouse Democrats are
elated over last
week's passage of a
major child care package,
but some Jewish activists
who had worked on it dis-
agreed.
"We were betrayed by the
leadership," said one angry
Jewish activist who was part
of an all-out lobbying effort
to defeat amendments allow-
ing religious institutions to
use federal money for sec-
tarian purposes. "They
wanted a child care victory
because they got whipped on
capital gains — and they
were willing to bargain
Now that the long-
rumored changes in U.S. pol-
icies for admitting Soviet
Jews are in place, Jewish ac-
tivists are working closely
with a number of legislators
to find creative ways to
finance additional Soviet
This is a fixed rate account that is insured
to S100,000 by the Savings Association In-
surance Fund (SAIF). Substantial Interest
Penalty for early withdrawal from cer-
tificate accounts. Rates subject to
change without notice.
**
Federally Insured
.
Swo,C00
A
MOUSING
ouAt
OPPORTUNITY
32
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 13, 1989
ull-Fligh
,Lthr;":
St i
*
HOURS:
MON.-THURS.
9:30-4:30
FRI.
9:30-6:00
Gephardt's letter was a
last-minute gambit to defeat
two amendments that would
have even further reduced
church-state restrictions on
the use of federal child care
money and vouchers.
Specifically, the Senate
bill includes provisions
allowing child-care vouchers
to be used for sectarian pur-
poses at day care facilities —
provisions that groups like
the American Jewish Com-
mittee insist they could not
support.
Last week's debate' was
complicated by the fact that
two separate child care mea-
sures were included in the
gigantic reconciliation bill.
The combined bill now
moves to conference, where
groups like the National
Council of Jewish Women
and the American Jewish
Committee plan a last-ditch
battle to defeat the Senate
language.
Activists Seek Funding
For Soviet Jewry Effort
Compounded Quarterly.
FIRST
SECURITY
SAVINGS
BANK FSB
MAIN OFFICE
PHONE 330700
1760 Telegraph Rd.
(Just South of Orchard lake)
352•7700
away church-state protec-
tions to get it."
The Jewish activists were
particularly angry about a
letter from majority leader
Dick Gephardt indicating
that House Democrats would
move towards church-state
language adopted by the
Senate recently as part of
their bill — a letter that,
some lobbyists argued,
smacked of a "done deal"
that would hobble the land-
mark child care bill with
questionable church-state
provisions when it goes to
House-Senate conference.
D-Ohio, is floating the idea
of a "revolving loan fund"
for all refugees that would
allow unfunded refugees to
enter this country using
loaned money, which would
then be paid back over ten
years in much the same
manner as student loans.
Rep. Stephen Solarz,
D-N.Y., is working on a
refinement of the Metzen-
baum plan, which would
offer loans for employable
adults, and provide federal
assistance for their
dependents.
In addition, pro-Israel
legislators are quietly talk-
ing about the possibility of a
supplementary aid package
to Israel for resettlement
programs — an addition to
the $25 million in the U.S.
foreign aid budget for
resettlement in Israel. All
this action comes on top of
preliminary discussions
about the $400 million in
loan guarantees requested
by Finance Minister Shimon
Peres — a request that has
already met resistance
because of the possibility
that some of the money
would be used in Jewish set-
tlements in the Occupied
Territories.
Hospital Funds Program
In Dispute Again
Howard Metzenbaum
refugees beyond the 50,000
per year limit.
At least three legislative
initiatives are in the early
stages of development. Rep.
Charles Schumer, D-N.Y.,
Rep. Howard Berman, D-
Calif., and Rep. Ben Gilman,
R-N.Y., are drafting legisla-
tion that would allow Soviet
refugees who can afford to
pay their own way to enter
the United States im-
mediately, with federal
assistance provided only for
health care.
Sen. Howard Metzenbaum,
Another dispute over
funds for the American
Schools and Hospitals
Abroad (ASHA) program has
arisen over allegations that
the program represents
pork-barrel politics on an in-
ternational scale — with
Israel the largest single
recipient.
The program, under the
auspices of the Agency for
International Development
(AID), had slated $3.5
million for the construction
of two Orthodox schools in
Israel and a teacher training
institution on the West
Bank.
But the funding was held
up by Rep. Lee Hamilton, D-
Ind. ; and Rep. David Obey,
D-Wis., who argued that
ASHA had become a
mechanism for rewarding
political friends. Because
Jewish institutions in Israel
have a large-network of in-
fluential backers in this
country, Israeli projects
have been major recipients
of ASHA funds.
Many Jewish activists
agree that the program has
been badly mismanaged.
And there are strong con-
cerns about the image
created by the use of funds
for religious institutions —
including schools that train
Orthodox rabbis. But these
same activists are concerned
that the Jewish institutions
are being singled out.