INSIDE WASHINGTON
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Funding Shortfall For Refugees
Spurs Activists For Soviet Jews
JAMES D. BESSER
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Washington. Correspondent
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FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 1990
he battle of the budget
has opened on Capitol
Hill. And while many
Jewish activists are absorb-
ed by the effort to preserve
current levels of foreign aid
to Israel, others are involved
in a quieter but critical
effort to fund important pro-
grams affecting Soviet Jews
who come to this country.
At issue is the fact that the
State Department will need
a supplemental appropria-
tion for refugee admissions
for the current fiscal year
because of a $55 million
shortfall — no surprise to
anybody in the Soviet Jewry
community. The shortfall
was caused by the surge in
immigration from several
world hot spots — including
the Soviet Union — and by
the need to repay other pro-
grams for money
"borrowed" to meet earlier
shortfalls.
The real question, accor-
ding to Soviet Jewry ac-
tivists here, is whether the
administration can be con-
vinced to request the sup-
plemental appropriation —
or whether the impetus will
have to come from Congress.
The question is not a
trivial one; if the ad-
ministration requests the
appropriation, Congress
does not necessarily have to
provide "offsets" by pulling
money out of other pro-
grams. Without an ad-
ministration request, Con-
gress will be forced to find
other programs that can be
raided, a politically uncom-
fortable process.
Currently, Jewish groups
here are quietly urging the
administration to request
the appropriation. But
Richard G. Darman, the
Bush administration's
budget director and the key
figure in the emerging
Battle of the Budget, is ap-
parently lobbying hard
against an administration
request.
And some cooperative
legislators are considering
tacking the supplemental on
to the bill providing
emergency aid to Panama.
"If we don't do that, it
could be late spring before
we get a supplemental," said
one Soviet Jewry activist
here. "In practical terms,
that could mean that we
might be forced to stop pro-
cessing people. More people
could be stuck in Rome or
Moscow. Or HIAS (the Heb-
rew Immigrant Aid Society)
might not get reimbursed,
which means they'll be
significantly in the hole."
The shortfall does not af-
fect just Soviet Jews; all
groups that have worked out
arrangements with the fed-
eral government to share the
costs of resettlement would
be affected by the financial
crisis.
Jewish Activists Back
Abortion Drug Testing
Buried in the avalanche of
bills competing for the at-
tention of the newly return-
ed Congress is one measure
that could change the
dimensions of the ferocious
struggle over abortion
rights.
And Jewish groups are
working behind the scenes to
help ease the measure along.
The issue involves RU486,
the French drug that ap-
parently provides a safe,
non-surgical alternative to
abortion. But drug com-
panies have been unwilling
to put the substance through
its paces for approval in this
country — a refusal some
pro-choice activists see as po-
litically motivated.
Nor has the Food and Drug
Administration (FDA),
under strong pressure from
conservatives within the
administration, shown much
of an inclination to promote
testing of the new drug.
As a result, Rep. Pat
Schroeder, D-Colo.,has in-
troduced a bill to develop a
center for contraception and
infertility research at the
National Institutes of
Health. One function of the
center would be to begin
research on the safety and
effectiveness of RU486.
Several Jewish groups are
playing a quiet but active
role in the legislative effort.
Last month, the National
Council of Jewish Women
endorsed measures to speed
up the development and
testing of RU486 in this
country.
"This research is badly
needed," said Sammie
Moshenberg, Washington
representative for the Na-
tional Council of Jewish
Women. A recent NCJW
position statement called on
drug companies to test
RU486. "It's obvious that
one of the most effective
ways of avoiding abortion is
to avoid pregnancies."
Lonsdale Is Hoping
To Unseat Sen. Hatfield
Once again, pro-Israel ac-
tivists are casting about for
possible candidates to
unseat longtime Senate
warrior Mark Hatfield, R-
Ore., a frequent adversary of
the pro-Israel lobby.
Currently, some of Israel's
supporters in the political
realm are talking up the
possible candidacy of Harry
Lonsdale, a long-shot Dem-
ocratic hopeful with some in-
teresting connections to the
Jewish state.
According to activists
here, Lonsdale, who is not
Jewish, lived in Israel for six
months in the early Seven-
ties — which makes him
unique among potential
Senate candidates.
Hatfield has frequently
angered the pro-Israel
community with his posi-
tions on aid to Israel — a
debate that is certain to heat
Mark Hatfield:
Pro-Israel adversary.
up again in the next few
years as new burdens