I INSIDE WASHINGTON
JAMES D. BESSER
Washington Correspondent
--
ast Thursday, the Sen-
ate passed the State
Department supple-
mental authorization bill
that includes $400 million in
loan guarantees for new hous-
ing for Soviet emigres in
Israel, as well as $70 million
to replenish depleted ac-
counts for U.S. refugee
programs.
But last week's Senate vie-
tory is only part of the
tangled parliamentary
story. Still ahead is the
critical appropriations bill
that will actually allocate
the money for a wide range
of foreign aid programs for
the current fiscal year.
And there is speculation
that Sen. Robert Dole (R-
Kerns whose proposals for
a sizable cut in foreign aid to
Israel recently ignited a bar-
rage of controversy, might
use the appropriations
debate to attach conditions
to the $400 million in loan
guarantees.
In a reversal of normal
congressional procedure, the
Senate passed an authoriza-
tion bill before the House,
which is still working on its
version
The bill has also been
slowed down by a feud bet-
ween Sen. Robert C. Byrd
(D-W. V&) and Sen. George
Mitchell (D-Maine) over the
Robert C. Byrd:
Feuding with Mitchell.
clean air bill and by con-
troversies over money ap-
propriated to various Cen-
tral American nations.
The loan guarantees to
Israel have provoked almost
no visible opposition — but
they are still hostage to the
other components of the bill.
The Senate version of the
authorization bill already
contains a provision that
some pro-Israel groups are
not pleased with — but
which others see as a recog-
nition of the realities in
Israel.
Sen. Rudy Boschwitz (R-
Minn.) successfully added an
amendment in committee
that would allow the ad-
ministration to ask some
Pro-Israel Legislators
Defuse Savage Bombs
In case anybody was
wondering about where Rep.
Gus Savage (Din) would
strike next in his battle with
pro-Israel forces, the con-
troversial legislator dropped
two bombs in the House last
week.
But both turned out to be
duds as pro-Israel legislators
employed some fancy
parliamentary defusing
techniques to deny Savage
the chance to get into a noisy
tussle over Israel.
The issue involved two
Savage amendments to the
supplemental State
Department appropriations
bill wending its way through
the House. One amendment
would have killed the $400
million in loan guarantees to
help settle Soviet Jews in
Israel; the other would have
knocked out an additional $5
million grant to help reset-
tlement in Israel.
There never was any
danger that Savage's
amendments would garner
significant support. But
there was concern that the
Illinois legislator would use
the debate to escalate his
rhetorical battle against the
pro-Israel lobby.
One key player in the
drama described what
happened next. "I thought it
would be a good idea not to
have these amendments
debated, not to give them the
attention that Savage want-
ed," said Rep. Chuck
Schumer (D-N.Y.). "So we
just called for a vote."
Savage could muster only
one vote in addition to his
own — that of Rep. George
Crockett (D-Mich.).
Some pro-Israel activists
saw a silver lining in Sav-
age's attack. "It helps to de-
legitimize the critics of for-
eign aid to Israel," said one
lobbyist in Israel's cause. "It
makes it harder for legis-
lators to say that they really
support Israel, but think aid
should be cut."
probing questions about
Israel's troubled housing
sector.
"There is a widespread
feeling that the housing sec-
tor in Israel is very ineffi-
cient," said one Capitol Hill
staffer who has been follow-
ing the bill. "If you have
U.S. loan guarantees going
into the system, it's only ap-
propriate that we have the
ability to have some input
into how that system func-
tions."
Boschwitz's office stressed
that the amendment does
not attach "conditions" to
the aid, but merely gives the
administration flexibility in
seeing that the loan guar-
antees promote the efficien-
cy and privatization of the
housing sector.
For Jewish activists, the
supplemental appropriation
— including the loan guar-
antees for Israel and the $70
million to continue refugee
programs in this country —
are no small matter.
Bigots Blast
Hate Bill
Jewish organizations were
congratulating each other
over last week's final
passage of the Hate Crimes
Statistics bill. But at least
one group in Washington
saw the bill's passage as an-
other sign of a dark anti-
Christian conspiracy.
The White Aryan
Resistance (WAR) organiza-
tion maintains a Washing-
ton telephone line providing
taped messages ostensibly
aimed at legislators and
other government officials.
The tone of the messages
leaves little doubt where the
California-based group
stands.
'Well, all you cretins got
your anti-white hate
registry law passed, the Jew
law, another nail in the
coffin of white America,"
said Tom Metzger in last
week's taped message. "Now
all you putrid politicians
that grovel before the
sinister Jew-power take
notice: one day the worm
will turn."
Metzger went on to blast
the American Israel Public
Affairs Committee (AIPAC)
and "the Jew-Masonic ADL
of the B'nai B'rith."
Metzger's opinions ob-
viously won not a shred of
sympathy on Capitol Hill,
where the House accepted
the Senate version.
The only controversy left
involves which Jewish
groups will be invited to the
bill's signing.
Barney Frank May Be
Staging A Comeback
Barney Frank:
A positive impact.
There are growing indica-
tions that Rep. Barney
Frank (D-Mass.) is staging a
political comeback after last
year's allegations involving
a male prostitute.
And his apparent res-
urgence may have a positive
impact on the Jewish do-
mestic agenda; in recent
weeks, Frank has been a
leading figure in attempting
to negotiate a "peace divi-
dend" for domestic programs
as the Cold War winds down.
Recently, Frank held a
low-budget fund-raiser on
Capitol Hill, which was well-
attended by Jewish activists
and top Capitol Hill profes-
sionals.
"A turnout like this from
these types of people in-
dicates beyond a shadow of a
doubt that Barney is back,"
said Jeremy Rabinovitz,
administrative assistant to
Rep. Stephen Solarz (D-N.Y.)
and a close observer of the
Jewish political scene.
"That's good news for the
Democratic party, bad news
for the right wing and cer-
tainly good news for the
Jewish community."
Last week, a potential
challenger was making the
rounds of pro-Israel groups
in Washington, prospecting
for support; Jim Nuzzo, a
Boston doctor, is a conser-
vative Republican who
thinks Frank is vulnerable.
Wolf Blitzer Leaves
Jewish Journalism
Wolf Blitzer, a veteran
Washington reporter for The
Jerusalem Post and Anglo-
Jewish newspapers in-
cluding The Jewish News
will soon become a fixture
on television screens across
the nation.
Blitzer, who has served as
Washington bureau chief for
the Post since 1973, will
become an on-the-air
reporter for the Cable News
Network. In his new posi-
tion, the Buffalo, N.Y., na-
tive will cover stories on a
.wide range of topics — not
just the Middle East and di-
plomacy, which have been
his primary focus for almost
20 years. He will continue to
be based in Washington.
"It's a change of scenery,"
Blitzer said. "I've been doing
the same issues for a long
time, and I'm excited about
the possibility of doing new
stories."
Blitzer admitted to some
anxiety about the leap from
print to video journalism.
"While I've been on televi-
sion a lot, it has always been
as a guest, because of some
expertise I've had; now it
will be as a broadcast jour-
nalist, writing, doing scripts,
interviewing on the air,"
Blitzer said. "There are a
variety of new techniques I
Wolf Blitzer:
To CNN post.
will have to learn to feel
comfortable with."
Blitzer is the author of
Territory of Lies, last year's
critically acclaimed account
of the Jonathan Pollard af-
fair. Pollard, an American,
was convicted of spying for
Israel.
Blitzer has also written
Between Washington and
Jerusalem: A Reporter's
Notebook, a book about his
experiences as a Washington
correspondent for an Israeli
newspaper.
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS 35
ATI O N A I
>
Provisos Hamper Israel
Loan Guarantee Bill