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INSIDE WASHINGTON

JAMES D. BESSER

Washington Correspondent

Briefs Filed In Key
Abortion Rights Cases

Debate Over Sanctions
Against Iraq Continues

T

he gap appears to be
growing between
Congress and the ad-
ministration over the best
way to deal with Iraq's
bellicose leader, Saddam
Hussein.
Last week, the House and
Senate passed separate mea-
sures imposing economic
sanctions on the Baghdad
government. Various sanc-
tion measures had been in
the hopper for several years,
but action had been delayed
— in part because of heavy
lobbying against sanctions
by agricultural interests in
this country, in part because
of the administration's
steadfast opposition.
But Mr. Hussein's recent
bludgeoning of Kuwait in an
OPEC pricing squabble ap-

parently tipped the congres-
sional balance in favor of
sanctions.

And congressional strate-
gists, led by Sen. Alfonse
D'Amato (R-N.Y.) in the
Senate and Rep. Dan
Glickman (D-Kan.) and Rep.
Howard Berman (D-Calif.) in
the House attached the mea-
sure to the farm bill —
legislation at the top of the
administration's current
wish list.
Strong input from the Jew-
ish community was said to
be a factor in the decision of
several key senators to sup-
port the bill — including
Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.),
who had argued earlier
against immediate sanc-
tions.

/

/

Saddam Hussein: Tipped the bal-
ance.

But there was word that
the administration remain-
ed opposed to sanctions be-
cause of concerns that Iraq is
emerging as the dominant
power in OPEC — this coun-
try's oil lifeline.

Jews Honor Retiring
Justice For Opinions

Retiring Supreme Court
Justice William J. Brennan
continued to receive the ac-
colades of Jewish groups for
his long series of major deci-
sions supporting individual
rights and the rights of
minorities.
But it was Justice
Brennan's passionate dis-
sent in Goldman v.
Weinberger, the case that
spawned the so-called

Brennan wrote that "a yar-
mulke worn with a United
States military uniform is
an eloquent reminder that
the shared and proud identi-
ty of United States ser-
vicemen embraces and
unites religious and ethnic
pluralism."
As a result of the decision,
Congress hammered out a
measure guaranteeing the
right to wear appropriate re-
ligious apparel.
Rep. Stephen Solarz
(D-N.Y.), who spearheaded
the drive for a legislative
remedy to the decision and
later protected the legisla-
tion from a rear-guard at-
tack by opponents, marked
Justice Brennan's dissent by
presenting the judge with a
camouflage yarmulke.
In a humorous exchange of
letters, Justice Brennan

revealed that he once wore
the yarmulke in chambers —
and forgot to remove it when
he left.
Later, the judge was asked
about the case during a trip
to Israel. The feisty justice
immediately pulled out Mr.
Solarz's yarmulke —
delighting his dinner com-
panions and, later, Mr.
Solarz.
Last week, the con-
gressman added his voice to
the chorus praising the retir-
ing justice.
"Justice Brennan's depar-
ture from the court is a loss,
not only for the Jewish
community, but for all
Americans who cherish the
fundamental rights of re-
ligious liberty, freedom of
speech and ethnic
pluralism," said Mr. Solarz.

B'nai B'rith Protests
Book's Handling Of Jews

Justice William J. Brennan: Kept
his yarmukle.

"yarmulke bill," that earned
him a particularly warm
spot in the hearts of many
Jewish activists here.
In 1986, the Court ruled
that the Air Force was not
required to accommodate the
religious practices of an Or-
thodox Jew who wanted to
wear a kippah while on duty.
In his dissent, Justice

Dan Mariaschin, B'nai
B'rith's fast-moving director
of international and public
affairs, was an angry man
last week.
The object of Mr.
Mariaschin's ire was a book
called Earth Facts, billed as
"the ultimate quick refer-
ence of the Earth."
Mr. Mariaschin en-
countered the book in An-
napolis, Md., during a quick
trip to The Nature Com-
pany, one of a chain of tren-
dy shops catering to the en-

vironmentally conscious.
But Earth Facts, in Mr.
Mariaschin's opinion,
offered some "facts" with
distinctly anti-Semitic over-
tones.
In a section on refugees,
Palestinian refugees were
dubbed "the world's cons-
cience." In pages of statistics
about the nations of the
world, Israel's name was
conspicuously absent. The
Arab-Israeli conflict was
dealt with in several
sentences.

Almost lost in the clamor
over President George
Bush's appointment of New
Hampshire Judge David
Souter to the Supreme Court
was last week's filing of
briefs in an important abor-
tion rights case.
And despite strong support
for the pro-choice position by
a number of Jewish groups,
the issue ignited a storm of
controversy because of the
position taken by the
nation's largest Orthodox
group.
Briefs were due last week
in Rust v. Sullivan and New
York v. Sullivan — cases
that will test the so-called
"gag rule" that prohibits
family planning agencies
that receive federal funds
from disseminating informa-
tion about abortion.
The regulation was impos-
ed by the Department of
Health and Human Services
in 1988.
Abortion rights groups are
keen on these cases because
they involve basic First
Amendment rights — the
right to disseminate medical
information — as well as the
thornier question of abortion
rights.
"This is a pretty easy case
for most Jewish groups,"
said one official with a major
Jewish organization.
"Jewish groups, in addition
to being basically pro-choice,
feel very strongly about
First Amendment protec-
tions."
The National Jewish
Community Relations Ad-
visory Council (NJCRAC)
contacted member agencies
about signing on to a major
pro-choice brief. Twelve of

the umbrella organization's
13 major members immedi-
ately agreed, and there were
indications that most of the
group's 117 local agencies
also supported the brief.
But the Union of Orthodox
Jewish Congregations of
America (Oh) dissented.
More to the point, the OU,
which has sought a higher
political profile in the past
year, vetoed NJCRAC's par-
ticipation in the brief —
despite some inducements
intended to make it easier
for the Orthodox group to
sign on.
According to OU sources,
there was concern that any
acquiescence on the question
of the brief might be taken
by members and by others
within the Orthodox com-
munity as support for the
pro-choice position.
In particular, the OU was
apparently concerned about
criticism from their right; in
the past year, discord has
grown between the OU and
Agudath Israel of America
over major domestic issues
like abortion.
"I was disappointed that
the OU did not consider the
option of dissenting from the
brief and including that dis-
sent in the statement of in-
terest, but instead decided to
veto NJCRAC's participa-
tion," said NJCRAC's assis-
tant director, Diana Aviv.
"They thereby exercised
control over 117 community
agencies that are over-
whelmingly pro-choice. I
fear that this will generate a
lot of resentment in our
community; there is a lot of
anger about what the OU
did."

Budget Limbo Hangs Up
Jewish Lobby Activity

As the White House and
Congress continued to jab at
each other in the so-called
"budget summit," there are
growing indications that the
federal deficit, and the wors-
ening state of the American
economy, may become the
overriding issues of 1990.
And a wide range of • pro-
grams important to Jewish
activists are hanging in the
balance.
"It's very difficult to
plan," said Ellen Witman of
the Council of Jewish Fed-
erations Washington Action
Office. Ms. Witman has been
a key figure in issues involv-
ing refugee admissions to

this country — primarily for
Soviet Jews.
"It's a difficult time; you
don't really know what to
work on because so much of
the funding is up in the air."
Ms. Witman pointed out
that the House and Senate
are operating under very
different assumptions about
the upcoming budget, a fact
that could affect both foreign
aid and the money budgeted
to help Soviet Jews.
And the state of budgetary
limbo is affecting congres-
sional action on a wide range
of domestic legislation that
Jewish activists have put at
the top of their agendas. ❑

THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

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