Affording the best is not the
question...finding the best is.
Democrats
Go Local
A first . . .
Apartment living in a
Skilled Nursing Facility
For the discriminating person
requiring an elegant environment
Bortz
Health Care
Family owned and operated for over 33 years
Medicare approved
CALL
363-4121
For our limousine to pick you up for a personal tour of our facility.
6470 Alden Drive, Orchard Lake
The Jewish Community Center
Cultural Arts Department
presents
the
Tommy Dorsey
Orchestra
May 8th 8:30 p.m.
THE DE TRO IT JEWISH NEWS
Dance to
58
Buddy Morrow, Conductor of
the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra
Admission: $20.00
Jewish Community Center
Maple/Drake Building
For further information call 661-1000, ext. 293
The National Jewish Democ-
ratic Council, which made its
debut in big-time politics in
the 1992 presidential contest,
is nowflexing its muscles in a
Texas primary. The battle
centers on the Senate seat va-
cated by Treasury Secretary
Lloyd Bentsen. The Christian
Right has made the contest a
major test of strength, and
it's a fight the White House
can't lose since it needs every
Democratic vote it can get in
the Senate. NJDC has mobi-
lized its Texas network to
help Sen. Bob Krueger, who
was appointed to fill Mr. Ben-
sten's seat until the special
nonpartisan election on May
1.
The election, which will
have a fairly long list of can-
didates, will be followed by a
June runoff between the top
contenders. It will give NJDC
a chance to show what it can
do at the state level, said
Steve Gutow, NJDC's exec-
utive director in Washington
— and an old hand at Texas
politics. "Krueger," he said,
"does not have a big grass
roots network. We do: It's a
chance for us to demonstrate
to the party how we can be
helpful when involved at the
state level." The fact that sev-
eral top GOP candidates are
strongly identified with the
Christian Right, he said,
makes the race one more
front in the intensifying bat-
tle for control of the GOP.
Religious
Freedom Update
There's never a dull moment
for backers of the Religious
Freedom Restoration Act, the
problem-plagued legislation
designed to reverse the 1990
Supreme Court decision in
the so-called peyote case.In
the frantic days before Con-
gress' spring recess, the bill's
momentum stalled as the Bu-
reau of Prisons indicated it
was worried that the mea-
sure would force penal insti-
tutions to provide special
privileges to religious in-
mates.
That's a particularly deli-
cate issue because many re-
ligious groups — including
some Jewish ones — have
long argued against restric-
tions that make it difficult for
prisoners to fulfill their var-
ious religious obligations. But
the religious liberties coali-
tion wanted to avoid any
changes to the bill, which was
carefully crafted to attract
the support of groups with
very different perspectives.
The object was to quickly
pass a bill without opening
up any new cans of worms.
That goal became a little
more reachable during the
congressional recess. Then,
Attorney General Janet Reno
reviewed the prison bureau's
concerns and ruled that the
Justice Department would ac-
tively support the religious
liberties measure as-is.
House backers of the bill hope
to soon bring it to the floor
under suspension, which
means that no amendments
will be allowed. The Senate
Judiciary Committee has
scheduled a markup for April
22. ❑
Rockets Land
In Israel
Tel Aviv (JTA) — In the
latest round of clashes bet-
ween Israeli and guerrilla
forces in southern Lebanon,
several Katyusha rockets
were fired into northern
Israel from Lebanon, caus-
ing no casualties or
damages.
Israeli military sources
said they presumed the at-
tack came from the Shi'ite
Iranian-backed Hezbollah
organization, which claimed
responsibility for a bombing
earlier that killed three
Israeli soldiers on patrol in
the south Lebanon security
zone.
The rocket attack was
thought to be a response to
Israeli bombardment of
Hezbollah bases in retalia-
tion for the earlier bombing.
As soldiers scoured the
western Galilee to pinpoint
exactly where a round of
rockets landed, another
Katyusha salvo was fired,
with rockets landing in the
eastern sector of the security
zone.
No damage was caused in
the second attack either.
Although military sources
said Hezbollah was the
primary suspect behind the
launchings, it was also
thought possible that the
rockets were fired near
Sidon by Palestinian or
Shi'ite guerrillas interested
in proving to local residents
that Hezbollah is not the
only group engaged in the
struggle against Israel.
Israeli and allied South -(
Lebanon Army gunners
again responded by heavy
artillery and mortar bar-
rages against suspected
targets north of the security
zone.
(