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111

AIPAC Gains
A Lobbyist

ig changes are in the works
for the government's entire
foreign aid bureaucracy —
and the American Israel
Public Affairs Committee
(AIPAC), the central address for
pro-Israel lobbying, has positioned
itself to protect Israel's interests
as the process unfolds.
Recently, the group hired
Steve Abrams, a longtime Capi-
tol Hill staffer, as a senior lobby-
ist.
Mr. Abrams' last assignment
was with the House Interna-
tional Relations Committee. The
committee's chair, Rep. Ben
Gilman, R-N.Y., has been a ma-
jor force behind the effort to over-
haul the aid system; Mr. Abrams
has become one of Capitol Hill's
acknowledged experts on the
subject.
Mr. Abrams' resume includes
stints at the Agriculture De-
partment, where he was respon-
sible for food and consumer
services, and as congressional li-

Rep. Ben Gilman

aison officer for the Agency for
International Development
(AID).
Mr. Abrams also served as a
city councilman in Rockville, Md.,
a Washington suburb, and cur-
rently serves on the country's
board of education.

❑

Helsinki Anniversary
Is A Quiet One

I

n a year of important an- letter to President Bill Clinton
niversaries, the 20th an- reminding him of the important
niversary of the signing of the anniversary.
Helsinki Final Act is passing
The accord, Mr. Levin said, fo-
almost unnoticed, except for a cused on three areas in the
quiet ceremony in that city bring- West's dealings with the former
ing together representatives of Soviet Union — security issues,
the 50 participating nations.
economics and human rights.
But for many thousands of
"But it backfired on the Sovi-
Jews in the former Soviet Union, ets, who supported it," Mr. Levin
the 1975 accord was a major said. "Over the years, the human
turning point in their march to- rights component of Helsinki pre-
wards freedom.
dominated. And it became a vi-
"It was a very significant fac- tal instrument in the dramatic
tor in changing the status of So- changes that took place through-
viet Jews, and it remains a out Eastern Europe and the for-
significant factor now that they mer Soviet Union."
are part of the struggle to create
Former President Gerald
a genuine democracy," said Mark Ford, who occupied the Oval Of-
Levin, executive director of the fice when the agreement was
National Conference on Soviet signed, represented this country
Jewry, which this week sent a at the Helsinki ceremonies.

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BBW Downsizing,
Changes Name

D

ownsizing continues to cut
a wide swath through pri-
vate companies and gov-
ernment agencies. And
Jewish organizations are not im-
mune from the epidemic of per-
sonnel and budget cuts.
Recently, B'nai B'rith Women,
the 57,000-member organization

that has been breaking away
from its parent organization for
the past five years, laid off 13
workers in Washington and in
its regional offices — almost one-
third of its staff.
The move was necessary to
wipe out a continuing budget
deficit, said the group's new ex-