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Jewish Groups Stand
Against Welfare Reform

JAMES D. BESSER WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT

W

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(LOCATED ON THE JEWISH COMMVNITY CAMPUS)

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ith Congress in a mad

rush to pass an elec-
tion-year welfare bill,
Jewish groups are
making a last-ditch campaign
against what one harried activist
termed "the worst single piece of
legislation to come along in more
than a decade."
\Even before the Senate vote
on a bill passed by the House,
Jewish activists were turning
their attention to the White
House in an effort to convince
President Clinton to veto the bill,
which ends the federal guaran-
tee of assistance to poor children
and families.
Jewish groups object to almost
every element of the bill because
of the severity of the cuts to pro-
grams like food stamps and the
provisions turning most welfare
programs over to the states. The
welfare bill also mandates huge
cuts in services to legal immi-
grants — cuts that actually in-
creased as the measure moved
through Congress, propelled by
election-year politics.
"This isn't welfare reform, it's
just wholesale budget-cutting by
taking a vulnerable population
and denying them vital services,"
said Diana Aviv, Washington di-
rector for the Council of Jewish
Federations, a group that has
fought hard against the benefits
ban. "Of the $59 billion this bill
is supposed to save over six years,
$29 billion comes from cutting
services to legal immigrants.
Even more egregious is the fact

M

Next time you feed your face, think about your heart.

Go easy on your heart and start cutting back on foods that are high in saturated
fat and cholesterol. The change'II do you good.

120

V American Heart Association

WERE FIGHTING FOR YOUR LIFE

/

that they have added Medicaid
to the list of barred programs."
A number of Jews, primarily
elderly refugees who never be-
came citizens, could be drastically
affected, Ms. Aviv said.
William Rapfogel, director of
the Metropolitan New York Co- (±\
ordinating Council on Jewish
Poverty, said that at least 3,000
of his group's clients would be
"significantly affected" by the cuts
to legal immigrants; countless
others, he said, would feel the
pinch because of massive cuts in
an array of other programs.
"We're very alarmed," he said.
"This is something that's likely
to have a very big impact in Jew-
ish communities around the
country; the results will be ab-
solutely devastating in other
communities."
Some groups opposing the
welfare package worked fever-
ishly — and unsuccessfully — to
convince the Senate to moderate
the bill. But others held back in
a strategy intended to increase
the likelihood of a presidential
veto.
"President Clinton is eager to
sign a welfare bill," said a lobby-
ist for a major Jewish organiza-
tion. "There's a body of opinion
that says we should let the bill be
as harsh as possible to draw a
veto. But it's a risky strategy be-
cause of the political pressure to
get something signed into law.
And it's risky because of the peo-
ple who will be affected by this
pernicious legislation."

Hostile Mood Toward
Syria In Congress

embers of Congress are
increasingly irked with
Syrian President Hafez
al-Assad, and with
American policy that some legis-
lators regard as coddling of the
dictator in Damascus.
The House International Re-
lations Committee was set to
hold hearings with a billing that
reflected that sen-
timent: "Syria: Dennis Ross:
Peace Partner or Plans Mideast
Rogue Regime?"
stops.
An editorial in
an official Syrian government
newspaper rejecting any re-
sumption of the stalled peace
talks until Israel agrees to a
HOSTILE page 122

c