The Clinton
camp
struggles to
control the
political fallout
from the
welfare reform
package.

JAMES D. BESSER

WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT

Damage

Control

O
O

CC

President Clinton's latest decision
is creating tension.

1111

he mood was studiously amicable at
this week's Democratic National Con-
vention in Chicago, but there were
strong ripples of tension just beneath the
surface — many caused by President Clin-
ton's controversial decision to sign a Re-
publican welfare reform bill last week.
The signing has touched off frantic dam-
age-control efforts at the White House
aimed largely at Jewish leaders, who stren-
uously opposed provisions of the bill end-
ing the guarantee of cash assistance to the
poor, deeply cutting programs such as food

stamps and barring legal immigrants from
a variety of important federal benefits.
Health and Human Services Secretary
Donna Shalala, in an unsolicited call to lead-
ers of the National Jewish Community Re-
lations Advisory Council ln st week, promised
that the administration will use its regula-
tory authority to make sure children of legal
immigrants are not harmed by the sharp cuts
in services.
Ms. Shalala revealed that her agency will
try to create a multibillion-dollar job train-
ing program to help move former welfare re-
cipients into the workplace — although she
did not say where the money might come
from, a major omission in this era of con-
gressional parsimony.
The White House also will allow states to
obtain one-year waivers for cuts in food
stamps to legal immigrants, and the Immi-
gration and Naturalization Service will speed
up the processing of citizenship applications.
Sara Ehrman, a Democratic National
Committee official and a top liaison to the
Jewish community, spent much of the week
trying to convince angry Jewish leaders that
Mr. Clinton had no choice but to sign the bill,
and that he would actively seek ways to mit-
igate its harsh impact on immigrants.
`These are helpful steps, but they're a drop
in the bucket," said Diana Aviv, Washington
director for the Council of Jewish Federa-
tions. 'We're getting an incredible number of
calls from Jewish agency officials around the
country who are looking at the potential con-
sequences of what Congress has done; the
president's decision to sign it has galvanized
people more than anything I've seen."
That decision, other Jewish activists point out,
could contribute to a defection of some Jewish vot-
ers to the Dole-Kemp ticket in November.
`There's a real feeling of betrayal among the peo-
ple who belong to the big Jewish organizations, who
are important players in the core Democratic coali-
tion," said an angry Jewish Democratic activist.
`These people care about welfare both for the broad
social reasons and the narrow Jewish ones. Clin-
ton's cave-in may tip the balance for some — es-
pecially now that Jack Kemp is on the Republican
ticket."