Time Running Out
On School Prayer
JAMES D. BESSER SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS
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he 104th Congress is spin-
ning madly toward a Sept.
28 adjournment so frantic
legislators can hit the cam-
paign trail.
And that may seal the fate of
the Religious Freedom amend-
ment to the Constitution — the
centerpiece of the Christian
Coalition's Contract with the
American Family, but a source
of friction and disagreement
among conservative members of
Congress.
At a Christian Coalition rally
during the Republican conven-
tion in August, the group's di-
rector, Ralph Reed, assured his
troops that the GOP leadership
was committed to a vote on the
controversial amendment —
which would open the door to
prayer in the public schools and
public funding for parochial in-
stitutions — before the Novem-
ber elections.
But the leadership apparent-
T
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Next time you feed your face, think about your head.
Go easy on your heart and start cutting back on foods that are high in saturated
fat and cholesterol. The change'lI do you good.
138
V American Heart Association
WERE FIGHTING FOR YOUR LIFE
ly is having second thoughts; ac-
cording to reports circulating on
Capitol Hill, they are still not
convinced that the measure will
win enough support to avoid an
embarrassment just before vot-
ers go to the polls in an election
that will be — to a degree — a
referendum on their leader-
ship.
So far, there have been three
different versions of a school
prayer amendment; the current
measure, sponsored by Majori-
ty Leader Dick Armey, R-Texas,
has not won the support of the
original amendment's sponsor,
Rep. Ernest Jim Istook, R-Okla.,
who is holding out for language
explicitly addressing the school
prayer issue.
"For weeks, we've been wait-
ing for the other shoe to drop
with this misguided, dangerous
amendment," said an official
with a major Jewish group in
Washington. "But with time run-
ning out, and with the Republi-
cans not eager for an
embarrassing defeat, it looks like
the amendment is now off the
table, at least for now. That's
very good news for the Jewish
community and for all religious
minorities — although we can
expect to see it resurface when
the new Congress comes back in
January."
Workplace Act
Gets A Push
The waning days of the 104th
Congress also will see the rein-
troduction of the Workplace Re-
ligious Freedom Act, a measure
intended to protect the rights of
religious people who need spe-
cial accommodations at the
workplace — including Sabbath-
observing Jews.
The measure, sponsored by
Rep. Jerrold Nadler, (D-N.Y.,
was first introduced just before
the end of the 103rd Congress.
After the 1994 congressional up-
heaval, Mr. Nadler set about
patching together a new coali-
tion to push the bill through.
But a Republican-dominated <
Congress hasn't been particu-
larly receptive to the pleas of Mr.
Nadler, an unrepentant liberal
Democrat.
Mr. Nadler and Sen. John
Kerry, D-Mass., were scheduled
to try again, although Congress
is unlikely to do anything about
the bill before adjournment.
"We hope that the introduc-
tion of this bill — which is sup-
ported by almost every Jewish
group and by organizations like
the Baptist Joint Committee and
the National Association of
Evangelicals — will establish a
legislative track record that will
set the stage for action in the
next Congress," said Richard
Foltin, legislative director for the
American Jewish Committee.
Backers of the bill, a high pri-
ority for Orthodox groups in par-
ticular, said much the same
thing as the 103rd Congress was
winding to a close. But this
week, Mr. Foltin was not dis-
couraged.
"Passing a bill like this re-
quires careful, painstaking ef-
forts to build a strong base of
support," he said. "That's what's
been happening in the past two
years — although the process is
more difficult, given the high
congressional turnover and the
focus on a few high-profile is-
sues."