CONGRESS page 114 Ct," Z E N — r- E 1:Z -TA 1 N M E N - r 10 = = I NI■ inee 44. ■ "911 • 1116021111 Ual Jewish concerns on agenda. Wan' lo know about happenings in your community and your neighborhood? About local Jewish events and issues that have an impact on you and your children? Want to know who's getting married? Or H promoted. How about where to dine and A Scir r shop? The latest sales. The money-saving coupons. And so much more. There's only one place you can get all this and more. The Jewish News. Where else? EilMt SEATEELT Lq-A .E 2f" atirigY ortl THE JEWISH NEWS Save 30% off the newsstand price by responding today. Receive 52 issues of The Jewish News plus five issues of STYLE magazine for only $46 ($63 out-of-state). Yes, I'd like my own subscription to The Jewish News. ❑ Please bill me. ❑ Payment enclosed. ❑ Charge to my ❑ MasterCard ❑ Visa ❑ I'd like to send a subscription as a gift to: Name Card >r Exp. Address Signature (required) City My Name Phone My Address Gift Card Message y. City 1 Phone State Slate Zip Zip New subscribers only Please send all payments along with this coupon to: The Jewish News, P.O. Box 2267, Southfield, MI 48037-2267. Allow 2-3 weeks for delivery. For faster service call 810-354-6620 and charge it to your Visa or MasterCard between the hours of 8:30 am and 5:00 pm. mkkree. - • - ••••••.•:,A AD395 •• • • shifted from federal to state and local control. Mr. Foltin also expects an ef- fort to revive a constitutional amendment aimed at legalizing prayer in schools and at public events. That measure, a top priority for groups such as the Christian Coalition, stalled last year when two key House sponsors couldn't agree on language; this time around, action could shift to the more conservative Senate. This could be the year Congress finally passes the 'Workplace Re- ligious Freedom Act," a long-de- layed measure authored by Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., protect- ing the rights of Sabbath-observ- ing Jews and others whose religious obligations require spe- cial consideration by employers. "There will be a much more concerted effort to build biparti- san support for this measure, which was a problem last year, and to educate the business and labor communities about what this legislation is about — and what it isn't about," said Abba Co- hen, Washington representative for Agudath Israel of America. Agudah, Mr. Cohen said, also will pay close attention to a num- ber of tax issues, including tax credits for higher education; the Orthodox group wants to make sure that Mr. Clinton fulfills his promise to make sure students at religious institutions will be in- cluded. Last year's welfare reform law drastically cut health and welfare benefits for legal immigrants. Mr. Clinton, who signed the measure, now hopes to restore as much as $13 billion of the cuts; Jewish groups, led by the Council of Jew- ish Federations, have made that an early priority in the new Con- gress. But with legislators still com- mitted to cutting the budget deficit while reducing taxes, finding that money will be difficult, Jewish ac- tivists concede. Jewish organizations also are preparing for a possible second front in the immigration battle. When Congress tackled illegal im- migration last year, Republican leaders promised to overhaul the legal immigration system this year — a process that is almost certain to include efforts to cut more programs for immigrants and erect new barriers to immi- gration. Affirmative action is a legisla- tive time bomb in the wake of the successful ballot initiative in Cal- ifornia ending affirmative action programs in that state. Rep. Charles Canady, R-Fla., has in- dicated he will reintroduce legis- lation ending federal affirmative action. Jewish groups, which gen- erally oppose quotas but support the broad goals of affirmative ac- tion, will oppose those efforts, or sit out the battle. For the past two years, the biggest story in Congress has been the battle to reduce the federal budget deficit, and the resulting cuts in domestic spending pro- grams and the wholesale "block granting' of programs to the states. That process will continue in 1997, although a chastened GOP leadership will move more slowly, with a greater effort to build coalitions with Democrats. One early issue will be the con- stitutional amendment requiring a balanced budget, which was de- feated by a single vote in the Sen- ate in 1995. This year, with the GOP gaining two seats in the up- per house and Mr. Clinton send- ing out conflicting signals, the Jewish groups that fought the amendment face longer odds. "There are no new arguments, but this time, they think they have the votes to pass it," said Mark Pelavin, associate director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism. 'We continue to believe that this would result in drastic, disastrous cuts in the pro- grams that millions of Americans depend on, and it will hobble im- portant functions of the federal government." He also pointed out that the budgetary pressure caused by a successful amendment would make it almost impossible to sus- tain Israel's $3 billion in foreign aid. But Jewish groups are quietly shifting their emphasis to fight- ing ratification by the states — a sign that prospects for defeating the amendment in Congress look slim. Even without an amendment, the pressure on federal spending will continue to grow as Congress and the president try to balance the budget by 2002. Important en- titlement programs that serve many Jews — including Medicare and Medicaid — will feel the squeeze. But both political factors and a strong economy may produce a more cautious approach to bud- get cutting in 1997. "The nation's economic health has improved significantly in the past two years, and that will re- duce the pressure for cuts," said Ronald Soloway, director of gov- ernment relations for the UJA- Federation of Jewish Philan- thropies of New York. Mr. Soloway said that the top priority for federations will be pro- tecting Medicaid, the most vul- nerable of the big entitlements; Congress is likely to attempt ma- jor restructuring of the program, which will have a big impact on Jewish hospitals, nursing homes and mental health agencies. r'