Jewry's Role in
Human Health
CRUSADERS FOR CARING
A Disma1105th
Jewish groups say Congress was a dismal failure
on most major issues.
JAMES D. BESSER
Washington Correspondent
A
s the 105th Congress pre-
pares to adjourn this week,
Jewish activists say they
were thwarted on issues
ranging from Social Security and
Medicare reform to workplace protec-
tions for Sabbath-observing Jews.
Congress passed significant legisla-
tion, including a measure intended to
fight religious persecution abroad, and
!ley presided over the first balanced
budget in decades. But the session was
dominated by well-financed special
interest groups and an unprecedented
level of partisan rancor, according to
several Jewish legislators.
"We did better than expected on
some issues, including subsidized
housing for the elderly," said Diana
viv, Washington director for the
Council of Jewish Federations. "The
restoration of Food Stamp benefits
(for legal immigrants) was a major vic-
tory. But the biggest issues — includ-
ing Social Security and health care and
managed care reform — were just put
off. That's a big disappointment; our
system is very much involved in pro-
jiding these kinds of services."
Sammy Moshenberg, Washington
director for the National Council of
Jewish Women (NCJW), said that "a
number of very promising legislative
initiatives were just dropped, includ-
ing additional funding for child care,
the Violence Against Women Act, the
Hate Crimes Prevention Act and the
Patient's Bill of Rights."
The tobacco settlement bill —
which the administration hoped
would help finance a number of social
and education initiatives — and major
campaign finance legislation fell vic-
tim to big-money lobbying from
opponents, she said.
The biggest cause of legislative
gridlock, she said, was "excessive parti-
-----,-,In bickering."
Rep. Nita Lowey (D-NY) added
another reason.
"The Republican caucus is in the
hands of right-wing extremists," she
said. "In 1996, we were able to work
with the Republican Congress in a
bipartisan way. This session, it was
different; they were so partisan, so
political."
The partisan gridlock extended to
important foreign policy concerns, she
said, as Republican leaders continued
to hold important initiatives, includ-
ing funding for the United Nations,
hostage to their anti-abortion crusade.
Pro-Israel lobbyists said that while
this Congress was highly supportive of
Israel, the accelerating decline in
emphasis on foreign policy will ulti-
mately hurt Israeli as well as American
interests.
Orthodox activists who generally
track a more conservative course on
Capitol Hill found more to like about
the 105th Congres, but they, too,
expressed frustration about issues left
undone — including school vouchers.
Congress failed to override a presiden-
tial veto on a voucher plan for the
District of Columbia. Orthodox
groups favored the plan, while liberal
and church-state organizations were
vehemently opposed.
"We had some important victories,
including the expansion of 'charitable
choice,"' said Abba Cohen,
Washington director for Agudath
Israel of America. "But they were over-
shadowed by the fact that we were
unable to make progress on our top
priorities — the Religious Liberty
Protection Act (RLPA) and the
Workplace Religious Freedom Act
(WFRA). That made this session very
disappointing."
RPLA, intended to replace a law
making it harder for government
agencies to restrict religious practices,
was first gutted by Christian conserva-
tives and then shunted to the back
burner. WFRA, which would protect
the rights of workers whose religious
obligations require special accommo-
dations from employers, was simply
lost in the shuffle.
Cohen, too, criticized the partisan
excesses of the 105th.
"There was a great deal of postur-
ing for the election," he said.
"Issues that came up were being
evaluated almost entirely in terms of
their election value. That always hap-
pens, but this year it happened much
earlier. And that makes it much harder
to get business done."
Our nation often prides itself in heeding voices advocating services for our
needful citizens. Such services have strengthened the sinews of our society
which owes the public the assurances of health and caring. An example
was the notable mission of Isaac Rubinow and Abraham Epstein who we
profiled earlier. In partnership they laid the groundwork for several
governmental programs we now live by: Social Security and Medicare. As
did they, Abraham Flexner and Lillian Wald helped put systems in place
which have since saved or bettered the lives of innumerable Americans,
young and old.
ABRAHAM FLEXNER
(1866-1959) b. Louisville, KY Educator Bulletin
No. 4, issued in 1910 by one of the nation's most
creative scholars, sounded a sensational call to
drastically reform the sorry state of medical
training in North America. The two-year report
by Abraham Flexner, Ph.D., Medical Education in
the United States and Canada, was a critical
analysis of 155 medical schools. He found they i
did not consistently adhere to quality standards: admission policies were
lax and basic science courses were seldom given. Students were often
poorly taught by physicians with less interest in academics than in class
size; their pay was pegged to enrollment numbers.
Flexner was not a physician but nevertheless brought ample credits
and administrative experience in higher education to his task--as a "whistle
blower" of his time.
From 1890 to 1904 Flexner directed a college preparatory school
which he had established in Louisville. Putting his revolutionary ideas into
practice, his remarkably successful school eliminated all records, exams
and learning timetables. He went on to publish The American College
(1908), a condemnation of our national system of lectures, assistantships
and elective studies.
Many of Flexner-'s proposals for remodeling our educational
environments have forever changed college-level academic programs, and
Bulletin No. 4 has been credited with saving the lives of numerous hospital
patients. Toward the end of his distinguished career of public service, he
persuaded Louis Bamberger, a department store magnate, to endow
Princeton's Institute for Advanced Study (associated with Albert Einstein)
which he directed from 1930 to 1939.
,
LILLIAN WALD
(1867-1940) b. Cincinnati, OH Nurse /Social
Worker "The Angel of Henry Street" unfolded
her wings to embrace many more than just the
dislocated European immigrants coming to her
Lower East Side Manhattan settlement house at
the turn of the century. She was influential in
developing the world's first public school nursing
.
\
system and inspiring the establishment of the
federal Children's Bureau.
Abandoning an affluent lifestyle for nursing, the idealistic young
woman felt called upon to work with the many sick, confused and fearful
newcomers arriving here with no adequate medical attention and little
knowledge of personal hygiene. Helping them as best she could, Wald
soon undertook a more ambitious venture as co-founder of the world's
first visiting nurse service - a program which expanded nationally
through the aegis the American Red Cross, and recruited over 20,000
nurses within fifty years.
Her non-sectarian Henry Street settlement house also became the
local headquarters for that service. Fame attended the landmark building
which was visited by such prominent figures as Franklin and Eleanor
Roosevelt, the Gershwin brothers and Governor Al Smith. Wald later
wrote two popular books about the institution: House on Henry Street
(1915) and Windows on Henry Street (1934).
Tireless in her passion to build the framework fora decent and
humane society, she also spoke out against the abuses of child labor and
campaigned for reforms proposed by America's leading social agencies.
For these reasons Wald was cited as one of the century's most outstanding
social workers. - Saul Stadtmauer
Visit many more notable Jews at our website: www.dorledor.org
COMMISSION FOR THE DISSEMINATION OF JEWISH HISTORY
Walter & Lea Field, Founders/Sponsors
Irwin S. Field, Chairperson
Harriet F. Siden, Chairperson
Detroit Jewish News
10/16
1998
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