Washington Watch

Holding back on impeachment;
Republican outreach; saving Social Security.

JAMES D. BESSER
Washin von Correspondent

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12/18
1998

ORCHARD LAKE ROAD • WEST BLOOMFIELD

18 Detroit Jewish News

A

s the House of
Representatives careened
toward an impeachment
vote late this week
and as
the White House scrambled to find a
compromise formula that might keep
President Bill Clinton from becoming
only the second president tried before
the Senate — the reaction from the
Jewish community was muted.
With speculation about resignation
mounting, usually loquacious Jewish
leaders kept clear of the fracas, and
most organizations were silent.
"We support orderly process in.
government, but we aren't raking a
position because the impeachment
issue has become so partisan," said
Phil Baum, executive director of the
American Jewish Congress.
Jewish members of the Judiciary
Committee have been among the
most vocal supporters of the presi-
dent, but that's hardly surprising; they
are Democrats who have backed
Clinton in the past.
Nobody has collected polling data
on the subject, but anecdotal evidence
suggests Jews, like most Americans,
are disturbed and disillusioned by
their president's behavior, but also
concerned with what many see as
political putsch in the guise of a con-
stitutional process. Mostly, American-
Jews and non-Jews alike seem sad-
dened and angry about a mess with
overabundance of
no heroes and
villains.
One Jewish concern in the national
melodrama involves the political char-
acter of the lawmakers who have
relentlessly driven this debate, seen as
steadfast foes of almost everything the
Jewish community has stood for in
the political realm.
That includes Judiciary Committee
member Bob Barr (R-Ga.) and
Majority whip Tom DeLay (R-Texas),
who are among the most zealous pro-
moters of the far-right and Christian
right agenda in Congress. Barr, in par-
ticular, has been linked to extremist
causes. When the House was consider-
ing anti-terrorism measures after the
Oklahoma City bombing, the lawmak-
er helped lead the effort to cut provi-

sions aimed at radical anti-government
militia groups in this country.
Last week, it was revealed that Barr
vas keynote speaker at meetings of a
white supremacist group earlier this
year, a speaking engagement he appar-
ently saw nothing wrong with until he
was called on it by lawyer Alan
Dershowitz.

Livingston reaches out

The dramatic change in the house
leadership after the Nov. 3 congres-
sional elections could also have a big
impact on Jewish and pro-Israel poli-
tics in the capital.
That N,v a s evident last week when
Rep. Bob Livingston, the incoming
House Speaker, addressed leaders of
the National Jewish Coalition in
Washington.
Unlike outgoing speaker Newt
Gingrich (R-Ga.), Livingston declined
to throw the _Jewish Republicans raw
meat on critical Mideast questions; par-
ticipants expecting an anti-administra-
tion pep rally went away disappointed.
"The Palestinian people have needs,
and you must be considerate of those
needs," he told the group, which has
been highly critical of President
Clinton's policies in the Middle East.
Without American support, said
Livingston, "they can never achieve
the stability that is necessary to keep
them from threatening Israel.'
Pressed by a reporter after a closed
session \k'ith the Jewish Republican,
Livingston also indicated qualified
the administrations
support
request fo
r for additional aid for both
Israel and the Palestinians.
"I expect to support it," he said.
"We have some parochial problems to
deal with here in the United States,
like how to offset the large amounts
being asked for. But I have every
intention of supporting it, and I
would expect it would pass."

An eye on Social Security

The Clinton administration and some
Jewish groups are cranking up their
activity on the future of the troubled
Social Security system.
At a White House conference on
the subject last week, President
Clinton promised to "do whatever it