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Bickering Expected

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Congressional inaction, domestic issues,
Sudanese genocide.

JAMES D. BESSER

Washington Correspondent

ewish officials are hoping the
upcoming lame-duck session
of Congress — which was
called because six of 13
appropriations bills haven't yet been
passed and signed — will give them a
second chance to move some critical
legislation.
But few are counting on it. After two
years of bitter partisanship and legisla-
tive gridlock, there's
little likelihood
bickering lawmakers
will have a dramatic
change of heart
when they come
back on Nov. 13.
At the top of the
list for the pro-Israel
lobby: a measure
cutting off aid to
the Palestinian
Authority if Yasser
Arafat goes through
with his threat to
declare statehood
unilaterally.
The measure passed the House but has
been hung up in the Senate by a single
lawmaker: Sen. Robert Byrd (R-W.Va.).
The Clinton administration has
opposed the measure because of concern
that it will pour gasoline on an already
inflamed Middle East. But pro-Israel
forces say it's necessary to keep Arafat
from making a mistake that could shred
what is left of the peace talks.
"Congress dropped the ball by not
passing this bill before this two-week
recess, and now the clock is ticking,"
said Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.).
"Make no mistake about it: a unilateral
declaration ... would drive a stake
through the heart of the peace process."
Another item that could be on the
lame-duck agenda: $800 million in
extra aid to help Israel pay the costs of
its unilateral withdrawal from
Lebanon earlier this year.
The supplemental aid package has
been the subject of negotiations
between Israeli and U.S. officials for
months, but the administration has
been slow to bring the package to
Congress because of its preoccupation
with the U.S. elections and concerns

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that any U.S. action could worsen the
situation in the region.
Now, pro-Israel forces are hoping
that the administration will toss the
$800 million into the last-minute
appropriations mix — and that law-
makers, eager to close the books on
the 106th Congress, will go along.
"It's a risky strategy for the adminis-
tration," said a pro-Israel lobbyist,
"but it's the only one available this late
in the game. The fact that there really
hasn't been any consultation with

"A unilateral
declaration ...
would drive a stake,
through the heart c
the peace process.

"

— Sen. Charles E. Schum

House and Senate leaders is not a
good sign, and it will definitely be an
uphill fight, getting this passed."
The Israeli government is also look-I
ing for more money to combat
weapons of mass destruction and
counter the growing threat from Iran
and Iraq, but that will probably have
to wait until the next Congress.

Domestic Issues

On the domestic front, Jewish advo-
cates for immigrants and refugees are
hoping lawmakers will act on renewal
of the Lautenberg Amendment, which
makes it easier for Jews from the for-
mer Soviet Union to enter this countn
as refugees, and the restoration of som
of the benefits for legal immigrants cu
by the 1996 welfare reform law.
Leonard Glickman, executive direc-
tor of the Hebrew Immigrant Aid
Sociery, said his group is also pushing
for passage of additional funding for
the Immigration and Naturalization
Service to help alleviate a backlog in
naturalization cases.
We have to keep the pressure on

