This Week

Washington Watch

Marc Rich Fallout

Holocaust Council chair beats attack; Bush at memorial; education plans; charitable choice.

JAMES D. BESSER

Washington Correspondent

T

he effort by dissident mem-
bers of the U.S. Holocaust
Memorial Council to force
the resignation of the chair-
man, Rabbi Irving "Yitz" Greenberg,
fizzled last week as both sides in the
rancorous debate pulled back from
the brink.
On Thursday, the council unani-
mously passed a resolution stating
that "it was a mistake" for Rabbi
Greenberg to write a letter last year
urging former President Bill Clinton
to pardon fugitive financier Marc
Rich and asserting that the council
"accepts the chairman's explanation of
and apology for having written the...
letter."
The resolution also entered into the
official council record opposing letters
from council members on the subject.
Early in the month, 17 current and
former council members wrote to
Rabbi Greenberg, expressing concern
about the impact the Rich controversy
was having on the Holocaust Museum
and urging him to resign. A week
later, 35 current council members
wrote in support of the embattled
chairman.
Last week's resolution praised Rabbi
Greenberg for "more than 40 years of
leadership in Holocaust remembrance,
education and ethics, and his commit-
ment to the future of the U.S.
Holocaust Memorial Museum," and
officially deemed the controversy over.
Both sides in the debate agreed with
that position, even though some of
the underlying management questions
remain unresolved.
The resolution "states categorically
that all council members pledge to
work together under Rabbi
Greenberg's leadership to support the
museum's important mission," said
Menachem Rosensaft, a leading coun-
cil member and a Rabbi Greenberg
supporter. Rosensaft, along with
council member Leo Melamed,
worked out the language of the pro-
posal.
Also last week, Rabbi Greenberg
appointed former Sen. Frank
Lautenberg (D-N.J.) as a special
adviser to the chairman.

4/27

2001

18

Bush At Memorial

President George W. Bush played a
particularly visible role in last week's
Yom HaShoah events in Washington.
On Thursday, a solemn President
and Mrs. Bush paid an extended call
to the Holocaust Museum, where they
toured the permanent exhibition for
about 90 minutes and lit candles in
the Hall of Remembrance.
Then, Bush addressed assembled
Jewish leaders and museum supporters
in the main hall after chiding support-
ers who rambunctiously cheered his
arrival and telling them to "behave."
After the private tour, he said "the
images here stay with you. And only by
confronting them can we begin to grasp
the full enormity of the Holocaust. I
urge Americans planning a visit to
Washington to come here, themselves,
and see what we have just seen."
Rabbi Irving "Yitz" Greenberg, the
U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council chair,
said Bush "showed a special thoughful-
ness, feeling and sensitivity to the pro-
found implications of the Holocaust."
He said Bush was scheduled for a short-
"but that he told me he want-
er visit
ed to set the pace. He took significantly
longer than originally planned."
Bush toured the museum with a
small group of friends, including Texas
State Senator Florence Shapiro, whose
parents are Holocaust survivors.
Also in Bush's private entourage,
Mrs. Bush's mother.
The next day, Bush keynoted the
Days of Remembrance ceremony in
the Capitol rotunda, flanked by
Holocaust survivors and surrounded
by the flags of the 34 Army divisions
that liberated concentration camps.
"We remember at the Capitol
because the United States has accepted
a special role — we strive to be a
refuge for the persecuted," he said.
"We are called by history and by con-
science to defend the oppressed."
Bush also linked the Holocaust to
the critical role of Israel. The Jewish
struggle "is a story of defiance and
oppression, and patience and tribula-
tion, reaching back to the Exodus and
their exile," he said.
"That story continued in the found-
ing of the State of Israel. That story
continues in the defense of the State
of Israel."

Education Plans

Congress is back in session after a two-
week spring recess, and the topic du
jure is education.
Jewish groups — some wary about
proposals to expand government
parochial school funding, others sup-
porting them — are lined up to play
an active role.
This week, the Senate sank its teeth
into the reauthorization of the
Elementary and Secondary Education
Act (ESEA), a massive bill that the
administration hopes to turn into the
primary vehicle to advance its ambi-
tious education reform plans.
Vouchers, the most controversial
element in the administration's sweep-
ing education plans, were yanked
from the package before the recess.
Instead, lawmakers will concentrate
on administration proposals for manda-
tory student testing and providing
greater flexibility for states in spending
government education money.
Voucher amendments are likely on
the Senate floor, but the 50-50 parti-
san split means the outlook for pas-
sage are dim.
"There will be attempts in the
Senate, but they are likely to fail,"
said Marshall Wittman, a senior fel-
low for the conservative Hudson
Institute. "They are more likely to do
well in the House."
Instead, he said, the major voucher
thrust could come when Congress
tackles other measures, including the
District of Columbia appropriations
bill, a venue for past voucher fights.
Reva Price, Washington representa-
tive for the Jewish Council for Public
Affairs, said that a major issue for her
group is ensuring that efforts to
"block grant" education money for
states does not undermine Title I
funding which currently supports
educational programs for disadvan-
taged students.
"The program was created because
state and local governments were not
providing these services," she said.
"There is a real concern that if more
is block granted, a lot of this money
could end up serving more affluent
students."
The biggest fight in Washington,
she said, will be over the huge gap
between Democratic and Republican

education spending proposals.
The Orthodox Union is focusing its
efforts on making sure there is no slip-
page in services for religious schools.
"Under ESEA, there are a range of
services in which parochial schools are
entitled to full participation, especial-
ly in the areas of special education
and supplementary services," said
Nathan Diament, director of the
OU's Institute for Public Affairs.
The OU will also urge lawmakers to
include parochial schools if they cre-
ate new programs for teacher recruit-
ment and professional development.

Charitable Choice

This week, there were three congression-
al hearings on charitable choice pro-
grams, which scale back restrictions on
giving government money to faith-based
organizations to provide vital health and
soci a l services — the first hearings on
the concept, despite numerous charitable
choice provisions since 1996.
Also, the Republicans convened a
faith-based summit, featuring 400
religious activists from around the
country, but only a handful of Jews.
The reason wasn't hard to discern;
although the two major Orthodox
groups support the administration's
plan, most Jewish groups are on the
other side, insisting that charitable
choice will lead to the misuse of gov-
ernment money for strictly sectarian
purposes and to widespread religious
discrimination in hiring and in the
provision of services.
Sources say congressional and
administration promoters of faith-
based initiatives hope to use the sum-
mit to regain momentum that was lost
when the administration's plan came
under attack from prominent religious
conservatives, including Christian
Coalition founder Pat Robertson.
"The ground is beginning to shift
on the issue, and supporters are sud-
denly on the defensive," said Mark
Pelavin, associate director of the
Religious Action Center (RAC) of
Reform Judaism, which opposes char-
itable choice plans. "The summit is,
in part, an attempt to wrestle with
some of the divisions among support-
ers, and to get back some of the
momentum."

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