Washington Watch

Christian Revelation

Charitable choice succumbs; vouchers imperiled;
Ambassador Kurtzer; Red Cross retreats.

JAMES D. BESSER
Washington Correspondent

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yen before Sen. Jim Jeffords
of Vermont defected from
the Republican ranks and
turned the Senate over to the
Democrats last week, several of the Bush
administration's top domestic policy ini-
tiatives were collapsing on Capitol Hill.
The centerpiece of the administra-
tion's faith-based initiative — the idea
of charitable choice, which would
remove restrictions on how religious
groups can spend government money to
provide health and social services —
was the first major casualty, at least as
far as Congress is concerned.
But opponents warn that the fight
may just be moving into a different
arena as the White House refocuses on
steps it can take to implement charita-
ble choice without congressional
approval.
The plan was battered by surprising
opposition from the religious right as
well as predictable criticism from
church-state separation groups.
It didn't help that the Rev. John
Castellani, head of a drug treatment
organization often cited by President
Bush as a model for effective faith-based
social services, seemed to brag in House
testimony about the group's success in
converting Jews to Christianity.
It was the effort by Texas authorities
to close down Teen Challenge clinics in
1995 that got then-Gov. Bush interest-
ed in making it easier for religious
groups to get government money.
In response to a question, Rev.
Castellani, the group's executive direc-
tor, told lawmakers that the program
serves non-Christians as well as
Christians. He added that some Jews
returned to Judaism, while others
became "completed Jews" — evangelical
argot for Jews who have converted to
Christianity.
At Teen Challenge, which operates
some 250 drug treatment centers
around the world, "a personal relation-
ship with Jesus Christ permeates every-
thing we do," Rev. Castellani wrote on
the group's Web site.
Jewish charitable choice opponents
jumped on Rev. Castellani's comments,
arguing that they highlighted the best

argument against the plan — that
removing restrictions on federal money
for religious institutions will lead to its
misuse, including proselytization.
Several Jewish groups quickly fired off
letters to Bush.
Rabbi David Saperstein, director of
the Religious Action Center of Reform
Judaism, asked Bush a loaded question:
"When speaking of the need for govern-
ment to help faith-based organizations
transform lives, is proselytizing of Jews
and other non-Christians what you had
in mind? Are you prepared to lend gov-
ernment endorsement and support to
programs or organizations with such an
overt mission?"
Anti-Defamation League director
Abraham Foxman, terming Rev.
Castellani's use of the phrase "completed
Jews" offensive, wrote that the incident
underscores our concern that faith-
based organizations would be either
unable or unwilling to separate their
power to transform lives from their the-
ologically grounded mission to prosely-
tize and convert." The American Jewish
Congress warned that under the admin-
istration's proposal, Teen Challenge
would be eligible to receive government
funding.
"Besides being a violation of church-
state separation, such funding would
provide taxpayer support for doctrines
that consider Jews incomplete if they
remain Jewish," said executive director
Phil Baum.
Last week, Sen. Rick Santorum, R-
Pa., gave up his attempt to pass charita-
ble choice legislation; Sen. Joe
Lieberman, D-Conn., who supports
bolstering religious charities but has
expressed concerns about the constitu-
tionality of the administration's charita-
ble choice provisions, said the White
House has not addressed the concerns
of critics.
A charitable choice measure in the
House is still alive, but passage is uncer-
tain, and the newly Democratic Senate
is unlikely to go along.
But church-state groups warn the bat-
tle may just be moving underground.
John DiLulio's Office of Community
and Faith Based Initiatives is currently
studying how charitable choice policies
can be instituted through executive
order and administration directives.

"

Vouchers Imperiled

The news is hardly any more encour-
aging for advocates of school vouchers,
including several leading Orthodox
Jewish organizations.
Last week, the House passed its version
of the big Elementary and Secondary
Education Act (ESEA), the vehicle for
most of the administration's education
reforms. But voucher language had been
removed early in the debate in an effort
to craft a bipartisan bill.
Conservative lawmakers vowed to
reintroduce voucher amendments, but
in the House, those efforts were a bust.
In two landmark House votes,
amendments by Rep. Dick Armey, R-
Texas, were defeated by substantial mar-
gins. The overall bill then cleared the
House by a 384-45 margin.
Next week, action shifts to the Senate,
where Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., is
expected to offer a voucher amendment
from the floor.
But the Senate was never as support-
ive of vouchers. And on June 4, when
lawmakers convene after their Memorial
Day recess, the atmosphere in the upper
chamber will be very different as
Democrats take over key leadership
positions.
"The margin of victory in the House
was very satisfying," said Michael
Lieberman, Washington counsel for the
Anti-Defamation League, which oppos-
es vouchers. "The momentum on the
issue has really shifted."

Ambassador Kurtzer

The White House has finally made it
official: Daniel Kurtzer, a career foreign
service officer now serving as ambassa-
dor to Egypt, is the president's choice as
the new U.S. envoy in Tel Aviv.
If the Senate confirms his nomina-
tion, Kurtzer will become the first
Orthodox Jew appointed to the Jewish
state.
Kurtzer, an Elizabeth, N.J., native,
has a doctorate in Middle East history
from Columbia University; in the late
1970s, he served a brief stint as dean of
Yeshiva College.
The nominee has strong backing
from centrist Jewish groups, including
the Union of American Hebrew
Congregations and the United

Synagogue of Conservative Judaism.
But right-of-center groups have
attacked the nomination, arguing that
Kurtzer is too closely associated with the
pro-Oslo policies of the Clinton admin-
istration.
The Zionist Organization of America
waged a ferocious campaign against
Kurtzer, claiming he pressured Israel to
make territorial concessions and refused
to meet with Israeli journalists during
his tenure in Cairo.
But Kurtzer's nomination is not
expected to face major roadblocks when
the Senate begins the confirmation
process — especially not after last week's
Democratic takeover.
Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., is expect-
ed to get the nod as chair of the Foreign
Relations Committee, replacing Sen.
Jesse Helms, R-N.C., a sharp critic of
the Clinton administration's peacemak-
ing efforts.

Red Cross Retreats

Israel's international standing has suf-
fered as the eight-month-old intifada
(Palestinian riot) continues — and the
Palestinians continue to exploit it
among nations and international organ-
izations that have traditionally slammed
Israel every time there is a flareup of
violence.
But last week, there was a rare victory
as the International Committee of the
Red Cross (ICRC) backed away from
particularly harsh statements about
Israel's settlements policies.
Rene Kosirnik, the head of the
ICRC's delegation in the region, told
reporters that the settlements are "grave
breaches (of international law ) ... equal
in principle to war crimes." That drew
fire from the State Department, where a
spokesman said, "We don't think this
comment is helpful at this particularly
volatile time."
It also prompted a letter from Rep.
Eliot Engel, D-N.Y., who said that the
statement revealed a bias against Israel
and warned that "as a member of the
United States Congress, which pro-
vides the American contribution to the
ICRC, I will be closely monitoring
your organization's actions in the com-
ing days."
The blunt message wasn't lost on the
ICRC; last week, ICRC President Jakob
Kellenberger wrote to Engel, saying that
"I understand that you cannot accept
Israeli settlements being called 'war
crimes' and share your feelings in this
respect." He said that the war crimes
allegation "was inappropriate and will
not be repeated." Engle expressed satis-
om
faction at the outcome. O

6/1
2001

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