Compiled by Donald H. Harrison
SAN DIEGO – Jewish members of Congress are fighting vigorously in the latest abortion battle between Republicans and Democrats.
Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Illinois) explained the controversy this way: “House Republicans planned to vote on the ‘Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act,’ this week, which proposed a 20-week abortion ban. However, Republican women and their supporters strongly opposed it, so it was not called for a vote. I believe that was a great moment, but sadly we were not able to build on it. The House Republican leadership just turned to another bill to attack women’s rights and women’s health. They have put forth H.R. 7, the so-called ‘No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act’. This bill would deny women access to their constitutionally-protected right to safe and legal abortion by restricting coverage for abortions – including in private plans purchased with women’s own money.
“This is a new Congress, but the old Republican War on Women continues. Americans believe women and their doctors should make medical decisions, not politicians. I am extremely disappointed that many House Republicans think they should have the final say on women’s health issues. In 1973, the Roe v. Wade decision concluded women have the constitutionally-protected right to safe and legal abortion. That landmark decision wasn’t the beginning of women having abortions; it was the end of women dying from abortions.”
Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tennessee) added: “Republicans know they can’t get past the Supreme Court’s ruling protecting a woman’s right to choose, so they are trying to go around it by creating an entirely new justification for banning abortion that has never been recognized before. This so-called ‘fetal pain ban’ proposal isn’t about fetal pain; it’s about outlawing abortions and repealing Roe v. Wade. Republicans have rushed this bill through the process without any opportunity to amend it, the legislation doesn’t have a meaningful exception even if the health of the mother is at risk and it would put victims of rape and incest in an impossible position. In timing this bill to coincide with the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, Republicans are transparently using drama messaging to appeal to their base at the expense of women’s health and constitutional rights. Women’s rights shouldn’t be theater, they shouldn’t be taken lightly; we have to vote this bill down.
On Thursday, Jan. 22, the 42nd anniversary of the Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade, U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-California) and Sen. Patty Murray (D-Washington), and three members of the House introduced a bicameral resolution “in support of women’s reproductive health and standing up for a woman’s ability to make health care decisions for herself and her family.”
Said Boxer: “We are not going to let Republicans turn back the clock and we are not going to let them endanger the health and lives of America’s women – we are going to stand up and fight back.”
”Noting the Roe v. Wade anniversary, Sen. Benjamin Cardin (D-Maryland) stated: “Empowering women is one of the most important things we can do for the future of our country. Core to this is the constitutional right women have to make their own choices about their own health and well-being. I have always supported the Supreme Court’s decision in Roe v. Wade, which codified this essential right to privacy. We must allow women the unfettered ability to exercise their rights. An ever-increasing majority of Americans believe that women should have access to family planning and abortion services, when they deem necessary.”
Sen. Al Franken (D-Minnesota) said in a statement he was supporting the Women’s Health Protection Act of 2015, introduced by Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Connecticut): “Since Roe v. Wade, women in many states have seen politicians attempting to interfere with their private medical decisions,” Franken said, adding that the proposed measure would redress the situation.
Said Rep. Eliot Engel (D-New York): “House Republicans complain about the government meddling into business matters through overregulation, yet today they show that they have no problem meddling with women’s health care. They are so callous that they choose today, the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, to impose their ideology on all women. Today, they bring to the floor H.R.7, the so-called ‘No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act and Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act of 2015.’ Today, they force women to adhere to their standards of ‘right’ and ‘wrong.’ Today, they show so little respect for the women of our nation that they will impose their will and curtail women’s capacity to make decisions about their own bodies.
Rep. Lois Frankel (D-Florida) said: “Today, on the 42nd anniversary of Roe v. Wade, we should be celebrating it – not dismantling it. I heard my colleagues on the other side of the aisle talk about pain. Well you want to know about pain? I think back in horror to the perils for our mothers, daughters, and sisters in the days before the Supreme Court ruled that women have a Constitutional right to make our own personal healthcare decisions. Back then, our country faced a public health crisis as women were maimed, made sterile, and lost their lives as a result of self-inflicted or illegal abortions. I remember finding a friend who was near death as a result of a back alley procedure. Since Roe v Wade, state after state, including Florida, has passed onerous laws criminalizing doctors, requiring unnecessary tests, and other insidious obstructions to prevent access to abortion. Today, Congress again piles on to the damage hurting the poorest of our citizens. Here’s a much better way to make lives better for our children – that’s to allow their mothers to live full, productive lives and instead of this bill, pass the Women’s Health Protection Act to ensure that no matter where a women lives she has access to the resources needed to make her own health care decisions. We cannot – and will not – go back!”
Rachel Laser, deputy director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, and Rabbi Marla J. Feldman, executive director of Women of Reform Judaism, said in a joint statement: “Today as we mark the 42nd anniversary of the landmark 1973 Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade, we take heart that for more than four decades women have had the right to make their own reproductive health decisions, ensuring control over their bodies and lives. At the same time, we recognize that ourwork is far from done. Despite Roe, safe, legal and affordable reproductive health care is still not a reality for too many women in the United States. In nearly 90 percent of counties across the United States, there are no abortion providers available. Mandatory waiting periods and other onerous restrictions are the norm in states nationwide…. Judaism teaches that the life and well being of the women is of higher value than the potential life of the developing fetus. We will continue to dedicate ourselves to ensuring that all women, regardless of income level, have access to the health care service that they need.”
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Israel, Iran and the Congress
Controversy also heated up over House Speaker John Boehner’s invitation to Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to address a Joint Session of Congress in February—a month ahead of Israel’s Knesset elections—and U.S. President Barack Obama’s vow to veto any legislation that would impose new sanctions on Iran if that nation fails to reach an agreement with the U.S. and other nations over its nuclear capacity.
Freshman U.S. Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-New York), lone Republican Jewish member of either house of Congress, a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and co-chair of the House Republican Israel Caucus, said Boehner’s invitation to Netanyahu “serves as a reminder that the American people remain strongly committed to our nation’s greatest ally, Israel.
“From radical Islamic extremism to rogue nations dangerously pursuing nuclear capability, threats abound for America and our allies all over the globe, especially the Middle East, I look forward to hearing the Prime Minister address Congress on his country’s goal of strengthening the alliance between our two nations.”
Among nearly 100 members of Congress who signed a letter to Boehner to issue the invitation was Rep. Brad Sherman (D-California), one of the letter’s initiators. It said in part “Due to widespread instability and turmoil in the Middle East, it is critically important to foster and enhance the U.S.-Israel relationship at this time. Because of the importance of our relationship with Israel, we ask you to write PM Netanyahu to address a joint session of Congress. Doing so would send a clear message of U.S. support to Israel.”
The Zionist Organization of America was quick to praise the invitation and took issue with Abe Foxman, executive director of the Anti-Defamation League, quoting him as saying the issues of Iran and radical Islam should not be politicized. Calling Foxman’s comment “poor judgment,” the ZOA’s Morton Klein said “at a time when the U.S. Congress is holding hearings on sanctions against Iran, a terrorist regime which is getting close to developing nuclear weapons and a regime which repeatedly threatens to destroy Israel and massacre its 6 million Jews, the advice, wisdom and experience of Israel’s Prime Minister Netanyahu is desperately needed.”
Taking an opposite point of view was Debra DeLee, president of Americans for Peace Now, who urged Boehner to re-issue the invitation “for a later date, after the deadline for negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program, and following elections in Israel, after a new government coalition is formed.”
She added: “Both the timing of the invitation and its manner are outrageous. They are inappropriate and irresponsible. Not only were the invitations in a way that violates protocol, their timing suggests congressional meddling in a foreign country’s election campaign.” She said Netanyahu’s appearance would come only two weeks before Israelis ballot for a new Knesset.
“As the sister organization of Israel’s preeminent peace movement and as an organization that cares deeply about Israel’s security and well being, and advocates for a strong relationship between Israel and the U.S., we appreciate Congress’s wish to honor Israel by inviting its prime minister to address a joint session of Congress,” DeLee said. “It is an honor that very few countries receive and one that underscores the special relationship between the United States and Israel. But if the objective of Speaker Boehner and his congressional colleagues really is to salute the state of Israel and its special relationship with the United States, he should show respect to its democratic process. He should allow its election process to take place without external involvement.”
Netanyahu also plans to return to Washington in early March to speak at the annual policy conference of the America Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), that organization announced on Thursday.
On the Iran front, Hillary Clinton was quoted by the Jerusalem Post as saying at a conference in Winnipeg, Canada, that she disagrees with Congressional efforts to impose enhanced sanctions against Iran should negotiations fail, asking “why do we want to be the catalyst for the collapse of negotiations?”
Matt Brooks, executive director of the Republican Jewish Coalition, said that the former Secretary of State “fails to realize that after exhaustive negotiations with Iran, rewarding them with more time is a catalyst to empower and embolden the Iranian regime further. Giving Iran more time puts our national security and our Middle Eastern allies’ security—especially Israel’s, at risk.”
Deputy Secretary of State Tony Blinken meanwhile told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, according to a report in the Washington Free Beacon and circulated by the Republican Jewish Caucus, in the newspaper’s paraphrase, that “the Obama administration’s goal during negotiaitons with Iran is delaying the regime’s development of nuclear weapons rather than shutting down the Islamic Republic’s contested nuclear program.”
Executive Branch
STANDARD & POOR FINES–The Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday announced a series of federal securities law violations by Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services involving fraudulent misconduct in its ratings of certain commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS). S&P agreed to pay more than $58 million to settle the SEC’s charges, plus an additional $19 million to settle parallel cases announced by the New York Attorney General’s office ($12 million) and the Massachusetts Attorney General’s office ($7 million). “Investors rely on credit rating agencies like Standard & Poor’s to play it straight when rating complex securities like CMBS,” said Andrew J. Ceresney, Director of the SEC Enforcement Division. “But Standard & Poor’s elevated its own financial interests above investors by loosening its rating criteria to obtain business and then obscuring these changes from investors.” The news prompted Sen. Al Franken (D-Minnesota) to comment: “I’m glad that the SEC has stepped up enforcement against the credit rating agencies whose inflated ratings were at the heart of the financial meltdown. However, this settlement shows that, even after the crisis has passed, ratings agencies still haven’t stopped loosening their standards to chase the business of big banks. Enforcement won’t be enough. That’s why the SEC needs to move forward with their authority under Wall Street Reform to issue rules that protect everyday Minnesotans who deserve a fair financial system. While we’ve made some progress to fix Wall Street in the years since the meltdown, I’m frustrated that the SEC still hasn’t moved forward with real reform to the credit rating industry.”
U.S. Senate
WILDFIRES — U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colorado) cosponsored a bill introduced by Senators Ron Wyden (D-Oregon) and Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) to overhaul federal wildfire policy to increase funding for fire prevention and treat the largest wildfires like other natural disasters. “This bill ends the cycle of underfunding fire suppression accounts,” Bennet said. “Under an outdated tradition, federal agencies currently base wild land fire suppression budgets on the average costs of the past 10 years, which nearly always underestimates the actual cost of fighting fires. Unlike the response to other natural disasters, which can draw from an emergency fund, the U.S. Forest Service and the Department of Interior (DOI) are forced to steal money – known as “fire borrowing” – from other important programs to make up the difference. DOI and the U.S. Forest Service estimate that 1 percent of fires consume 30 percent of firefighting budgets, and thus should be treated as true natural disasters. This bill would fund those catastrophic fires as natural disasters by making any fire suppression spending above 70 percent of the 10-year average for fire suppression eligible to be funded under a separate disaster account.”
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INTERNATIONAL CONFLICT — U.S. Senators Barbara Boxer (D-California), Mark Kirk (R-Illinois), and Jeanne Shaheen (D-New Hampshire) have introduced the Women, Peace, and Security Act of 2015. The bipartisan legislation would codify in law the commitments contained in the United States National Action Plan on Women, Peace, and Security and ensure the United States promotes women’s meaningful inclusion and participation in mediation and negotiation processes undertaken in order to prevent, mitigate, or resolve violent conflict. “Around the world, women are disproportionately affected by violence and armed conflict. It is critical they are full and active partners in peace negotiations,” Boxer said. “Furthermore, evidence clearly shows that the inclusion of women in peace talks, conflict prevention, and conflict mediation increases the likelihood that these measures succeed.”
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POULTRY—U.S. Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-California), Dick Durbin (D-Illinois.) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-New York) on Thursday, Jan. 22, applauded the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s new pathogen standards for Salmonella and Campylobacter in chicken and turkey. The senators urged USDA in April 2014 to establish strong pathogen standards for Salmonella and Campylobacter. The department estimates that the standards, which had not been updated since the late 1990s, will lead to a reduction in the number of Salmonella and Campylobacter illnesses attributed to poultry products by 30 and 19 percent, respectively. “American consumers should not have to worry about whether the food they eat will make them sick, which is why the new standards are a much-needed step forward. They will help save lives and prevent an estimated 50,000 foodborne illnesses annually,” said Senator Feinstein. “We have not significantly reduced the number of foodborne illnesses in years, in large part due to outdated standards. The meat industry has already demonstrated its ability to reduce contamination rates, and I’m confident that it will successfully adapt to the new standards to improve public health.”
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CLIMATE CHANGE—U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (Ind-Vermont) decried a Senate vote tabling his “sense of the Senate” resolution on a 56-42 procedural vote. He said it amounted to Senate Republicans refusing to acknowledge “the scientific consensus that global warming is a real, man-made threat to the planet and that time is running out to stop burning the fossil fuels scientists blame for worldwide climate change. The Senate debated the resolution on the same day the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists moved its ‘Doomsday Clock’ ahead two minutes. Because of global warming, the bulletin said, Earth is now closer to human-caused doomsday than it has been in more than 30 years. Only last week, scientists at two United States government agencies – NASA and the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration – separately reported that 2014 was the hottest year on record.”
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GPS TRACKING– In order to create clear rules about when law enforcement agencies can access and track Americans’ electronic location data Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Orgon., and Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, reintroduced the Geolocation Privacy and Surveillance Act (GPS Act) on Thursday, Jan. 22. “Buying a smartphone shouldn’t be interpreted as giving the government a free pass to track your movements,” Wyden said. “GPS data can be a valuable tool for law enforcement, but our laws need to keep up with technology and set out exactly when and how the government can collect Americans’ electronic location data.”
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TAR SANDS OIL — Senator Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, reported that an overwhelming bipartisan majority of U.S. Senate, including dozens of Republicans, have voted in favor of a non-binding resolution to close a tax loophole that gives millions of dollars to tar sands oil producers and leaves American taxpayers on the hook if that oil spills. Wyden had introduced an amendment to the Keystone XL pipeline that “would treat tar sands oil like other types of crude oil under the federal tax code, and require tar sands producers to pay into to the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund. Currently, tar sands oil producers do not pay into the trust fund, giving Canadian tar sands special treatment compared to other oil producers, including U.S. producers, which already pay into the fund.” A majority of voting senators supported Wyden’s amendment, on a bipartisan 50-47 vote, but the amendment needed 60 votes to pass under Senate rules. A bipartisan coalition of 75 members, including Wyden, voted for a companion measure offered by Senator Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska. That amendment passed overwhelmingly – marking the first time the United States Senate has agreed on the need to close the loophole. Wyden committed to raise the issue on any viable bill moving through the Senate.
U.S. House of Representatives
VOTING RIGHTS – U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tennessee) has introduced H.R.411, the Streamlining and Improving Methods at Polling Locations and Early (SIMPLE) Voting Act, which he said “would ensure that every state allows citizens to vote for at least 15 days prior to federal elections and require that states provide adequate poll workers and other resources to prevent wait times of longer than one hour. Cohen also joined Rev. Jesse Jackson, Sr., and U.S. Representatives Mark Pocan of Wisconsin and Keith Ellison of Minnesota on Capitol Hill to introduce H.J.Res.25, which “would explicitly guarantee the right to vote to in the Constitution, an implied right which is currently not enshrined in the document’s text and that has been eroded in recent years.”
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SOCIAL, EMOTIONAL LEARNING — U.S. Rep. Susan Davis (D-California) introduced legislation on Thursday, Jan. 22 to help teachers include social and emotional learning (SEL) in the classroom. The Supporting Emotional Learning (SEL) Act would amend the Higher Education Act to support teacher training in SEL to help young people better handle societal issues thus boosting their academic potential. Students receiving social and emotional education do better on tests, show greater pro-social behaviors, and less emotional stress. “Research shows us that when we impart social and emotional skills to our children, they thrive both academically and socially,” said Davis, a senior member of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce. “Test scores improve, relationships improve, and school culture improves. We owe it to our students to invest in ways to best teach these important social and emotional skills.”
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ANTI-SEMITISM—U.S. Rep. Ted Deutch (D-Florida) joined Ambassador Samantha Power at the United Nations in New York to deliver a speech against anti-Semitism. Deutch is a a senior member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Ranking Democrat on the Middle East and North Africa Subcommittee, and member of the Europe, Eurasia, and Emerging Threats Subcommittee. Here is a video recording of his comments:
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ASIA SUBCOMMITTEE – U.S. Rep. Brad Sherman (D-California), the second ranking Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee and senior member of the House Financial Services Committee, announced his new Subcommittee roles for the 114th Congress. In the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Sherman will serve as the ranking member on the Subcommittee on Asia, and will continue to serve on the Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation and Trade, as the Chairman Emeritus/ In the House Financial Services Committee, Sherman will join the Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit, and continue to serve on the Subcommittee on Capital Markets and Government-Sponsored Enterprises. “It is a great privilege to become the ranking member on Asia” he said. “As this administration continues to ramp up interest in Asia, I hope to help shape better trade policy and scale back the free trade agreements which have increased our trade deficit, outsourced jobs and rewarded countries that have not traded fairly with the United States. Under the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership goods made in Vietnam, where workers are paid 40 cents per hour, will enter America duty-free. That’s not the way to raise wages in America. I’m also pleased to be joining the Subcommittee on Financial Institutions where I can focus on keeping in place many of the important protections we enacted that Republicans are eager to dissolve.”
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DEATH OF WENDELL FORD– U.S. Rep. John Yarmuth (D-Kentucky) eulogized his fellow Kentuckian Wendell Ford, who served as a U.S. senator and a governor: “Wendell Ford was a legend. For decades, he served our Commonwealth and nation with a level of dignity, respect, and common sense not commonly found in so many in politics. As great of a leader as he was, he was an even better person, never losing his one-of-a-kind sense of humor and kindness throughout his life. My thoughts and prayers are with Mrs. Ford and their entire family.”
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California Legislature
State Sen. Robert Hertzberg (D-Van Nuys) explained why, after having retired from the Legislature as the Assembly Speaker, he has returned a decade later to the Legislature as a freshman state senator. Politics and government, he said, must be in his DNA. Here is a video of his interview:
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State Sen. Jeff Stone (R-Riverside) arranged for the State Senate’s ceremonial adjournment on Thursday, July 22, to be in memory of Sultan, a police canine that was killed in the line of duty Jan. 21 in the town of Hemet while “attempting to apprehend a wanted armed felon hiding in the crawl space of a home in Hemet.” Stone said that “Sultan was a police K-9 with the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department and was a Belgian-Malinois German Shepherd mix. He was killed in the line of duty after being sent in to drive the suspect out of hiding by his handler – Deputy Mark Wallace. I urge all Californians to mourn the death of this K9 who bravely gave his life protecting other law enforcement officers.”
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Items about Jewish women serving in Congress are sponsored by Laura Galinson in memory of her father, Murray Galinson.
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Harrison is editor of San Diego Jewish World. Your comment on any of the issues raised in this report may be posted in the space provided below or sent to donald.harison@sdjewishworld.com