Jewish Alliance for Law
and Social Action - www.jewishalliance.org.
18 Tremont Street, Suite 320,
Boston, 02108 - tel: 617-227-3000 fax: 617-227-3453
7 Tishrei 5765 Legislative and Action Alert September 22, 2004
Wishing all our members and friends a good healthy peaceful New Year
Separate not yourself from your
community!
Pirkei Avot 2:5
Are you registered to Vote? Just a few days left to
register.
Are you sure that you are listed properly, that you have not been
removed from
the voting roles for any reason? Check with your local registrar
of voters.
Write 10 friends in other states. Make sure if they moved, they
registered
at their new address.
"Justice, Justice thou shalt
pursue" (Deut. 16:20)
URGENT ACTION NEEDED!! ACT NOW TO PASS CRUCIAL ASYLUM LEGISLATION!
Urge your Senators to Support the Brownback Amendment
to Lift the
Asylee Adjustment Cap!!
(Message received from HIAS - the
Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society)
We have just learned that Senator Brownback (R-KS) is
going to
introduce an amendment TODAY that would eliminate the caps on
asylee
adjustment of status. The caps limit the number asylees who
are
lawfully present in the U.S. from adjusting their immigration status
to
that of a green card holder. These victims of persecution and
coercive
family planning are forced to suffer undue hardship and face delays
of
up to 15 years in beginning down the path to full integration
and
citizenship. The backlog of individuals waiting to adjust their
status
has reached 150,000 individuals, including 12,000-15,000 asylees
from
the former Soviet Union - many of whom are Jewish or of other
religious
minorities.
In order to see help these vulnerable migrants, we need
to get Senators
to support the floor amendment being sponsored by Senators
Brownback
(R-KS) and Leahy (D-VT). Please take ten minutes out of your day
to
call your Senators' offices ask as them to vote yes on the
Brownback
Amendment to lift the asylee adjustment of status cap!
For additional background information on the issue, as
well as a statement in support of the elimination of the caps, signed by nearly
100 organizations, including 12 Jewish organizations,
See:
http://jewishalliance.org/info/00000085.htm
Please act now!! Call our Senators.
Kennedy, Edward - (D - MA)
317 RUSSELL SENATE
OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-4543
Web Form:
kennedy.senate.gov/contact.html
Kerry, John - (D - MA)
304 RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE
BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-2742
Web Form:
kerry.senate.gov/bandwidth/contact/email.html
Tonight
Important Mobilization at Boston School
Committee Meeting
The English High School 144 McBride St., Jamaica Plain, MA 02130 phone: 617-635-8979
(Message from Committee of parents and teachers
responding to the
Task Force on School Assignments)
This is to remind everybody that Work-4 Quality Schools
is organizing a mass
mobilization of parents, students, concerned community
members to the School
Committee meeting on Wednesday, September 22 at English
High school (5:30
PM). We need to come out to make a strong push for our
campaign to ensure
that all Boston public schools offer the highest quality
education to all
students.
All students in all schools deserve the highest quality
education. However,
others are putting pressure on the Mayor and city
officials to return to
separate and unequal / neighborhood schools. Parents
have informed me of
mass mobilization efforts being undertaken by the Walk-2
schools group. I
am guessing that those working for separate and unequal /
neighborhood
schools, will get several hundred parents to the
meeting.
Note: from Executive Director
For months, Boston
public school parents have been waiting for the report
of the Task Force
assigned to present alternative school assignment plans.
However, a very
significant number of parents who have attended regional
meetings, state
emphatically that the Task Force should concentrate on the
issue of quality
schools before looking for ways to re-assign students.
In district after
district, parents said that the school assignment was less
important than the
quality of the schools. And any efforts to return to a
neighborhood
assignment plan would clearly be a disservice to the vast
majority of
children in the system. JALSA hopes that parents will attend
the meeting this
evening and help to keep attention placed on issues of
quality rather than
any proposed assignment plan that returns the City of
Boston to a
neighborhood school preference. Any return to neighborhood
preference will
neglect the large number of students in districts with
insufficient
seats.
Additional legislative concerns
Urge Your
Congressional Representative to Oppose Anti-Gay Constitutional
Amendment
(Message from the RAC - the Religious Action Center)
Within the next 2 weeks, the U.S. House of
Representatives is planning to debate
and vote on a proposed Constitutional
amendment that would outlaw same-sex
marriage in the United States. Although
the Senate rejected the same amendment
this summer on procedural grounds, the
House is moving forward with its version
of the bill. The Federal Marriage
Amendment states plainly that “Marriage in the
United States shall consist
only of the union between a man and a woman.”
The amendment would permanently
deny same-sex couples the benefits of civil marriage,
including spousal
health care and survivor benefits. If the Federal Marriage Amendment
is
adopted, it will mark the first time in American history that the Constitution
will be
changed to restrict, rather than expand, the rights of an entire
group of Americans.
Note from JALSA Executive Director: Regarding local calls
on this issue.
All Massachusetts congressional representatives, according to
the Human Rights Campaign,
have had a 100% record in the past in supporting
issues of concern to the Gay and Lesbian
community (and thus - resistance to
such an amendment). Rhode Island and Vermont representatives have also
demonstrated 100% support of LGBT issues, according to the Human Rights
Campaign. Connecticut reps: Robert Simmons and Nancy Johnson could use
additional calls and letters; New Hampshire reps. Charles Bass and John Sununu
are unlikely to change their
position, rated as a "0" by the Human Rights
Campaign. To view the positions of other
congressional representatives for
this legislative vote, go to http://www.hrc.org/Content/NavigationMenu/HRC/Get_Informed/Congress_and_Scorecard/Index.htm.
Urge Urge Your Representative Oppose the
Politicization of Houses of Worship
(Message from the RAC - the Religious
Action Center)
The so-called Houses of Worship Free Speech Restoration
Act (H.R. 235),
introduced by Rep. Walter Jones (R-NC), would amend the tax
code to permit
houses of worship to engage directly in political campaigns
while maintaining
their privileged status as tax-exempt organizations. The
bill would allow houses of
worship to endorse or oppose candidates for public
office and even solicit
contributions for federal candidates during religious
services or gatherings.
There is a firm effort by members of the House leadership
to pass legislation
in the coming weeks allowing houses of worship to engage
in political speech.
Currently, they are trying to insert the language of
H.R. 235 as an amendment
to a seemingly unrelated bill concerning fiscal
matters (H.R. 4520, the “American
Jobs Creation Act”). Such an amendment
would erode a valuable safeguard
currently maintaining the distinct integrity
of religious institutions and the political process.
Federal Hate Crimes Act (Message from Human Rights Campaign)
The House of Representatives could consider the federal
hate crimes bill,
the Local Law Enforcement Enhancement Act (LLEEA, S.
966/H.R. 4204)
as soon as THIS THURSDAY. In June, the Senate passed LLEEA as
an
amendment to the Department of Defense authorization bill. The
conference
committee for the DOD bill might be appointed as early as this
Thursday - and
the House may vote on a "Motion to Instruct" the conference
committee
to include the hate crimes language in the final DOD
bill.
LLEEA strengthens the current federal hate crimes statute
by covering all
violent crimes based on race, color, religion, or national
origin. Furthermore,
LLEEA would permit federal involvement in the
prosecution of bias-motivated
crimes based on the victim's real or perceived
gender, sexual orientation, or disability.
This expansion is critical in order to protect members of
these groups from
this most egregious form of discrimination. While states
should continue to play
the primary role in the prosecution of hate crime
violence, the federal government
must be able to address cases that local
authorities are either unable
or unwilling to investigate and
prosecute.
Volunteers Needed
JALSA needs representatives
to coalitions working on issues that concern
us. Volunteers need to prepare
for coalition meetings by working with our
director, attend relevant
meetings, and report back to relevant JALSA
committees or coalitions. Current
issues needing such committee and
coalition representation include school
achievement gap, advocating for stem
cell research, protecting
non-discrimination in marriage laws, and advocacy on
immigration and health
issues. Call Sheila Decter if you are interesting
in helping on any of these
issues. 617-227-3000 or write decter@jalsa.org.
Volunteers are also needed to ensure fair
elections,
here in Massachusetts as well as in other states.
Call Sheila
Decter if you are interested in helping on
election day or earlier.
617-227-3000 or write decter@jalsa.org.
Reminder:
Committee on Law and Social Action
tomorrow
Thursday, September 23, 12:30 pm
JALSA
office
JALSA Board Meeting Next Week
Tuesday,
September 28, 12:00 noon
JALSA office
SUPPORT THE JEWISH ALLIANCE
The Jewish Alliance for Law and
Social Action----
dedicated to continuing a strong, progressive,
inter-generational voice
inspired by Jewish teachings and values for social
justice, civil rights, and civil liberties.
Membership is open to all who wish to work for progressive goals in the development of public policy. Join us!
Please keep us in mind as you give your New Year's charity, so that we can continue to make a difference.
Visit www.jewishalliance.org. and fill out the online donation form today!
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