Texas Jewish Post (Fort Worth, Tex.), Vol. 58, No. 41, Ed. 1 Thursday, October 7, 2004 Page: 4 of 32
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4
In Our 58th Year
October 7,2004
Texas Jewish Post
™——————
0y James D. Besser
TJP Wishing ton Correspondent
House races: Frost fights
for his political life
In a year when few House of Rep-
resentatives races are genuinely
competitive, Rep. Martin Frost (D-
Texas) stands out as a glaring
exception.
The 26-year Jewish House vet-
eran, the victim of a successful
Republican redistricting plan that
forced him to run against a popular
Republican incumbent in a GOP-
dominated district, could be poised
for the comeback of the decade. But
political odds makers say he remains
the underdog, despite a Jewish com-
munity that has mobilized to
support him.
Frost, a member of the House
Democratic leadership, is running
against Rep. Pete Sessions, a 4-term
conservative Republican in what is
likely to be the costliest House race
of 2004.
The Republican redistricting
plan, orchestrated by Majority
leader Tom DeLay (R), was drawn
to give the Republicans a chance to
knock off five Democratic seats in
the Texas delegation - a key element
in their plan to increase their narrow
majority in the House.
But Frost isn’t going down
without a fight.
Dennis Simon, a political scien-
tist at Southern Methodist
University, said that “Frost is an
excellent campaigner. His campaign
is emphasizing his historic support
for business in North Texas, and his
voting record on matters of national
security since 9-11.”
Frost is also emphasizing his cen-
trist Democratic credentials in a more
conservative district. “His general
strategy is not to come across as a
flaming liberal,’’ Simon said. “And he’s
running a hard-hitting campaign.”
But so is Sessions. Recently, his
campaign castigated Frost for voting
against a recent measure to bar fed-
eral courts from ruling on cases
involving the “Pledge of Allegiance.’
Many Democrats - and most
major Jewish groups - argued that
the bill undercut the whole concept
of judicial review. But the Republi-
cans charged Frost with voting
against the “under God” phrase in
the Pledge.
The Frost campaign recently ran
an ad attacking Sessions for
numerous junkets around the
world.
Frost is getting significant sup-
port from the Dallas-area Jewish
community and from Jewish con-
tributors nationwide - which may
have been a factor in a Sessions press
Washington Watch
release claiming that Frost “runs to
Chicago, Hollywood, and New York
City to raise campaign funds he
can’t find in Texas.”
Many of North Texas’ Jewish
community live in the district, but
more important may be the sub-
stantial Hispanic minority, which
has not turned out in high numbers
in previous elections.
Simon said that while there is no
recent polling data, Frost has run a
strong, effective campaign. Still,
Simon said. Frost faces an uphill
battle to keep his House job in what
he called “one of the marquee bat-
tles" in this year’s congressional
elections.
Sessions also figures to benefit
from the expected huge victory in
the state by President George W.
Bush, its former governor.
“The Bush factor and the Repub-
lican tilt of the district make this a
tough one," said a leading Jewish
Democrat. “But if anybody can pull
it off, Martin can. He’s running the
campaign of his life.”
Supreme Court preview
The Supreme Court began a new
session on Monday with attention
focused on the possibility the Jus-
tices will rule on key elements of the
Bush administration’s domestic war
on terrorism - and on the likelihood
the November 2 presidential elec-
tion will reshape the court in the
next few years.
Michael Leiberman, Washington
counsel for the Anti-Defamation
League, said the justices are likely to
hear several cases involving the
Patriot Act and a “range of immigra-
tion and border control cases”
resulting from the war on terrorism.
“There’s also a possibility same-sex
marriage laws will come up,” he said.
Jewish groups will pay particular
attention to the possibility the Justices
may start reviewing the administration's
sweeping faith-based initiative that were
implemented through executive action,
without congressional approval.
“This could be the term when ele-
ments of the faith-based initiative
get challenged - especially in the
area of proselytizing in federally
funded programs," Lieberman said.
The Court could also take up a
major religious freedom law cham-
pioned by a broad range of Jewish
groups.
The Religious Land Use and
Institutionalized Persons Act
(RLIJ1 PA), passed in 2000, gives reli-
gious institutions protection against
unnecessary regulation by locaJ offi-
cials such as zoning officers.
Another part of the law protects the
rights of religious prisoners.
The latter provisions are the ones
K
being challenged in a case involving
a Virginia inmate who sued after
prison officials rejected his request
for kosher food.
The state contended that the
inmate, a member of the “Hebrew
Israelite” sect, was not sincere in his
religious claim. A lower court
upheld his claim; Virginia is
appealing the decision.
The Justices will also take up sev-
eral case involving Ten
Commandments displays on public
property, another issue that has
divided Jewish groups. Not likely this
year: any cases involving govern-
ment funding of religious schools.
Capitol Hill: last-minute
wheeling and dealing
Lawmakers were frantically
wheeling and dealing this week as
the 108th congress crashed to a dis-
orderly, partisan-tinged close -
although they are expected to return
after the November 2 elections for a
lame-duck session to deal with
deferred spending bills and intelli-
gence reform proposals.
So fast is the action that Jewish
activists are having a hard time
keeping track of bills they support
or oppose.
One controversial measure was
conclusively defeated: last week,
House Republicans failed to get the
required two-thirds majority to pass
a Federal Marriage Amendment
designed to outlaw gay marriage.
The National Council of Jewish
Women (NCJW) worked energeti-
cally against the measure.
“NCJW is pleased that the House
rejected the discriminatory Federal
Marriage Amendment," said the
group’s president, Marsha Atkind.
“Gay and lesbian individuals should
have the constitutional right to
affirm and protect their relation-
ships through marriage and to seek
its legal benefits.
Atkind, reflecting the positions of
most liberal Jewish groups, denied that
expanding rights for gays and lesbians
will harm the institution of marriage.
But Orthodox groups supported
the effort to thwart recent court
decisions and state laws allowing gay
marriage and partnerships.
“This is not the last we have heard
of federal or state marriage amend-
ments,” said Abba Cohen, Washington
representative for Agudath Israel of
America. “Reservation of traditional
marriage has firmly captured the
political stage, and for many Ameri-
cans has become a defining issue for
the country’s future.”
Congressional observers say the
amendment never had a chance in
the House - but that GOP leaders
wanted a vote to use in critical
House and Senate campaigns.
Another bill opposed by most
Jewish groups was blocked wfien a
back-door maneuver to attach it to
a must-pass spending bill failed. But
Jewish activists warned that the
Houses of Worship Free Speech
Restoration Act, originally spon-
sored by Rep. Walter Jones (R-NC),
could reappear in the closing min-
utes of the session.
The measure would have legal-
ized direct political activity by
churches and synagogues and even
fundraising at worship services.
Backers said it was necessary to pro-
tect the free speech rights of
religious people; opponents said it
would divide congregations and
infect houses of worship with the
virus of partisanship.
But last week’s amendment
wasn’t identical to the original bill,
and even some original supporters
balked at the maneuver. Late last
week, the effort fizzled.
But Jewish activists who worked hard
to block the bill weren’t celebrating.
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“There’s every expectation the spon-
sors will continue to look for other
opportunities to move it forward,” said
Richard Foltin, legislative director for
the American Jewish Committee.
But with Congress nearing the
finish line, prospects for the mea-
sure were dimming by the hour.
A massive $300 billion highway
bill was another victim of congres-
sional gridlock; late last week,
congressional leaders acknowledged
that they could not pass the bill, and
Congress approved temporary
extensions of current funding.
That means that big increases in
senior transportation programs -
advocated by the United Jewish Com-
munities and approved by both
Houses - will have to wait for next vear.
So will an overhaul of the 1996
welfare reform law that liberal
Jewish groups hoped to use to
reverse some of that measure’s
harsher provisions. But for the
second year in a row, lawmakers
couldn’t agree on a bill.
Also scheduled for last-minute
action in Congress: a hate crimes bill
supported by a number of Jewish
groups and a homeland security mea-
sure that would provide money for
nonprofit organizations, including
churches and synagogues, to bolster
security against the terrorist threat
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Wisch, Rene & Wisch-Ray, Sharon. Texas Jewish Post (Fort Worth, Tex.), Vol. 58, No. 41, Ed. 1 Thursday, October 7, 2004, newspaper, October 7, 2004; Fort Worth, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth754476/m1/4/: accessed April 19, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; .