"In the environment we’re operating in right now, everything is difficult”
For Jewish organizations, this session is an opportunity to promote key priorities such as security grants for nonprofit institutions and shuls, child tax credits, and fighting anti-Semitism. For a better understanding, we reached out to two community leaders — Rabbi Abba Cohen, vice president for government affairs and Washington director and counsel for Agudath Israel of America; and Nathan Diament, executive director for the Orthodox Union Advocacy Center.
The two veterans know it’s not going to be easy. Washington’s hyper-partisan reality complicates the passage of any agenda item, even ones supported by the consensus.
“I think the biggest challenge is the very intense partisan divide,” says Diament. “It makes it just hard to get anything done, even something like getting Deborah Lipstadt confirmed [as the State Department envoy on anti-Semitism]. In the environment we’re operating in right now, everything is difficult.”
Diament: “Two immediate priorities are related to the appropriations package, something Congress may be working on in the next four to six weeks. There’s discussion about doing perhaps an omnibus appropriations bill, and in that context, the top priority for us is the funding of the Nonprofit Security Grant Program [NSGP] at Homeland Security and trying to get that boosted to $360 million. It’s hard to say at this moment whether or not that funding deal is going to come together. Overall, a lot of it was hung up because of the stalemate around Build Back Better [Biden’s signature $4 trillion legislation package that died two weeks ago —Ed.]. And with that sort of being put to the side, I think the chances of an omnibus funding package are probably improving. If that occurs, I’m pretty optimistic that we’ll be able to boost the NSGP funding level significantly.”
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