NORPAC 2001

by Dov Kahane 5/21/01

"Greetings from Kentucky's 12,000 Jews"

With these words Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky began his luncheon address last Wednesday to a crowd of close to 200 participants at this year's NORPAC mission to Washington, D.C. NORPAC is a non-partisan pro-Israel political action committee whose members come from Northern New Jersey and New York. The purpose of NORPAC is to support candidates around the country to the US Senate and House of Representatives who favor a strong US-Israel relationship and who are committed to the strength and survival of the State of Israel. Senator McConnell, a Republican with an obviously very small constituency of Jews in his state, is one such Congressional leader. The annual mission to Washington is the time when the members of NORPAC meet face to face with members of Congress to discuss those issues. The experience is a learning process in politics, democracy and Washington protocol for everyone involved. Lobbying members of Congress is an important component of the democratic process in general; it is critically vital for Israel at this juncture.

While previous missions drew less than 75 people, this year almost 200 people - mostly Bergen County residents including a handful of local high school students - arose at the crack of dawn to board chartered buses bound for the nation's capitol. Already at 6 a.m. as the buses rolled down the turnpike participants were digesting their coffee and cake as well as thick information packets of written material containing the latest about the crisis in Israel and the US government.

Coalition Building

The morning in Washington was spent in the august conference rooms on Capitol Hill participating in briefings on Middle East political strategy and Congressional lobbying tactics. During this morning session the group was also addressed by a number of Senators and Representatives. Congressman Steven Rothman, whose district includes much of Bergen County, spoke of his own need to build coalitions with partners in Congress who may have less of an interest in Israel's well being than someone like him. A former member of NORPAC himself, Congressman Rothman has been a leader in the House for pro-Israel legislation for the past 5 years. He reminded the group that of the 435 Representatives in Congress currently only 26 of them are Jewish. And while Congress has in the past been typically pro-Israel this trend should not be taken for granted. When his colleague from rural Alabama asks him why Israel, with a population of 6 million, receives $3 billion in US foreign aid while the entire African continent put together, with a population of 800 million, gets less than half of that sum, Rothman recognizes a potential problem looming in the future. The recent trends in American politics have resulted in a rapid turnover of Congressional seats with many new members in the current Congress. Many of these freshman congressmen and women have no personal recollection of World War II, of Israel as a haven for the Jews or of the former role of Israel as a strategic ally against the spread of Communism in the Middle East. Rather, it is the American Jewish community and its representatives in Washington who must continue to remind our political leaders of the importance of Israel to America.

Slowing Down Iran

It is true that we still have good friends in Congress. Senator Gordon Smith, a Republican from Oregon, who has taken a leadership role in support of Israel, also addressed the NORPAC group at the morning briefing. Senator Smith, together with Senator Chuck Schumer of New York have recently introduced legislation to renew lapsing economic sanctions against Iran and Libya for failure to live up to their humanitarian and international relations commitments. Iran, in particular, continues to call vehemently for Israel's destruction. Iran's sale of oil finances the Hezbolla and Islamic Jihad terrorist organizations and funds Iran's own nuclear arms and offensive missile programs. Renewal of this Iran and Libya Sanctions Act, or ILSA, is critical for Israel's long-term strategic safety as well as serving as a deterrent to the more immediate threat of terror. But, Smith pointed out, renewal of ILSA is also critical for the US and the rest of the free world. Radical Islamic fundamentalism and the spread of weapons of mass destruction are a lethal combination of evil that may be the greatest threat to world peace we have known. He and the other supporters of ILSA renewal are fighting a battle not only against the ever-growing pro-Arab lobby in Washington but also against a formidable coalition of business and large oil companies. If not renewed ILSA will expire in August and a windfall of business revenue will inevitably fatten the coffers of Iran's regime allowing them to further their unwholesome goals.

Educating Congress

After lunch NORPAC participants broke out into working groups of 5 or 6 people. Each group was assigned a series of appointments with Senators and Congressmen. These appointments took place in the member's office on Capitol Hill. Meetings lasted between 15 and 45 minutes and served a number of important functions. NORPAC participants, having been briefed during the morning sessions, are a most effective medium for the dissemination of accurate and timely information about Israel and Middle East affairs. Also, feedback from these meetings enables NORPAC leadership to make decisions about which members of Congress to fund in upcoming elections. These meetings also serve to open up a channel of communication between members of Congress and Americans who love Israel. The effectiveness of these meetings should not be underestimated. When a member of Congress sees that a group of ordinary citizens have taken off a day from work and disrupted their typical schedules to come express their passionately held views in Washington, it registers. This year's mission consisted of about 120 different meetings with members of Congress. NORPAC participants met with 31 of the 41 new House members and 5 of the 12 new Senators in addition to the many veteran members of Congress.

NORPAC participants found that many of the members of Congress with whom they met were very knowledgeable and well versed on issues of Israel and the Middle East. A majority - though certainly not all - were pro-Israel. However, many freshman members of the House were ignorant of some of the basic facts. NORPAC members will follow up with these Congressmen and women, providing them with educational material and alerting them to the timing of key votes in the House. Hopefully these members of Congress will have more opportunities to interact with the pro-Israel community and even visit Israel. Congressional visits to Israel have proven to be the most effective means of learning the true nature of the conflict in the Middle East and the need to support Israel.

Getting Lantos Amendment Passed

On the lobbying agenda of this year's NORPAC mission was a push for a vote in the House supporting a measure known as the Lantos Amendment to the State Department Authorization Bill. The American government annually spends about $6 million on aid to Lebanon. The Lantos Amendment stipulates that the US Administration must certify that the Lebanese government has been able to successfully control its southern border against the incursion of terrorists into northern Israel. If this cannot be certified then the $6 million should be rescinded. While this is largely a symbolic measure - as Lebanon's government is viewed clearly as the proxy government for Syria - it sends an important message to Lebanon and Syria. The bill was being voted on that evening in the House. Upon returning home from the mission the participants were gratified to learn that the Lantos Amendment had passed; but by a margin of 3 votes! It is reasonable to assume that those 3 votes were cast by members of the House who were influenced by their conversation with participants of the NORPAC mission.

The day ended with the participants - tired but galvanized by the day of activism - boarding the buses back to Bergen County. Feedback and debriefing forms as well as dinner sandwiches were passed around for the trip home. It occurred to more than a few people on the NORPAC mission that while Americans in the United States can ride home in comfort and safety many of our brothers and sisters in Israel need to ride on bulletproof buses fearing the next attack on their lives. At a minimum our community must make every effort to help insure Israel's future support here in the United States. NORPAC makes that effort.