October 11, 2019
Jewish Community Voter Guide 
The 2019 Jewish Community Voter Guide is now available.

The JAC Education Foundation's nonpartisan Congressional Voter Guide is now available for download and in print version. This edition tracks the votes of all members of the House and Senate from January - July of 2019 on key votes important to the Jewish community.


If you would like printed copies for your synagogue or organization, please contact the JAC Education Foundation office at 847.433.5999.
WEEK IN REVIEW
The House of Representatives is doing its job. Members passed more than 560 bills so far this year ranging from gun safety to raising the minimum wage, and from protecting women to domestic violence. These were then sent to the Senate where the Majority Leader decides when and if they get a floor vote.

Sen. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has turned the Senate into a massive graveyard where House bills automatically die. Meaningful legislation aimed at improving our country should be enacted. Instead, McConnell only wants to be a rubber stamp for Donald Trump's judicial nominees.

To break McConnell's stranglehold, we need to elect Senate candidates like Mark Kelly who is running from Arizona. We also need to ensure our Senators, including Gary Peters (D-MI), Doug Jones (D-AL), and Tina Smith (D-MN) are reelected.

Regardless of who wins the White House in 2020, if we do not have a Democratic majority in the Senate, our country's progress will continue to be stymied. Dysfunction and paralysis will be the norm in Congress, not real reform and action.

Peters said this week during JAC's Detroit membership meeting, that we are in a battle for the heart and soul of our country. " This election is about American leadership and standing up for our values. Right now it is slipping through our fingers."

The way to win, he continued, is to get people engaged in ways they have never been before. This means helping to get out the vote and supporting candidates.

When you make a contribution to a JAC candidate, we bundle your donation with donations from other JAC members and personally deliver the funds to the candidates. They know the money came from JAC while underscoring what issues are important to us.

Every Senator votes on every issue. Therefore it is just as important to support Senators from your state as Senate candidates from the other states.

JAC candidates need your dollars. Whatever you can give, donate now. Then if you can give a bit more later, donate again. Every dollar makes a difference and every dollar is critical.

Start now. Donate to Mark Kelly's campaign and our other candidates so we can have a Senate that works for us.

Not sure who to donate to? Make a donation to JAC and we will use it to support our candidates.
JAC AROUND TOWN
JAC's Michigan chapter held their annual membership meeting this week with the biggest turnout ever. Thank you to Sens. Debbie Stabenow and Gary Peters, and Reps. Haley Stevens and Andy Levin for joining us to talk about the issues. (l to r: Debbie Stabenow, Zoe Kaufman, Brooke Bendix, Gary Peters, Michal Nodel, Tara Forman Hack, Haley Stevens, Andy Levin, Ariana Mentzel)
Rep. Andy Levin (MI-9) with our hosts (l-r) Pam Lippitt, Lisa Lis, Roz Blanck.
We had a full house to hear from Sens. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) and Gary Peters (D-MI) on JAC's issues and current events in Washington.
JAC members delivered JAC support to Rep. Elissa Slotkin (MI-8) in Los Angeles this week. (r-l: Rep. Elissa Slotkin and AnnDee Levy)
JAC II members delivered JAC support to Rep. Elissa Slotkin (MI-8) in Los Angeles this week.
(r-l: Rachel Sussman, Elissa Slotkin, Bryan Kurtzman)
ISRAEL
What Trump's Withdrawal from Syria Means for the Kurds - and for Israel       
    
There are three basic reasons why, the Trump administration announced that U.S. armed forces are abandoning the Kurds of northeast Syria. The reasons reflect brutal logic. That doesn't make the outcome any more attractive or palatable.
Continued Reading

ANTI-SEMITISM & BDS
How the Synagogue Shooting in Germany Fits into a Global Pattern of Far-Right Terrorism

What at first sight may appear as an isolated attack in an obscure German city is anything but. The manifesto the attacker posted online - as well as his comments during the livestream - make clear that this is just the latest in a series of interconnected far-right terrorist attacks that have taken place across the world. 
Continued Reading


CHOICE
A Supreme Court Abortion Case That Tests the Court Itself  
 
Under the rules that normally govern the American judicial system, the Louisiana abortion law at the center of a case the Supreme Court added to its docket last week is flagrantly unconstitutional. The case, June Medical Services v. Gee, asks the court to decide whether states can prohibit doctors from performing abortions unless they have admitting privileges at local hospitals. 
Continued Reading


SEPARATION
'Render to God and Trump': Ralph Reed Calls for 2020 Obedience to Trump

One of Donald Trump's most prominent Christian supporters will argue in a book due out before the 2020 general election that American evangelicals "have a moral obligation to enthusiastically back" the president. In his book, Reed will "persuasively" argue evangelicals have a duty to defend the incumbent Republican leader against "the stridently anti-Christian, anti-Semitic, and pro-abortion agenda of the progressive left."   
Continued Reading

BEYOND THE CORE
What Happened When 2.2 Million People Were Automatically Registered to Vote

As recently as 2015, automatic voter registration did not exist in the United States. Yet today, 16 states plus the District of Columbia have enacted (though in several cases, not yet implemented) some version of AVR. Almost overnight, it has become a core part of the agenda for those who want to make it easier for more people to vote. This year alone, AVR bills have been introduced in 39 states.  
Continued Reading


POLITICAL BYTE
Pro-Israel Stalwart Nita Lowey Says She Won't Seek Re-Election
 
Rep. Nita Lowey, D-N.Y., a pro-Israel stalwart and one of the most influential Jewish lawmakers, said she will not run for re-election to Congress next year. In her announcement, Lowey, 82, noted that she was the first woman to chair the House Appropriations Committee, the lower chamber's most powerful committee, and included among her accomplishments upholding the U.S.-Israel relationship. 
Continued Reading

 
FYI
New Treatment Offers Hope for Multiple Myeloma and Lymphoma      
 
One of cancer's most cunning methods of evading the immune system is to increase the frequency of a kind of cellular "train" - a protein called XPO1 - that makes regular back-and-forth trips in and out of the nucleus of a cell. The XPO1 protein's job is to shuttle other proteins to the right stops on the line. "They can't do their job because they're geographically removed from where they're supposed to be," says Sharon Shacham, CEO of Karyopharm Therapeutics,  an Israel- and Massachusetts-based company that has developed a new drug that inhibits XPO1 activity in a cell. "We stop the train from taking the passengers."
Continued Reading

JAC II
Introducing JACII, a JAC group for young professionals, advocates, and those young at heart who are looking to get involved. Groups have started in Detroit, Chicago, and Los Angeles.
 
Events will feature elected officials and speakers in lively settings. JACII is by and for young people. Now is the perfect time to get involved.
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Know someone who would be interested in joining or hosting a meeting? Let us know at info@jacpac.org. We will be happy to help organize a JACII in your city.

The Last Word
"It comes down to this. We've cut through the denials. The deflections. The nonsense. Donald Trump believes he can pressure a foreign nation to help him politically. It's his 'right.' Every Republican in Congress has to decide: Is he right?"
-- House Intelligence Committee chairman Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA)
    

Thursday, October 17
Senate Candidate Mark Kelly (D-AZ) &
Former Rep. Gabby Giffords (D-AZ)
Chicago, IL
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Thursday, October 24
Virtual Talking Points
featuring
Ben Wikler
Chair of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin
 
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SAVE THE DATE
April 21-23, 2020
JAC's 2020 Annual Meeting
Celebrating 40 years of JAC
Washington, DC
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Want to host a JAC event? Contact the office and we will help organize it.
info@jacpac.org or 847.433.5999
Joint Action Committee for Political Affairs (JACPAC) is a pro-Israel PAC with a domestic agenda. We support a strong U.S.-Israel relationship and advocate for reproductive health and the separation of religion and state and incorporate other issues of importance to the Jewish community, including gun violence prevention and climate change. In addition to providing financial support for U.S. Senate and House campaigns, JACPAC educates our membership with outreach events designed to inform and activate their participation in the political process.
Paid for by Joint Action Committee for Political Affairs. Contributions or gifts are not tax deductible.  Federal law requires us to use our best efforts to collect and report the name, mailing address, occupation, and name of employer of individuals whose contributions exceed $200 in an election cycle. Corporate contributions and contributions from non-US citizens who are not lawfully admitted for permanent residence are prohibited. All contributions by individuals must be made from personal funds and may not be reimbursed or paid by another person.