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JAC member Leslie Morasca (l) delivered JAC support to
Lizzie Pannill Fletcher (r), candidate for TX-7.
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JAC met with Andy Levin, candidate for MI-9, Chrissy Houlahan, candidate for PA-6, and former Rep. Sandy Levin on Martha's Vineyard. (l to r: Linda Rae Sher, Andy Levin, Marcia Balonick, Chrissy Houlahan, Sandy Levin, Betsy Sheerr)
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JAC met with Rep. Seth Moulton (MA-6) on Martha's Vineyard. (l to r: Linda Rae Sher, Seth Moulton, Betsy Sheerr, Marcia Balonick)
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| JAC met with Elaine Luria, candidate for VA-2, on Martha's Vineyard. (l to r: Elaine Luria, Marcia Balonick, Linda Rae Sher, Ann Brown) |
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| JAC met with Chrissy Houlahan, candidate for PA-6 on Martha's Vineyard. (l to r: Linda Rae Sher, Richard Sheerr, Betsy Sheerr, Chrissy Houlahan and guest) |
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JAC II members Rachel Levy & Bryan Kurtzman met with Susie Lee, candidate for NV-3.
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Students across the country are beginning their new school year. This is usually a time of great excitement. But today, concern over school safety is at an all-time high.
Roughly one-third of today's parents fear for their child's safety in school, according to a poll by an educators' association. That's the highest proportion since 1998 when that number was only 12%. A majority of teens fear a shooting at their school. Last year there were nearly one school shooting a week.
The number of children who have experienced gunfire in their schools exceeds the population of Fort Lauderdale, FL.
The Department of Education announced this week that is wants to arm teachers. More than 80 percent of teachers oppose carrying guns in schools. Many of those teachers own guns themselves. Arming teachers presents risks to students and faculty. Teachers are not trained law enforcement officers.
Unintentional discharge could injure or kill a teacher or student. Teachers attempting to take down an active shooter can harm bystanders and even lead to casualties among police officers.
This proposal is NRA-backed and a gift to the gun industry. There are around 140,000 public schools which employ 3.2 million full-time teachers. Arming teachers would be a big financial boon to the ailing gun industry.
Instead, federal funds should be going to improve our nations' classrooms. Our schools are deeply under-funded. Teachers lack supplies, computer technology and resources needed to meet students' educational and emotional requirements. Schools also struggle to hire and retain qualified, dedicated teachers.
We need Congress to pass common-sense gun laws such as, universal background checks on all gun sales, an assault weapons ban, and red flag laws to remove the guns from dangerous individuals.
In less than 11 weeks we have the chance to change Congress. You can vote out members who will not stand up the NRA. You can also donate to JAC-supported candidates who will make the necessary choices to keep our children safe, regardless of politics (click here for a list).
Arming teachers and buying children bullet-proof backpacks are not the answers to school shootings. The answer is at the ballot box. Elections matter. Register and vote.
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Do you know a high school or college student who would like to intern at JAC during the school year or next summer? Call the JAC office at 847.433.5999 about opportunities.
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2 CRITICAL ACTIONS NEEDED THIS WEEK
Call your Representatives and urge them to
REAUTHORIZE VAWA
(Violence Against Women Act)
which expires in September.
_____________________________
TELL THE SENATE
NO Guns in Schools
202.224.3121
Call your Senators and urge them to support the Amendment 4004 to HR 6157 by Sen Chris Murphy to prevent the Dept. of Education to allow schools to use federal funds to purchase guns and training for public schools staff.
202.224.3121
________________________
#VAWA18 #NoGunsInSchool #PencilsNotGuns
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Egypt, Saudi Arabia Less Optimistic of Trump's 'Deal of Century' to Bring Middle East Peace
Even as the White House moves to unveil its' "Deal of the Century" vision for Middle East peace, it's increasingly clear that Arab enthusiasm to partner with President Donald Trump on a Palestinian-Israeli peace agreement is faltering.
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Fatah Leaders Arm Themselves Ahead of Abbas's Possible Departure
Senior leaders and officials in Fatah have reportedly started to align themselves with various armed groups in the West Bank, in preparation for a possible departure of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, and a possible violent struggle over his position.
When Abbas departs, there will be two possible scenarios at play-the Palestinians will either divide the positions of power among themselves, or instigate violent conflicts and riots.
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Trump: Israel Will Pay 'Higher Price' in Peace Talks After Embassy Move
President Donald Trump said Tuesday night Israel will pay "a higher price" in peace talks with the Palestinians due to his decision to recognize Jerusalem as the Jewish state's capital. Speaking at a campaign rally in Charleston, West Virginia, Trump said the Palestinians "will get something very good, because it's their turn next.
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Trump's Tweet Echoing White Nationalist Propaganda About South African Farmers
President Donald Trump tried to move the conversation away from his former lawyer implicating him in federal crimes by tweeting out a common talking point of white nationalists and neo-Nazis. Late Wednesday night, Trump tweeted that he had directed Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to investigate "the South Africa land and farm seizures and expropriations and the large scale killing of farmers."
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Pepsico-from Boycotting Israel to Buying Sodastream for Billions
In the 1980s, Pepsi succumbed to the Arab League's boycott of Israel, and did not make its goods available in the Jewish state. Now, 26 years after its own experiment with economic censure failed spectacularly, Pepsi delivered another blow to advocates of boycotting Israel by paying a mint for one of the companies said boycotters revile the most. We've come full circle, another useful reminder that ingenuity and industriousness will always triumph over the angry shouts of narrow-minded bigots who have nothing to offer the world but their impotent, malicious wrath.
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Donald Trump's White Nationalist White House: Still in Full Effect
President Donald Trump loves to call nonwhite immigrants and refugees "vermin" or "invaders" and to suggest they are the "worst people." Yet he has no such strong words for the white nationalists and other racists prevalent throughout his administration.
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Another Anti-Choice Advocate Is Rising Through the Ranks at Trump's HHS
Steven Valentine, who has a background in anti-choice advocacy, was promoted this week to chief of staff for the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health (OASH) at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). OASH houses the Office of Population Affairs, which oversees the Title X family planning program, and the Office of Adolescent Health, which oversees the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program (TPPP).
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The Trump Official Overseeing Migrant Girls' Health Care Once Wrote He Couldn't 'Support Abortion for Any Reason'
When a woman Scott Lloyd slept with got pregnant, he took her to get an abortion. Now he's on a crusade to stop migrants from having their own. Today, after a career spent harnessing the law to restrict abortion access, Lloyd oversees the lives of nearly 12,000 migrants under the age of 18, most of whom were detained after crossing the border without proper papers.
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It's Time to Stand up for Title X & Reproductive Rights
The federal government is trying to change the rules on how millions of people across the country access reproductive and preventive healthcare. Earlier this month, the Department of Health and Human Services closed the official comment period to respond to its proposed rule change around Title X, the nation's only federal family planning program. This is the Trump administration's latest attempt to dismantle reproductive rights. In times like these, we must use every tool at our disposal - every public comment period, every opportunity to vote - to voice our discontent and to resist.
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Mike Pence's Outer-Space Gospel
Since the Trump administration was sworn in, Mike Pence has been the unofficial spokesperson for the U.S. space program, touring NASA centers and delivering remarks about the country's ambitions on behalf of the president. Even now that NASA finally has an administrator-it took nearly 15 months after the inauguration to get a Donald Trump nominee into the job-Pence remains the headliner at space-related events. And when Pence speaks of space exploration, he speaks not only of the frontier, but of faith. His speeches sometimes sound more like sermons.
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The Politics of Religious Freedom Under the Trump Administration
For now, the two-track religious freedom focus will continue in the United States. In law and domestic politics, religious liberty will be a political rallying cry for Republicans, even as Democrats view it skeptically. Democrats will, in turn, scrutinize conservatives' claims and demand consistency. As for the government's IRF advocacy, it seems likely that the project will continue with conditional bipartisan support. And yet, there's no doubt that for the foreseeable future, politics and controversy will accompany the United States' push for religious freedom.
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Education Secretary Considers Using Federal Funds to Arm Schools
The Education Department is considering whether to allow states to use federal funding to purchase guns for educators, according to multiple people with knowledge of the plan. Such a move appears to be unprecedented, reversing a longstanding position taken by the federal government that it should not pay to outfit schools with weapons. And it would also undermine efforts by Congress to restrict the use of federal funding on guns.
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Officials Defend Plan to Close Almost All Polling Places in Majority Black Georgia County
Election officials in a rural southwest Georgia county are defending a plan to suddenly close seven of the county's nine polling places against allegations of racial discrimination, saying the ones it wants to close are not sufficiently accessible to people with disabilities. The ACLU says that doesn't make sense. ACLU said there was evidence of discriminatory intent in the proposal to close polling places. They pointed to the fact that Stacey Abrams, the first female black nominee for governor from a major party, will be on the ballot this fall.
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The Victims of Climate Change Are Already Here
Climate change is not a future problem. Climate change is a current problem. Yet the United States--despite this recent history--has pulled back from a number of already insufficient commitments to reversing emissions and global warming. Faced with this vacuum, American nongovernmental organizations and states have stepped forward with campaigns designed to reinvigorate climate activism and policy making. But they have a long way to go, especially in connecting a mainstream climate movement with the majority of the victims of those disasters.
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Brett Kavanaugh Urged Graphic Questions in Clinton Inquiry
Brett M. Kavanaugh, President Trump's Supreme Court nominee, urged prosecutors investigating President Bill Clinton to question him in graphic detail about his sexual relationship with Monica Lewinsky, a White House intern, according to a memorandum released by the National Archives. At the time, though, Mr. Kavanaugh took a hard line, aghast that Mr. Clinton had lied and tarnished the presidency. "It may not be our job to impose sanctions on him, but it is our job to make his pattern of revolting behavior clear - piece by painful piece," Mr. Kavanaugh wrote.
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Abortion, Race, Gay Rights, Death Penalty: Supreme Court Nominee Brett Kavanaugh Could Make the Difference
If he wins confirmation to the Supreme Court, Brett Kavanaugh's impact could extend from cradle to grave. Because he would replace retired justice Anthony Kennedy, who occasionally sided with the court's liberal wing, Kavanaugh particularly could shift the balance on cases involving abortion, capital punishment, racial discrimination and gay rights.
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Kavanaugh's Confirmation Must Wait
We are now in the opening phase of a political crisis brought about by the guilty plea entered in federal court on Tuesday by the president's former lawyer, Michael Cohen.We are now in political, not legal, territory. The question is whether the members of the U.S. Senate should confirm a nominee who could, sooner rather than later, be sitting in judgment of the same president who nominated him - even as a scandal with huge constitutional ramifications is unfolding in real time.
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Record Number of Jewish Voters Will Reject Trump in November
In every U.S. presidential election since 1980, an average of 70% of Jewish voters have supported the Democratic candidate. As we approach the midterm elections, Jewish voters will overwhelmingly vote for Democrats once again, and in record numbers. The Jewish community is demanding political change because the agenda of Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress is fundamentally out of sync with our values.
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Veterans Answer the Call to Serve, Again
At a time when Congress is deeply unpopular and, by all accounts, a rather unpleasant place to work, veterans are stepping up. More than 400 vets have announced candidacies for Congress alone, about half of them younger generation veterans. Vets are also running for governor. Veterans in Congress approach the job from a place of service, from a place of doing what's right for your country. That comes before anything else.
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Trump Called This White House Defender 'Wonderful.' He Was Fired from His Previous Job for Alleged Sexual Harassment
A conservative commentator who was lauded by President Trump this week as "wonderful" and who has argued that past sexual indiscretions should have no bearing on Trump's presidency was fired from Arizona State University four years ago for making sexually explicit comments and gestures toward women, according to documents and a university official.
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Eichmann in Full
When I was young, my parents had a good friend named Tzvika. He was a bald man with big eyes and a wide smile, the sort of uncle who can make a room cheerier just by walking in and saying hello. I always assumed he was some sort of artist, because he showed me drawings he'd done many years earlier, haunting pastels etched with fury on the pages of a travel guide to Buenos Aires. He'd gone to Argentina, my parents told me later, to kidnap a man named Adolf Eichmann and bring him to justice in Israel.
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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.
Know someone who would be interested in joining or hosting a meeting? Let us know at
[email protected]. We will be happy to help organize a JACII in your city.
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"Our shared values define us more than our differences. And acknowledging those shared values can see us through our challenges today if we have the wisdom to trust in them again."
Sen. John McCain (R-AZ)
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Reception in support of
Rep. Bill Foster (IL-11)
Sunday, August 26
Highland Park, IL
Call JAC office for details.
847.433.5999
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Reception in support of
Lauren Baer
Candidate for FL-18
Sunday, September 16
Philadelphia, PA
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JAC GOTV
Join JAC in Las Vegas as we Get Out the Vote for
Rep. Jacky Rosen (Senate Candidate)
Susie Lee (Congressional Candidate NV-3)
and Steven Horsford (Congressional Candidate NV-4)
October 4-7
Details to come. Call the JAC office for more information.
847.433.5999
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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.
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Federal law requires political committees to report the name, mailing address, occupation and employer for each individual who contributes over $200 in a calendar year. Maximum contribution per person may not exceed $5,000 per calendar year. According to law, JACPAC cannot accept corporate contributions. Membership, gifts, or other payments to JACPAC are not deductible as charitable contributions for federal income tax purposes.
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