Welcome to the Forward’s news covrage, articles and posts about congress.
Congress
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Fast Forward Rep. Henry Waxman, Leading Jewish Liberal, Retires From Congress
Democratic U.S. Representative Henry Waxman of California, a leading liberal who helped craft President Barack Obama’s landmark healthcare overhaul, said on Thursday he will retire from Congress at the end of this year. “In 1974, I announced my first campaign for Congress,” Waxman, 74, said in a statement. “Today, I am announcing that I have…
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Israel News Is AIPAC Shooting Itself in Foot With Quixotic Iran Sanctions Push?
(JTA) — In previous AIPAC-vs.-White House dustups, the pro-Israel lobbying group’s strategy was to speak softly and let Congress carry the big stick. But in the American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s face-off with the Obama administration over new Iran sanctions, congressional support may not be so readily available and keeping a low public profile is…
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News Debbie Wasserman Schultz Squeezed Hard as Iran Sanctions Fight Heats Up
As Jewish groups push Congress to increase sanctions on Iran — and President Obama pushes back hard in the opposite direction — one lawmaker standing at the crossroads of this clash exemplifies the challenge the Jewish groups face. Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida is a member of the House of Representatives; not the Senate, where…
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Fast Forward Controversial Non-Profit Security Plan for Jewish Groups Gets 30% Funding Boost
Congress budgeted $13 million for a controversial nonprofit security assistance program that mostly aids Jewish institutions. The money was in the $1.1 trillion budget passed this week by both houses of Congress. Last year the program received just $10 million. The program, which has existed since the mid-2000s, has so far disbursed $151 million through…
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Fast Forward Natan Sharansky Joins Political Prisoners in Pleading for Help at Congress Hearing
Natan Sharansky joined Forward opinion editor Gal Beckerman and the relatives of political prisoners in asking the U.S. Congress to speak of their loved ones during meetings with foreign officials. Sharansky, imprisoned by the Soviets for nine years because of his activism on behalf of Soviet Jews who wanted to emigrate, recalled at a hearing…
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Fast Forward Israel Aid Back to $3.1B in New Budget
Funding to Israel was restored to its pre-sequester levels in the spending bill the U.S. House of Representatives passed. The bill keeps funding for Israel at $3.1 billion for 2014, the amount designated in a 2007 10-year memorandum of understanding that guaranteed Israel an average of $3 billion a year in assistance. The $1.1 trillion…
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Life Throwback Thursday: Jewish Congresswoman from Utah
Welcome to Throwback Thursday, a weekly photo feature in which we sift 116 years of Forward history to find snapshots of women’s lives. Florence Prag Kahn, the first Jewish woman to serve in Congress, was a pioneer in many ways. She was born in 1866 in Salt Lake City, Utah. Her parents were Polish Jewish…
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Israel News Jewish Lawmakers See End-of-Year Split on Priorities
For Jewish and pro-Israel groups, the congressional year is ending with an odd reversal: the prospect, however fragile, of bipartisan comity on budget issues coupled with a rare partisan disagreement on Middle Eastern policy. The groups that deal with social welfare and justice issues are heartened, albeit warily, by the end-of-year budget forged by Rep….
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Culture RFK Jr.’s poems to Olivia Nuzzi are peak cringe — so were King Solomon’s
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News DNA test kits spark a surge of online conversions to Judaism in the U.S.
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Opinion What does Mamdani’s response to synagogue protests mean for Jews? No one will like the answer.
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Opinion More than 25% of Israelis want to leave the country. How did we get here?
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Culture Now that Saul Zabar is gone, what will become of the ‘Over 95’ club at NYC’s leading appetizing store?
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Opinion Netanyahu’s pardon request is a staggering act of hypocrisy — and it should be granted, with one condition
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Fast Forward After drawing BDS backlash, progressive Jewish writer Peter Beinart apologizes for speaking at Tel Aviv U
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Culture The gift Tom Stoppard gave to me — and to all who adore him
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