JAC's week was filled with candidate meetings with Senate hopefuls, an exclusive update on Hillary's campaign from her campaign manager, briefings from White House officials on the Affordable Care Act (ACA) ruling, and a briefing from high-level experts on the Iran nuclear negotiations. Lastly, we watched history made when the Supreme Court's upheld the ACA and gay marriage. Every day JAC is on the frontlines advocating for our issues with candidates. Our "front row" seat to the latest developments in Washington ensure that we stay informed, so that you stay informed. Our issues are constantly being threatened and YOUR SUPPORT ensures that we will elect candidates to Congress that will always strive to make Israel a bi-partisan issues, vote for common sense gun laws, clean water, women's health programs and many other issues of concern to the Jewish community.
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REMEMBER: ELECTIONS MATTER
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Affordable Care Act
At JAC, we strongly believe that reproductive freedom and the right for women to make their own health care decision is an integral part of the Affordable Care Act. The Supreme Court decision is a step in the right direction for women and their families. Today's Supreme Court ruling will continue to improve the quality of life for millions of women and families. By ensuring that everyone in our country has access to basic health care, including reproductive care, cancer screenings, mammograms, and family planning services, we are ensuring a basic right in our country.
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Same Sex Marriage
Today the Supreme Court once again made history that will forever change our country and move us toward a more equal nation. Same-sex marriage is now recognized under the law in every state, protecting men, women and their children. However, this pivotal moment will not end all forms of discrimination. We must continue to work to end racial, religious, economic and sexual discrimination that still exists in our society.
The decisions of the Supreme Court have far-reaching consequences, and at times like this we must remember that elections matter. Presidents appoint Supreme Court justices who serve for life.
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JAC met with Jason Kander, candidate for US Senate from Missouri. (from l to r: Andrew Boron, JAC Communications Director Hollis Wein, Jason Kander, JAC Director of Special Projects Linda Rae Sher, and JAC Executive Director Marcia Balonick)
JAC met with Governor Ted Strickland, candidate for US Senate from Ohio. (from l to r: Marcia Balonick, Gov. Ted Strickland, Hollis Wein, Linda Rae Sher, and Andrew Boron)
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Women for Brad Schneider Highland Park, IL Monday, June 29th 7 PM - 8:30 PM Reception for Brad Schneider Chicago, IL Tuesday, June 30th 7 PM - 8:30 PM
_____________________________ For more information and to RSVP for any of these events, contact the JAC office at 847-433-5999 or [email protected]
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Join with Hillary
If you would like to support Hillary,
please contact the JAC office at
847-433-5999 or [email protected]
Our combined contributions make our voices stronger. There IS POWER in GIVING TOGETHER.
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From left to right, clockwise: Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Jason Kander (D-MO), Ted Strickland (D-OH), Rep. Dan Kildee (MI-5)
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This week, JAC met with Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Senate candidates Jason Kander (D-MO), Ted Strickland (D-OH) and Rep. Dan Kildee (MI-5). These are excellent candidates who meet all of JAC's criteria. They believe Israel should remain a bi-partisan issues. They will work to strengthen the U.S.-Israel relationship. They will fight in Congress to protect and expand women's reproductive freedom, and maintain the important separation between religion and state.
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Talking Points Los Angeles
August Details to come ____________________ Talking Points Highland Park
August 13 with Rep. Ted Lieu (CA-33) Details to come
Want to host a JAC event near you? Please contact the JAC office and we will help coordinate.
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For more information and to RSVP, contact the JAC office at 847-433-5999 or [email protected]
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Public Statement on U.S. Policy Toward the Iran Nuclear Negotiations
The Iran nuclear deal is not done. Negotiations continue. The target deadline is June 30. We know much about the emerging agreement. Most of us would have preferred a stronger agreement. The agreement will not prevent Iran from having a nuclear weapons capability. It will not require the dismantling of Iran's nuclear enrichment infrastructure. It will however reduce that infrastructure for the next 10 to 15 years. And it will impose a transparency, inspection, and consequences regime with the goal of deterring and dissuading Iran from actually building a nuclear weapon.
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Rolando Gomez, information officer for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, holds the report on the 2014 Gaza war on June 22 at the United Nations Office in Geneva. Photo credit: Fabrice Coffrini/AFP/Getty Images
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Brookings Analysts Pan United Nations Report on Gaza War
Earlier this week, a United Nations Human Rights Council commission released a report on last summer's Gaza war, which suggested that both Israel and Hamas had committed war crimes during the hostilities. The authors of Lawfare's analysis, Brookings senior fellow Benjamin Wittes and Lawfare associate editor Yishai Schwartz, do not mince words: "The UN Human Rights Council's Independent Commission of Inquiry report on the 2014 Gaza war, released Monday, is a bad piece of work-bad in almost entirely predictable and boring ways, but no less bad for being bad and predictable," they write.
Read Full ArticleNiagara Foundation disinvites Israeli consul general to the Midwest
A nonprofit group devoted to promoting global fellowship and civic conversations is under fire for rescinding an invitation to one of Israel's top U.S. diplomats. Read Full Article
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US Congress passes rare law targeting boycotts of Israel
Four decades have passed since Congress last agreed on a law pushing back against boycotts of Israel worldwide. That streak was broken by the Senate Wednesday, at a moment perhaps prescient, as European capitals consider new measures to highlight and punish Israel's continued "occupation" of the West Bank.
What Draws People to White Supremacy
In the wake of news reports that Dylann Roof, the suspect in this week's horrific massacre at Charleston's Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, had become attracted to the ideology of white supremacy, I decided to make a visit, albeit a virtual one, to that world. I came away shaken by the experience.
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Senate Takes Aim At Family Planning, Teen Pregnancy Prevention
A week after the House of Representatives proposed eliminating the entire Title X federal family planning program and Teen Pregnancy Prevention Initiative, the Senate proposed keeping the programs, but slashing their funding.
Michigan Lawmakers Push Back on Anti-Choice Insurance Law
Michigan legislators are pushing to repeal the state's infamous ban on insurance coverage of abortion and have introduced legislation that would prohibit employers from discriminating against people based on their use of contraceptives.
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Separation of Religion & State
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California Assembly approves stricter vaccine mandate
California lawmakers Thursday approved one of the toughest mandatory vaccination laws in the nation, legislation that would eliminate the option for parents to keep their children from being vaccinated based on religious or other personal beliefs.
Deeply Conservative Judge Rules Against Religious Employers, Affirms Right To Birth Control
Judge Jerry Smith is a deeply conservative judge. He once voted to allow a man to be executed despite the fact that the man's lawyer slept through much of his trial. He's a reliable vote against abortion rights. And he once described feminists as a "gaggle of outcasts, misfits and rejects." So when Judge Smith writes an opinion protecting women's access to birth control, even when their employer objects to contraception on religious grounds, that's a very big deal.
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Pa. law that allowed gun rights groups to sue cities is unconstitutional, Commonwealth Court rules
The Commonwealth Court on Thursday struck down a controversial Pennsylvania law that allowed any legal gun owner to sue municipalities over gun regulations and force those municipalities to pay attorney fees.
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Manchin, Toomey both interested in reviving gun control push
In the wake of the Charleston shooting, Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) are considering ways to renew their failed push to expand meaningful background checks on gun purchases.
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EPA report touts big benefits to US from global climate policies
The Obama administration unveiled a new weapon Monday in its fight against climate change, with a report showing billions of dollars in domestic benefits from aggressive international climate policies. The report from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) cuts across many areas of concern and sectors of the economy, including public health, electricity, water resources and agriculture.
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The Beautiful Closing Paragraph of Justice Kennedy's Gay Marriage Ruling
Justice Anthony Kennedy, who authored today's ruling legalizing same-sex marriage throughout the United States, is sometimes made fun of for his notoriously purple prose. But today he managed to close his opinion with one of the most beautiful passages you'll likely read in a court case.
Supreme Court Backs Affordable Care Act, Disparate-Impact Housing Claims
The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday gave major victories to President Barack Obama's administration on two issues with implications for the schools: health care and housing discrimination. Read Full ArticleSupreme court to decide whether to take up major abortion case
Abortion is back before the Supreme Court, and the justices could signal by the end of June whether they are likely to take up the biggest case on the hot-button subject in nearly a quarter-century. The court is considering an emergency appeal from abortion providers in Texas, who want the justices to block two provisions of a state law that already has forced the closure of roughly half the licensed abortion clinics in the state. Read Full Article |
2016 contenders react to Obamacare ruling
The 2016 presidential contenders reacted on Twitter to the Supreme Court's decision to uphold a major component of the Obamacare health law.
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Congressional Democrats file legislation to update the Voting Rights Act
With the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 approaching later this summer, congressional Democrats filed legislation Wednesday to update and fix the landmark law they believe was gutted by the Supreme Court two years ago.
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Charleston church shooting: Obama calls for removal of Confederate flag
He said it was time to remove the Confederate flag from American flagpoles, saying that action would "not be an insult to the valor of Confederate soldiers" but an acknowledgement that "the cause for which they fought, the cause of slavery, was wrong," as were the imposition of Jim Crow laws after the Civil War and further resistance to civil rights efforts.
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Removing the flag, he said, "would be one step in an honest accounting of America's history, a modest but meaningful balm for so many unhealed wounds."
Op-Ed: This is not the Charleston I know
The unspeakable murder of nine accomplished, beloved and respected African-American Charlestonians of faith in their own church on Wednesday has hit our city like an earthquake. These murders occurred in my neighborhood, across the street from Buist Academy, the public magnet school my daughter and son attended with their white, black and Hispanic classmates. This is not our Charleston.
Read Full Article
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Our members count on JACPAC to provide information on current events, candidates, and elections. JACPAC depends on membership support to make this possible. If you have not renewed your membership, please consider doing so today, to help us pursue a strong US-Israel relationship, reproductive rights, and separation of religion and state. Together we can make this a better world! Sincerely,
Janna Berk, President
Marcia Balonick, Executive Director
Joy Malkus, Research Director |
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