Hillary Clinton and Kenneth Bialkin,
president of American Jewish
Historical Society |
JCRC
When NY Dems
Get Together
You’re In For The Duration
Story and Photos by Tim Boxer
 ET
nine New York congressmen and the two senators together – every
one a Democrat – and the mutual adulation is palpable. The
Jewish Community Relations Council’s 24th annual
congressional breakfast, co-hosted by UJA-Federation, turned into
a virtual love-fest.
Abraham Biderman, chairman
of JCRC commission on government relations, introduced each
congressman so profusely, that Rep. Eliot Engel remarked,
“I wish the two women in my life were here – my mother would
believe every word and my wife would wonder who he’s talking
about.”
It took the dean of New York
Democratic congressmen, Rep. Charles Rangel, to break the
mold. He paid tribute to Manhattan District Attorney Robert
Morgenthau, “but not because I fear indictment.”
Sen. Charles Schumer was
brimming with praise for his junior colleague, Hillary Rodham
Clinton. And vice versa.
“One way we can lessen our
dependence on Middle East oil,” Clinton said, “is to harness
Chuck Schumer’s energy.”
Clinton had extremely warm words
for the only out of state legislator, Sen. Barbara Mikulski
of Maryland.
Sen. Barbara Mikulski of Maryland
flanked by New York Senators
Charles Schumer and
Hillary Rodham Clinton, with JCRC
president Ezra G. Levin in back |
“When Barbara first came to the
senate,” Clinton said, “there was a rule against wearing
pantsuits. Day after day she spoke on why shouldn’t it be
appropriate for women to wear pantsuits on the floor of the
senate.
“I don’t know what I would
have done if you hadn’t won that one, Barbara.”
Both women, as a matter of habit,
wear pantsuits.
Rangel was right. “With the
congressional delegation here,” he warned, “you’re going to
hear more than you ever wanted.”
Two hours later, after all the
congressmen had their say, keynote speaker Mikulski rose to
address the SRO gathering at the UJA-Federation offices.
“I am glad to be here,” she
said, “and I am glad to be finally able to speak.”
She mentioned her visit to Poland,
two decades earlier, “to learn my own history.”
She went to Auschwitz where “I
became undone. I understood why there must be a Jewish state. I
vowed I’d do my best to ensure the survival of the state of
Israel.” |
