Political Notes

Chaka Fattah Gets Some Competition
When he last defended his seat in 2006, U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah (D-District 2) captured 89 percent of the vote. (Things didn't work out quite as well, however, when he ran last year for mayor.)

Now, it's a new election cycle, and a new Republican challenger, Michael Alan Livingston -- a 51-year-old professor at Rutgers-Camden School of Law and a member at Congregation Adath Jeshurun in Elkins Park -- is hoping to do better than Fattah's last opponent and even give the incumbent a run for his money.

A specialist in tax and fiscal policy, Livingston, a Cheltenham resident and early supporter of Sen. John McCain's (R-Ariz.) presidential bid, said, "I will seek practical solutions to problems."

District 2 encompasses much of Philadelphia and a small slice of Montgomery County.

So far, the Cheltenham resident has raised roughly $10,000, but hopes to raise a good deal more by November. In 2007, Fattah's congressional committee received $110,842 in contributions.

Bill Seeks to Fund New Polish Museum
With the Museum of the History of Polish Jews expected to open in Warsaw in 2010, two U.S. senators introduced a bill last month that would provide the project with up to $5 million in federal dollars.

U.S. Sens. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) and Benjamin L. Cardin (D-Md.) co-sponsored the "Support for the Museum of the History of Polish Jews Act of 2008." The House version of the bill -- introduced by U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.) -- was passed in November.

The museum, which is being constructed on grounds where the Warsaw ghetto once stood, is receiving support from the City of Warsaw, the Polish Government and the German Government, as well as private funding from individuals and organizations.

Menendez said it's in American interests to protect artifacts associated with the Polish and Jewish heritage of millions of U.S. citizens: "The museum will help protect an important part of the world's history and a heritage we cannot let slip away."

The Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, United States Helsinki Commission -- a congressional commission that monitors human rights, and is chaired by Cardin and U.S. Rep. Alcee L. Hastings (D-Fla.) -- has scheduled a March 13 hearing about the museum. Among those who will offer testimony are Ewa Junczyk-Ziomecka, Poland's Undersecretary of State, and Sigmund Rolat, a Holocaust survivor and chairman of the museum's North American Council.

Award Named for the Late Tom Lantos
The Jewish Caucus within the Young Democrats of America organization announced last month the creation of the Tom P. Lantos Award for public service. The annual award will go to a member of Congress, or at the discretion of the group, to a non-elected official who exemplifies Lantos' life and legacy.

Lantos, who died Feb. 11 from complications related to esophageal cancer, represented suburban San Francisco in the House for 27 years. The only Holocaust survivor to have served in Congress, he was known as an outspoken advocate for human rights and a staunch defender of Israel.

The inaugural award will be handed out in May. Nomination suggestions can be e-mailed to: tplaward@jewishcaucus.org.

HIAS Honor Goes to Sen. Lautenberg
Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) last week received the Liberty Award from HIAS, the international immigration agency of the American Jewish community.

HIAS bestowed the honor for Lautenberg's work to "protect the ability of refugees to legally immigrate to this country from lands of persecution and oppression," according to a release.

The Lautenberg Amendment, first passed in 1989, created provisions to allow Jews and other religious minorities from the Soviet Union and Southeast Asia to enter the United States as refugees. Since then, the provision has been continually renewed and expanded.