By Donald H. Harrison
SAN DIEGO—California Attorney General Kamala Harris already has announced her candidacy to succeed Senator Barbara Boxer (D-California) who announced she won’t run for reelection in 2016. Among most talked about possible Democratic primary opponents (now that Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom has taken himself out of contention) is hedge fund manager and philanthropist Tom Steyer.
If that race eventuates, both Steyer and Harris will be able to point to strong family ties with the Jewish community. Harris can point to her husband, attorney Douglas Emhoff, who is Jewish. Steyer can tell about his interfaith marriage to Kathryn Ann Taylor, in which a rabbi and a minister were co-officiants.
Of interest is that both Harris and Steyer are themselves the products of intermarriages. Steyer’s mother is Episcopalian, and his father is Jewish with Steyer having been brought up in a Reform congregation. Harris is the daughter of a Jamaican-American father and a mother from India.
It’s all very Californian!
U.S. Senate
TAX CODE — U.S. Senator Michael Bennet (D-Colorado) has been named co-chair of the Senate Finance Committee’s working group on infrastructure, community development and energy. Bennet will join Republican Senator Dean Heller of Nevada to examine and develop policy recommendations that could be packaged into a comprehensive tax reform bill. “Our nation’s tax code-which hasn’t been reformed since I was in college-should reflect the realities of a 21st century economy,” Bennet said. “It’s time to break from the status quo and craft a tax code that will support entrepreneurs and innovators, which is where the job growth, wage growth, and economic growth are going to come from. This is going to be extremely difficult and will involve tough choices.”
WOMEN’S SOCCER – Senators Charles Schumer of New York, Barbara Boxer of California and Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut have added their voices to those of women soccer players who want the
organizers of the 2015 International Association of Federation Football (FIFA) Women’s World Cup to require grass fields, instead of turf for women, even as grass is required for men’s tournaments. In the letter, also signed by other senators, they argued that playing soccer on artificial turf is more likely to cause injuries to players, and that women should be treated with the same consideration as men.
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U.S. House of Representatives
CUBA TRADE — Democratic U.S. Reps. Steve Cohen of Tennessee, Jared Polis of Colorado, and Jan Schakowsky of Illinois joined Congressman Charles B. Rangel of New York and other House Democrats Thursday, Jan. 15, in introducing legislation aimed at allowing free trade between the two countries. The Free Trade with Cuba Act reflects President Barack Obama’s announcement in December of normalized relations with Cuba and the subsequent rules easing travel and trade restrictions. ““I support the President’s efforts to improve our relationship with Cuba and am pleased to join Congressman Rangel in introducing the Free Trade with Cuba Act to lift the embargo,” Cohen said. “Our outdated policies toward Cuba have failed to help the Cuban people, and the Castros still rule the nation. The reestablishment of diplomatic relations with Cuba and lifting our trade embargo are humane and logical steps forward that will enable the United States to more effectively promote change in the country, support the Cuban people while expanding economic opportunities and ending anti-American restrictions on our citizens’ rights to freely travel to Cuba.”
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MIDDLE EAST — U.S. Rep Ted Deutch (D-Florida) has been reelected as Ranking Democrat on the Subcommittee on the Middle East and North Africa of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. “As Ranking Member I will continue to vigorously promote our interests in the region, from defeating ISIL’s terrorist campaign to kill innocents around the world and alleviating the devastating human rights crisis in Syria to preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons and protecting the security of our ally Israel,” Deutch said on Wednesday, Jan. 14. “I am grateful to earn the support of my colleagues and look forward to working across the aisle with my friend and Subcommittee Chairman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen to address the many challenges that await us in the 114th Congress.” … Freshman U.S. Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-New York) was appointed to serve on two important subcommittees: the Subcommittee on the Middle East and North Africa and the Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation, and Trade.
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HOME CARE—In response to a ruling by a U.S. District Court judge on home care wages, U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky issues this statement: “The District Court’s ruling is a terrible blow to hardworking home care workers – most of them women – and the seniors and people with disabilities who depend on them. Workers who receive subminimum wages are more likely to leave as soon as they can find better employment, a major reason for high turnover rates in the profession. They are more likely to be distracted at work as they try to figure out how to support their own families on less-than-minimum wage pay. And poverty wages make it difficult to attract the home care professionals we need as the baby boomers retire.Home care workers provide critical services, and they deserve to be treated with respect on the job. In this, the richest country in the world, there is no reason why those who care for our parents, our children and our neighbors should not be guaranteed at the very least minimum wages with overtime protections.”
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Local Government
Two members of the Jewish community—Steve Cushman and Shelley Zimmerman–drew special mention on Wednesday, Jan. 14, in the “State of the City” message delivered by Mayor Kevin Faulconer. Cushman, a former port commissioner and former owner of car dealerships, is a special consultant devising a financial plan for expanding the San Diego Convention Center, which lacks sufficient exhibition space to attract as many exhibitions as the city would like. As for Zimmerman, Faulconer said naming the 30-year police veteran as police chief was one of the accomplishments during his first year of office in which he takes pride.
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Items in this report dealing with Jewish women in Congress are sponsored by Laura Galinson in memory of her father, Murray Galinson.
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Harrison is editor of San Diego Jewish World. Your comment on any of these items may be posted in the space provided below or sent directly to the author at donald.harrison@sdjewishworld.com