Washington, DC - Jewish Groups Press For More Homeland Security Funds

Washington, DC - Jewish groups gratefully absorbed more than half of the homeland security funds last year aimed at protecting nonprofits -- and they're campaigning to make sure the money keeps flowing.

An array of Jewish groups nationwide is just now beginning to spend the $14 million of the $25 million mandated by Congress in 2005 to secure at-risk nonprofit groups. Another $25 million mandated in the 2006 budget is mired in intergovernmental infighting.

Jewish Communities, are lobbying to make sure the $25 million allocation survives in the Homeland Security Department's 2007 budget, due to be referred this week to the full Senate.
"We believe there is a critical threat against Jewish community assets in the United States," William Daroff, the UJC's vice president for public policy and its top Washington lobbyist, said. "It doesn't take a brain surgeon to see that Jewish institutions are near the top of the terrorists' list."

The $14 million that Jewish groups received in the 2005 budget reached 18 communities.
No organization could apply for more than $100,000, though some federations received more because they housed multiple applicants on the same campus, anf New York's Jewish community was by far the leader in receiving funds, getting about $4.5 million of $6.3 million allocated to nonprofits in the city.