JTA - 11.06.2002

Jewish Legislators in the 108^th Congress

By JTA Staff

NEW YORK (JTA) — The following is a list of Jewish members of the 108th Congress.

The number of Jews in the Senate will rise from 10 to 11, assuming that Norm Coleman’s victory in Minnesota holds after potential challenges. The number of Jews in the House of Representatives will remain at 26. 

The one senator who was re-elected is marked with an asterisk. New members of Congress, including Sen. Frank Lautenberg, who has served before, are marked with a double asterisk.


U.S. SENATE

Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.)

Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.)

Joseph Lieberman (D-Conn.)

Carl Levin (D-Mich.) *

Norm Coleman (R-Minn.)**

Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) **

Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.)

Ron Wyden (D-Ore.)

Arlen Specter (R-Pa.)

Russell Feingold (D-Wisc.)

Herb Kohl (D-Wisc.)


U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Howard Berman (D-Calif.)

Susan Davis (D-Calif.)

Bob Filner (D-Calif.)

Jane Harman (D-Calif.)

Tom Lantos (D-Calif.)

Adam Schiff (D-Calif.)

Brad Sherman (D-Calif.)

Howard Waxman (D-Calif.)

Peter Deutsch (D-Fla.)

Robert Wexler (D-Fla.)

Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.)**

Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.)

Ben Cardin (D-Md.)

Barney Frank (D-Mass.)

Sander Levin (D-Mich.)

Shelley Berkley (D-Nev.)

Steve Rothman (D-N.J.)

Gary Ackerman (D-N.Y.)

Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.)

Steve Israel (D-N.Y.)

Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.)

Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.)

Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.)

Martin Frost (D-Texas)

Eric Cantor (R-Va.)

Bernard Sanders (Ind-Vt.)


Jewish Minyan in the Senate Safe as Lautenberg Easily Wins N.J. Race 

By Sharon Samber 

[excerpted]

WASHINGTON (JTA) — With the triumphant return of Sen. Frank Lautenberg to the Capitol, the Senate’s Jewish minyan appears safe — at least for another two years. 

In the race for the Senate, venerated Jewish lawmaker Lautenberg, a Democrat, beat his Republican opponent, Doug Forrester in New Jersey. 

Lautenberg, a former chairman of the United Jewish Appeal who retired from the Senate in 2000, stepped into the race in October to replace the incumbent, Sen. Robert Torricelli, who quit following charges of ethics violations. 

In addition to his support for Israel and his strong Jewish communal connections, Lautenberg is well-known for his work to assist immigrants, resulting in a 1990 measure that required immigration officials to take into account historical persecution when judging an applicant’s refugee status. 

The Lautenberg Amendment, which is still in effect, allowed many Jews from the former Soviet Union, some 350,000 to 400,000 by the senator’s count, to gain entry into the United States without having to prove they were persecuted.