This December, as I reflect on the successes and challenges of 2011, I cannot help but think about the millions of families who are facing the new year with apprehension. Instead of approaching January 1 with hopes for a fresh start, as many of us do, jobless workers who desperately want work but can’t find employment are standing at the edge of a cliff. Congressional inaction could be what sends these families and their children over the edge, plunging them into poverty. 

Last year, unemployment insurance helped keep 3 million people from falling into poverty. However, if Congress doesn’t act before December 31, millions of unemployed workers will lose this critical lifeline. In January alone, 2 million workers will lose their federal unemployment benefits — more than 6 million will see their benefits disappear by the end of 2012.

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by Ina Davis, Promote the Vote, Protect the Vote 2012 Co-Chair

Imagine the scene: a big TV — in front of it, several college freshmen, lounging, laughing, and playing video games. Typical, right? You may have witnessed this scenario in your own home. My desk sits adjacent to the family room. Oftentimes, I’ll be working when a mass of teens walk in, plunk down, and tune in (to the television that is).

I may hurry to wrap up my work, or I might ignore the group and attempt to get more work done. Making oneself invisible in front of a group like this is a skill that has taken years to cultivate and was fine-tuned from the carpooling experience. But you know, as well as I do, that keeping half an ear open is the right of a Mom.

So when I heard one of the boys ask, “What are you doing this weekend?” and another answered, “I have no plans.” — I felt it my civic duty to jump in and ask, “Who’s voting on Saturday?” I couldn’t believe that not one of these young people answered! “Who’s registered?” I asked. Still, I got no response. Even my own son turned to me and said, “Ma, let me finish the game level.”

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A couple of weeks ago, a dear friend of mine gave birth to a beautiful baby girl I’ll call Rachel. Looking at the very first pictures of that sweet little girl, it’s impossible not to wonder at her tremendous potential. Rachel can be anything she wants to be — and I know her parents, so I know she has a great head start. Rachel will live in a house filled with love, she’ll be well fed and well read, wanting for nothing.

And, thanks to the new health care law, Rachel will always have access to high quality health care that she and her parents can afford.

Rachel was born via Caesarean section. Thanks to the new health care law, insurance companies can’t use that information to discriminate against Rachel’s mom. And that’s important, because Rachel will learn a lot from her mother — but only if mom can stay healthy.

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While visiting the NCJW Section in Rochester, New York, yesterday, my host, Mollie, turned to me and asked, “Do you mind taking a short detour so I can vote?” Yesterday, September 13, was primary election day in New York state,  and Mollie needed to vote in the school board primary. We entered the local elementary school — Mollie’s polling station — and I sat smiling as she cast her ballot. Mollie’s children are no longer in school; she could have easily skipped that detour to the polling place. But, as a former teacher, she is passionate about education; as a longtime National Council of Jewish Women member, Mollie knows that her vote is critical.

Education and teachers are in the news these days. They were front and center last week as President Obama unveiled the American Jobs Act, a bill that includes, among other things, money to protect the jobs of 280,000 teachers and improve crumbling school buildings. On the walk up the steps of that elementary school, I was reminded just what a powerful impact that proposal could have. Teachers (who, more often than not, are women) will be able to continue to support their families. Children in classrooms will be better prepared for the 21st century economy. And communities will benefit from increased economic activity and lower rates of unemployment.

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by Christine Stone, board director

Last week, I was among ten NCJW board members who took part in a White House Community Leaders Briefing. We joined 160 grassroots leaders of the Jewish Social Justice Roundtable, a collaboration of 21 organizations working to elevate the role of social justice in the Jewish community.

We started at the National Press Club. The room buzzed with excitement. We knew the day held great opportunities to introduce ourselves, our organizations, and the communities we represent to senior members of the administration. But first, I had the honor of introducing our organization to a packed room of men and women who, like me, are committed to justice and equality.

“Hi,” I said. “My name is Christine Stone. I am a national board member of the National Council of Jewish Women, the largest progressive Jewish women’s organization. Our 90,000 members and supporters have been at the forefront of social change for over a century.” I sat back down as the other organizations introduced themselves and then looked to NCJW CEO Nancy K. Kaufman. As a co-founder of the Jewish Social Justice Roundtable, she was getting ready to take the podium to address the room. I thought to myself, this is what it is like to have a seat at the table.

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By Kayla Shipman, NCJW Legislative Intern

Last week, the White House held a “Twitter Town Hall”– the first of its kind – and I got to attend!  It was an amazing opportunity for me: I got to go to the White House for the first time, and I shook President Obama’s hand. (You can bet that everyone I know has heard me brag about that by now.) Not only that, I was able to hear the President of the United States answer questions about jobs, the federal budget, taxes, education, and the continuing impact of the housing collapse on families across the country. As a young person, it was wonderful to experience this kind of dialogue between Americans and our president, but it wasn’t just the questions that made this Town Hall exciting for me.

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There was a time in our nation’s history when NCJW women walking the halls of the huge Texas state capitol in Austin could anticipate a very different experience from those NCJW advocates making legislative visits in Lansing, Michigan’s capital. Recently, I had the opportunity to walk alongside Texas and Michigan NCJW volunteers as they made their rounds in their state capitals, and I was amazed by the similarities!

Texas NCJW Members with State Legislators

Even as one who is used to the famous US Capitol dome, the grandeur of the Texas and Michigan domes did not disappoint. It was exhilarating to sit with my NCJW colleagues in the gallery of both legislatures and stand as NCJW was recognized – to applause – by lawmakers in each respective legislative chamber. But the real treat was to tag along in both states with our passionate NCJW advocates as they visited their state lawmakers, speaking out against anti-immigrant legislation, deep cuts in state family planning services, extreme restrictions on abortion care, and draconian budget cuts impacting the most vulnerable women, children, and families, among other issues.

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By Gail Ball, NCJW Vice President

My life is happily full: very fast paced and requiring a great deal of flexibility to work, volunteer, care for my family, and eat. (To balance things out, I have sacrificed exercise time.) Nonetheless, on Mother’s Day, when our NCJW President called to ask if I would represent NCJW at the White House reception to celebrate Jewish American Heritage Month on May 17, I said “Yes!” in a flash. Funny how calm I was when I asked my secretary to just clear my calendar that day … I was certain there was nothing in the normal requests for my time that could trump this honor.

Amy Cotton, a legislative associate in our Washington office, and I met early at the office and headed over to the Eisenhower Executive Office Building for a morning briefing. We took particularly copious notes on Dan Shapiro’s remarks. Dan is currently the Senior Director, Middle East and North Africa, for the National Security Council, and has just been confirmed as US Ambassador to Israel. He spoke clearly about this country’s relationship with its friends in the Middle East, including King Abdullah of Jordan, with whom the President was meeting that morning, as well as America’s unwavering commitment to Israel’s right to exist and protect its borders. The other speakers shared with us the Administration’s work and progress on domestic issues such as health care and the economy. When addressing the budget, they used messages and wording in line with NCJW’s positions, including a commitment to advancing a budget that does not hit the most vulnerable the hardest, working for a family friendly budget that is “consistent with our values.” He also charged each of us, as representatives of public service organizations, to encourage a high level of engagement among our fellow Americans, whenever and wherever we could.

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NCJW was proud to gather in front of the Supreme Court with our fellow civil rights, workers’ rights, women’s rights and faith community allies on March 29, to stand up for fair pay. Yards away, inside of the court, oral arguments in the case Wal-Mart v. Dukes were taking place. Ten years ago, a group of women who worked at Wal-Mart stores, including California Wal-Mart employee Betty Dukes, filed a lawsuit against Wal-Mart saying that it engaged in company-wide sex discrimination by paying women less than men and systematically promoting men over equally or better qualified women. The female employees of Wal-Mart who have suffered serious wage discrimination are seeking the right to have their day in court to fight back. These women want to band together and bring a class action lawsuit, which would address systemic inequalities. Forcing each individual to bring her own lawsuit would also result in hundreds to thousands of David-and-Goliath scenarios in which access to legal resources would be so disproportionate, that there would be only a small chance that any woman could win her case. Worse still, the systemic inequalities would never even be addressed.

As oral arguments in the case unfolded inside, we stood outside chanting phrases like, “we don’t want charity, we want parity!” and “1, 2, 3, 4, we won’t take this anymore, 5, 6, 7, 8, fair pay cannot wait!”. We stood chanting for nearly two hours before the defendants and plaintiffs eventually walked down the steps of the court to the waiting press. We proudly stood in eye-shot of Betty Dukes and just a handful of the 1.6 million female Wal-Mart employees, showing them that they are not alone, that there is power in numbers.

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Swearing-in Day may well be the most festive day of the congressional calendar. That’s the first day of a new two-year congressional session when members of Congress take the oath of office. On January 5, 2011, as the 112th Congress was gaveled into session, the halls of every congressional office building rang with the sound of celebration. In virtually every meeting room and office, busloads of constituents gathered around large screen TV’s to watch live as their home-state or hometown legislator took the oath. On the floor of the House, children and grandchildren of representatives got a rare chance to sit in the hallowed chamber and watch the action first-hand.

For the NCJW Washington office staff, Swearing-in Day affords a chance to meet new members of Congress and their staffs – a chance to congratulate the newly elected and returning lawmakers and pass out business cards over cheese and crackers. This year’s festivities on the Senate side featured an historic milestone as well. Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), recently reelected for a fifth term, became the longest serving woman senator, surpassing the record held by the late Sen. Margaret Chase Smith (R-ME). NCJW joined a crowded room of her constituents, state dignitaries (including the Governor), and senators from both parties to mark this momentous occasion.

We walked along the marble halls until our feet ached, we stopped to congratulate Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA), new Sen. Mark Kirk (R-IL), and chat with other senators. We ended our long day on the House side where we met the staff members in several newly elected representatives’ offices. In each case, we let them know that we look forward to working with them to advance NCJW priorities.

Now that the celebrations are over, the hard work begins – building relationships with new members of Congress and their staff members, educating them about NCJW and our agenda, and persuading them to join us in our causes. The success of this work will depend less on what happens in DC and more on what congresswomen and men hear from their constituents. Knowing how active the advocates of NCJW are, we know that our voices will be heard well beyond this first day!