Newsroom
Press Release
Jewish Caucus Statement on Israel
Members of the California Legislative Jewish Caucus are concerned by the violence along the Israel/Gaza border. We hope for a peaceful resolution to the conflict so that neighbors can live in harmony. We condemn violence and wish for Israel and Hamas to negotiate a true and lasting peace.
Both chambers of the California State Legislature this week unanimously passed resolutions honoring the State of Israel on the 70th anniversary of its founding.
On May 14, the State Senate passed SR 109 with a vote of 37-0. The resolution, which “commends and congratulates the people of Israel for their remarkable achievements,” salutes Israel’s “advanced, entrepreneurial economy” and acknowledges the 2015 Memorandum of Understanding between California and Israel, which has spurred technological and environmental cooperation between the two nations.
In comments on the floor, San Francisco’s Sen. Scott Wiener said, “The State of Israel is not just another country. For my community it is a place where as Jews we are always welcome, we can always go for safety and refuge.”
(Sacramento) – The California Legislative Jewish Caucus on Monday commended Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. for including in his final budget proposal funds to maintain and restore the landmark Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles.
The Governor released his May Revise in the State Capitol Monday, updating his January proposal with revenue totals from the income tax season.
(Sacramento, CA) – Today, the California State Assembly honored Holocaust survivors, descendants of survivors, and World War II liberators residing throughout the state during its annual Holocaust Remembrance Ceremony.
At a City of Malibu event recognizing the 75th anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising on March 30, California Senator Henry Stern pushed Polish Republic Consul Ignacy Żarski to reconsider an amendment to Poland’s Act on the Institute of National Remembrance.
The 1998 act criminalized the denial of Nazi crimes and other offences committed against Polish citizens and those of other nationalities.
The amendment—Act of 26 January 2018—legalizes “criminal penalties up to three years in prison for any individual who ‘attributes to the Polish Nation or to the Polish State responsibility or co-responsibility for the Nazi crimes committed by the German Third Reich.’”
Authored by Assemblymember Marc Levine, Assembly Joint Resolution Number 35 strongly recommends that Polish lawmakers revisit the amendment to make changes or reverse it entirely.
Stern said, “I think telling the truth about history matters ... Especially in the areas of remembrance and memory, we have to focus on no fear in speech, and no fear in dialogue.”
Poland’s constitutional tribunal is currently reviewing the amendment.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
APRIL 2, 2018
Contact: Morgan.Culbertson@sen.ca.gov; (805) 822-9694
Senator Stern Asks Polish Government to Reconsider New Holocaust Speech Law
Concerns raised on behalf of California Jewish Caucus at recent 75th Anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising event in Malibu
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
March 14, 2018
(Sacramento, CA) – Today, the California Legislative Jewish Caucus introduced AJR 35 condemning a new law in Poland subjecting individuals who cite the participation of Poles in Nazi crimes to imprisonment for up to three years, despite the historical record of this collaboration.
News
The Israeli Way
There is something different about making energy and water policy when 100,000 rockets are pointed at your family.
I went to Israel last month to exchange strategies on water and clean energy. I came home with an entirely new perspective on lawmaking.
In 2014, California and Israel signed a Memorandum of Understanding to collaborate on energy and water innovation. The mission of our California delegation to Israel was to put muscle behind the memo with funding and technical expertise.
Caucuses Join Gov. Jerry Brown, Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de León, Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon in Calling on Congress to Immediately Pass a Permanent Solution for Dreamers
SACRAMENTO – In response to the unfair detainment of Mr. Orr Yakobi, a University of California student and Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program enrollee, by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) at the Mexico border, the California Legislative Jewish Caucus, sent a letter to ICE urging for his immediate release.