ABA Advocates With OU In Washington, DC’

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On June 13^th, The Alliance of Bukharian Americans (ABA) once again joined hands with the OU for its annual trip to DC. This year, the OU Advocacy Center’s 22nd Annual Leadership Mission entertained over a 100 Orthodox rabbis and communal leaders from across the country at the nation’s capital. We advocated for our community and also celebrated the many important successes achieved during the past year. These include doubling to $50 million federal funding to protect schools and shuls, passing the Taylor Force Act, expanding 529 accounts for K-12, and changing FEMA law so that disaster-damaged shuls are eligible for federal assistance.

The day began with an unforgettable meeting with top Administration officials at the White House, including a surprise visit by Special Representative for International Negotiations Jason Greenblatt and U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman. Jason and David declared all of our questions fair-game, as long as we didn’t ask them to spill the beans on the upcoming U.S. Peace Plan. Needless to say, the excited attendees did not miss on the chance to ask all types of important questions, and received satisfactory answers in return.

After our first meeting which took up the better portion of two hours, we made our way up to the U.S. Capitol, where we heard from U.S. Sens. Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), James Lankford (R-Okla.), Gary Peters (D-Mich.) and Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.). All of the speakers did an amazing job glossing over the great leaps and strides taking place in our country. Some also weighed-in with their opinions on key issues in domestic and foreign policy. We got to enjoy Schumer’s legendary wit and humor first hand, and also had the pleasure of witnessing Ted Cruz’s G-d given gift of oratory.

After lunch, the attendees broke into pairs to meet their U.S. Representatives and advocated for personal and global initiatives like the Israel Anti-Boycott Act (H.R. 1697/S.720) and increased funding for the federal Nonprofit Security Grant Program which awards religious schools, synagogues and other houses of worship grants of up to $150,000 apiece to improve building security.

During the last portion of the event, we honored U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.) and Grace Meng (D-N.Y) for their work with us to pass legislation making houses of worship eligible for federal disaster aid; and also heard from U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions. He discussed current and future efforts to protect religious freedom, and also announced the Justice Department’s “Place to Worship Initiative,” focusing on protecting houses of worship and other religious institutions’ rights to “build, expand, buy, or rent facilities” under the provisions of the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act. The Attorney General’s speech is available in full online.

The time spent in Washington, DC will surely stand out in the eyes of our statesman. New funding opportunities and Governmental programs and initiatives are always on the horizon; it is our pleasure at the ABA to help redefine the way in which our community takes part and benefits from a system open for all Americans. If you have any questions regarding our trip, or any other initiatives, please reach out to us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

By Adam Suionov