Home

Back from an educational and emotional trip to Israel, Rep. Leonard Lance (R-7) returned with welcome news for Union County seniors who wish to remain at their homes for as long as possible.

Lance announced Tuesday that $300,000 in funding for Jewish Family Services of Central New Jersey's Naturally Occurring Retirement Communities (NORC) program had passed the House of Representatives. If signed into law, the bill would allow JFS to expand its NORC initiatives, which have been in place for six years, to the community of Westfield.

NORC provides "age in place" programs that provide nursing, bone health, transportation, Meals on Wheels, creative arts therapy, socialization, and other key services that help seniors avoid the need to relocate to eldercare facilities. Tom Beck, executive director at JFS of Central New Jersey, told The Jewish State that NORC's current funding was scheduled to run out in September, and that the new funds would last another 17 months.

Lance co-sponsored the bill with Rep. Albio Sires (D-13). NORC funding also passed the House for programs connected with JFS branches at the Jewish Federation of Somerset, Hunterdon, and Warren Counties, where Lance was the lone sponsor, as well as the UJA Federation of Northern New Jersey and the United Jewish Communities of MetroWest New Jersey.

"In New Jersey, we send far more services to Washington than we receive back," Lance said during a press conference at the Jewish Community Center of Central New Jersey in Scotch Plains. "I think it's appropriate for members of Congress to fight for programs like this that are fully vetted, are 100 percent transparent, and are completely in the public interest."

The next step for the legislation will be a review by the Joint House-Senate Conference Committee on Appropriations after Labor Day, followed by a vote before the full U.S. Congress, Jacob Toporek, executive director of the New Jersey State Association of Jewish Federations, told The Jewish State.

Lance spent the bulk of his briefing discussing his weeklong trip to Israel with 24 other Republican representatives, organized by AIPAC's American Israel Education Foundation (AIEF) and led by minority whip Sen. Eric Cantor (R-Va.). During his first term, Lance said he also intends to visit Iraq and Afghanistan if he is given the opportunity.

During the trip, Lance met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Shimon Peres, and Minister of Foreign Affairs Avigdor Lieberman, among other officials. Of his meeting with Netanyahu, Lance said "I never felt more secure in my entire life."

Regarding the Obama administration's stance on halting all Israeli settlement construction -- including for "natural growth" -- Lance said that settlements should be a secondary concern for the U.S. to the nuclear threat posed by Iran.

"I do not believe the president of the U.S. should be a zoning officer in East Jerusalem," Lance said, adding that he tries to avoid taking positions on zoning even in his own district.

In Israel, Lance said that officials described how Iran already has the necessary components for nuclear weapons, and that a bomb hasn't been developed yet because component "A" and component "B," so to speak, are in different locations.

"From the briefings that we had, it is clear to me that Iran is proceeding at a rapid pace [with its nuclear program]," Lance said.

"The placing of 'A' with 'B' could take place within hours," he added. "The sands in the hourglass are rapidly descending on this issue."

Due to this imminent nuclear threat, the U.S. must impose heightened sanctions on Iran as soon as possible, rather than the administration's current plan of waiting for a year, Lance said.

In a moment Lance said would always stay with him, a professor who spoke to his group one evening said that if the United Nations were to re-vote on Israel's founding today, the vote would come out against Israel.

"It was a very sobering moment and a moment of great reflection," Lance said. "I hope [the professor] is wrong, but I suspect he's right."

When the group met with Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad in Ramallah, Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) asked Fayyad if Israel had a right to exist. Fayyad said yes, but when asked the follow-up question of Israel's right to exist as a Jewish state, Fayyad did not answer, Lance said.

Lance said he could tell how the Israeli people are greatly concerned about Iran and where the U.S. is headed in its traditionally strong relationship with Israel. It is imperative for Congress to be united in support of Israel and a united Jerusalem, Lance said.

Sightseeing was also part of the trip, as Lance visited Yad Vashem, Tel-Aviv, Masada, and the Jordan River, among other places.

"I must say the Jordan River is no bigger than the Spruce Run Creek in Hunterdon County," Lance said.

Nora Berger, AIPAC's area director for central New Jersey and MetroWest, said that 30 Democratic members of the House are currently on their own AIEF trip to Israel. The two trips included half of the first-term Democrats in the House and 72 percent of first-term Republicans, she said.

"They're arguably one of the most important things that AIPAC does," Berger said of the trips.

Beck said that JFS has worked hard to meet the needs of Union County seniors despite cutbacks in funding, and that the new funds were essential because they ensure the local NORC's survival for the near future and hopefully beyond.

"They improve the quality of lives of our frail elderly by reducing isolation and depression," Beck said of the NORC programs.