NJDC Leaders Meet With Sen. Daschle on First Day as Majority Leader
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Washington, DC: Fifty top leaders of the National Jewish Democratic Council gathered in Washington June 5th-7th for NJDC's annual Leadership Retreat, in which they met and exchanged views with key Democratic leaders of the House, the Senate and the Democratic Party. The Retreat highlight came on Wednesday, when - just moments after finishing his first speech on the Senate floor as the new Senate Majority Leader - South Dakota Senator Tom Daschle joined the NJDC contingent to share his insights into the new Senate agenda and answer questions. The Majority Leader was welcomed with a sustained standing ovation and rousing cheers.
Over the course of the summit, the NJDC leaders were also joined by House Democratic Leader Richard Gephardt; Jewish House Democrats, including Representatives Shelley Berkley, Howard Berman, Susan Davis, Bob Filner, Martin Frost, Steve Israel, Sander Levin, Jerrold Nadler, Steven Rothman, Jan Schakowsky, Henry Waxman, Anthony Weiner, and DCCC Chairwoman Nita Lowey; key Democratic Senators, including Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin, Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Joseph Lieberman, Senator and DSCC Chairwoman Patty Murray, and Senators Maria Cantwell, Jon Corzine, Bill Nelson, and Debbie Stabenow; Israel's Ambassador David Ivry; and Democratic National Committee Chairman Terry McAuliffe, among others.
"It was a tremendous few days for our leaders in the nation's capital, and of course the timing could not have been better," noted NDJC Executive Director Ira N. Forman. "It means a great deal to us that Majority Leader Daschle - on perhaps the most important and busy day of his political life - would still find time to spend with his friends at the National Jewish Democratic Council. We told the Majority Leader that our hopes and prayers are with him in this new and challenging era, and that we know that he is more than up to the task at hand."
