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HERITAGE FLORIDA JEWISH NEWS, JUNE 20, 2014
N.Y. legislator Grac00'0000teng an emerging
pro-Jewish voice in Congress
Thomas Altfather Good via Wikimedia Commons
U.S. Rep. Grace Meng (D-NY) speaks at a rally organized by the National Association of
Letter Carriers in March 2013.
and the Jewish community
in her district.
Meng's demeanor, both in
conversation and in Congress,
reflects a modesly and candid-
ness many of her media-dar-
ling colleagues lack, or have
lost. Though it may not put
her in the national spotlight,
her approach appears to have
paid off in winning favor with
the voters at home.
Meng, 38, represents New
York's 6th District, covering
the largely immigrant com-
munities of Central Queens,
Forest Hills and Flushing.
According to data from the
Berman Jewish Databank,
the district ranks ninth in
the country in both popula-
tion and percentage of Jewish
residents. The largest popula-
tion in her district is Asian-
American and Meng sees
herself as a bridge between
the very different cultures she
represents.
"I think that among Grace
Meng's greatest distinctions is
her honesty. She is very direct
and very, very sincere," says
Michael Miller, executive vice
president and chief executive
officer of the Jewish Commu-
nity Relations Council of New
By Dmitriy Shapiro
JNS.org
Washington Jewish Week
She may not be flashy, a
firebrand speechmaker, or
even very well known outside
of her Queens congressional
district, but despite her brief
legislative career, fresh-
man U.S. Rep. Grace Meng
(D-N.Y.) has become one of
Congress's most steadfast
supporters of Israel and
Jewish issues. Along the way
she has endeared herself to
colleagues and supporters
on both sides of the aisle
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York, who has known Meng
since her time in the New York
State Assembly. "Members of
Congress and other elected
officials have been roundly
criticized for being corrupt
and insincere. I have found
Grace Meng to be honest and
most sincere. And that's why I
think many in the community
have great respect for her."
Another reason may be that
so much of the legislation she
sponsors or supports appears
to reflect Jewish interests.
On May 28, Meng spoke
on the floor of the House of
Representatives in favor of the
Protect Cemeteries Act, which
will amend the International
Religious Freedom Act of
1998 to include vandalizing
and desecrating cemeteries
in countries around the world
as a consideration used by the
United States in determining
whether a nation is violating
rights to freedom of religion.
Meng was the bill's sponsor.
She said that the act will
serve as a tool for the U.S.
to oppose yiolations of re-
ligious freedom that occur
in countries in which the
Jewish population was wiped
out during the 20th century,
leaving their ancestral re-
mains which serve as targets
for anti-Semitic vandals, or
in municipalities looking to
develop on sanctified ground.
Among the key supporters
of the bill was the Orthodox
organization Agudath Israel
of America.
The vote may have been
preordained--it passed by a
unanimous voice vote. But for
those who were keeping track,
it was another Jewish-friendly
act by Meng.
During her House speech,
Meng thanked a New York
Institute of Technology phys-
ics professor as an inspiration
for the legislation. Bernard
Fryshman has been working
to protect and preserve Jewish
cemeteries for 30 years and
was delighted the bill passed.
"You know this bill is not
going to result in the ma. rines
going on behalf of a cemetery,"
Fryshman told JNS.org. "It
provides a moral suasion. It
provides a vehicle for conver-
sation. It provides a basis in
which the State Department
is trying to help a government
in Europe decide maybe they
should step in and not allow
a local municipality to dig up
a Jewish cemetery."
Jewish issues
Since she came to Congress
in 2013, Meng has worked on
issues related to the State
Department's denial of tourist
visas to young Israelis. She
voted for and sent a letter to
Senate Majority Leader Harry
Reid (D-Nev.) and Minority
Leader Mitch McConnell (R-
Ky.) to take up legislation to
tighten sanctions on Iran's
energy and financial sectors.
She led an effort to lobby the
European Union to designate
Hezbollah as a terrorist orga-
nization. She sponsored and
passed legislation to make
houses of worship eligible for
federal disaster relief funding
after Hurricane Sandy. All
are actions that would be ap-
plauded by many in the Jewish
community.
In a phone conversation
with JNS.org, Meng said that
she feels a connection to the
Jewish community, having
grown up in multicultural
Queens.
"Obviously, I'm not [Jew-
ish] but I represent a district
that has a large Jewish con-
stituency," she said. "I think
honestly, growing up as a
kid in New York, issues that
are important to members
of the Jewish community--
especially now that I'm in
Congress--I think they're
very important to Americans."
She was born in Queens
to Taiwanese immigrants,
whom she says instilled in her
at an early age] the value of
community service and faith.
Though Meng is a Democrat
with a liberal voting record,
she feels that she has no
trouble being accepted by the
large haredi population in her
district, recently being a guest
at Agudath Israel of America's
annual gala.
"I grew up in a religious
household, my family is
Christian," said Meng. "My
grandma is sort of the ma-
triarch of our family and has
always tried to instill religious
values in our upbringing
and so I can empathize with
[most Orthodox members of
the Jewish community], even-
though we may not always
agree. My job is to listen and
see how I can best address the
needs of constituents living in
my district."
. Meng attended the presti-
gious Stuyvesant High School
on Long Island and then
completed her undergraduate
work at the University of Mich-
igan. Wanting to move closer
to her home for a law degree,
she attended the Cardozo Law
School, part of the Jewish-run
Yeshiva University.
"Honestly, I didn't really
think about that it was con-
sidered a Jewish school," she
said."I mean obviously I knew
it but I knew that I wanted to
be back home. It was a school
where I heard the faculty was
really excellent. And I got to
meet [Israeli] Prime Minister
[Benjamin] Netanyahu for the
first time when [,was there, so
it was pretty cool."
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She was elected to the
New York State Assembly
in 2009. The next year she
visited Israel the first time.
That experience, along with
a return visit last year as part
of a congressional delegation,
solidified her views on Israel,
she said.
Stand against ignorance
Meng won her congressio-
nal seat in 2012 after beating
Republican Daniel Halloran
68 to 31 percent. But in her
heavily Democratic district,
the primaries were the real
battle. Meng beat three other
candidates by a 53 percent ma-
jority. Inaugurated in January,
she is the first AsianAmerican
to be elected to Congress to
represent New York City.
Upon taking office, Meng
successfully sought a seat
on the House Foreign Affairs
Committee and the Middle
East and North Africa sub=
committee, where she works
on many Israel-related issues.
Meng views Iran's potential
to develop a nuclear bomb as a
critical issue for the security
of Israel and the U.S. and has
pushed for sanctions against
Iran.
Michael Schmidt, New
York regional director for the
American Jewish Committee
(AJC), who has worked with
Meng on Iran and other issues,
called her a "strong ally."
"I think this is not exclu-
sively a Jewish issues," he
said. "Obviously the fact that
the Iranians have threatened
to completely destroy and•
decimate Israel means that
Israel has a special place'in
terms of concerns. But this
is an issue beyond just Israel.
It's about Western values and
democracy and how we oper-
ate-and I think she recog-
nizes that."
Meng has also taken a tough
stance against the Boycott,
Divestment, and Sanctions
(BDS) movement popping up
at college campuses through-
out the U.S. She worked with
AJC on a project to create
fellowships on college cam-
puses to foster understanding
among students of different
backgrounds. When the As-
sociation for Asian American
Studies voted in 2013 to baci(
BDS efforts, Meng criticized
the vote in a letter to the as-
sociation.
"I think that it's important
that we do whatever we can to
stand against demonstrations
of hate and ignorance and to
me that's what it is," Meng told
JNS.org. "Even if you believed
in the reasoning for the BDS
movement, how does that
benefit anyone? How does that
benefit America? How does
that benefit any country?"
Meng is up for re-election
this fall. As she considered her
home district, she revealed
her familiarity with one of her
largest constituent groups.
"One of my favorite parts of
my district activities is when I
get the opportunity once in a
while to walk around certain
neighborhoods in my district, •
let's say during Shabbos, and
to see a lot of the families
walking around going to shul
together, spending time to-
gether with family," she said.
"I think that's amazing and
that's something that every
culture could learn from."
This article is exclusive to
JNS.org.
