By Joel Magalnick, Editor, JTNews
Senator Patty Murray says she’s not afraid of a challenge — and she’s got plenty right now.
“It’s part of my job, it’s what I love to do and it’s what I want to keep on doing,” she told JTNews in an interview.
Murray, a Democrat, is in a tight battle with Republican Dino Rossi for the Senate seat she has held for 18 years. During her tenure, many people within the Jewish community say they have appreciated her support both locally and on Israel.
She was the first elected official at the federal level to reach out to the Jewish
Federation of Greater Seattle following the shooting there, and has been instrumental in bringing federal money to local Jewish organizations for security and social services.
Though her campaign has been playing defense on the issue of putting earmarks for local projects into the federal budget, Murray said she is proud of the $800,000 to help Jewish Family Service of Greater Seattle break ground on its facility expansion.
“I have been all over the state in the last month here campaigning,” Murray said. “I can’t tell you how many people have come up to thank me, because without that little bit of federal help, it would have been extremely hard to get that going to get the rest of the funding.”
She said that despite budget challenges, social services are not a place to pull back.
“Getting investments for things like Jewish Family Service in Seattle is important,” she said. “That building is going to be a catalyst for helping families get back on their feet in a tough time.”
She also pointed out her support for Israel over the years.
“I remember when I was first elected, back in ‘92, and went with a number of our Jewish leaders from here to Israel and saw for the first time, really, why they advocate for that wonderful little country so strongly,” she said.
Israel’s safety is critical to the stability of the region, as well as to this country’s national security, Murray noted.
“That’s why I’ve always been there militarily and to support them economically in any way I can to make sure they have what they need in that region,” she said.
This week, the JTA Jewish news service reported that Rep. Eric Cantor (R-Va.), in an effort to circumvent Israel losing funding to what will likely be an incoming group of Congresspeople ambivalent to foreign aid, announced he would seek to remove Israel’s $3 billion aid package from the foreign operations budget and have Congress vote on it separately.
“Part of the dilemma is that Israel has been put in the overall foreign aid looping,” Cantor said. “I’m hoping we can see some kind of separation in terms of tax dollars going to Israel.”
Murray, who was not familiar with the announcement, was skeptical.
“I would be hesitant to do that,” she said. “Anytime you isolate somebody out of a budget of any kind, you make them more of a target…. I’ve been on the appropriations committee for 18 years. We have always worked together, Republicans and Democrats, to protect that appropriation. So I don’t see any logic in doing that.”