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On Thursday, President Obama announced several new initiatives to benefit America’s working families, especially the over 40 million American workers who do not currently have paid sick days. President Obama has signed a memo directing federal agencies to provide their employees with six weeks of paid parental leave. In addition, the President has called on Congress to pass the Healthy Families Act, which was introduced in the last Congress by Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Representative Rosa DeLauro (D-CT-3). This legislation would allow American workers to earn seven days of paid sick leave and has yet to be reintroduced in the new Congress. Urge your Members of Congress to support paid sick days for working families today!

On Tuesday night, many in the Washington, D.C. community — myself among them — gathered at Adas Israel Congregation for an event convened by AJC (and cosponsored by the Religious Action Center) in solidarity and remembrance with the People of France and the Jewish Community. It was a beautiful event, including speakers such as Jason Isaacson, AJC Associate Executive Director for Policy, Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) and His Excellency Gérard Araud, Ambassador of France to the United States.

By Rabbi Barry L. Schwartz By all means, go see Selma. See it this weekend, when we remember the life and legacy of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. It is a powerful movie that manages to feel epic and intimate at the same time; no easy feat. It is heroic yet nuanced; laudable for Hollywood. Yet Selma is not without issues. One that has already been raised in the media, and by historians, is the portrayal of President Lyndon B. Johnson. Another, less noticed, is the role of Jews in the famous march. One critic accuses the film of “airbrushing” the Jewish presence out of the movie. If one watches closely, two figures can be seen wearing yarmulkes. What is lamentable, however, is the absence of a striking figure with flowing white hair and beard. In an iconic photo from the march, he is one person away from Dr. King. He is Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, renowned philosopher, author and activist.

On January 22, we commemorate the 42nd anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 Supreme Court decision that established the constitutionally protected right of a woman to choose whether or not to have an abortion. The Court held that under the Fourteenth Amendment’s guarantee of due process, the government’s interest in protecting potential life does not always outweigh a woman’s right to privacy in her health decisions. Though this constitutional protection still exists, subsequent court decisions and state and federal laws have slowly chipped away at the decision, establishing significant obstacles to abortion access and leaving our Roe rights at risk.

Last week, the 114^th Congress began its first legislative session, welcoming new and returning members to Capitol Hill. Between the close of the 113^th Congress and the opening of the 114^th, 20 states and the District of Columbia increased their minimum wage. These 20 state level minimum wage increases directly impact 2.3 million workers and about 900,000 workers would be indirectly impacted.

I was able to spend a couple hours today watching C-SPAN, which, I’ll admit, may not sound very exciting. Yet, I was able to witness a fascinating piece of political theatre that had me at times depressed, at times hopeful and often on the edge of my seat. The stage had been set in the last Congress, when during Congress’s budget bill, Republicans delayed looking at funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). This delay is why the bill was known as the CRomnibus, because it funded DHS on previously agreed-to levels (the Continuing Resolution, or CR, part), and set new funding levels for the rest of the government.

The 114^th Congress has been in session for just a little over a week now and already we have seen that rollbacks on environmental protections are looking like a priority for many members over the course of the next two years. Here are a couple things to watch out for in the coming weeks and over the course of the 114^th Congress:

Next Wednesday, January 21 marks the fifth anniversary of Citizens United v. Federal Elections Commission, the infamous case in which the Supreme Court struck down a longstanding ban on corporation and union spending in elections. Since the decision five years ago, money has flowed into elections through political action committees (PACs), which contribute money to candidates’ election campaigns. It is estimated that outside groups spent over $1 billion in the 2012 presidential election. More money was spent by outside organizations, often keeping their donor lists secret, than by either candidates’ own campaign. While the total amount of money spent by candidates increased only marginally from 2008, the amount from outside groups quadrupled – thanks largely to the doors opened by Citizens United.

Just last month, the Reform Movement proudly participated in the launch of the 90 Million Strong Campaign to Abolish the Death Penalty. Barbara Weinstein, Director of the Commission on Social Action of Reform Judaism spoke on behalf of the Reform Movement, which has long advocated for the abolition of the death penalty and reform of the criminal justice system. Since joining the campaign, a lot has happened around the issue, some good news and other less inspiring news.