Our broken immigration system tears families apart, creates extensive backlogs for prospective immigrants, encourages unscrupulous employers, and relegates 12 million undocumented individuals to the shadows of society. It is about time that President Obama and Congress take on this issue and the meeting today demonstrates responsiveness to the current wave of activity in the immigration advocacy community.

Hartman's goal in financing and building Morgan's Wonderland was to provide children with disabilities with an "opportunity to do things they've never done before, like ride in a swing or a carousel or sit with their family in a train." When it opens, the park will have accessible rides and have special resources for children with both physical and intellectual disabilities and their parents, many of whom haven't ever had the chance to enjoy family trips to fun parks because of a lack of accessibility.

I just can't imagine a better way to help kids who frequently feel alienated or different to have a wonderful, quintessentially childhood experience than to let them ride swings and rides at an amusement park. Check out the article and contact me at 202.387.2800 or at slehman@rac.org to find out more about what the Reform Movement and others do to establish equality of opportunity for all Americans, regardless of disability.

When we arrived at the Haitian embassy to meet the Ambassador and his wife, there was little to indicate the devastation and loss of life that the earthquake had left in its wake.  Apparently weeks before hundreds of people stopped by the tiny embassy, trying to leave donations or find out if families and friends were known to be alive.  But now it was silent. No passers-by, just a sign on the door to say that they could not accept any goods in kind.   The building is dwarfed by the surrounding embassies.  They are grand and imposing. Perhaps this slim and modest building is appropriate for the poorest country in the Americas. Inside the furniture is classically European but the art is spectacularly Haitian - it left me a bit confused until I met the Ambassador and his wife.

His Excellency Raymond Joseph, Ambassador to the United States from the Republic of Haiti, is a joyful, intelligent, sharp amalgam of Haitian culture and the ways of the west.  Born and raised in Cayes, Haiti, he is mostly known as a journalist. In the 1960's he was a radio personality. In the 70's and 80's he was at the Wall Street Journal in New York as a financial writer and co-founded the Haiti-Observateur, the first crusading commercial Haitian weekly.  In 1990 Mr. Joseph was called to be Haiti's Charge d'Affaires in Washington and his own country's representative at the Organization of American States.  After helping with the first democratic elections in December of 1990, he returned to the Haiti Observateur where he remained until he was called to Washington in 2004 as the Ambassador.

Cantor Tracey Scher, Rabbi Amy Schwartzman, Mrs. Lola Possion-Joseph, Ambassador Raymond Joseph, Rabbi Jeffrey Saxe, Cantor Michael Shochet