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OU ADVOCACY CENTER
PROTECTING OUR COMMUNITY The OU Advocacy Center is the nonpartisan public policy arm of the OU that advocates on behalf of the Orthodox community nationwide. Through its federal advocacy in Washington, D.C., and in state capitals, the OU Advocacy Center (OUA) advances our community’s interests and values in law and policy.
Fighting for the Community During COVID-19 Within days of the start of the pandemic, the OU Advocacy Center became laser focused on helping craft the legislation that became the bipartisan Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (“CARES”) Act. The act included nearly $2 trillion in emergency economic stimulus funding for many hard-hit sectors of American society. OU Advocacy worked to ensure that these programs would include maximum availability for our community’s schools and synagogues. As a result of OUA’s work, the bill’s Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) ensured that forgivable loans were fully available to these critical community institutions. Hundreds of schools and shuls received PPP funds in amounts ranging from $150,000 to several million dollars. OUA also successfully advocated that the CARES Act’s emergency funds to support K-12 schools were also available on an equitable basis to Jewish nonpublic schools. The coronavirus pandemic is not over, and OUA’s work for our community is constant and ongoing.
OU Advocacy Center Executive Director Nathan Diament testifying on Capitol Hill against anti-Semitism.
