Contact: Rachel Slomovitz 202-841-2360
Donald Cohen-Cutler 917-405-8232

Secretary of State Albright calls for Permanent “Special Envoy to the Middle East”
Former Secretary Open’s Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism’s Consultation on Conscience

April 16, 2007 – Washington, DC – Describing herself as “an optimist who worries a lot,” former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright called for a permanent “special envoy to the Middle East” during her keynote address to the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism’s 2007 Consultation on Conscience.

Secretary Albright encouraged religious communities to continue their pursuit of justice and peace in the world saying that the Israeli Palestinian conflict should be “resolved for its own sake.”

After her address, Secretary Albright sat down with Rabbi David Saperstein, director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, for a candid conversation about Human Rights, the genocide in Darfur and the War on Terror. When asked about the War in Iraq she said, “I believe the [it] will go down in history as the worst mistake in US foreign policy.”

The biennial Consultation on Conscience offers intensive, high-level briefings on current issues and critical legislation that are aimed at educating the participants about issues of importance to the Reform Jewish community and motivating them to return home energized and engaged in their home communities. The delegates attending the conference include congregants, social action committee chairs and members, rabbis and rabbinical students, cantors and cantorial students, youth groups, brotherhood and sisterhood leaders, college students, and other Reform Jewish activists from across the country.

The Consultation on Conscience will continue on Monday and Tuesday in Washington, D.C.