In his first personal appearance before a Jewish convention since his second term began, Clinton praised the group's work in promoting these issues. While many Jewish groups seek the president's presence, such appearances are rare.
Child care is one of the core issues on the group's agenda for the coming year.
The more than 700 Jewish activists from across the country were slated to fan out across Capitol Hill this week to urge lawmakers to support legislation aimed at improving the quality of child care. A number of different child-care bills introduced by both Republicans and Democrats are pending in Congress. Most women work outside the home out of economic necessity. Developed in 1969 by NCJW's research arm at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, the program was designed to help parents with limited formal schooling provide education enrichment for their preschool children. In 1986, Hillary Clinton invited Rich to Arkansas to talk to her and then-governor Clinton about the program, and Arkansas soon became the first state to implement it.