By Admin1 (admin) (151.196.120.43) on Saturday, March 28, 2009 - 6:49 am: Edit Post |
Senate votes to triple AmeriCorps' ranks
The Senate overwhelmingly approved a bill to broadly expand national community service programs, increasing the number of positions to 250,000 from 75,000 and creating new cadres of volunteers focused on education, clean energy, health care, and veterans. In addition to adding positions to the 75,000 existing AmeriCorps slots, the bill would create four new service corps, specializing in areas that largely align with President Obama’s early agenda. The Senate measure will now be sent to the House, which approved a different version of the legislation last week. Officials said they expected the House to adopt the measure next week and send it on to President Obama, a huge proponent of community service programs, who will sign into law. “The American habits of the heart are shining through,” declared Senator Barbara A. Mikulski, Democrat of Maryland, who helped shepherd the bill to final passage. “All across America, people want to volunteer if they have the opportunity to do so.”
Senate votes to triple AmeriCorps' ranks
Senate Approves National Service Bill
By David M. Herszenhorn
Photo: Grace Hill Settlement House interim President & CEO David Weber and Grace Hill AmeriCorps Trail Ranger Patrick Thrower unveil the new Mary Meachum Freedom Crossing sign. The Mary Meachum Freedom Crossing event is presented and hosted annually by Grace Hill AmeriCorps Trail Rangers with support from The Confluence Partnership. Confluence08-Meachum-01 by The Confluence Flickr Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic
The Senate on Thursday overwhelmingly approved a bill to broadly expand national community service programs, increasing the number of positions to 250,000 from 75,000 and creating new cadres of volunteers focused on education, clean energy, health care, and veterans.
The vote was 78 to 20, and the Senate renamed the bill the Senator Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act, in honor of the Massachusetts Democrat who was a main architect of the legislation and has been undergoing treatment for brain cancer.
After the vote was tallied, Mr. Kennedy received a standing ovation on the Senate floor, his son, Representative Patrick Kennedy, Democrat of Rhode Island, was in the chamber for the occasion. And the elder Mr. Kennedy got a huge round of congratulations include a hug from Senator Orrin G. Hatch, Republican of Utah, who was also a main author of the service bill.
“The whole Kennedy family has been a service family,” Mr. Hatch said.
The Senate measure will now be sent to the House, which approved a different version of the legislation last week. Officials said they expected the House to adopt the measure next week and send it on to President Obama, a huge proponent of community service programs, who will sign into law.
The service legislation is also a top priority of First Lady Michelle Obama who has said that promoting volunteerism will be a major focus of her time in the White House.
The legislation, which had broad bipartisan support, would expand the ranks of AmeriCorps, which was created by President Bill Clinton in 1993 to bring federal volunteer programs under a single umbrella.
In addition to adding positions to the 75,000 existing AmeriCorps slots, the bill would create four new service corps, specializing in areas that largely align with President Obama’s early agenda.
The expansion would cost about $6 billion over five years. The bill would raise the education stipend paid to volunteers to $5,350, the same amount as a Pell grant college scholarship.
And the more than tripling of the number of federal service positions, at a time when the deep recession is expected to vastly increase the demand for volunteer work among college graduates, amounts to the boldest expansion of service opportunities since President Kennedy called for national service corps in 1963.
The bill also seeks to encourage volunteer work among retirees, and would offer senior citizens a $1,000 educational award that they could transfer to a child or grandchild.
“The American habits of the heart are shining through,” declared Senator Barbara A. Mikulski, Democrat of Maryland, who helped shepherd the bill to final passage. “All across America, people want to volunteer if they have the opportunity to do so.”
Links to Related Topics (Tags):
Headlines: March, 2009; Americorps; Congress; USA Freedom Corps; Fund Raising; Legislation; Appropriations
When this story was posted in March 2009, this was on the front page of PCOL:
Peace Corps Online The Independent News Forum serving Returned Peace Corps Volunteers
PCOL's Candidate for Peace Corps Director
Honduras RPCV Jon Carson, 33, presided over thousands of workers as national field director for the Obama campaign and said the biggest challenge -- and surprise -- was the volume of volunteer help, including more than 15,000 "super volunteers," who were a big part of what made Obama's campaign so successful. PCOL endorses Jon Carson as the man who can revitalize the Peace Corps, bring it into the internet age, and meet Obama's goal of doubling the size of the Peace Corps by 2011.
Director Ron Tschetter: The PCOL Interview
Peace Corps Director Ron Tschetter sat down for an in-depth interview to discuss the evacuation from Bolivia, political appointees at Peace Corps headquarters, the five year rule, the Peace Corps Foundation, the internet and the Peace Corps, how the transition is going, and what the prospects are for doubling the size of the Peace Corps by 2011. Read the interview and you are sure to learn something new about the Peace Corps. PCOL previously did an interview with Director Gaddi Vasquez.
Some PCVs return to Bolivia on their own
Peace Corps has withdrawn all volunteers from Bolivia because of "growing instability" and the expulsion of US Ambassador Philip Goldberg after Bolivian President Evo Morales accused the American government of inciting violence in the country. This is not the first controversy surrounding Goldberg's tenure as US ambassador to Bolivia. Latest: Some volunteers have returned to Bolivia on their own to complete their projects.
Read the stories and leave your comments.