Shays, Bipartisan Legislators Launch National Service Caucus



Shays, Bipartisan Legislators Launch National Service Caucus

Shays, Bipartisan Legislators Launch National Service Caucus

Washington, D.C. - This morning, Representatives Christopher Shays (R-CT), Harold Ford (D-TN), Tom Osborne (R-NE), David Price (D-NC) launched a bipartisan National Service Congressional Caucus at an event attended by over 100 service organization leaders from around the country. The National Service Congressional Caucus is founded in the recognition that the desire of Americans to serve their community and country has increased dramatically in recent years, and that Congress has the ability to enable more Americans to do so.

"As a former Peace Corps volunteer and a fiscal conservative, I believe that national service is one of the wisest investments our government can make. It benefits the recipients and the givers. Volunteers not only address an immediate need in their community, they lead and teach through example, and learn the value of serving and helping others,” Shays said. “I am grateful to be a part of the National Service Caucus, which will help mobilize Congressional support for national service. I look forward to continued work on behalf of volunteerism in America.”

“We are honored that Representative Shays and his colleagues Representatives Osborne, Ford and Price have stepped forward to launch the National Service Congressional Caucus,” said Alan Khazei, CEO & Co-Founder of City Year. “We are confident that with their leadership, national service will thrive and grow in the years to come. Communities around the country and the hundreds of thousands of Americans who have served the country in AmeriCorps owe them an enormous debt of gratitude.”

At the event, Shays was introduced by Fernando J. Muñiz, a Bridgeport resident, Executive Director of the Connecticut Juvenile Justice Alliance and a former AmeriCorps volunteer.

Shays was an author of the legislation which created the Corporation for National Service in 1993 and was integral in efforts to increase federal funding for national service to historic levels.

The Caucus is committed to moving national service forward as part of the nation's domestic agenda by broadening and deepening existing bipartisan support on Capitol Hill for AmeriCorps, Learn and Serve America and the Senior Corps. Through these service initiatives, citizens of all ages work to improve their communities and country.

The SaveAmeriCorps Coalition welcomed the support for this commitment to government's active and passionate role in helping more Americans serve.

Contact: Sarah Moore, 202/225-5541

When this story was posted in November 2004, this was on the front page of PCOL:

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