“Programs designed to encourage young people to take active roles in national service breed the leaders of tomorrow. By becoming civically active at a young age, the future leaders of America are able to not only gain the skills necessary for effective leadership, but also develop a deep appreciation for the tenets of democracy and freedom. We, as lawmakers, need to do everything possible to encourage young adults to respond to the call to service.” -- Harold Ford Jr.As our blog reported yesterday, the Bush Administration is wanting to cut the AmeriCorps program this year.
However, Congressman Harold Ford Jr. isn't letting them get away with it. He is fighting tooth and nail to try to save this program which is so crucial to so many people.
I found the following op-ed which makes the case to keep AmeriCorps.
The article does a great job in detailing how important this program really is.
"AmeriCorps, launched in 1993 as America’s domestic version of the Peace Corps, gives young people an opportunity to work in communities that need assistance.
Some help groups such as Habitat for Humanity and the Boys and Girls Clubs. And just last fall they provided help as far away as the Gulf Coast in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and as close as Larimer County, where they helped battle a wildfire northwest of Fort Collins.
The young people work for minimal wages, and if they complete a year of service they get $4,725 to pay for college or to repay student loans.
But the White House wants to cut the budget of one branch of AmeriCorps by $22 million, giving it a mere $5 million next year. The goal is to close the program.
The targeted section, the AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps, brings 1,100 18- to 24-year-olds to five residential campuses — one of them in Denver — to spend 10 months working on service projects, with an emphasis on homeland security and disaster relief.
The volunteers in this branch of AmeriCorps have been providing most of the agency’s response to Hurricane Katrina. The teams helped more than 900,000 people living in the disaster area, served 882,000 meals, collected or distributed 2,376 tons of food, removed 15 tons of debris, conducted more than 800 home assessments, supported more than 400 emergency response centers, and recruited or coordinated nearly 1,500 community volunteers.
(Two larger arms of AmeriCorps — AmeriCorps State and National, which has 67,000 volunteers who help with service, public and nonprofit groups’ projects, and AmeriCorps Vista, which has about 6,000 full-time participants who work in nonprofit, faith-based and community organizations to help impoverished communities — are not targeted to be cut.)
An Office of Management and Budget review says the National Civilian Community Corps branch is too expensive, with a per-participant cost of $27,859. The other (nonresidential) AmeriCorps programs cost about $16,000 per participant.
According to Save*NCCC, a group of former members that has rallied in the past month to try to save it, 75 percent of members felt their AmeriCorps experience enhanced their understanding of people different from themselves, most said their time in the group was “transformational” and two years after leaving service, 78 percent of them reported that they had continued volunteering. In the general U.S. population, the volunteer rate is about 26 percent.
With the federal deficit growing and money tight, the government needs to get the overall budget under control.
But surely our legislators can find $22 million worth of pork to cut elsewhere and keep this program that has benefited so many."
Amen!
All throughout his time in Congress, Congressman Ford has supported AmeriCorps to its fullest.
In fact, he serves as a co-chair of National Service Congressional Caucus, which shows his dedication to the program.
His support for AmeriCorps continues to this day in his fight to save the program.
The same can't be said of his Republican opponents in this Senate race.
Time and time again throughout their tenures in Congress, Ed Bryant and Van Hilleary voted to slash or entirely eliminate AmeriCorps.
Those votes are below.
- Ed and Van voted to totally do away with AmeriCorps: "Hostettler, R-Ind., amendment to eliminate the bill's $367 million in funding for the AmeriCorps National Service Program, thereby terminating the program." (Amdt to HR 3666, 06/26/96, Roll Call #276)
- Ed and Van voted to eliminate the AmeriCorps and the Legal Services Corporation: "Adoption of the concurrent resolution to adopt a six-year budget plan that called for the elimination more than 130 programs, including the Goals 2000 school reform program, the AmeriCorps national service program, and the Legal Services Corporation. The resolution sets binding budget levels for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 1997: budget authority, $1,629.9 billion; outlays, $1,618.1 billion; revenues, $1,470.4 billion; and deficit, $147.7 billion." (HCR 178, 05/16/96, Roll Call #179)
- Ed and Van opposed recommitting funding to AmeriCorps: "The House rejected the Stokes motion to recommit HR 3666 to committee with instructions to restore $350 million in funds for the AmeriCorps program." (Recommit to HR 3666, 06/26/96, Vote #281)
- Ed and Van voted to slash AmeriCorps by $250 million: "The House approved HR 3579 to provide $2.9 billion in supplemental appropriations. It cut $2.9 billion in domestic programs including $250 million from AmeriCorps and $75 million from bilingual and migrant education programs. (HR 3579, 03/31/98, Vote #088)
Put simply, Ed and Van are on the wrong side of this issue, just as President Bush is.
Tennessee deserves a U.S. Senator that will support programs such as AmeriCorps that help people get ahead in life.
Government should be trying to uplift people, not drag them down and Harold Ford Jr. understands that.
This is yet another reason why Harold Ford Jr. will be our next U.S. Senator.
77 Days
Days of Congressional Inaction on Ethics
Above is the number of days that have passed since Jack Abramoff pleaded guilty to bribing Congressman.
It is also the number of days in which Congress has failed to pass an ethics reform bill that would limit private travel, ski and golf junkets, and would call for a full disclosure of expenses by lobbyists on members of Congress.
It is time for Congress to step up and pass an ethics reform bill that would do all of the above. In addition, it is time to end the pork barrel spending system as we know it and establish an independent ethics commission that would review ethics complaints against members of Congress.
I am proud Congressman Harold Ford Jr. is fighting for that reform!
Read Congressman Ford's call for reform of the House rules here!
