[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 21 (Thursday, February 2, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Page S1972]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                            NATIONAL SERVICE

  Mr. SARBANES. Mr. President, I was proud to cast my vote for the 
National and Community Service Trust Act of 1993 when the conference 
report came before the Senate for final approval last September. This 
was important legislation intended to marshal the Nation's best 
resources--its citizens--to confront the many pressing problems facing 
communities across the country. The National Service Act, signed into 
law on September 21, 1993, has helped renew the ethic of civic 
responsibility and the spirit of community service throughout the 
United States while also providing critical assistance in meeting vital 
human, educational, environmental, and public safety needs.
  In light of this, I am troubled by recent statements by the House 
Republican leadership expressing opposition to national service, 
describing it as gimmickry and coerced voluntarism. I would urge those 
who put forward these views to look carefully at the new national 
service program's centerpiece, AmeriCorps, a national network of local 
youth service corps. Unlike previous volunteer-based programs, 
AmeriCorps is not one large Federal program, but a network of locally 
developed and locally managed service corps which will give thousands 
of young people the kind of opportunity earlier generations had to 
serve their country and improve their own lives as well as those of 
their neighbors.
  I am proud that my own State of Maryland has been a leader in the 
area of national service. The tremendous number of volunteer 
organizations across the State deserve credit for the enormous 
difference that volunteers have made and continue to make in Maryland 
each and every day. Maryland has very deservedly been the recipient of 
a number of first round AmeriCorps grants. I was privileged to be with 
the President during the official kickoff of the AmeriCorps Program at 
Aberdeen Proving Ground last September, the first campus selected under 
the National Service Act as a cite for the National Civilian Community 
Corps [NCCC]. Using a converted barracks, the NCCC campus at Aberdeen 
houses 250 young adults who work in 10-member teams on projects 
throughout Maryland, the Northeast, and the Mid-Atlantic. The program 
emphasizes conservation of natural resources, public safety, and the 
educational and human needs of children and older Americans.
  I was also privileged to meet earlier with members of Community Year 
in Montgomery County, Civic Works in Baltimore, and the Maryland 
Conservation Corps to discuss their critical efforts to rehabilitate 
housing for low-income families. More recently, my wife was able to 
visit an AmeriCorps site at Frostburg State University in western 
Maryland. The local program, named Appalachian Service Through Action 
and Resources or A STAR, provides many types of assistance in areas 
involving social service and the environment. Participants perform 
duties as varied as coordinating environmental projects at Deep Creek 
Lake, developing Victory Gardens in Garrett County, working with local 
Head Start programs in recruiting volunteers, providing independent 
living assistance enlarging area food pantries, and establishing youth 
literacy programs.
  Mr. President, it is my view that national service, and those who 
participate in it represent the best of our Nation. AmeriCorps and 
other programs under the National Service Act of 1993 carry forward an 
idea rooted in the best traditions and values of America--the tradition 
of serving others, the value of taking personal responsibility for 
ourselves and our communities, and the belief that to whom much is 
given, much is expected. Through programs like AmeriCorps we are 
providing our Naiton's young people with both an opportunity and an 
obligation. It asks them to put something back into the community while 
also providing them an opportunity to develop skills which will serve 
them well throughout their lives.
  As I have indicated through examples in my own State, the national 
service program is working. Nationwide, there are other examples--the 
executive director of the National Association of Police Organizations 
has called AmeriCorps a huge boost in the arm for law enforcement; 
officials of the Federal Emergency Management Agency say that 
participants in AmeriCorps have helped thousands of disaster victims 
pick up the pieces of their lives; Habitat for Humanity says they could 
not do their job without such individuals.
  In my view, Mr. President, those who have answered the call to 
service by participating in AmeriCorps and other national service 
opportunities are taking part in the oldest and best of America's 
traditions--a spirit of service. I would ask those who have criticized 
legislation which has furthered national service to look again at the 
important efforts underway which serve to produce stronger families and 
stronger communities, and to join me in commending those who are taking 
part in this important renewal of service to our Nation.


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