[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 48 (Wednesday, March 15, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E602]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


      REPUBLICANS SHOULD SUPPORT THE COMMUNITY SERVICE BLOCK GRANT

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                           HON. BARNEY FRANK

                            of massachusetts

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, March 15, 1995

  Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts. Mr. Speaker, I think it useful for me to 
share with my colleagues a brief but very pointed letter from Mark 
Sullivan, who is the head of the community action agency in the city of 
Fall River, Citizens, Inc. Mr. Sullivan is one of the outstanding 
leaders in the fight to improve the quality of life for people in the 
lower economic brackets, and he has been doing it long enough to have 
considerable perspective. Thus, he points out that the arguments in 
favor of the creation of the community action agency, and their 
subsequent inclusion in a community service block grant, grew from 
concern that we bypass bureaucracy and provide help directly to the 
people most in need. Citizens for Citizens is one of the organizations 
that exemplifies the success of this approach. And because the point 
Mr. Sullivan makes about the relevance of that experience to much of 
the rhetoric we are now hearing from my Republican colleagues, I ask 
that this letter be printed here.
                                  Citizens for Citizens, Inc.,

                                 Fall River, MA, January 31, 1995.
       Dear Barney: I just finished watching a 30 year history of 
     the War on Poverty on PBS and the irony of history repeating 
     itself became crystal clear.
       The basic concept of all the programs in the War on Poverty 
     was the empowerment of local citizens to make decisions and 
     help design economic programs that affect their lives.
       Thirty years later, the new majority in Congress headed by 
     Speaker of the House Gingrich, is talking about designing 
     government so that citizens will be empowered to make 
     economic decisions on the local level for policies that 
     affect their lives.
       It seems to be redundant to reinvent the wheel when there 
     is a Community Service Block Grant which serves all of the 
     purposes and meets all of the criteria as established by the 
     new leadership; albeit, it deals with low-income people who 
     need the economic empowerment the most.
       I believe that Speaker Gingrich, with his background as a 
     historian has a knowledge and appreciation of these programs 
     for economic empowerment.
       I welcome him as a spokesman for the need to extend and 
     expand the Community Action Agency through increased funding 
     for the Community Services Block Grant, and wish you would 
     thank him for his generous forthcoming support.
     

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