[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 58 (Wednesday, May 7, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E859-E860]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              VOLUNTARISM

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. LEE H. HAMILTON

                               of indiana

                    in the house of representatives

                         Wednesday, May 7, 1997

  Mr. HAMILTON. Mr. Speaker, I would like to insert my Washington 
Report for Wednesday, May 7, 1997 into the Congressional Record.

                       The Summit On Voluntarism

       Most observers of American life have noted a renewed 
     interest in community, a response in part to the all too 
     obvious social problems of homelessness, poverty, crime, and 
     drug abuse. One of the underpinnings of our democracy, long 
     noted by historians, is that Americans constantly form 
     associations of all shapes and sizes to deal with the 
     challenges of the day. Last week's high-profile summit on 
     voluntarism in Philadelphia was designed to provide firepower 
     to change the dynamics of voluntarism. It was clearly an 
     impressive event, but my guess is that the overall effort is 
     going to require a more involved strategy and considerable 
     follow through.


                                Overview

       The Summit For America's Future was quite an event. It had 
     powerful rhetoric, a long list of good intentions, and 
     impassioned calls for volunteers from Presidents Clinton, 
     Bush, Carter, and Ford and from retired General Colin Powell. 
     The summit's goal of improving the lives of 2 million 
     children by the year 2000 is certainly a good one.
       The summit seeks to mobilize volunteers and corporate money 
     to help these children and make up for a scaled-back federal 
     effort by providing children with mentors, safe places after 
     school, health care and job skills, and an opportunity to 
     perform community service themselves. All in all it was hard 
     to escape the spirit of the summit and the spirit of 
     voluntarism. The challenge to every group, business, and 
     citizen is to give young people the support they need.
       The benefits of volunteering are obvious. It not only 
     raises the quality of life for a lot of people, it builds a 
     sense of community, breaks down barriers between people, and 
     develops leadership. I was greatly impressed during the 
     floods that came to southern Indiana with the leadership that 
     emerged in trying to see that food, services, and shelter 
     were made available to the victims.
       The extent to which corporate America is embracing 
     volunteerism is also impressive. Hundreds of companies have 
     donated time and money toward the summit's goals. They are 
     pledging to mentor students, provide activities for children 
     after school, offer health services, help students to develop 
     marketable skills, and donate equipment and services to 
     schools. The traditional view that companies are only 
     responsible for earning a profit appears to be outdated.


                               Assessment

       I am always impressed with how generous Hoosiers are with 
     their own time, ideas, and resources. I think of countless 
     groups I have visited--religious organizations, foundations, 
     corporations, not-for-profits, even the volunteer firemen who 
     risk their lives for us. Their work brightens our lives and 
     our communities. They serve as a marvelous antidote to the 
     constant stream of news reports of crime and violence.
       I do not draw the conclusion from their good activities, 
     however, that government needs to do nothing. Anyone who has 
     worked deeply on our country's most intractable social 
     problems knows that it will take both private and public 
     efforts to get the job done. There are about 40 million poor 
     people in America and they literally need everything--better 
     education, better health care, more food, more clothing, more 
     skills training.
       The floods in Indiana showed us the virtues and the limits 
     of voluntary action. Bagging the sand and providing meals and 
     clothing were wonderful examples of volunteer achievement, 
     but the money from the federal and state governments is 
     necessary to rebuild the communities. Throughout American 
     history, volunteerism and government

[[Page E860]]

     have worked together. We all know that government programs 
     have a lot of gaps and failures. Volunteers can fill some 
     of those gaps but probably not all of them.
       The overall statistics on volunteerism are impressive. 93 
     million Americans volunteer. They contributed a stunning 20 
     billion hours of their time in 1995--that's 220 hours per 
     person. But a closer look at the figures raises some 
     questions. Almost 5 billion of those hours are informal 
     volunteering like baby sitting for a neighbor and baking 
     cookies for a school fair, and many others are volunteer 
     hours at theaters, museums, boards, and commissions. While 
     extremely worthwhile, such efforts don't always address some 
     of the core problems of our society. Less than 10% of those 
     93 million volunteers work in human services, and fewer than 
     4% are tutors or mentors. Much volunteer work is done for 
     local churches, which is certainly valuable, but only about 
     10-15% of volunteering done through the churches goes into 
     the community.
       Volunteer effort can also be poorly organized and managed. 
     I am told by people who organize volunteers that there are 
     usually many when a disaster strikes or when help is needed 
     for one-time events like a walk-a-thon or even building a 
     home for a poor family. The real problems come with sustained 
     efforts to deal with the problems of poor children, needy 
     seniors, and the poor. Volunteer services--especially 
     improving the lives of children through mentoring--needs to 
     be performed one-on-one over a long period of time and often 
     in very low-income neighborhoods. It is hard to get 
     volunteers for those kinds of tasks. Most volunteering is 
     done in a very tight circle of familiar friends, places, and 
     activities.


                               Conclusion

       The big question that emerges from the summit, of course, 
     is its legacy. Will this unprecedented bipartisan celebration 
     of volunteerism be an historic launching point to help 
     children and decaying neighborhoods or will it be just 
     another media extravaganza that will fade over time? The 
     central challenge is aimed at the millions of at-risk 
     children in this country. They come from poor families that 
     are often dysfunctional. Many overcome steep odds to lead 
     productive lives but many others do not, at a high cost to 
     society over a lifetime.
       The summit has given us a chance, just a chance, to do 
     something really important. It certainly signals a fresh 
     start, and it will inspire many Americans to volunteer. Those 
     who have worked on our intractable social problems are 
     probably entitled to a degree of skepticism about its impact 
     and follow through, but the real task is how to make things 
     different this time. Commitments have been made and the 
     challenge is to see if the American people can be inspired 
     and energized to enhance the future of the children.

     

                          ____________________