[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 41 (Thursday, April 2, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E563]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           AMERICORPS PROGRAM

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                          HON. LYNN C. WOOLSEY

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, April 1, 1998

  Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Speaker, it is truly tragic that some Members of 
this body do not fully recognize the outstanding record of contribution 
of the AmeriCorps program.
  In community after community, across the entire nation, AmeriCorps 
volunteers are providing a wide range of essential services that are 
truly making a difference in people's lives. And, at the same time, 
these young people are making a difference in their own lives. They are 
becoming leaders who understand the importance of giving back to the 
community around them. They are earning a valuable educational benefit 
that will help them achieve their goals for the future.
  Yesterday, we saw another unconscionable attack on AmeriCorps' 
funding by Members who have yet to acknowledge AmeriCorps' record of 
success. I am confident that these Members would not launch these 
politically motivated attacks if they would simply look at the 
successes around them--and admit to the important contributions that 
AmeriCorps is making in almost every community in the nation.
  These members should talk to their local nonprofits. They should talk 
with their community leaders. And they should read their local 
newspapers. Because all around them is the evidence that AmeriCorps is 
making this nation a better place to live in and is cultivating an 
ethic of civic responsibility and community.
  Mr. Speaker, I submit for the record one piece of this evidence--a 
news article from one of my local newspapers, the San Rafael/Terra Lina 
News Pointer, from February 4, 1998. This article demonstrates, once 
again, how AmeriCorps has become an important community resource in 
Marin County, California, which I am privileged to represent.
  Recently, a bipartisan group of Members of Congress joined First Lady 
Hillary Rodham Clinton in endorsing new legislation to reauthorize our 
nation's national service programs, including AmeriCorps. I urge all 
members of Congress to join together, in a bipartisan fashion, to 
reject politically motivated attacks on AmeriCorps' funding, and to 
pass essential reauthorization legislation that will preserve 
AmeriCorps and other essential national service programs well into the 
future.

                       Partnerships that pay off

       Marin.--AmeriCorp, praised by President Bill Clinton in his 
     1998 State of the Union address, is an important community 
     resource in Marin. The Marin Conservation Corps (MCC) is one 
     of 1,500 designated AmeriCorps sites nationwide. To date MCC 
     has trained and graduated three classes of AmeriCorps 
     volunteers who have in turn provided valuable volunteer 
     service to Marin's non-profit agencies.
       Full-time corpsmembers commit to one-year of service to 
     their community in exchange for job training and employment 
     opportunities. Ten individuals, who worked at least 1,700 
     hours, participated in the Marin Recycling-Education and 
     summer camps programs. These AmeriCorps volunteers taught 
     environmental education, mentored kids after school and 
     served as role models for at-risk youth. Hand-on activities 
     included bottle biology, reusable art projects, a peek at 
     packaging, and making your own paper.
       Ardis Ashton, Ricardo Diaz, Juanita Edwards, Ryan Holland 
     Russel Lamerson, Erick Linares, Beau Siebler, Buna Soma, Gina 
     Watkins and Walter Williams gained valuable job skills and 
     work experience. In addition, they received $4,725 education 
     scholarship, which they can use to pursue educational goals 
     or vocational training.
       And thousands of Marin school children learned the ``three 
     r's''--Reduce, Reuse, Recycle!

     

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