[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 116 (Thursday, July 31, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Pages S10838-S10839]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SUPPLEMENTAL APPROPRIATIONS
Ms. MIKULSKI. Mr. President, in a few minutes the Senate will
consider the supplemental. I wish to say a few words about the issue
around AmeriCorps and other issues within the supplemental. The hour is
late, so I will be brief.
The outcome is preordained, but I wish to say the fight will go on.
This urgent supplemental does not meet the compelling human needs of
the United States of America. The supplemental the Senate is about to
pass will replenish the urgent need that FEMA has at only 50 percent of
what the Federal Emergency Management Agency needs to be ready for the
hurricane season. They need about $1.6 billion, and there is about $900
million included.
The supplemental also will not include money for wildfires ravaging
the West. It will not include the funds to complete the NASA
investigation of what went wrong on Columbia, so NASA will have to
forage for funds within their agency. It will not include additional
money for AmeriCorps.
I have been waiting and willing to compromise to get the emergency
funding for AmeriCorps. I was willing to compromise to save the school-
based programs that start in September. I knew I could not save the
AmeriCorps ship because of the penny-pinching attitude of the House
towards AmeriCorps.
I want to be clear that although the House left town with a take-it-
or-leave-it attitude and we had to swallow it, the needs of our
community will not go away. The fight will not go away, and I will
continue in September to fight for the full funding for AmeriCorps,
both in an emergency supplemental and even in the way of the Budget
Act, if I have to, in order to get the help for AmeriCorps.
AmeriCorps, because of the clumsy and inept headquarters,
overenrolled 20,000 volunteers, but we should not punish those
volunteers because of the people at headquarters.
In my home State, Maryland will lose 400 volunteers. Let me tell you
what they are: In rural western Maryland, an AmeriCorps program called
Star, in which 34 volunteers participate. They serve 6,000 people,
meeting the needs of the mountain counties of: Allegany, Garrett, and
Washington.
Do you know what they do? They tutor children, they help children to
read, and they help them get ready for school. Without these 34
volunteers, over 6,500 people will lose the help they need.
In Baltimore City there are 50 Jump Start volunteers. These are
AmeriCorps volunteers who work in Head Start to make sure the kids get
a head start. And they also recruit other volunteers. That means,
again, there will be over 400 preschoolers who will not get the help
they need.
I could go on in these school-based programs. Nationally, 2,700
volunteers, ready to go to work for Teach America, will not be able to
go and start in September because we are leaving town without
AmeriCorps funding.
I thank Senator Stevens for trying to help on this program. He
understood
[[Page S10839]]
the needs we had. He worked very hard with me. I regret we had a take-
it-or-leave-it with the House.
Also in Baltimore, we have 40 Notre Dame volunteers.
These 40 Notre Dame volunteers help 1,842 elementary school children.
They work in Baltimore schools tutoring children and providing after-
school activities to help kids learn and keep them out of trouble.
Notre Dame is a success story of a faith-based organization making a
difference for our communities. But without additional AmeriCorps
funding, Baltimore will lose 40 Notre Dame volunteers. And 1,842
children in Baltimore will not be tutored or mentored. These are some
examples in Maryland. But communities all around the country will be
hurt because the House leadership would not approve emergency funding
for AmeriCorps.
How did we get here? The leadership of the House of Representatives
has blocked adequate emergency funding for FEMA disaster relief,
fighting wildfires, the NASA Columbia investigation, and AmeriCorps.
The Senate acted quickly on the President's supplemental request.
The Senate approved $1.55 billion for FEMA, $253 million to fight
wildfires, $50 million for the NASA Columbia investigation, and $100
million for AmeriCorps. But the House sent us a supplemental that is
totally inadequate. There is only $984 million for FEMA.
At the last minute before recess the House supplemental did not
include funding for fighting wildfires, the NASA Columbia
investigation, or AmeriCorps. Then, the House left town for the month
of August.
In April this year, the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Homeland
Security Subcommittee became very concerned about a shortfall of FEMA
disaster relief funding. Senators Cochran and Byrd asked President Bush
to request emergency funding for FEMA disaster relief. But the
President didn't request funding until July 7. When he did, the Senate
acted quickly.
We passed it within 4 days. The President asked for $1.55 billion and
we approved it, But the House only wants to give FEMA $984 million,
only 60 percent of what the President says is needed.
We have never let FEMA's Disaster Relief account fall to such a low
level. Right now, FEMA only has $89 million to respond to disasters. It
is irresponsible to shortchange FEMA when we are at the height of
hurricane season.
The House bill also eliminates funding to help Western states fight
wildfires. The President requested $253 million and the Senate approved
it.
But the House provided nothing. Right now, there are 42 major fires
burning in 12 Western states consuming over 400,000 acres. The Forest
Service is $420 million short of what they need to fight these fires,
but the House didn't provide any funding.
The House also eliminates funds to complete the investigation into
the loss of the Space Shuttle Columbia. The President requested $50
million. The Senate approved it. This funding is to keep our promises
to the families of the 7 astronauts killed that we will find out what
went wrong and we will fly again. Without the $50 million NASA will
have to borrow from other programs in order to finish the
investigation.
The House supplemental does not include funding to save 20,000
AmeriCorps volunteers. I offered the amendment to add $100 million for
AmeriCorps to this urgent supplemental. With bipartisan support of
Senators Bond, Stevens, Byrd and many others, the AmeriCorps funding
was voted on by the full Senate and was sustained by an overwhelming 71
to 21 votes. But the House refused to follow the usual and customary
process to resolve differences. The House didn't want to face the
Senate in conference.
Because a small minority of House members want to scuttle the $100
million for AmeriCorps even though an overwhelming majority of the
Senate supports it, a majority of the House supports it, and 43
Governors support it.
I want to give my sincerest thanks to my colleagues in the Senate who
supported emergency funding for AmeriCorps. I appreciate it and so do
our volunteers and the communities they serve.
How did the AmeriCorps shortfall happen? There was a bureaucratic
boondoggle. AmeriCorps overenrolled 20,000 volunteers.
Every year, the VA-HUD subcommittee funds 50,000 AmeriCorps
volunteers but AmeriCorps enrolled 70,000.
How did we know about it? Senator Bond chaired the subcommittee
leading the fight for reform in fiscal responsibility and uncovered the
mismanagement at our April 10 hearing.
We started GAO and IG investigations. Senator Bond called for a new
Chief Financial Officer. I called for new leadership. And we wrote a
bipartisan bill to fix the accounting and mismanagement problems.
Our bill passed the Congress in 2 days and was signed into law.
So while the House puts out press releases about how they want to
punish volunteers and communities they serve, the Senate puts out
performance.
This is an emergency today. The law says funding for volunteers and
the awards that help pay off their student debt must be in the Federal
checkbook when the volunteers begin their service. Without emergency
funding AmeriCorps can't sign up volunteers now to start in school-
based programs in September.
Teach America, for example, will lose education awards for 2,700
volunteers who are going to start teaching in September.
We cannot wait until October for fiscal year 2004 and I won't wait
until October.
I will continue to fight in September for AmeriCorps.
The President has called for a new spirit of voluntarism.
Young people have responded, but the House leadership wants to
squander volunteer opportunities to punish volunteers and communities
because of a bureaucratic boondoggle.
Mr. President, it is regrettable that the House leadership won't
resolve differences in the usual and customary way. But I will continue
to fight for our communities that need disaster assistance and depend
on help from volunteers.
The needs won't go away and I will continue the fight in September.
I want to reiterate that the need continues. Because the need
continues, the fight will go on. I promise every AmeriCorps volunteer,
every community that is dependent on those volunteers, and every member
of the American family looking to those volunteers, I am going to fight
for them and I will stand up for them. I am going to turn to the Senate
and say let's not take what the House says when they give it a take-it-
or-leave-it stamp.
I yield the floor.
____________________