[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 146 (Monday, September 15, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8530-S8531]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. HATCH (for himself and Mr. Kennedy):
  S. 3488. A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide 
for a tax credit for qualified donations of employee services; to the 
Committee on Finance.
  Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, I rise today to speak on the Serve America 
Act of 2008. I, along with my good friend, the senior Senator from 
Massachusetts, have introduced this legislation in hopes that it will 
expand service opportunities for people throughout our country. I am 
pleased to report that it also has the support of Senators McCain, 
Obama, Cochran, and Dodd.
  For some time I have supported the idea of encouraging our people to 
give 2-years of volunteer service over the course of their lives. In 
addition, I have long believed that community and faith-based 
organizations are doing most of the best work at addressing the needs 
of our people. And, I might add, they do it at a fraction of what it 
would cost the Federal Government to do similar work. These are the 
reasons Senator Kennedy and I have drafted and introduced the Save 
America Act.

[[Page S8531]]

  This bill does many things. Most apparently, it creates new national 
service corps that will enlist the help of our people to address 
specific areas of national need, including education, energy 
efficiency, access to health care, economic opportunity for the 
disadvantaged and disaster relief. It also encourages individuals and 
nonprofit groups to come up with new and innovative ways to encourage 
volunteerism and to use the help of volunteers effectively. In 
addition, it enlists the help of the private sector in addressing 
important needs in our Nation and community.
  There are a number of provisions in this bill that I believe will be 
of interest particularly to those of us we ascribe to conservative 
principles. For example, it will benefit thousands of faith-based and 
religious organizations throughout the country--they are eligible to 
participate in virtually every new program in the bill. It also 
preserves a very significant role for State governments at every step. 
Like many of my colleagues, I would like to see individuals, churches 
and communities do more and have the Government do less. While this 
bill does create new Government programs, the programs are specifically 
designed to foster this type of volunteer spirit and alleviate the need 
for bloated Government programs throughout Washington to accomplish the 
same goals.
  Senator Kennedy and I are committed to ensuring that this bill 
receives broad, bipartisan support, not only among those in Congress, 
but among the American people as well. Toward that end, Senator Kennedy 
and I have agreed that, when this bill is considered in the HELP 
Committee, which is chaired by the gentleman from Massachusetts, we 
will work with Members of both parties to offset the spending in this 
bill and ensure that it is budget neutral. I think we have all heard 
the cries from our constituents for more fiscal responsibility and 
discipline in Congress. While this bill does authorize some spending, 
our commitment to offset these costs will ensure that it will not add 
to the Federal deficit.
  Senator Kennedy and I have also introduced the Incentive to Serve Tax 
Act as a companion piece to the Serve America Act. This bill would 
provide tax incentives to encourage companies to ``donate'' their 
employees' time to charitable service through employer-directed 
projects. Specifically, the bill would provide companies a tax credit 
equal to 25 percent of the compensation paid to an employee who 
performs at least 160 hours of a specified charitable service.
  For example, one company presently has a program to provide 
managerial and educational workers to an underdeveloped school system. 
This tax incentive would encourage this company to provide even more 
such service and encourage other companies to utilize their employees 
with various skills and knowledge to target specific areas that need to 
be addressed in the communities where those workers live and work. By 
doing so, everyone benefits.
  These two bills, I believe, represent efforts that all Members can 
get behind. As we saw at the Service Nation Summit last night, the 
Presidential candidates from both parties have expressed their support 
for this bill and for expanding service opportunities nationwide. 
Indeed, I think that they both recognize that an investment in the 
generosity and ingenuity of the American people is a pretty safe bet. I 
encourage all my colleagues to support this legislation.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that a letter of support be 
printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be placed in 
the Record, as follows:
                                               September 11, 2008.
     Senator Orrin Hatch,
     Hart Senate Office Building,
     Washington, DC.
       Dear Orrin: Thank you for all of your work on the Serve 
     America Act and your continued leadership on service issues. 
     I am thrilled to be a partner with you on this critical 
     legislation to expand domestic and international service 
     opportunities for Americans of all ages.
       I'm confident that together we will win broad, bipartisan 
     support for this legislation in the new Congress. I am 
     grateful for your commitment to work together to ensure the 
     necessary funding to implement these initiatives and existing 
     service programs. I am committed to working with you to 
     achieve these goals while working within budget constraints 
     and ensuring that all the spending in the bill is paid for 
     with adequate offsets. It will require that the new 
     Administration and new Congress make tough choices, but I 
     think we can both agree that the benefits that will flow to 
     those volunteering and those served will be worth it.
       I am sorry that I cannot join you in New York for the 
     National Summit and as always you'll represent our cause 
     well. I look forward to continuing to work with you to ensure 
     that all Americans have the opportunity to serve their 
     communities and the nation, while tackling some of the 
     greatest challenges of our day.
           Sincerely,
     Edward M. Kennedy.

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