[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 13]
[Senate]
[Page 17793]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           AMERICORPS FUNDING

  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I am pleased that the Senate showed its 
strong support for the AmeriCorps program on Friday by defeating an 
amendment to strip the $100 million in emergency fiscal year 2003 
funding that we in the Senate Appropriations Committee provided as part 
of the fiscal year 2004 Legislative branch spending bill. Without these 
emergency funds, Vermont will lose all but 15 to 20 of its over 100 
AmeriCorps volunteers, and communities across the Nation are facing 
similar losses.
  The dedicated young people who have answered AmeriCorps' honorable 
call to service contribute enormously to the strength of our 
communities. Whether they are helping to house the homeless, feed the 
hungry, or keep disadvantaged youth safe in fun and educational 
afterschool activities, they are often filling a sorely needed gap that 
the community cannot otherwise fill.
  We must not let this vital part of our social safety net to unravel 
in Vermont and across the Nation, and that is why I am pleased to have 
cosponsored Senator Mikulski's amendment in the Appropriations 
Committee to add $100 million for AmeriCorps, and why I voted on Friday 
to defeat the amendment to strip the money out. I urge all of my 
colleagues in Congress, as well as the President, to support this 
emergency funding.
  Mr. KOHL. Mr. President, I rise today in strong support of the $100 
million included in the legislative branch appropriations bill for the 
AmeriCorps service program. It gives me great pride to know that more 
than 27,000 people of all ages and backgrounds are helping solve 
problems and strengthen communities through 79 national service 
projects across Wisconsin. This year alone, more than 700 individuals 
have committed to serve in Wisconsin communities as AmeriCorps members. 
To date, more than 3,900 Wisconsin residents have qualified for 
education awards totaling more than $17,000,000. It is a tragedy to 
think just a few days ago, all of this may have been brought to a halt. 
It is with the swift action of the Senate last Friday, in preserving 
the $100 million appropriation to make AmeriCorps whole, that we are 
able to ensure that AmeriCorps continues to provide every opportunity 
for Americans of all ages and backgrounds to engage in service.
  AmeriCorps has proven an excellent outlet through which people may 
get involved in their community. Throughout the State of Wisconsin, 
AmeriCorps volunteers work closely with local nonprofit agencies and K 
through 12 schools. These individuals perform substantial amounts of 
direct service that have benefited our State's citizens. They are 
tutoring and mentoring students in schools and afterschool programs, 
teaching children and adults how to read, building and rehabilitating 
low-income housing, providing street outreach to runaway and homeless 
youth, cultivating community gardens, and most importantly, 
demonstrating to others the joy that a selfless act can bring and in 
return, recruiting others to become volunteers.
  As our Nation faces a period of uncertainty, AmeriCorps programs are 
in a position to help build a stronger, more engaged citizenry while 
tackling some of our country's most pressing problems. Last week, the 
Senate was able to show its commitment to volunteerism all across the 
country by sustaining such a vital program at such a crucial time. I am 
pleased that the Senate voted to maintain this funding in the bill, and 
I hope that the House of Representatives will agree in conference to 
retain it. Without such action, the critical services AmeriCorps 
programs have provided over the years would not be possible and the 
communities that have come to rely on AmeriCorps would suffer.

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