[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 5]
[Senate]
[Pages 5895-5896]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        NATIONAL VOLUNTEER MONTH

  Ms. MIKULSKI. Mr. President, 7 months ago, the world watched in 
horror and disbelief as Hurricane Katrina tore through the gulf coast 
and left massive devastation in its wake. We have seen the pictures of 
toppled buildings, collapsed houses, and communities covered in an 
endless blanket of debris. We have wondered--how will they ever 
recover?
  With the help of volunteers, slowly they are making progress. 
Hundreds of selfless do-gooders have been putting on hard hats, wading 
through homes knee-deep in mud, clearing debris and literally doing the 
dirty work.
  April is National Volunteers Month. I wish to recognize it by saying 
thank you to all the volunteers and service workers everywhere. And 
this year I especially want to honor those helping out with Hurricane 
Katrina recovery. They are taking time out of their lives to help their 
fellow Americans in their time of need--and they are doing it out of 
the goodness of their hearts.
  AmeriCorps is the embodiment of this spirit of volunteerism and 
service to the country. Since 1989, I have been a leader in the 
creation of AmeriCorps. I introduced the National and Community Service 
Act to establish the Corporation for National and Community Service to 
oversee and coordinate our national volunteer efforts and to create a 
demonstration program that has evolved into what we know today as 
AmeriCorps. As one of the founders, I have been its chief advocate in 
the Senate. I fought to create AmeriCorps, I fought to strengthen 
AmeriCorps, and

[[Page 5896]]

I will continue to fight to save key AmeriCorps programs.
  Hundreds of members of the AmeriCorps National Civilian Community 
Corps, NCCC, have set up camp in the gulf region. They have provided 
more than 250,000 service hours valued at $3.8 million to Hurricane 
Katrina recovery projects. They are helping thousands get their homes, 
their communities, and their lives back.
  Their help is needed now more than ever. But President Bush's fiscal 
year 2007 budget would completely eliminate the NCCC program and close 
its five campuses nationwide--including one in my own home State at 
Perry Point, MD. The Government let the people of the gulf coast down 
when Hurricane Katrina hit, we can't let them down in her aftermath.
  That is why I fought back against President Bush's budget cuts and 
worked to make sure the emergency supplemental spending bill, which 
will be considered on the Senate floor this week, contained $20 million 
for the NCCC to support volunteer hurricane recovery activities on the 
gulf coast and other affected areas.
  AmeriCorps volunteers tackle the toughest problems in our 
communities. Not only are NCCC teams a vital resource in hurricane 
recovery on the gulf coast, they are deployed nationwide to build 
homes, clear thousands of acres of forests burnt by wildfires, and 
tutor children. They are unflagging, unflinching, and determined to 
make a difference. And we need their help. Now is not the time to take 
our volunteers for granted and turn our backs on the NCCC. It is time 
to thank them not just with words but with deeds.

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