    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1998, Book I)]
    [March 19, 1998]
    [Pages 405-406]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Message to the Congress Transmitting Proposed Legislation on Community
    Service
    March 19, 1998

    To the Congress of the United States:
        I am pleased to transmit for your immediate consideration and
    enactment the ``National and Community Service Amendments Act of 1998.''
    This legislative proposal extends and amends national service law,
    including the National and Community Service Act of 1990 and the
    Domestic Volunteer Service Act of 1973. It builds upon the long,
    bipartisan tradition of service in our country, which was renewed in
    1993 when I signed the National and Community Service Trust Act creating
    the Corporation for National Service.
        Service to one's community is an integral part of what it means to
    be an American. The Presidents' Summit for America's Future held in
    Philadelphia last April reinforced the role of programs supported by the
    Corporation for National Service as key vehicles to provide young people
    with the resources to maximize their potential and give back to their
    communities. Citizen service is also at the heart of our efforts to
    prepare America for the 21st century, as we work to ensure that all
    Americans have the opportunity to make the most of their own lives and
    to help those in need.
        My Administration's most important contribution to citizen service
    is AmeriCorps, the national service program that already has given more
    than 100,000 young Americans the opportunity to serve their country. By
    tying opportunity to responsibility, we have given them the chance to
    serve and, in return, earn money for post-secondary education. In
    community after community, AmeriCorps members have proven that service
    can help us meet our most pressing social needs. For example, in Simpson
    County, Kentucky, AmeriCorps members helped second graders jump three
    grade levels in reading. In Boys and Girls Clubs, AmeriCorps members are
    mentors for at-risk young people. Habitat For Humanity relies upon
    AmeriCorps members to recruit more volunteers and build more houses. In
    communities beset by floods, tornadoes, and hurricanes, AmeriCorps
    members have helped to rebuild lives and restore hope. AmeriCorps
    members are helping to mobilize thousands of college students from more
    than 800 college campuses in our America Reads program. In all of these
    efforts, AmeriCorps brings together people of every background to work
    toward common goals.
        Independent evaluators have reviewed AmeriCorps, National Senior
    Service Corps programs, and Learn and Service America programs and have
    concluded that national service yields a positive return on investment.
    The proposed legislation that I am transmitting builds on our
    experiences with national service to date and improves national service
    programs in four ways: (1) by codifying agreements with the Congress and
    others to reduce costs and streamline national service; (2)
    strengthening partnerships with traditional volunteer organizations; (3)
    increasing States' flexibility to administer national service programs;
    and (4) expanding opportunities for Americans to serve.
        Since the enactment of the National and Community Service Trust Act
    in 1993, and particularly since 1995, my Administration has worked with
    constructive critics of national service to address their concerns and
    improve the overall program. This proposed legislation continues that
    process by reducing the Corporation's average budgeted cost per
    AmeriCorps member, repealing authority for redundant or

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    obsolete national service programs, and making other improvements in the
    efficiency of national service programs.
        National service has never been a substitute for the contributions
    made by the millions of Americans who volunteer their time to worthy
    causes every year. Rather, as leaders of volunteer organizations have
    often expressed, national service has proven that the presence of full-
    time, trained service participants enhances tremendously the
    effectiveness of volunteers. This proposed legislation will strengthen
    the partnership between the national service programs and traditional
    volunteer organizations; codify the National Service Scholarship program
    honoring exemplary service by high school students; and expand the
    AmeriCorps Challenge Scholarships, through which national service
    participants can access education awards. It also will authorize
    appropriations for the Points of Light Foundation through the year 2002.
        The National and Community Service Trust Act of 1993 explicitly
    conceived of national service as a Federal-State partnership. The Act
    vested significant authority in bipartisan State Commissions appointed
    by the Governors. I promised that we would accelerate the process of
    devolution as the newly created State Commissions expanded their
    capacities. This proposed legislation fulfills that promise in a variety
    of ways, including providing authority for the Corporation for National
    Service to enter into Service Collaboration Agreements with Governors to
    provide a means for coordinating the planning and administration of
    national service programs in a State.
        This proposed legislation will also provide additional service
    opportunities. By reducing the cost per AmeriCorps member, it will
    enable more people to serve; it will broaden the age and income
    guidelines for National Senior Service Corps participants, expanding the
    pool of older Americans who can perform results-oriented service in
    their communities; and it will simplify the administration of Learn and
    Serve America, so States and communities will more easily be able to
    provide opportunities for students to learn through service in their
    schools and neighborhoods.
        This past January, I had the opportunity to honor the memory of Dr.
    Martin Luther King, Jr., by engaging in service on the holiday
    commemorating his birth. I joined 65 AmeriCorps members and more than
    300 community volunteers in repairing and repainting Cardozo High School
    in the Shaw neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Thirty-one years ago, Dr.
    King came to that very neighborhood and urged the people there to engage
    in citizen service to rebuild their lives, their community, and their
    future. That is what those national service participants, and the
    thousands more who were participating in similar projects across the
    country, were doing--honoring the legacy of Dr. King and answering the
    high calling of citizenship in this country.
        Each of the more than 500,000 participants in the programs of the
    National Senior Service Corps and the 750,000 participants in programs
    supported by Learn and Serve America, and every AmeriCorps member
    answers that high calling of citizenship when they make and fulfill a
    commitment to service in their communities. This proposed legislation
    builds on the successes of these programs and improves them for the
    future.
        I urge the Congress to give this proposed legislation prompt and
    favorable consideration.

                                                          William J. Clinton

    The White House,

    March 19, 1998.