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National Service
Corporation for National and Community
Service * National Service Caucus
* USA Freedom Corps *
Public Service Academy
National Service takes place in every community across the
country and around the world, by individuals of all backgrounds
and ages, supporting organizations large and small.
I believe national service is one of the wisest and least
costly investments our government can make. For example, AmeriCorps
volunteers provided:
- 3.8 million CNCS program participants;
- 216 million hours of service;
- Recruiting and/or managing 1.8 million volunteers.
Through service, Americans of all ages gain a sense of commitment
to their community and their country which will prove valuable
for their entire lives. According to the Corporation for National
and Community Service, 72 percent of AmeriCorps members continue
to volunteer in their communities after their term of service
ends and 87 percent of former AmeriCorps members accept public
service employment.
National service benefits both the recipient and the giver.
Volunteers not only address an immediate need, they lead and
teach through example, and through that example they learn
the value of serving and helping others.
I still remember how I felt as a 14 year-old watching the
1960 Presidential election between Vice President Richard
Nixon and Senator John Kennedy. I felt energized listening
to Senator Kennedy when he spoke of the Peace Corps and making
the world a better and safer place. I wanted to be part of
his vision. Years later, that dream was fulfilled when my
wife Betsi and I served two years in the Peace
Corps.
The same powerful emotion, the same sense of energy, eagerness
and anticipation we felt in the sixties, is alive today.
The best antidote to terror and hate in society are acts
of kindness and service. President Bush spoke to our country's
finest traditions of civic duty when he called on all Americans
to volunteer 4,000 hours in their communities during their
lifetimes. In a little more than a month after the President
made his call for Americans to serve, applications to AmeriCorps
programs at the Corporation increased by more than 50 percent
and interest in Senior Corps programs at the Corporation rose
dramatically.
Corporation
for National and Community Service
In 1993, I was thrilled to work on passage of the National
and Community Service Trust Act. It was through this Act that
the Corporation for National and Community Service was created
in an effort to connect Americans of all ages and backgrounds
with opportunities to give back to their communities and their
nation. The Corporation for National Service is the umbrella
organization that oversees three programs:
This year, I lead a 42 of my colleagues
in writing to the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Labor,
Health and Human Services (HHS), Education Appropriations
Committee to ask for $430.5 million for AmeriCorps
State and National grants and the National Service Trust.
In the letter, we wrote:
Since September 2005, more than 13,000 national service
participants have provided humanitarian assistance to the
victims of Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilson. Of these,
1,600 members of NCCC and 700 AmeriCorps members have been
deployed to the region to perform an endless variety of
critically needed services. They have established and operated
temporary shelters, provided meals and social services,
coordinated the warehousing and distribution of donated
goods, cleared debris, organized children’s activities
and managed thousands of community volunteers who offered
to help.
In the Fourth Congressional District this year, the Corporation
for National and Community Service provided $1,813,743 to
support 1,024 national service participants, including $465,924
for 918 Senior Corps members and $974,543 to support 106 AmeriCorps
members.
Statewide, the Corporation for National and Community Service
supported 12,709 national service participants, helping to
offer 6,197 Senior Corps volunteers opportunities to serve
communities around the state, 401 AmeriCorps national service
participants recruit and manage volunteers, and supporting
service-learning program benefiting 6,111 K-12 students.
For more details on National Service in Connecticut, click
here.
National Service Caucus
In the 109th Congress, I worked with Representatives David
Price (D-NC), Tom Osborne (R-NE), and Harold Ford (D-TN),
to found and co-chair the National
Service Caucus. The Caucus is a bipartisan group
of Members of Congress dedicated to raising awareness of national
service and expanding opportunities for all Americans to serve.
I am grateful to be part of the effort to continue and build
the integral programs within the Corporation.
In February 2006, I was honored with the National
Service Lifetime Leadership Award by the Voices
for National Service coalition, for helping to build a culture
of citizenship, service and responsibility within America
through support of citizen service programs.
Shays is pictured above with Yazmin Khan of Norwalk,
CT, an AmeriCorps volunteer, who presented him with the award.
USA Freedom Corps
President Bush created the USA
Freedom Corps in an effort to foster an American
culture of service, citizenship and responsibility. Through
the USA Freedom Corps the President wants to help every American
answer the call to service by strengthening and expanding
service opportunities for them to protect our homeland, support
our communities and extend American compassion around the
world.
Through the USA Freedom Corps website, service opportunities
are offered to Americans who are looking for ways to serve
their community, our country and the world. They can find
information on programs coordinated through the USA Freedom
Corps, such as the Peace Corps, AmeriCorps, Senior Corps,
Learn and Serve America and the Citizen Corps, or they can
find local opportunities with a service organization.
However and wherever they serve, all Americans who give of
their time in service to others are benefiting their community
and their country.
Public Service Academy
Representative Jim Moran (VA), Senators Hillary Clinton (NY)
and Arlen Specter (PA) and I introduced
the Public Service Academy Act, to create an
undergraduate institution designed to cultivate a new generation
of young leaders dedicated to public service.
Modeled after the military service academies, the Public Service
Academy will provide a four-year, federally-subsidized college
education for more than 5,000 students a year in exchange
for a five year commitment to public service following graduation.
This “West Point of public service” will encourage
more young Americans to commit to a career in public service
and the build the skills necessary to provide successful leadership
in the public sector.
Click here
to read more about about H.R. 1671, my bill to
create a Public Service Academy.
For more information on National Service, please visit these
links:
Corporation
for National and Community Service
Peace
Corps
AmeriCorps
Learn
and Serve
USA
Freedom Corps
Citizen
Corps
Save
AmeriCorps
Voices
for National Service
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