National Service Reauthorization Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, I, personally, congratulate the distinguished Senator from Alaska for her comments. She has a very important amendment to this bill. I assure her we will work that out so we don't have to have a vote on it. If we do have to go to a vote, we will, but the fact is I think we can work that out. It is a very good amendment. Personally, we want to have those funds as part of this bill. We will work it out.

I want to take a few minutes and pay tribute to some of the wonderful national service efforts that have gone on in my home State of Utah. As I have said throughout this debate, Americans are the most generous and energetic people in the world. Indeed, a volunteer spirit is encoded into our country's cultural DNA. Nowhere is this concept better exemplified than in my home State.

According to the Corporation for National and Community Service, between 2005 and 2007, an average 792,000 Utahns gave 146.9 million hours of service every year. Using Independent Sector's estimate of the dollar value of a volunteer, the estimated contribution of these efforts is $2.9 billion annually. Nearly 44 percent of all Utahns do some sort of volunteer service every year, making Utah's volunteerism rate No. 1 in America, more than 4 percent higher than the State ranked second.

Salt Lake City, UT the second-highest volunteerism rate of any major metropolitan area in the country at 37.2 percent. Among midsize cities, Provo, UT has the Nation's highest volunteerism rate at 63.8 percent, with Ogden, UT coming in at No. 4 with a rate of 41 percent. Much of this volunteer work is done by members of the Mormon church in food canneries and storehouses as they stockpile food and supplies for those in need, whether they be members of the church or nonmembers. As with any community, volunteerism in Utah comes in a variety of forms.

In addition to the privately-led projects throughout the State, national service programs have had a profound impact on communities throughout the State of Utah. For example, there is the Utah AmeriCorps Literacy Initiative, which currently manages programs in 66 schools covering the entire State of Utah, including both urban and rural communities.

There are 87 AmeriCorps members in the program who recruit and train community volunteers to tutor struggling readers.

Unfortunately, the current budget situation in Utah is similar to those faced by State governments around the country. As a result, Utah schools have been required to cut their budgets 4 percent this year and 5 percent for next year. However, national service participants have been able to step up and fill the void in schools left by the reduction in the State education workforce. Several teachers' aides whose positions have been downsized due to the budget cuts will be qualified to participate in the Literacy Initiative next year and, accordingly, will receive a small living allowance and an educational award which will allow them to get further training, broadening their skills to obtain gainful employment.

Over the past 5 years, this program has helped over 8,000 elementary schoolchildren serve as mentors, helping younger children improve their reading. The average growth in reading for both the mentor and the mentee they are helping has been one full grade level over the course of the 9-week program. In addition, through this initiative, over 2,000 children have received one-on-one tutoring from community volunteers twice a week over the course of a 30-week program. These are children who did not pass the Utah State End of Level tests the previous year. After 1 year of tutoring through the Utah AmeriCorps Literacy Initiative, 62 percent of the students passed that test at a proficient level.

I think this program exemplifies what we are trying to accomplish with this legislation. All of this work, which has improved the education of literally thousands of students and leveraged the efforts of thousands of other students and community volunteers, has been anchored by a small group of only 87 AmeriCorps members. That is pretty phenomenal when you think about it. Why wouldn't we want to expand this approach? It seems to me it is something we ought to be doing everywhere.

I am convinced that, once this bill is passed, we will see more programs such as this spring up over time, not only in Utah but throughout the country. They will be buoyed by the increased direction, efficiency, and accountability that this legislation will add to the existing national service structure. In the end, more people will be helped, more traditional volunteers will be put to work in their communities, and more of our Nation's problems will be solved.

That is precisely the point of this legislation.

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Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, thus far, we have had what I believe to be a constructive discussion regarding the Serve America Act. We have seen some fine amendments, and Senator Mikulski and I are working together to try to accommodate as many Members as possible. I said at the outset that I hope we can avoid a situation where too many changes to this bill would eventually split the bipartisan support the bill has enjoyed. So far, this does not appear to be a problem.

As we continue to debate this important piece of legislation, it is my hope these constructive efforts will continue. This is a good opportunity for us to set aside partisan differences and do some good for the American people. I once again thank Senator Mikulski for her efforts here on the floor to see this effort through.

I thank Senator Kennedy as well. Even though he has not been here, except for the last cloture vote, he certainly has been working it from home, and he has been on the phone regularly. We also have others who have worked on our side very diligently to try to make sure this bill passes, and in the form it is in.

I mentioned yesterday that I believe the Serve America Act should be a bipartisan bill, not because I believe it is either liberal or conservative but because it is both. I think the bill plays to the greatest strengths of those on both sides of the aisle. It marries what is typically thought of as a ``liberal'' instinct for Government to make proactive efforts to help those in need with the typical ``conservative'' desire to place more power in the hands of individuals instead of the Government. It is not all that often we are able to work together to find ways to satisfy both of these ideals, but I believe we have done so with this legislation.

For me, the conservative case for this legislation has been obvious from the beginning. Indeed, many of the provisions in the bill have what I consider to be very conservative roots. In 1990, William F. Buckley, Jr., one of the fathers of modern conservatism, who had served in World War II, published a wonderful book called: ``Gratitude: Reflections on What We Owe to Our Country.'' He became a staunch advocate of
national service, which he believed, ``like gravity, is something we could accustom ourselves to, and grow to love.''

Buckley believed we owe a debt of gratitude to our country and offered creative ideas for a plan for universal voluntary national service for men and women 18 years and older. While the Serve America Act is not so ambitious as to contemplate that national and community service will become universal, it does provide more Americans opportunities to serve, in the belief that our democracy and the values of our free society take constant vigilance to preserve their vitality and health. It is citizens, acting at the local level, who should play the prominent role, not Government.

For the past several years, I have supported efforts to reposition our Government's support of national and community service from the perception of paying Federal ``volunteers'' to a more effective model where Government provides a small amount of infrastructure and support to community-based groups that are recruiting, training, and deploying traditional volunteers. That model has worked. The number of traditional, nonsubsidized volunteers who are leveraged into service by existing national service programs dwarfs the number of participants receiving Government assistance--by a ratio of nearly 30 to 1. We have heard that statistic quoted many times during this debate, but I believe it bears repeating.

This model is based on our faith in civil society--not distant Government agencies--and a focus on the efforts of the traditional volunteer. We know so many Americans show up to volunteer--to help with a cause or to serve in the aftermath of a disaster--and are turned away or are not well used. This is a waste of very precious resources. The Serve America Act will help fix that by establishing a volunteer generation fund that will help already successful service programs devote more resources for the recruitment of volunteers, allowing them to expand their efforts.

Help offered by a compassionate neighbor will always be superior to Government-driven approaches designed in Washington. In recognition of this fact, the Serve America Act ensures that the vast majority of service efforts will be generated by local and private organizations responding to community needs.

Young Americans, whose rates of unemployment have soared to more than 21 percent in a tough economy, with college graduates having the highest unemployment rates ever, will be given new opportunities to serve. The good news is that research tells us this is a sound and efficient investment. Not only does it put many unemployed Americans to work at a low cost to Government and meet urgent national needs, those young adults most at risk in our communities gain more by serving others than they do by being passive recipients of services. During their terms of service, they gain valuable skills that help them secure permanent employment at higher wages. They also outpace their nonnational service peers in remaining committed to volunteer service for the rest of their lives.

These platoons of civil society more often than not consist of faith-based institutions. More Americans perform volunteer service through church-sponsored and faith-based organizations than any other venue. The Serve America Act continues the tradition of enabling volunteers to serve through faith-based institutions in a variety of different ways, including its new Serve America Fellowships and the State competitive and formula grants that may be given to faith-based institutions providing social services.

This legislation also introduces new indicators of accountability to ensure that investments generate significant returns. For the Education Corps, for example, we want to know how programs are improving student engagement, attendance, behavior, academic achievement, graduation rates, and college-going rates at high schools with high concentrations of low-income students. Eligible entities for funding through the Education Corps must have a proven record of improving or a promising strategy to improve performance based on these indicators.

The days of simply funding programs that might make us feel better but not generate results are over. Effective programs over time should and will continue to get support, and ineffective programs will ultimately be closed down. These indicators will help us make those decisions.

America utilizes a number of indicators to regularly track the country's economic progress, including unemployment, GDP, housing starts, and more. But our country does very little to measure indicators of our civic health. Even though an active, well-connected, trusting, and engaged citizenry is fundamental to our vibrant communities, a strong democracy is important, and our personal welfare is important as well. So the Serve America Act provides for the collection of data that can give us a snapshot every year of how communities throughout the country are stacking up with respect to rates of volunteering, charitable giving, connections to civic and religious groups, knowledge of American history and government, and more. Policymakers can use this data to strengthen efforts to increase these activities. Indeed, this civic health index will pay dividends through the policy spectrum.

Although some of my colleagues may argue otherwise, the Serve America Act reflects what I believe are conservative values, and because of this I believe many of my Republican colleagues will be on board with this legislation. The bill is founded on a fundamental belief in the power of people working at the local level to improve their communities and country, a belief in looking first to community and faith-based institutions to help solve our toughest challenges, a belief in public-private partnerships where the cost is low to the Federal Government and the return on investment very high, and a belief in tough accountability for results and making sure we support only programs that work and end the programs that don't.

But the Serve America Act is also about something deeper that we all value whether we are liberal or conservative, Republican or Democrat. It is about fostering a spirit of patriotism, a love of country, at a time when that patriotism has been fractured somewhat by a tough economy, institutions that fail, individuals whose schemes hurt people, and distrust in government itself to have the answers.

Benjamin Rush, one of our Founding Fathers, wrote a brief text called ``On Patriotism'' in 1773 that captures my view of the subject and the role that service plays. Here is what Benjamin Rush, one of the Founders of this country, said:

Patriotism is as much a virtue as justice, and is as necessary for the support of societies as natural affection is for the support of families. The love of country is both a moral and a religious duty. It comprehends not only love of our neighbors, but of millions of our fellow citizens, not only of the present, but of future generations.

I often think of our Nation's veterans when I read those words. I think of the men and women serving during wars and campaigns from the American Revolution through Operation Iraqi Freedom who literally had us in mind when they sacrificed their own lives so those in future generations might be free. Those who serve today--whether it is in the military, in government, in national community service, or as traditional volunteers--truly connect themselves to millions of their fellow citizens, not only of today but of the future. Such service is not only the means to our own happiness, it strengthens and makes this country better. It makes better this country that we love so much.

These principles and ideals are the driving force behind this legislation. Every Member of this body, whether they support this bill or not, loves this country and has devoted his or her life to serving it. I believe it is this devotion that we all share--the common belief in something bigger than ourselves--that has led so many to support this legislation. While I am convinced the final result will be pretty lopsided in favor of passing this bill, I am going to keep trying to get it as close to unanimous as I can. Toward that end, I urge all 99 of our Senate colleagues to support the Serve America Act.

I notice the distinguished majority whip is here and would like to speak, so I will reserve my time and speak a little later on some of the other aspects of this bill.

So with that, I yield the floor.

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Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, I also wholeheartedly endorse his nomination. He is an extremely talented, experienced intellectual in the law. I expect him to be one of the best we have ever had. I am very proud he is willing to serve in this administration and go through the processes many people are trying to avoid at this particular point.

Let me just say, as the longest serving person on the Senate Intelligence Committee, we need people such as Mr. Kris in Government. I commend the administration in cooperating and appointing him.

Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

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