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Dear National Service Colleagues,
Late this afternoon, the U.S. House of Representatives came very close to completing its consideration of the GIVE Act, the first reauthorization package ever to come to the House floor. Immediately before final approval, the bill snagged on a motion to recommit and the leadership moved to other issues. We are optimistic the House will complete its work on the bill shortly.
In the meantime, the hours of consideration, including discussion of eleven amendments, revealed three important themes:
- First, support for national and community service and for our agency has become truly bipartisan. The discussion was overwhelmingly positive and nine of the eleven amendments passed without a recorded vote. Members of both parties spoke eloquently and personally about our programs, and there was virtually no opposition to our core programs.
- Second, there is widespread agreement that service and volunteering are essential to address some of America’s toughest challenges, especially in the areas of education, helping America’s youth, and preparing for and responding to disasters; and,
- Finally, there is a general appreciation for the accountability, effectiveness, and efficiency of the Corporation in administering America’s national and community service programs.
These gratifying themes offer a reflection of the dedication, passion and excellence that’s evident in our national service community – grantees, partners, members, participants and employees alike. Regardless of any of our positions on strengths and weaknesses of the GIVE Act, we must not lose sight of how far we have come and how important that bipartisan consensus will remain for the sustainability of our programs.
On NationalService.gov, you’ll find links to the text of the GIVE ACT, to the amendments and votes, to the Administration’s statement of support for the bill, to other information relevant to the reauthorization process.
We are grateful for the hard work and the careful and optimistic outlook of the authors of the GIVE Act in the House, and we look forward to the House picking up this discussion in the near future and to continuing discussions with our community.
In Service,
David Eisner
CEO, Corporation for National and Community Service
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