II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 235 

To amend the Domestic Volunteer Service Act of 1973 to establish an online 

service platform for volunteers in the National Senior Service Corps. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 4, 2021 

Ms. KLOBUCHAR (for herself and Mr. CASSIDY) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To amend the Domestic Volunteer Service Act of 1973 to 

establish an online service platform for volunteers in 

the National Senior Service Corps. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Senior Corps Distance 

5 Volunteering Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. ONLINE SERVICE PLATFORM. 

7 Title IV of the Domestic Volunteer Service Act of 

8 1973 is amended— 


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1 (1) by redesignating section 421 (42 U.S.C. 

2 5061) as section 401; 

3 (2) by moving that section 401 so as to follow 

4 the title heading for title IV; and 

5 (3) by inserting after section 420 (42 U.S.C. 

6 5059) the following: 

7 ‘‘SEC. 421. ONLINE SERVICE PLATFORM. 

8 ‘‘(a) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term 

9 ‘COVID–19 public health emergency period’ means the 

10 period of the public health emergency declared by the Sec11 retary of Health and Human Services under section 319 

12 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 247d) on Jan13 uary 31, 2020, with respect to COVID–19. 

14 ‘‘(b) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 30 days after 

15 the date of enactment of the Senior Corps Distance Volun16 teering Act, the Chief Executive Officer of the Corporation 

17 shall establish an online service platform to connect volun18 teers in the National Senior Service Corps with service 

19 projects, and enable the volunteers to carry out distance 

20 volunteering on an online network. The platform shall be 

21 linked to and placed prominently on the website of the 

22 Corporation. The Corporation may enter into a contract 

23 with a public entity to create the platform. 

24 ‘‘(c) INFORMATION AND GUIDANCE.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) INFORMATION.—The Corporation shall 

2 provide information to regional offices of the Cor3 poration about how to get volunteers in the National 

4 Senior Service Corps connected to the platform. 

5 ‘‘(2) GUIDANCE.—The Corporation shall issue 

6 guidance for the regional offices about how to trans7 fer the programs of the National Senior Service 

8 Corps to the platform. 

9 ‘‘(d) OUTREACH.—The Corporation shall provide out10 reach services to promote the platform, including outreach 

11 to institutions of higher education, the Department of Vet12 erans Affairs for mentorship projects, and State and local 

13 governments for community engagement projects. 

14 ‘‘(e) REPORT ON IMPACT OF ONLINE SERVICE PLAT15 FORM.— 

16 ‘‘(1) DEFINITION.—In this subsection, the term 

17 ‘appropriate committees of Congress’ means— 

18 ‘‘(A) the Committee on Energy and Com19 merce of the House of Representatives; 

20 ‘‘(B) the Special Committee on Aging of 

21 the Senate; 

22 ‘‘(C) the Committee on Health, Education, 

23 Labor, and Pensions of the Senate; and 

24 ‘‘(D) the Committee on Commerce, 

25 Science, and Transportation of the Senate. 


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1 ‘‘(2) REPORT.— 

2 ‘‘(A) PREPARATION.—The Corporation 

3 shall prepare a report that— 

4 ‘‘(i) describes the use of funds appro5 priated to carry out this section, con6 cerning the online service platform de7 scribed in subsection (b); 

8 ‘‘(ii) describes the ways in which the 

9 platform has enabled volunteers in the Na10 tional Senior Service Corps, many of whom 

11 are at higher risk for severe illness from 

12 COVID–19, to apply their skills, knowl13 edge, and expertise to directly serve the 

14 community through distance volunteering 

15 by providing assistance during the 

16 COVID–19 public health emergency pe17 riod; 

18 ‘‘(iii) measures the number of volun19 teers in the National Senior Service Corps 

20 volunteers who do, and the number of such 

21 volunteers who do not, serve through the 

22 online service platform, during the 

23 COVID–19 public health emergency pe24 riod; and 


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1 ‘‘(iv) assesses the impact of volunteers 

2 in the National Senior Service Corps who 

3 do, and the number of such volunteers who 

4 do not, serve through the online service 

5 platform, during the COVID–19 public 

6 health emergency period. 

7 ‘‘(B) SUBMISSION.—Not later than 1 year 

8 after the end of the COVID–19 public health 

9 emergency period, the Corporation shall submit 

10 the report to the appropriate committees of 

11 Congress. 

12 ‘‘(f) RECOMMENDATION.—Not later than 6 months 

13 after the end of the COVID–19 public health emergency 

14 period, the Chief Executive Officer of the Corporation 

15 shall submit a recommendation to Congress regarding 

16 whether the Corporation should continue to use the plat17 form as a main resource for connecting volunteers in the 

18 National Senior Service Corps with service projects and 

19 enabling the volunteers to carry out distance volun20 teering.’’. 

21 SEC. 3. EMERGENCY APPROPRIATION. 

22 The following sums are hereby appropriated, out of 

23 any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, 

24 for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2021, and for 

25 other purposes, namely: 


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1 CORPORATION FOR NATIONAL AND COMMUNITY SERVICE

2 OPERATING EXPENSES

3 For an additional amount for ‘‘Operating Expenses’’, 

4 for necessary expenses for the Corporation for National 

5 and Community Service to carry out section 421 of the 

6 Domestic Volunteer Service Act of 1973, $5,000,000: Pro7 vided, That the amount appropriated under this heading 

8 is designated by Congress as being for an emergency re9 quirement pursuant to section 251(b)(2)(A)(i) of the Bal10 anced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 

11 (2 U.S.C. 901(b)(2)(A)(i)). 

Æ 


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