Date: 2009-03-18
Speaker: LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Florida

Mr. Speaker. I would like to thank my friend from California for the time. and I yield myself such time as I may consume. It can sometimes seem that we are surrounded by news of selfishness and greed. I think. very appropriately. and I will discuss this later. the American people are outraged by an example of really cynicism intertwined with greed in this AIG example. More about that later. However. those individuals. those few individuals. those cynics who utilized taxpayer dollars to give out bonuses for AIG. those really few individuals. Mr. Speaker. when you think about it in comparison to the myriad of individuals who really commit themselves to the service of others through volunteerism. those who serve are a beacon of compassion and hope for us all. Community service is one of the most gratifying. rewarding. fulfilling ways people can spend their time and their efforts. Community service has always been a vital pillar of American society. Its one of the things that distinguishes the United States and exalts the American people. Volunteers all over the United States dedicate millions of hours to their contemporaries in the hope of making peoples lives better. Through their selfless work. volunteers help improve the lives of millions of Americans. In 1993. the Congress. with my support. passed legislation creating AmeriCorps and the Corporation for National and Community Service to administer and coordinate Federal service community programs. Since then. almost 500.000 Americans have served with thousands of notforprofit organizations. public agencies and faithbased organizations nationwide. EJ 1100 These citizens tackle many unmet needs in our communities. They provide for our youth through tutoring. mentoring. and afterschool programs. They provide for the disadvantaged by building homes for the needy and reaching out to misguided youth. They conduct neighborhood patrols. they care for our environment. respond to disasters. engage citizens in public. health. safety. and emergency preparedness services. And they support those who have served and continue to serve our Nation in the Armed Forces by meeting the needs of our Nations veterans. active duty servicemembers. and their families. They do. oftentimes. exemplary work. The underlying legislation. known as the Generations Invigorating Volunteerism and Education Act. referred to as the GIVE Act because of its initials. will reauthorize the national service programs administered by the Corporation for National and Community Service. This reauthorization sets the goal to recruit 250.000 volunteers for AmeriCorps by 2014. It will also create service opportunities for middle school and high school students through the Summer of Service program. The legislation emphasizes the critical role of service in meeting the national priorities of emergency and disaster preparedness. and it will help improve program integrity. I am pleased that the committee. the Committee on Education and Labor. worked in a bipartisan manner to reauthorize this program and to include provisions that will make the programs more effective and efficient. responding to State and local needs with perform_ ance orientation. It goes to show. Mr. Speaker. that when there is a willingness to work together and to negotiate. we can bring forth good pieces of legislation with bipartisan support. I know the majority is trumpeting this rule with which we bring this underlying legislation to the floor because it will allow Members to debate all of the amendments that were submitted to the Rules Committee by Republicans. And thats appropriate. Nevertheless. I remind my colleagues the majority does this when the underlying legislation is uncontroversial. Even though the majority promised to be the most open Congress in history. if the majority is so proud of this rule. then they should allow a more open process when. controversial bills come before the floor as well. I urge Americans everywhere. regardless of whether they take part in AmeriCorps. to volunteer and give back to their communities. The rewards are extraordinary to both the volunteer and to the community. As Winston Churchill said. "We make a living by what. we do. but we make a life by what we give." I reserve the balance of my time.