Posted on 03/31/2009 3:22:03 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
The U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a bill Tuesday to strengthen national service by increasing funding for thousands of volunteers.
The House approved 275-149 the Senate-passed Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act, which now goes to President Barack Obama for his signature.
"Just one month ago, in his address to Congress, President Obama called upon Congress to pass legislation 'to encourage a renewed spirit of national service for this and future generations,'" House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a statement. "Today, the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act is on its way to his desk to become law."
Obama congratulated the House on its bipartisan vote, saying he looked forward to signing the bill into law after he returns to Washington from his eight-day visit to Europe.
"Because of this legislation, millions of Americans at all stages of their lives will have new opportunities to serve their country," Obama said in a statement. "But while our government can provide every opportunity imaginable for us to serve our communities, now it is up to each of us to seize those opportunities."
Among other things, the bill would more than triple the number of positions in the AmeriCorps program, from 75,000 to 250,000 by 2017, and would create four new national service corps and several other initiatives, CNN reported. In addition, it would increase the existing AmeriCorps educational stipend offered to volunteers to $5,350 -- the same amount as the maximum Pell college grant -- and encourage senior volunteerism by providing a $1,000 reward to individuals age 55 and older who perform 350 hours of service,
The bill is projected to cost $6 billion over the next five years.
Patriot groups should start to demand funding under this program.
Hmmmmm...the Edward Kennedy Serve America Act.....
Does this mean we all have to get drunk, pick up a passenger and drive off a bridge, leaving the passenger to drown???
The Socialist utopia rises. Red Storm Rising.....
Obama Brownshirts.
The NRA could always use a few volunteers.
Obama Brownshirts.
::::::::::
You can bank on it. They want to control every aspect of your life. I think Obama already knows he is a one-term “president”.
$1,000 is not enough for a senior over 55 to be put in a position of working beside a flea-bitten, drug-induced, maggot lib...
The strings attached will make it impossible for groups like NRA, etc to use this funding. You can bet on it.
So Boomers will be put to work for less than $3 an hour. I guess minimum wage doesn't apply after age 55.
Then Obama will say that the Boomers (who paid into Social Security for forty-plus years) don't need Social Security since they have their new "volunteer" jobs.
I get it.
Too bad they never passed the Mary Jo Kopechne Personal Responsibility Act of 1969.
The Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act - Vote Passed (79-19, 1 Not Voting)
The Senate passed this national service bill which would increase the number of AmeriCorps volunteers from 75,000 to 250,000 and designate September 11 as a national day of service and remembrance.
Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison voted YES......send e-mail or see bio
Sen. John Cornyn voted NO......send e-mail or see bio
I thought this was the (give) act or is this another one?
They just keep pushing the marker a little closer. They will rue the day.
You can't be serious.
With ACORN to provide the taxpayer-funded vote fraud, and a Democrat Congress to change the Presidential Term-Limit Law, this guy thinks he's President For Life.
Every single Rat in the House voted for this. They own it.
Can I volunteer to teach people to shoot at my local gunclub?
This is the GIVE Act.
Why is it I start to feel like that woman in CT who was mauled by chimp everytime I read that one of Barky’s legislative proposals is voted and approved?
This is like a weird little bribe for old people because seniors and baby boomers retirement is totally screwed because of the election of Obama.
The market started tanking after Hillary “lost” the nomination. I cannot believe Republicans voted for this. They have no clue.
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