Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee,

Thank you for the opportunity to discuss the views of the Administration concerning reauthorization of the Corporation for National and Community Service, the National and Community Service Act of 1990 and the Domestic Volunteer Service Act of 1973. As you are aware, HR 4854, The Citizen Service Act of 2002, was introduced last year in response to the "Principles and Reform For a Citizen Service Act" introduced by President Bush on April 9, 2002. On June 12, 2002, the Education and Workforce Committee approved the Citizen Service Act. My testimony will highlight many of the reforms recommended by the President and those reflected in the Citizen Service Act.

In 2002, President Bush launched the USA Freedom Corps - a coordinating council and White House office - to help build a culture of service, citizenship, and responsibility that strengthens our country and offers help to those in need. The President has called on all Americans to serve their country for the equivalent of two years during their lifetimes. The programs and activities of the Corporation for National and Community Service are a major component in this citizen service initiative.

In the President’s State of the Union Address this year, he called on Congress to pass the Citizen Service Act. He mentioned it again during a January 30 speech at the Boys and Girls Clubs in Washington, DC during a ceremony recognizing the first anniversary of the USA Freedom Corps. His commitment to promote volunteer service is resounding and the importance he has placed on the work of the USA Freedom Corps echoes that support.

In the past year, we have instituted a number of critical management reforms in our agency and our programs, but we are open to working with the Congress on legislative changes that would promote even more effective management.

We are proud of the service the volunteers and members of AmeriCorps, Senior Corps, and Learn and Serve America have provided over the past ten years. We look forward to working with Congress to see to it that their commitment to serving their nation is matched by strong legislation and strong management on the part of the Corporation. My remarks today are an extension of the Principles released by President Bush last April, and added emphases on management and performance that have come to light in the last several months. We look forward to working with the committee as you develop and introduce a Citizen Service Act to reauthorize the Corporation and further the President’s vision.

A number of fundamental principles guide the President’s vision for reauthorizing the Corporation and improving its three main programs, AmeriCorps, Senior Corps, and Learn and Serve America. They are outlined in the following narrative:

Support and encourage greater engagement of citizens in volunteering. Reforms will mandate that programs must generate more volunteers for each federal dollar expended by making volunteer mobilization an explicit criterion for grants to service organizations; reduce age and income limits that restrict volunteer opportunities in our Senior Corps programs; increase incentives for service in AmeriCorps by eliminating obstacles to the use of the education award, including eliminating its taxability, permitting its transfer, providing greater flexibility to attend schools and pay off loans, and exploring ways to support the inclusion of individuals with disabilities; provide for greater financial support from the private sector through a stronger challenge grant program; eliminate barriers to participation by individuals with disabilities; and set higher authorized funding levels for each of the programs, while reducing per-member costs - so that, over time, more people can enroll in these programs at a lower per participant cost.

Make federal funds more responsive to state and local needs. Reforms will provide greater resources and flexibility to grantees and state commissions in the use of grant funds within a framework of high performance standards and national priorities; direct more national service participants to engage in capacity-building activities such as recruiting volunteers and increasing the technological and management capacity of nonprofit organizations.

Make federal funds more accountable and effective. We ask you to help go beyond the management changes that have already been implemented and mandate that the Corporation work with grantees to establish outcome-oriented performance measures; require corrective plans for meeting those goals; and reduce or terminate grants if corrections are not made. In addition, we suggest that you enact statutory ceilings on cost per members, and believe that reforms to strengthen management of the Corporation, including the National Service Trust, should be incorporated in our authorizing statute.

Provide greater assistance to community organizations, both secular and faith-based. The reforms in the Citizen Service Act should reduce the administrative burdens that small grassroots and faith-based groups face in accessing federal funds; allow for greater flexibility in placing members in such groups; provide additional incentives for serving with grassroots and faith-based groups; and ensure consistency with the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Executive Order 13279, signed by President Bush on December 12, 2002.

The Corporation’s programs-AmeriCorps, Senior Corps, and Learn and Serve America-will support the President’s call to all Americans to serve their neighbors and their nation by helping to provide flexible opportunities for Americans to serve at all stages of their lives, from when they are elementary-school students through their retirement years. We will also work closely with our nation’s many worthwhile charities, not only to help them accomplish their missions, including providing security for our homeland, but also to help them recruit and manage additional volunteers for long-term sustainability. Now I would like to describe some specific reforms we hope will be contained in the Citizen Service Act.

After a decade of experience in operating a community-based program of national service, we have learned a good deal about what works and what does not. In "Principles and Reforms for a Citizen Service Act," the President proposes a variety of changes to administrative and management procedures that would allow the Corporation’s programs to operate with increased efficiency and transparency, while ensuring the responsible expenditure of taxpayer funds.

At the heart of any service program should be serious financial accountability and performance measures that define specific outcomes and quantifiable goals for national service grantees. This is crucial to ensure not just proper stewardship of taxpayer funds, but also that the programs designed to help meet the nation’s unmet human needs - and renew the ethic of civic responsibility - are really achieving their desired results.

From the very beginning of the Corporation, performance evaluation has been a key requirement for its grantees. Many of them have made substantial efforts to collect measures of "outputs" - for example, the number of hours of service provided or clients processed - or commissioned third-party evaluations of their work. Since 1996, Senior Corps has been implementing "Programming for Impact," a system designed to focus grantees on documenting what volunteers actually accomplish. The Corporation itself has also published two major evaluations of Learn and Serve America programs, which identified a number of positive results - and limitations - in its K-12 and higher education programs. A new evaluation of the Senior Companion Program is about to be completed, which will show that the program has had a number of beneficial effects on the people served (and their families), but can be strengthened through better training and recruitment. Not least important, the Corporation has underway a unique longitudinal study of AmeriCorps members that seeks to gauge scientifically how participation in the program affects lifetime civic participation.

In the past year, the Corporation has intensified its efforts in this area and directed all its grantees to develop performance measures of "outcomes" - that is, the definable effects of their programs, such as improved reading scores or increases in community volunteers. More work needs to be done and these performance measures need to be linked more consistently with funding decisions.

The Citizen Service Act would give explicit statutory direction to the Corporation to work with grantees to establish performance goals with clear, definable measurements; allow the CEO of the Corporation to require corrective action if these goals are not met; and allow for modification or termination of funding for non-performing grantees.

Because the programs of the Corporation were formed at different times and under different pieces of legislation, programs are beset by a hodge-podge of inconsistent and confusing rules and regulations, which require additional administrative efforts for compliance. For example, there are inconsistent rules about whether an AmeriCorps member may hold a part-time job or pursue an educational opportunity while serving.

Most AmeriCorps programs prohibit members from developing resources, performing routine administrative tasks, and engaging in other activities that help nonprofit organizations increase their capacity to carry out their service mission. Unfortunately, that is precisely the kind of help that small grassroots charities need. The Corporation needs to support them as they build capacity while continuing strong prohibitions on the use of support for any political activities.

In Senior Corps, some programs have age and income limits for participation, while others have no or different limits. We ask the committee to ensure that the Citizen Service Act will streamline and simplify regulations and requirements across AmeriCorps, Senior Corps, and Learn and Serve America, making them consistent whenever possible.

States and nonprofit organizations need greater flexibility to respond to local needs. For example, community and faith-based organizations have told us that the rules and requirements for receiving a federal grant often are too complex and costly. Many small programs cannot effectively compete with larger organizations for federal support without hiring a professional grant writer, which places an enormous strain on operating budgets. States have told us that we can do even more to devolve decision making, particularly on grant selection, to the state level, bringing decision making closer to the need.

The Citizen Service Act should create new benchmarks for sustainability; allow all national service participants to engage in capacity-building activities such as recruiting volunteers and improving technology, which help to build sustainability; and empower the Corporation to reward those organizations that are moving toward sustainability.

Building the sustainability of grantees has always been an aim of Corporation funding, but in the past, it has not always been well-articulated and backed up by the kinds of programmatic efforts necessary to achieve it. Under current law, in fact, most AmeriCorps members (though not VISTAs) are precluded from helping the organizations with which they serve take the steps, such as mobilizing resources that would help build capacity and create sustainability. Through the Citizen Service Act, resource mobilization would be added as a fundamental purpose of AmeriCorps and AmeriCorps members would be able to provide a wider range of services, depending on the particular needs of grantees.

One potentially important tool for promoting sustainability is the Corporation’s "challenge grant" program, which enables the Corporation to make grants competitively to non-profit organizations that have a plan for expanding opportunities for Americans to volunteer using private funds. For the first time, the Corporation’s 2003 appropriation provided funding for challenge grants and we are currently soliciting applications for the first round of grants. The Citizen Service Act would enhance this program by authorizing a change in the matching requirement that would increase the private dollars generated for each dollar of federal support.

The Education Award Program is our most cost-effective AmeriCorps mobilization program. The Education Award Program fulfills several goals including encouraging the sustainability of the nonprofit organization, releasing more funds for smaller community and faith based organizations and making our programs more cost effective by reducing the per member cost.

In the area of religious liberty, we think that organizations receiving federal grants should be entitled to the same protections afforded other religious organizations under the Civil Rights Act of 1964, informed by the principles stated in Executive Order 13279, signed by President Bush on December 12, 2002. For that reason, we support repealing religious discrimination provisions, like those that currently govern Corporation grant recipients, that require these recipients to forego their Title VII protections in order to receive Corporation funds.

The National and Community Service Act funds AmeriCorps*State and National, AmeriCorps*NCCC (National Civilian Community Corps), the National Service Trust, Learn and Serve America, and various earmarks. The President proposes a number of reforms to this legislation in his "Principles and Reforms for a Citizen Service Act."

The National and Community Service Act envisioned a decentralized, community - based system of federal support for national service, channeled through local and national nonprofit groups, with a large measure of responsibility and program direction devolved to governor-appointed state service commissions. The system was - and is - an unusual and ambitious attempt to combine the best practices of government, the private sector, and the nonprofit community.

After ten years of working to realize the vision of NCSA, the Corporation now has a better idea of which portions of this vision work well - and which do not. Since it was created in 1993, AmeriCorps has compiled an impressive list of accomplishments. Members have helped recruit and supervise additional volunteers for nonprofit organizations; they have tutored and mentored disadvantaged children; they have established or expanded neighborhood safety programs; and they have helped communities rebuild after dozens of natural disasters and emergencies - including the September 11^th terrorist attacks - in more than 30 states. Project reports have consistently shown that AmeriCorps members are meeting community needs in education, health and human services, public safety, and the environment.

The Corporation has faced its share of challenges over the last several years, culminating with the recent issues concerning the National Service Trust. The members of this committee and other concerned members of Congress have documented those challenges and problems and encouraged us to continue improvements. We’ve moved forward on many of those issues - reducing costs per member through the Education Award Program, getting tough on prohibited political activity, and tightening management procedures. Upon becoming the Chief Executive Officer, I established a new Department of Research and Policy Development, specifically for the purpose of strengthening accountability. In addition, we have hired a new Chief Financial Officer, Inspector General, and new senior AmeriCorps officials, among other additions to our top management team.

But challenges remain, and for us to continue moving forward in making our programs operate with the utmost effectiveness and accountability, we need Congressional approval of the Citizen Service Act to correct shortcomings in our authorizing legislation and empower the Corporation to streamline and rationalize the program’s operations. We hope that this Committee will consider the proposals presented today - all of which aim to reshape AmeriCorps in the light of past challenges and position it for future successes - as you develop a new Citizen Service Act.

AmeriCorps*State and National presently grants funds through several mechanisms: through formula grants to governor-appointed state service commissions; to state commissions through a national competitive process; and directly to national nonprofits through a competitive process. The Citizen Service Act, consistent with the Administration’s general principles of reform, should place a priority on capacity building, especially volunteer leveraging and recruitment as a basis for awarding grants. This would maximize the effectiveness of the service provided by AmeriCorps members and help to build the sustainability of grantees. Performance measures would be required of all grantees.

Presently, a number of cost-effective approaches are employed to test new models of AmeriCorps service. Among the most effective, which I mentioned earlier, has been the Education Award Program, where members receive only an education award and grantees receive a small administrative payment per full-time member. We are working on ways to simplify the application process to enable more AmeriCorps members to participate. We anticipate further discussion with the committee on this subject.

The Corporation’s Board of Directors and I remain committed to this and would like to explore additional approaches including the possibility of establishing new relationships with a wider range of nonprofit organizations that will provide greater flexibility for individuals to do their service at the organizations of their choice. The Citizen Service Act should permit the Corporation to allocate up to ten percent of AmeriCorps program funds to these demonstration projects.

Modeled after the Civilian Conservation Corps and the United States military, the AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC) is a ten-month, full-time, team-based residential program for men and women ages 18 to 24. The mission of AmeriCorps*NCCC is "to strengthen communities and develop leaders through team-based national and community service."

AmeriCorps*NCCC deploys teams to communities in every state to respond to pressing needs identified by local project sponsors. Members are also ready for deployment to communities that are impacted by natural and other disasters. Working in cooperation with the American Red Cross, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the National Park Service and the U.S. Forest Service, AmeriCorps*NCCC members and teams can be deployed at a moment’s notice to address national crises. During the course of a year, members complete approximately 600 projects and invest more than 2 million service hours in local communities in the areas of education, public safety, disaster preparedness and response, homeland security, the environment, public health, housing and other unmet human needs.

In 2003, AmeriCorps*NCCC will operate five regional campuses located in Charleston, South Carolina, Denver, Colorado, Sacramento California, Perry Point, Maryland and the District of Columbia. To meet the growing demand in disaster assistance and need for greater efforts in homeland security, we proposed the creation of a satellite campus to be based in either the Gulf Coast or Midwest regions in our 2004 budget. This will enable a more cost-effective deployment of AmeriCorps*NCCC members to those areas of high need. Homeland security, working with faith-based and community-based organizations and leveraging volunteers will continue to be high priorities for project activities.

As I have said earlier in my testimony, accountability related to the cost per member continues to be a concern of the Corporation. The residential structure of AmeriCorps*NCCC provides opportunities for increased member availability for disaster relief operations and contributes to a far more intense citizenship development experience for the young people who participate. However, with these added benefits come higher per member costs. While we will continue to work with the members of this committee on reducing the cost per member, we also intend to use our commitment to innovation to develop other, more cost-effective models of AmeriCorps*NCCC that can be emulated by other public agencies and nonprofit organizations that support public safety, public health, and emergency response efforts.

We suggest that service activities under the Learn and Serve America program continue to be funded within subtitle B of Title I of the National and Community Service Act. But as we have examined our programs to support service and citizenship education at our nation’s schools and colleges, we believe it is important to clarify and sharpen the purpose of federal support at the elementary and secondary education level, as well as in higher education. The measures proposed in the Citizen Service Act of 2002 would allow the Corporation to improve the quality of these programs through teacher development and other means; ensure that grantees emphasize the teaching of civic knowledge and practice of civic skills through service and service-learning; and authorize the testing of innovative approaches to school-based service.

One of the continued areas of emphasis for our Learn and Serve America programs in higher education will be to welcome applications submitted by Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Hispanic-serving institutions, and Tribal Colleges and Universities. This was emphasized and supported by members of this committee in their report on the Citizen Service Act last year.

The recent challenges concerning the National Service Trust stemmed, in part, from inadequate tracking procedures. Most of the Corporation’s grant awards were made with the expectation that the positions would be renewed for two additional years unless the grantee performed in an unsatisfactory manner. In the last three years, the Corporation planned for an AmeriCorps enrollment of 50,000 positions in the National Service Trust and exceeded targeted enrollments.

By law, AmeriCorps cannot enroll new members unless funds are available in the National Service Trust to cover the costs of their education award. To comply with this requirement, and as a result of the increased enrollments, in November 2002 the Corporation instituted a pause in enrollments until new appropriations could be deposited in the Trust. The pause has since been lifted.

As a response to this enrollment problem, the Corporation has instituted a number of reforms around Trust management and accounting procedures. I am pleased to submit a list of these for the record and am happy to comment on them. We look forward to working with Congress to make sure that those reforms, including the requirement for certification by the Chief Financial Officer that sufficient funds are available in the National Service Trust to support AmeriCorps program awards before those awards are made, are adequate so that the recent difficulties with the Trust do not recur.

In addition, as a safeguard consistent with the President’s request to Congress in connection with the Corporation’s 2003 appropriation, we also recommend that the Citizen Service Act give the CEO of the Corporation authority, with appropriate oversight from Congress, to transfer a limited amount of funding from AmeriCorps program areas to the National Service Trust should the need arise.

We also need to reform some of the benefits we offer through the Trust. Many AmeriCorps members have been disappointed because they have found the education award to be less valuable than they had believed it to be. Currently, the awards are taxable. Although AmeriCorps members are eligible for education tax credits and deductions that may reduce tax liability, some do not qualify or face restrictions that limit their value. We also believe that more seniors and others who do not seek additional education can be encouraged to participate in AmeriCorps if they were permitted to earn education awards that could be transferred to their children, grandchildren, or a needy individual (such as a child they mentor). We look forward to working with Congress through other legislative vehicles to exempt the award from taxation and to allow its transferability as well as providing greater flexibility in its use.

The Corporation’s proposed FY 2004 budget includes allocations for three organizations: Teach for America, the Points of Light Foundation, and America’s Promise - The Alliance for Youth. The Corporation has had a long relationship with each of these and believes each merits such treatment because of its ability to meet performance goals and deliver effective services. However, as a general rule, consistent with Administration policy, the Corporation seeks to limit the use of earmarking funds through the appropriations process.

Domestic Volunteer Service Act

The Domestic Volunteer Service Act authorizes AmeriCorps*VISTA and the three programs of the Senior Corps: RSVP, Foster Grandparents, and Senior Companions. The Citizen Service Act, as passed by this committee last year, contains a number of reforms of these programs consistent with the Administration’s general principles for citizen service. These include placing a priority on volunteer leveraging and recruitment as a basis for awarding grants and requiring performance measures of all grantees. We ask the committee to include these again in the Citizen Service Act.

AmeriCorps*VISTA has had a longstanding emphasis on building the self-sufficiency of low-income communities through asset development, building the capacity of programs that serve the poor, and strengthening faith-based and grassroots organizations. In conjunction with an Administration-wide focus on mentoring at-risk children, we suggest adding mentoring to the list of activities AmeriCorps*VISTA members are explicitly authorized to do.

The Corporation also seeks to allow other AmeriCorps members to engage in activities that AmeriCorps*VISTA members have long undertaken, including raising funds, leveraging volunteers, and building the technological and management capacity of organizations. Meanwhile, the President’s Principles propose that AmeriCorps*VISTA members should assume some of the attributes of other AmeriCorps members, transitioning the program from a federally operated program in which the Federal Government ultimately selects and supervises members, to a federally assisted program in which sponsoring organizations have the principal responsibility for selecting and supervising members, similar to other AmeriCorps programs. This change would give nonprofit organizations, especially smaller community and faith-based entities, greater ability to match VISTA members with their programs.

The programs of the Senior Corps are among the oldest programs the Corporation administers, each of them springing from the War on Poverty of the 1960s. They were expanded during the Nixon and Ford Administrations, and have continued to grow in subsequent administrations. These programs provide critical resources to communities across the nation, from assisting local police forces and tutoring at-risk kids, to reducing health care costs by enabling seniors to live independently.

But the programs of the Senior Corps need to be re-examined and enhanced in light of shifting demographic and cultural trends. All three programs need to become better equipped to take advantage of the coming wave of retirees- 70 million Baby Boomers, most of whom do not (and will not for some time) think of themselves as being "seniors." The Hudson Institute Workplace 2020 study showed that the retirement of this unprecedentedly large group will have a significant impact on the labor force available to the nation’s nonprofit organizations, unless they become engaged in community service activities to a greater degree than they have been. Moreover, other studies, including some by the Corporation, have also shown that since the rising generation of retirees is bringing a different set of values and expectations to their retirement activities, Senior Corps will have to find more creative ways to attract newly retired citizens to senior service.

Our studies, and those of others, are clear: younger retirees want flexibility in their service. They want to be able to work with as few or as many people as they think they can handle. They want to be able to choose the time, duration, and method of their service, within broad guidelines. They want to be compensated for significant service and recognized in other ways as well. They want to be able to engage in service that has clear, definable results in people’s lives. And they want to be as free as possible of red tape, regulations, and bureaucratic barriers. The reforms contained in last year’s Citizen Service Act would revamp the programs of Senior Corps along these lines.

In addition to increasing the choice of service opportunities for seniors, the Citizen Service Act, passed last year by your committee, met the President’s request to remove the income eligibility ceiling and reduce the minimum age requirements to 55 in the Foster Grandparent and Senior Companion programs. This would allow all Americans over 55 to serve as mentors or tutor a vulnerable child or to serve as a companion to the frail and vulnerable elderly. Removing the 20 hour a week limit on these programs would allow Foster Grandparents and Senior Companions to work with more than one child or senior and allow local flexibility in setting program goals.

However, last year’s Citizen Service Act went only part-way toward removing the income limits that restrict eligibility for Foster Grandparents and Senior Companions to individuals with incomes below 125 percent of the poverty line. These income restrictions are the most important reason, our grantees tell us, that our programs are unable to recruit enough seniors to meet the need for their services. We would urge the committee to eliminate the income test altogether in this year’s version of the Citizen Service Act, as proposed by the President in the "Principles and Reforms for a Citizen Service Act."

In addition to the age and income requirements for the Foster Grandparent and Senior Companion programs, there is a need to provide more rigorous training for our volunteers. One of the findings from a recent study of the Senior Companion program was that more refined training is needed to increase the overall skill level of Senior Companions. In particular, the study indicates that skills in "communicating with family members, serving as client advocates, and listening skills would likely increase the quality of services being provided."

The programs of the Senior Corps offer a clear example of the need to update and improve the Corporation’s programs. Provisions that may have been appropriate when they were enacted decades ago need to be revised if the programs are to fulfill their missions in the future. And if the programs are to attract the next generation of senior volunteers, the efforts of the Corporation to require grantees to demonstrate clear and objective results need to be strengthened. Strong statutory language will allow us to make these vitally important changes.

The President’s Principles and the Citizen Service Act, as introduced last year, place a greater emphasis within RSVP in the areas of public safety and homeland security, as well as a priority on volunteer leveraging and recruitment as a basis for awarding grants and augmentations of existing grants. In FY 2003, funds to support 4,450 additional volunteers will go to new and existing projects, a significant portion of which will go to homeland security activities. Senior Corps is continuously exploring new ways to engage volunteers of diverse backgrounds, interests, and experiences and will continue to encourage its grantees, especially in RSVP, to reach out to and develop assignments that appeal to retired professionals.

The Citizen Service Act should ensure consistency in performance requirements for RSVP programs with those for other Corporation programs. We look forward to working with the Congress in developing effective performance measures.

The Citizen Service Act, as introduced last year, and the President’s Principles, contain a number of reforms that would add flexibility and accountability to the Foster Grandparent Program.

Presently, the age of eligibility for Foster Grandparents is 60, and an income eligibility ceiling restricts participation to low-income individuals. These requirements place a severe restriction on participation in the programs. In fact, approximately 60 percent of program directors in the Foster Grandparent Program report problems recruiting participants. About 70 percent of Foster Grandparent grantees report that they have had to turn away people because their incomes were too high. For children in need of a Foster Grandparent, our programs’ inability to fill slots is not just a matter of differing views about eligibility standards; it is a personal and very serious loss.

The Citizen Service Act, as passed by your committee last year, contains a number of reforms that would add flexibility and accountability to the Senior Companion Program.

Presently, the age of eligibility for Senior Companions is 60, and an income eligibility ceiling restricts participation to low income individuals. These requirements place a severe restriction on participation in the programs. In fact, approximately 60 percent of program directors in the Senior Companion program report problems recruiting participants. About 70 percent of Senior Companion grantees report that they have had to turn away people because their incomes were too high. At the same time, 95 percent of Senior Companion projects reported having client waiting lists, and 67 percent said those lists have increased over the past year.

We have just concluded a rigorous, three-year study of the impact Senior Companions have on the quality of life of clients, caregivers and local agencies. Initial results are impressive: Senior Companion clients function with greater independence, manifest fewer depressive symptoms and report higher life satisfaction, compared to their counterparts who are not assigned a Senior Companion. Caregivers are better able to cope with their responsibilities, while agencies report that Senior Companions help lighten administrative and other burdens. However, the study also points out that the number of Senior Companions is insufficient to meet the demand and that better training would produce even better results. The Citizen Service Act should address these concerns to enhance the program.

The Citizen Service Act should ensure consistency in performance requirements for RSVP programs with those for other Corporation programs. To the extent funds will be set aside for "Projects of National Significance," these projects should be in areas that are the same as the priority areas for other Corporation programs: homeland security, environment, public health, education, and other unmet human needs.

Mr. Chairman, that concludes my statement. We are clearly at an opportune moment in the history of federal support for service. In preparing this statement-and in all of our operations-we at the Corporation have kept constantly before us the vital importance of the commitment made by our members, their response of the heart to the needs of their nation and their neighbors.

Members like Lenwood "Lenny" Compton. Born and raised in Pontiac, Michigan, he is a senior at Oakland University majoring in education. Mr. Compton just completed his second year as a member in the AmeriCorps Oakland program, serving a total of 1,800 hours at a local Pontiac elementary school tutoring students in grades 1-3 in reading and writing. He also worked at Pontiac Area Transitional Housing, providing academic help to children in their after-school program. Mr. Compton was presented with the Mr. AmeriCorps award by his program as the male member of the corps who most exemplifies the qualities desired in an AmeriCorps member. After graduating, he plans to teach middle school math and social science.

In addition to his AmeriCorps service, Mr. Compton has been an active volunteer with the Michigan Association for Leadership Development, a program that provides positive role models and mentors for young African-American men ages 10 to 16. Since volunteering with this program, Mr. Compton has adopted two young men as little brothers, checking in with them daily, bringing them to church with him on Sundays, and taking them to sporting events and other activities. Most recently, Mr. Compton was the guest of First Lady Laura Bush at the 2003 State of the Union Address, where he was honored for his dedication to volunteer service.

Mr. Chairman, it is the example set by members like Lenny Compton that help to inspire and motivate our work. Your consistent efforts to support and strengthen the national service programs through reauthorization are important and they do make a difference-in our communities, in the lives of those served and who serve, and for our nation as a whole. They deserve to be run as well as we possibly can. You have my commitment that we will work ever hard to do this, because the public expects us to-and because our members need us to.

I look forward to working with you and with the other Members of Congress to pass reforms and extend national service legislation this year. I am available to address any questions that the Committee may have.