BY LOUIE MEIZLISH
Daily Staff Reporter
Published March 14, 2002
U.S. Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Evan Bayh (D-Ind.) will be hosting a town hall meeting next month on campus, beginning a nationwide campaign to drum up support for one of their legislative priorities - expanding volunteerism.
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The senators will be speaking April 8 at Hill Auditorium.
McCain and Bayh's bill, the Call to Service Act of 2001, would dramatically expand community service opportunities for citizens.
"I think everyone recognizes this is a unique moment in American history where we can tap into the feeling of patriotism in the country and put it to good use," said Mark Kornblau, Bayh's communications director.
One of the provisions of the bill would quintuple the size of the AmeriCorps program from 50,000 participants to 250,000.
The program awards students who perform volunteer activities with such organizations as Habitat for Humanity and the American Red Cross with living allowances and grants to cover the cost of higher education.
McCain and Bayh have been working with President Bush on the expansion of community service programs after the president outlined a similar proposal in his State of the Union address Jan. 29. Bush's proposal, however, would expand AmeriCorps by only 25,000. Another important difference between the two proposals is that while the Bush proposal would require that 50 percent of federal work study funds given to colleges go to community service jobs, the McCain-Bayh bill would only require 25 percent.
The legislation would also require that half of new AmeriCorps positions be associated with homeland defense and would also require the establishment of state commissions on national service to determine how volunteers can help in emergency preparedness.
The bill would also encourage enlistment in the military with additional cash incentives for serving on active duty.
"They especially wanted to come to the University of Michigan because that's where (President John F. Kennedy) initiated the Peace Corps," said LSA junior Eric Feldman, chair of the University's chapter of College Democrats.
The event is being sponsored by the College Democrats, the College Republicans and the University.
