ESHOO CALLS FOR AMERICORPS FUNDING

Rep. Anna G. Eshoo spoke up during the 51st hour of a 100-hour Voices for AmeriCorps event taking place on Capitol Hill this week. The event features AmeriCorps volunteers, Members of Congress, state and city representatives, and hundreds of other citizen-leaders from across the country.

"AmeriCorps represents the very best of the American spirit", Eshoo said.  "AmeriCorps volunteers are helping tutor and mentor youth, build affordable housing, clean parks, run after-school programs, and respond to natural disasters. President Bush says that he supports volunteerism. The moment of truth has arrived for him to put his political capital behind our efforts to pass $100 million in emergency funding for AmeriCorps so that the communities, schools, and children who depend on the program will not be left behind and that thousands of young people ready to serve in AmeriCorps will not be turned away."

Without additional funding, AmeriCorps faces a 60% cut in its work, a critical loss for a program that promotes civic responsibility and strengthens community relations. Efforts to provide the emergency funding were rejected by the House Republican leadership earlier this year.

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