Causecast

Last week, amidst protests regarding the insensitive waves of AIG bonuses and opportunistic groups of politicians pretending to be outraged, a hopeful bill passed the House of Representatives, and its sister piece of legislation will be going through the Senate this week.

The bill is H.R. 1388, the Generations Invigorating Volunteerism and Education act. Those four words don’t seem to make much sense together? Don’t worry, they spell something when you take the first letter of each of them.

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There you go. The GIVE act passed with bipartisan support, 321-105. This week, the Senate will debate and vote on the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP, noticing a trend here?) Committee’s Serve America Act.

The approved acts will increase funding to AmeriCorps and establish grants for high school and middle school students who give their time to public service. The bill seeks to expand volunteer opportunities at AmeriCorps and other organizations from 75,000 to 250,000.

In order to be ready for President Obama’s signature, the Serve America bill would have to pass and then be combined with the GIVE act, and a few differences between the bills thus reconciled. The Serve America act also seeks bipartisan support in the Senate, having been introduced by Democrat Edward Kennedy and Republican Orrin Hatch.

Obama called for support of the act during his February 2009 address to Congress. As only one Democrat voted against the bill, Marion Berry of Arkansas, it will likely be favored in the Democrat-controlled Senate.

The Be the Change Action Fund has initiated the ServiceNation campaign, encouraging passage of the act as well as activism and public service. The campaign hopes to see a new era of voluntary service in America, and this bill would go a long way to stimulate that kind of change.

Currently, opponents to the bill argue that it will be too expensive and could equate forced service under a mandatory youth volunteer organization.

The expense is relative. The bill will likely cost $6 billion over the next five years. In comparison, that’s the amount the U.S. spends every eight days in Iraq. Those who are concerned about the money should simply argue for a withdrawl from the war a week earlier.

The so-called forced commitment, as well, is bogus. The public service is completely voluntary and the bill only provides incentives in the form of college grants if students give their time for a year or more.

Encouraging service is necessary for a generation that needs not venture out their doors for information, that can use the Internet as a portal to any destination. Enabling America’s youth to earn real life experience is vital to competing in the internationally-conscious world, and will help prepare them for their potentially tough job search after graduating from high school and college.

Go to ServiceNation and get involved. Write to your senator and make sure they are voting Yes on the Serve America act.

Are you a high school or middle school student? How would you like to get involved and volunteer your time to help others? Leave your stories and experiences as comments or write about them further on your Causecast profile.

Photo by jesse.millan, flickr