WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The House of Representatives easily passed legislation Tuesday to strengthen national community service efforts by boosting funding for thousands of volunteers in fields ranging from clean energy to health care and education.
The bill the House passed would increase funding for thousands of volunteers.
The Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act, recently renamed to honor the Massachusetts senator's sponsorship of the measure, passed the House by a vote of 275-149. Democrats supported it almost unanimously; a strong majority of Republicans were opposed.
The Senate passed identical legislation Thursday by a vote of 78-20. President Obama, who spent several years working as a community organizer, is expected to sign it into law shortly.
"At this time of economic crisis, we need service and volunteering more than ever. This bill will unleash a new era of service for our nation at a time of great need," Sandy Scott, a spokesman for the federally funded community service program AmeriCorps, told CNN.
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.
The increase could have a huge ripple effect in national volunteerism rates. Last year, 75,000 AmeriCorps members recruited and supervised 2.2 million community volunteers, according to Scott. - CNN Story
In the Economy we are in and the massivly growing Deficit what in the world are these people thinking? If you are out of money and burrowing to make ends meet now you don't go out and make more donations into programs that are necessary. I just don't get it.
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