A.M. in the Morning!: A shocking slap at Americorps, heroes of Katrina

Sunday, September 16, 2007

A shocking slap at Americorps, heroes of Katrina

Posted on Thu, Sep. 13, 2007
Editorial

Lost in the shuffle of Congress' budgetary machinations is the scalpel that has slashed funding for Americorps NCCC, the National Civilian Community Corps, to less than half of the organization's 2007 budget.

The U.S. House of Representatives has approved a budget that slashes NCCC funding from $26 million to $11 million. This is unbelievable, as the thousands of Americorps volunteers who quickly came to the aid of South Mississippi following Katrina were among the very best representatives of our federal government, living proof of tax dollars that were effectively and efficiently expended in the behalf of a shattered region.

The same could not always be said of other federal agencies, some which did not perform at a level that taxpayers would have expected.

Among the many who wear the name "hero" in our book of golden deeds performed here, the Americorps volunteers will forever have a place of honor in our memory - idealistic young people, and seniors also, who came here and lived in Spartan conditions for month after month, in military tents, going out day after day to help the people of South Mississippi pull themselves out of the debris and rebuild.

So there is some amazement, and perhaps a bit of controlled anger, to know that the House would so injudiciously cut this fine organization to the bone.

The bright star on Capitol Hill is Sen. Thad Cochran, who has championed an increase in funding to $31 million for this valuable and effective organization, and has won the backing of the Senate Appropriations Committee.

Perhaps those who control the budgets would fare better in the opinion of their countrymen if they came and served in this zone of extreme need as these fine Americorps volunteers have done. But absent such service, their next best step toward redemption would be to restore the funding.

And do it quickly.