HR1388 Passes House | Mandatory Volunteerism

by Steven Tarlow PersonalMoneyStore July 7, 2009



GIVE…until it hurts

“Mandatory volunteerism” is one step closer to becoming a reality in America, thanks to HR 1388.

Rep. Carolyn McCarthy [D-NY] and 37 other co-sponsors introduced this public service bill to the floor of the House of Representatives, where both Republicans and Democrats combined to vote 321-105 in favor. Next it goes to the Senate for a vote, then to President Obama’s desk for his signature or veto.

The title of HR 1388 - “Generations Invigorating Volunteerism and Education” (GIVE) - creates an acronym that is entirely more charitable than the reality of the bill, says the blog Bungalow Bill’s Conservative Wisdom. Bill claims it will “force your children into involuntary service to the government,” and points out that numerous critics of the bill agree that HR 1388 does indeed require Americans and their children to volunteer for community service. It will costs each and every American a $3 cash advance apiece in 2010 to implement.
Nothing wrong with that in principle, but…

How long and to what extent will service be required? Will people have a choice in where and how they serve, and what period of time they will commit? Bill fears that, based on Mr. Obama’s own history of community organization (he worked with ACORN), people might be assigned to work on projects with objects that are not in concert with what the general public believe to be “public service.”

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Straight from the mouth of the recent pork-laden spending bill, HR 1388 is a spending bill. It promises college education credits for teenagers who volunteer. But Bungalow Bill and any other right-thinking person would question what’s in it for the government. “Will this be more indoctrination for this collective philosophy that has suddenly come out of Washington since January 20?” Bill asks.

But HR 1388 doesn’t actually force service

True. But it does require the study of whether mandatory service would be useful. Part of the text of the bill reads as follows:

(6) Whether a workable, fair, and reasonable mandatory service requirement for all able young people could be developed, and how such a requirement could be implemented in a manner that would strengthen the social fabric of the Nation and overcome civic challenges by bringing together people from diverse economic, ethnic, and educational backgrounds.

A commentary on Bill’s blog has the following (and rather telling response):

Mandatory volunteer? Is that like “Jumbo Shrimp?” “Humane war?” Mandatory Volunteer: Best Oxymoron Ever! Orwell would be so proud!All kidding aside: forced conscription is problematic, Constitutionally speaking (13th Amendment). This is true even with military drafts: they too have been problematic when they’ve been imposed.

President Obama is a Constitutional scholar. Forced conscription is clearly involuntary servitude. The language of HR 1388 must change before it passes. Secular public service - service that includes aiding the “gentiles” - is an admirable goal for all of America. It’s easy to argue that a lack of it on the part of the citizenry is one of the reasons why America has lost its foothold on the world stage.

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Source: PersonalMoneyStore