Passed by the House of Representatives with a 321-105 margin, HR 1388: the Generations Invigorating Volunteerism and Education Act, dubbed the “GIVE” act, would require the US government to develop a plan to implement a “mandatory service requirement for all able young people”.
Already males ages 18 through 25 living in the U.S. register with Selective Service to keep records in the event Congress and the President authorize a draft. What is the purpose of the service requirement under the GIVE act?
The purpose of the GIVE act is to “To reauthorize and reform the national service laws”, specifically the National and Community Service Act of 1990. HR 1388 reads:
‘(9) recognize and increase the impact of social entrepreneurs and other nonprofit community organizations in addressing national and local challenges;
‘(10) increase public and private investment in nonprofit community organizations that are effectively addressing national and local challenges and to encourage such organizations to replicate and expand successful initiatives;
‘(11) leverage Federal investments to increase State, local, business, and philanthropic resources to address national and local challenges;
‘(12) expand and strengthen service-learning programs through year-round opportunities, including during the summer months, to improve the education of children and youth and to maximize the benefits of national and community service, in order to renew the ethic of civic responsibility and the spirit of community to children and youth throughout the United States;
‘(13) assist in coordinating and strengthening Federal and other service opportunities, including opportunities for participation in emergency and disaster preparedness, relief, and recovery;
‘(14) increase service opportunities for our Nation’s retiring professionals, including such opportunities for those retiring from the science, technical, engineering, and mathematics professions to improve the education of our Nation’s youth and keep America competitive in the global knowledge economy, and to further utilize the experience, knowledge, and skills of older Americans;
‘(15) encourage the continued service of the alumni of the national service programs, including service in times of national need;
‘(16) support institutions of higher education that engage students in community service activities, provide service-learning courses, and encourage or assist graduates to pursue careers in public service in the nonprofit or government sector; and
‘(17) encourage members of the Baby Boom generation to partake in service opportunities.’.
HR 1388 specifically targets Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA) and the National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC) which Congress expects will reach 250,000 participants by 2014. From school-based service learning programs to focusing on severely economically depressed communities, the GIVE act sounds good until you get to part about the mandatory service requirement for youth. How can volunteerism be mandatory? The Future explains:
Section 6104 of The Generations Invigorating Volunteerism and Education Act requires that a commission be established to investigate, “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.”
Of course I imagine cadres of youth working on environmental projects such as tree planting; however, I can’t get on board with the involuntary servitude. It’s even scarier when you consider Obama’s chief of staff Rahm Emanuel coauthored The Plan: Big Ideas for America that calls for compulsory service for Americans ages 18 to 25:
Here’s how it would work. Young people will know that between the ages of eighteen and twenty-five, the nation will enlist them for three months of civilian service. They’ll be asked to report for three months of basic civil defense training in their state or community, where they will learn what to do in the event of biochemical, nuclear or conventional attack; how to assist others in an evacuation; how to respond when a levee breaks or we’re hit by a natural disaster. These young people will be available to address their communities’ most pressing needs.
In fact, Obama and Biden ran on the idea of required community service for our youth:
Obama and Biden will set a goal that all middle and high school students do 50 hours of community service a year, and will establish a new tax credit that is worth $4,000 a year in exchange for 100 hours of public service a year.
I like the idea of a tax credit for public service, but I do not like the idea of mandatory service for our youth. Mandatory requirements do not ensure our youth will develop a sense of lifelong community service, and many churches and high schools already have such requirements for youth.
HR 1388 is currently on the Senate’s calendar. A cloture motion on the motion to proceed to the measure has been presented in Senate. Although I am in favor of community service, I am not in favor of mandatory service, as the GIVE act could take away our individual freedom. I am also concerned at what the goverment will deem service, like biochemical attack training mentioned in Emanuel’s book. What happens if a child does not complete their mandatory service requirement if the GIVE act passes and one is developed?
Image: USASearch.gov
The GIVE act does sound good – but it does cause concern as well.
I reacted to this as a single, low-income parent who is disabled and also has a chronic illness. I'm unable to work full-time and our family relies on the income from my daughters part-time job to make ends meet.
While a tax credit sounds nice, it wouldn't help pay the utility bill or buy groceries on a monthly basis. Even waiting for $4000 wouldn't be worth the hardship created while she was off completing her service…
I have to wonder if our young people would be given a choice in how and where they serve. Would they be able to tie service into their goals so that the time spent is relevant to their futures? When I started college at the age of 46, I arranged each and every work-study and internship opportunity to provide me with solid work experience in the field that I was pursuing. While I became ill just prior to finishing two years of college and I'm no longer able to work full-time, I am able to earn an average of $6 more per hour!
As a case manager and advocate for adults with disabilities, I have to wonder at the definition of "able young people". Will those with disabilities be excluded from service? And what about those teens who have been involved with the youth justice system? Who have alcohol or drug issues? Who have ties to their local gangs – or simply have issues with authority? If these young people are included, then what type of oversight and disclosure would be needed in order to ensure that the service given would be beneficial to everyone involved? And how will young parents be taken into consideration?
I appreciate your post Jennifer! Looks like it's time for me to contact my representatives and the White House with my concerns…
Your post title is blatantly false. The GIVE act provides much needed support for volunteer and nonprofit programs across America. There is no mandatory service requirement. The closest it comes is establishing a congressional committee to investigate the idea. Congressional committees research all sorts or things all the time. No where in the GIVE act is there a mandatory service requirement. The blogosphere is hysterical about a non-event, and trying to quash a good piece of legislation.
Naturally Interesting:
Your right, there is no mandatory service requirement – yet. This just paves the way for it. Re-read the article.
I for one, would like to do what I want with my life. I have volunteered at an animal shelter. I volunteer at a rest home. I was/am not paid for either and would like to keep it that way. When one is paid for volunteer work, it becomes employment. Cheep employment.
I should have proof-read. Forgive my misspellings.
Concerned Citizen:
It may be explained in the article, but that doesn't justify titling the article "HR 1388 “GIVE” Act Forces Mandatory Service Requirement on All Young Americans."
There is a wide gap between researching an idea and turning that idea into law.
Looks like I should have proofread too.
Have you seen what a person "volunteering under this act would be giving up? They would be giving up the right to vote, the freedom of religion, the freedom to protest, and so many more!
Naturally Interesting, I have to agree the original title of the article was misleading. I have amended it adding the word "could" to be more accurate. That being said, I don't want any legislation that even explores the option of mandatory service.
Do you think our "government" really knows the difference between the words "volunteer" and "mandatory"?
If this bill gets passed, do you think they'll rename this something like "Obama Youth"?…if we want to follow history that is. This bill would be abusing America's youth just like Hitler did before and during WWII. Some of the activities being described above are very similar to the Hitler Youth program.
I thought we were supposed to LEARN from history. Is OUR government really willing to take the same path?
Don't be fooled, this is something to be extremely concerned about. There is much disturbing activity happening in the Obama Administration which the mainstream media does not mention..
These video clips summarize many of the unsettling issues concerning the Administration, the information checks out..
This clip talks about who the people are who actually make the decisions and how the administration has been incredibly dishonest starting from day one:
http://newsofinterest.tv/video_pages_flash/obama_…
This clip talks about the real agendas of the administration, mentioning the HR 1388 as well..
http://newsofinterest.tv/video_pages_flash/obama_…
Obama clearly stated when he was campaigning that he wanted a civilian security force that every young person would be required to join. This is clearly the start of it.
This is totalitarian and dictatorial, just like Hitler's Youth programs.
Many Germans LOVED Hitler (and Stalin) at first and thought that he was doing the best things for his country. How many times does mankind have to be deceived by narcissistic creeps before we WAKE UP and realize that INDIVIDUAL FREEDOM & LIBERTY are not the "default" state of mankind. Tyrrany and slavery are the default states – if you want a better life you have to *work* your way to freedom and individual liberty.
Why has it become so hard for people to understand that these laws are the first incremental steps needed to put in place some truly draconian laws that none of us would agree with? They chip away, day after day they undermine, little by little. One day it's ALL going to come crashing down and we will fall into the cold, dark hands of pure totalitarian/fascist government that "WE" didn't see coming.
They are already talking about microchipping people (youtube what Joe Biden said to John Roberts). Today China, Russia and Kazakhstan are talking about a "One World Currency" and dropping the US Dollar. What happens when they drop the US Dollar? Poverty for us Americans, that's what happens.
And then we have to send our kids off to "Re-education Camps" for three years for mandatory "work". Are you kidding me?!
I was born and raised in a free world and I would love for it to stay that way. What has America gotten themselves into?
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill…
Search the bill for the word "mandatory". It appears twice. Once in regard to prohibiting mandatory religious instruction and once in regard to mandatory curriculum about service in civics classes or something like that.
The quote you give above is just a quote from another blog. STOP this stupid blogger circle jerk journalism and read the damn thing yourself for once!
this is great, if you think Hitler was great.add to that list names like Mao, Stalin, and soon,Obama. history shows us this is the textbook path to tyranny.
Who says I want my tax dollars spent paying "volunteer" workers?
Naturally Interesting,
This bill is being flamed in the blogosphere because it is the "foot in the door". You feel ok about it because it only talks about setting up a committee to talk about mandatory service. You think, you hope, that it stops there. It likely won't. Government typically does things incrementally, not all at once and not all up in your face.
they are going to inlist your kids to military this is what it is
what is so good about it
wake up you dummies
The sweet sounding words are so soothing and in the background I hear the BOOTS MARCHING. I see the American version of the Hitler Youth Squad. I am totally against this so called legislation passed from the executive branch to be rubber stamped by Congress. If they follow the model, these youth will, among their duties, be spying on neighbors, recording everything, as they VOLUNTEER for COMPULSORY service.
What if their parents didn't vote for Obama, will they be "retrained" to think "properly"?
Remember the days when our country was not concerned with globalism. We had industry,good wages, good values. Unless we wake up soon and take action– those days will merely be a memory. Express disapproval; be vocal.
Contact your representative and senators—unless–you believe COMPULSORY volunteerism is an American value.
The version that is on the Senate Calendar does not include Section 6104. I don't see any other language that says 1388 will force voluntary service on anyone.
I really like this bill more options to children need to be made available. Right now they would be stuck with ROTC which is fine but only a military option , they should add PEACE CORPS to this list of voluntary options. No where in this bill forces or mandates the public into service , it only set forth a investigation to look into mandatory service which may turn out to be bad or good. Let the science do its work and the proof be shown , but this bill set no mandatory service only voluntary of which I am in full support of.
The GIVE Act, if signed into law, will create a generation of sheep who will be taught not to protest or dissent against the state, and even to denounce their faith in God. Participation in any religious activty if strictly forbidden under GIVE, thus place placing churches, synagogues, and even mosques in jeopardy. This is completely against the Constitution as it prevents freedom of assembly and freedom of religion. Wake up, America! We are goosestepping into Communism and don't even realize it!
If kids join the ROTC it is because they CHOOSE to do so. Are you not getting it? This bill will FORCE youth to join some kind of program, the kids DON'T get to decide where they want to be once they're done being "trained"; the government will do that for them. As far as investigation goes, that is just the first step to being under total government control. You know they'll find some loophole to be able to start these programs in your area. And what does "investigation" really mean anyway? It's all starting to sound like a conspiracy.
I find it laughable that people compare Obama to a murderer like Hitler and say things like he's trampling the Constitution, etc. Were you in a pod for the last 8 years when Bush/Cheney made a mockery of the office and wrote memos/enacted laws that completely trampled the Constitution (Patriot Act anyone? don't mind me, I'm just listening in on all your conversations and conducting "random" searches because you fit the profile of what a terrorist may look like)? Geez, I'm an Independent/Centrist and I may as well be hugging a tree compared to some of you.
Stop mincing words. You can't have it both ways. Either there is liberty or tyranny. The article states' "I like the idea of a tax credit for public service, but I do not like the idea of mandatory service for our youth." Stop riding the fence. There should be no tax credits for any kind of service. You must understand that the giving of the tax credit defacto makes the service mandatory.
WAKE UP YOU SHEEP
Good Grief if the patriot act is so terrible then why did Obama vote to reauthorize it and won't repeal it? And Obama is copying Bush's financial bailout plans. You have to denounce both if you are going to attack the former.
This is right out of Obama's buddy Saul Alinsky's book Rules For Radicals.
It smacks of Marxism.
Unless of course you like boiled frogs.
No. No. No. There is something very wrong about compulsory "giving." I can't decide if it's like growing little acorns, or the Hitler Youth Programs or Big Brother indoctrination.
Something is wrong with this.
seems we are allowing history to repeat itself.Hitler blamed the Jews for Germanys problems,obama is blaming corporate America.Hitler implemented sweeping powers to control the government,and Obama is wanting new powers to control.Now we see how the youth of this nation will be required to serve the Homeland just as the youth of germany served the Fatherland…
This is how the Hitler Youth Corps and the SS started. Who will these people swear their loyality to, the Constitution, OR the President?
this is how hitler and stalen started , get them while thay are young. we have enough americans volunteering and when you do not have more this will become mandatory? you want to help this country then teach the children, house and senate more history, the more you know about the past the more you will understand the present and the effect on the future! of course this is what you do not want the young americans to know!
Is anyone else concerned that this was HITLERS Philosophy??? What's next?? Gas Chambers, and mandatory sterilization?
I see this bill raising some troubling questions:
1)Doesn’t the extension of this to middle school and high school children conflict with the idea of parental rights? The parent should ultimately decide what the child learns.
2)How can this requirement be reconciled with the rights of private (including home school) and parochial schools to be free from federal government intrusion?
3)Will volunteering with a faith-based organization be a violation of “separation of church and state”? For example, in my county one of the Boy Scout troops is sponsored by a religious organization, and one of the Adopt-a-Highway roadside cleanup stretches is kept clean by one of the local church youth groups. Would volunteering with either of these organizations count?
4)What about people (I’m not one of them) who believe strongly that they should have no involvement with government, either to benefit from government (welfare, unemployment benefits, etc) or to promote and assist government–it could be called conscientious objectorship. Will there be an opt-out possibility for religious or philosophical reasons?
5)What about people who give money rather than time? I’m not using this example to make myself look good, but my husband and I currently “pay” (give) $72 every month through Compassion International to feed, clothe, and educate a 13-year-old boy in India and a 17-year-old girl in Kenya. We have done this for as long as we have been married (21 years), always supporting at least one child, most often two. This represents 5.3 hours of work at my husband’s pre-tax pay rate, or 7.2 hours at mine. Would this count?
6)What about time spent in “non-official” volunteering? Again, not to call attention to myself, but my children and I just spent nineteen man-hours last week scrubbing down the apartment my mother-in-law will be moving into. Will planting trees count, but caring for one’s family and neighbors not matter?
This bill is also unnecessary. Americans already out-give and out-volunteer the entire world. While it may be argued that we have more money and therefore more responsibility, the fact is that every human has the same twenty four hours each and every day. And while we pretty much deal with our 9-11′s and Katrinas on our own, it is American boots on the ground everywhere there is a disaster, anywhere in the world.
In short, this bill was not about encouraging Americans to volunteer–we already do. This bill was about nibbling away at Americans’ freedoms bit by bit. The rallying cry of the American Revolution was “No taxation without representation.” Our Congress’s vote to tax our time fails to represent my views. It equals conscription, servitude, and enslavement. Ultimately, this bill is about silently forging fetters, link by silent link, around the wrists and ankles of Americans, until we wake up too late to be able to return to the limited federal government envisioned in our Declaration of Independence and our Constitution.
The bill does state it will be mandatory for everyone to volunteer. It is a bill that is going to take advantage of american citizens situations right now. You want a grant to go to school…ok but you have to do a minimum amount of hours service and work on recruiting more volunteers, you have to preach their teachings only. Im not okay with shipping my kids off to "volunteer". I myself am not going to lose 3 month of my life with my children and husband to do something I think is completely wrong. Your being drafted people WAKE UP! Your not being trained for careers, your being trained for WAR AND DISASTER. Slavery is now going to become legal again.
I just went over HR 1388 with a fine-toothed comb, and the initial quote “mandatory service requirement for all able young people” is not in the bill, and there is no Section 6104. So where are you getting this information, Ms. Lance? The bill is available, in its entirety, here: http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill…
Read it yourself. I did.
Eve
Fools… Compulsory service is the very next step once everyone is cozy with the idea. It is a progression, we have to be sold on the idea first and then it will morph to the next step…
Then what? We give "his" volunteers weapons, and the "man" will have a private army indoctrinated with his propaganda – to keep at bay the DOD when they fail to act on future unconstitutional orders… Do I live among a nation of fools?
Where is the discernment?
For those who think this is such a good bill, read what it says in SEC. 125.
This bill violates American citizen’s rights under the Constitution.
‘SEC. 125. PROHIBITED ACTIVITIES AND INELIGIBLE ORGANIZATIONS.
‘(a) Prohibited Activities- A participant in an approved national service position under this subtitle may not engage in the following activities:
‘(1) Attempting to influence legislation.
‘(2) Organizing or engaging in protests, petitions, boycotts, or strikes.
‘(3) Assisting, promoting, or deterring union organizing.
‘(4) Impairing existing contracts for services or collective bargaining agreements.
‘(5) Engaging in partisan political activities, or other activities designed to influence the outcome of an election to any public office.
‘(6) Participating in, or endorsing, events or activities that are likely to include advocacy for or against political parties, political platforms, political candidates, proposed legislation, or elected officials.
‘(7) Engaging in religious instruction, conducting worship services, providing instruction as part of a program that includes mandatory religious instruction or worship, constructing or operating facilities devoted to religious instruction or worship, maintaining facilities primarily or inherently devoted to religious instruction or worship, or engaging in any form of religious proselytization.
‘(8) Providing a direct benefit to–
‘(A) a business organized for profit;
‘(B) a labor organization;
‘(C) a partisan political organization;
‘(D) a nonprofit organization that fails to comply with the restrictions contained in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 except that nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent participants from engaging in advocacy activities undertaken at their own initiative; and
‘(E) an organization engaged in the religious activities described in paragraph (7), unless Corporation assistance is not used to support those religious activities.
‘(9) Conducting a voter registration drive or using Corporation funds to conduct a voter registration drive.
‘(10) Such other activities as the Corporation may prohibit.
‘(b) Ineligible Organizations- No assistance provided under this subtitle may be provided to the following types of organizations (including the participation of a participant in an approved national service position under this subtitle in activities conducted by such organizations) or to organizations that are co-located on the same premises as the following organizations:
‘(1) Organizations that provide or promote abortion services, including referral for such services.
President Obama and his administration scare me more and more each day. Life in America is changing before our very eyes, and we don't even notice . I'm afraid it will be too late when and if we wake up to the fact that our freedoms and God given rights have been disolved and we missed it. Suzanne
With all that is happening in this government, we are all doomed to SOCIALISM,NAZI tactics! If you study the past history of World War II with Germany and
Russia, They did the same thing as obama is doing to the U.S NOW! Hitler also had a "group" you could say
of young boys that was taught the Nazi way.they where not allowed to study religion and go to church.
They were made to study Mien Kamph Hitlers book
he wrote on how to live. Also thats all they where allowedto teach in school!Also his "Group" was also a "civil patrol" that would turn their own mother in for not following the "LAWS"!!
The U.S is in TROUBLE!!!!!
I have never volunteered, and do not intend to. That is my right. I may not be a very good citizen, but again it's my choice. If I want to fritter my life away in front of a moniter, playing video games all day, that is MY RIGHT. No one, least of all our incompetent government has any room to tell me or anyone else in this country how to live our lives.
My generation's future keeps getting brighter and brighter…
Stupid. Just a way to indoctinate a perfectly good U.S. citizen into a Communist America hater.
Get real ~ forget this article and read the Bill itself that has been passed by both Senate and Congress ~ yes, we are giving up our first admendment rights ~ at least Hitler's band really was volunteer . . . this IS mandatory!!!
This GIVE ACT is to brainwash our children by the communist group Acorn. Acorn is being investigated in fifteen states for corruption. WAKE UP AMERICA! WE ARE SINKING AND ONLY YOU CAN GET IT UP AGAIN.
I have to say this is about the biggest crock ever.
Oh sure…send your impression young children to the BrownShirtville, like lambs to the slaughter. People, this is not tree-planting for youth, it's indoctrination! It's not the governments job to do any of the things they starting to do. Stand up people before it's too late. It doesn't matter if you're Christian, atheist – Democrat or Republican…can't you see what is happening! The looters and the moochers are running amok, and trampling everything once held dear. They will have to get by us to get to our children!
Could there possibly be a more eloquent way for a government to tell its young: I own you? If this "GIVE" monstrosity passes, it will indeed be time for another revolution.
This is another step toward socialism – how do we protest this before it is passed?
You Hitler youth people are getting hysterical. C'mon, do you really think Obama is going to develop a program to brainwash children to commit genocide? Jeeze. Mandatory service – for anything – is not ever gonna fly in this country, but demonizing a really good idea that can help the country heal from 8 years of war crimes and neglect is just paranoid.
Mike, you just said what I've been waiting to hear from someone for 8 days. Thank you.
What paranoia? How many clues do you acquiescent sheep want? The government is preying on panic and class-envy…oh I see, but fighting greedy executives with greedy politicians is change we can believe in. By the time you realize you’re enslaved you’ll be disarmed, and the "paranoid" won’t be around to defend you anymore. Think…has the government ever had a good idea that worked? Good idea or not, it’s not the governments job to do this. Anyway, you got your wish, now we look toward defeating H.R 1444.
"Mandatory service – for anything – is not ever gonna fly in this country" – this sounds like something Chamberlain might have said around 1933! Read Obama, Frank Marshal Davis, Saul Alinsky, Rahm Emanuel, George Soros – and you may want to change that statement.