The National Service Congressional Caucus announced expanded bipartisan leadership in both the House of Representative and the Senate on Friday, March 17th. The caucus is a bipartisan group of legislators dedicated to raising awareness of national service and expanding service opportunities in America. Each of these leaders understand the game-changing role AmeriCorps plays in local communities, stemming from their own backgrounds, and see AmeriCorps as a common sense, nonpartisan solution that should be expanded and strengthened.
In the Senate, co-chairs Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) and Bill Cassidy (R-LA) are joined by new vice chairs, Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) and Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-NM). Heinrich is the first AmeriCorps alum to serve in the U.S. Senate, and in 2011 was recognized by Voices for National Service with the Outstanding New Member Award at the Friends of National Service, for first-term members of Congress who worked to elevate service as a federal legislative priority. Senator Capito was just named the ranking member on the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies (Labor-HHS) Appropriations Subcommittee, and received Voices’ Congressional Service Award in 2020 for remarkable commitment to national service as a strategy to solve local and national challenges.
In the House, Representative Garret Graves (R-LA) stepped up to co-chair the caucus with Rep. Doris Matsui (D-CA) after the retirement of caucus co-founder David Price. Graves, who also received the Outstanding New Member Award in 2016, is the spouse of an AmeriCorps alum and has been committed to expanding opportunities for national service through policy.
The caucus was established in 2004 by Representatives Christopher Shays (R-CT), David Price (D-NC), Tom Osborne (R-NE), and Harold Ford (D-TN). Senator Thad Cochran (R-MS) and Christopher Dodd (D-CT) created a companion caucus in the U.S. Senate in 2008.
For a full list of Caucus members, click here. If your representatives are not listed, please encourage them to join this important group of national service champions.
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