NATIONAL SERVICE CORPS

THURSDAY, JUNE 13, 1963

U.S. SENATE,

SUBCOMMITTEE ON THE NATIONAL SERVICE CORPS

OF THE COMMITTEE ON LABOR AND PUBLIC WELFARE,

Washington, D.C. The subcommittee met at 10 a.m., pursuant to call, in room 1318, Senate Office Building, Senator Harrison A. Williams, Jr. (chairman of the subcommittee), presiding.

Present: Senators Williams (presiding) and Pell.

Also subcommittee staff members present: Frederick R. Blackwell, counsel; Harry Wilkinson, associate counsel; Woodruff Price, research assistant; George Denison, minority associate counsel; and Robert Locke, minority research assistant.

Senator WILLIAMS. Gentlemen, we are most pleased you can be with us this morning.

Father Vizzard has been before this committee on many other occasions and on similarly humane work.

Monsignor O'Rourke, we are pleased to have you here.
Will you proceed, Father?

STATEMENT OF REV. JAMES L. VIZZARD, S.J., NATIONAL CATHOLIC RURAL LIFE CONFERENCE; ACCOMPANIED BY MSGR. EDWARD W. O'ROURKE, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Reverend VIZZARD. I brought Monsignor O'Rourke to the witness table with me because he can be helpful in answering any questions you may have. He has more specific and detailed experience in the field than I have myself, so you may wish to direct some questions to Monsignor O'Rourke after my statement.

If I may preface my remarks before getting to the subject of the hearing, this is the first opportunity I have had to thank you, and to congratulate you personally and publicly on the dedicated work which this week resulted in the passage by the Senate of six of your bills for the benefit of migratory farmworkers and their families.

As you know so very well, Senator Williams, for many years many of us representing religious and other voluntary groups have fought the battle for justice and decency for our citizen migrants, but it has been only with the emergence of your leadership that our combined efforts have become effective.

If these six bills and the others which you are proposing should be approved by both bodies and become law, this Nation will no longer need to blush with shame at the neglect and gross injustices which we have allowed to be visited upon our fellow citizens in the migratory

labor force. These poor people, who are benefiting by your interest and action, have no voice to speak for themselves. So I presume to thank you in their name.

Senator WILLIAMS. We appreciate that very much.

Reverend VIZZARD. Mr. Chairman, my statement this morning on the National Service Corps is based largely, but not solely, on a draft of a policy statement which I have prepared for the consideration of the board of directors of the National Catholic Rural Life Conference which is to meet here in Washington next Tuesday, June 18. I have every reason to believe that the conference will adopt the proposed statement substantially without change.

I believe that the idea of the National Service Corps stemmed at least in part from the success of the overseas Peace Corps. Members of this subcommittee know that when the Peace Corps was first proposed it was considered by some to be an idealistic dream that would soon turn into a nightmare.

The fact is that the Corps is now proclaimed an outstanding success, even by many of those who first opposed the idea. Volunteers by the thousands young men and women, and a few not so youngare living and working in hundreds of cities, villages, and rural areas of the world, bringing help and hope to countless "small" people who had been trapped in age-old poverty and misery.

If nothing else, the Peace Corps resoundingly proved the readiness and capacity of the young and youthful-spirited of this country to give generously of themselves in the service of people in need. It is now felt that this same generous spirit should be challenged by the urgent needs of millions of our own fellow citizens, particularly migrant workers and those trapped in depressed rural areas.

The National Catholic Rural Life Conference believes it to be most important that, as made clear in the wording of the proposed legislation for the National Service Corps, volunteers would not and should not come into a community as unwanted intruders. Neither would their activities compete with or supplant programs of aid already conducted by local charitable and welfare organizations. A Service Corps project would be undertaken only at the invitation of the responsible authorities of the local community, and would be carried out in cooperation with the established agencies, both public and private.

The tasks to which National Service Corps volunteers could be assigned in helping migrants are almost endless, and all of them are urgent. The corpsmen, for example, could help expand educational services and opportunities for the children of migrant families. The children moving from school to school, profit little from what instructions they receive because of desperately uneven educational histories, language barriers and ill health. Corpsmen would help by tutoring, by seeking out the children and getting them to the proper classes, and by keeping records on the children as they move on. Corpsmen could also conduct night classes for adults in the migrant labor camps. Instruction could be given in many basic subjects, such as the English language, American culture, child care, home management, nutrition, and good health practices.

Corpsmen might work in guidance programs for young people who should be encouraged to complete their high school education and go

on to college. In many areas, funds are available for scholarships, but the young migrants have little opportunity or motivation to apply for them.

Although many communities now furnish health services for migrant workers, doctor and patient do not always get together. Corpsmen would inform the migrants of health programs, clinic schedules, and the importance of taking advantage of immunization programs.

In fact, in some communities there are welfare services which the migrants simply do not know about. Corpsmen could perform a vital function just by sending the workers and their families to agencies which have resources to help them.

Corpsmen could also work on housing conditions in the camps. They could conduct self-help sessions in cleaning and painting, work on improving sanitary facilities. Another element missing from the migrant labor camp is a proper facility for recreation. Corpsmen could build children's playgrounds at the camps and organize adult recreation programs. They could man day-care centers for children. while the parents are working.

In every project involving migrant workers and their families, one of the most important jobs for corpsmen would be to bridge the gap between the migrants and the communities the workers pass through.

Mutual distrust and misunderstanding between the two groups often lead to the community's lack of interest in improving the migrants' condition. By encouraging the migrants to carry out self-improvement projects and by encouraging local residents to sponsor youth clubs, recreation projects, and other joint programs, the corpsmen could bring residents and migrants closer together in a new realization of the whole community's needs.

The tasks outlined for National Service Corpsmen in migrant labor camps, as well as in other areas of need, are difficult ones; the jobs lack the glamour of Peace Corps assignments in foreign lands. Yet these jobs must be done. Satisfying the needs of these desperately poor people would be a most direct answer to the demands of justice and love. In modern America there are hardly any other such clear opportunities to fulfill Christ's injunction to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and comfort the afflicted.

There is one specific recommendation I would like to make on the use of certain National Service Corps volunteers:

I suggest that one of the ways in which the Corps could serve most effectively would be to train a certain number of volunteers so that they have expert knowledge of

(1) the programs and funds already available to meet some of the needs of these people;

(2) the techniques for developing projects which will merit and receive support under these programs; and

(3) methods for identifying and developing local leadership and of mobilizing community efforts in such projects.

The reasoning behind this proposal is as follows: State and Federal legislation, most of it recent, has created a number of valuable tools which are waiting to be used to the benefit of migratory workers and other U.S. citizens on the bottom most rung of the socio-economic ladder. But many of these tools lie unused or inadequately used because at the community and grassroots level, where ultimately action must

take place, there is little awareness of the availability of the tools or confusion and dismay at their very number and complexity. In the absence of local knowledge and initiative, Washington-based administrators with good programs and adequate funds can do little or nothing.

My proposal, then, is that a certain number of National Service Corps volunteers, after thorough briefing and training in the above three areas, be sent into the communities and among the peoples where they can inform, interpret, and serve as catalysts and coordinators for both individual and community improvement under legislative programs already in existence. In fulfilling this role the volunteers will almost certainly discover that not every needed tool has been provided and through experience will be able to make recommendations to the appropriate legislative and administrative bodies.

Finally, Mr. Chairman and members of the subcommittee, I would like to emphasize the benefits which will accrue not only to the desperately poor people who need the help of the National Service Corps, but also to the volunteers themselves, to the communities in which they will be working, to the volunteer agencies already active in the field, and to the Nation itself.

A suitable program can publicize and dramatize needs that may often be unknown to most Americans. Many have no personal knowledge of the sufferings of migrants, slum dwellers, and the lonely aged, to cite a few examples. National publicity given to these conditions can invigorate local programs of help.

Many students of youth problems feel that our youth suffers from the lack of challenge. Our current culture gives youth very little opportunity to sacrifice for principles. The opportunity of selfless personal service can help build character and may sharply cut delinquency and antisocial behavior stemming from purposeless existence.

Retired persons, and parents whose children are grown, often feel a psychological gap in their lives. Their talents and good will could be used in personal service for the victims of our society. This would contribute mature experience to the program and also benefit those whose lives would be enriched by opportunities to help those less fortunate.

To achieve these aims, it is sufficient that the Federal program be primarily a catalyst. It should be small in scope, but excellent in quality. It should serve mainly as a demonstration of need and of means to meet this need. The assumption would be that voluntary agencies on a community level would ultimately reap the benefits of the national program, as publicity and example stimulate local pro

grams.

A word of caution should be added. It is not likely that volunteers can be trained in a short time to do the work of professional teachers, nurses, social workers, and so forth. Nor should these volunteers generally be expected to assist professionals by doing merely routine clerical work, filing, and the like. We need creative imagination to come up with projects that are both useful and easily learned. Hence considerable emphasis should be given to projects in which prime contribution is the personal interest of the giver. For example, in working with persons demoralized by racial discrimination, slum living, or illiteracy, volunteers can help build a sense of personal dig

nity and worth which is the essential foundation for any solid program of rehabilitation.

Since existing programs of this nature are often conducted by religious groups, a formula should be found to work within this framework. The furnishing of volunteers to be assigned by local community agencies may be an appropriate formula, since most community welfare projects include voluntary agencies of all types, including religiously oriented groups. The community can normally handle such projects within existing patterns of cooperation, thus avoiding delicate church-state issues or the possibility of charges of religious favoritism.

If the National Service Corps were to be conceived as a means for restoring traditional American values of neighborly concern for the afflicted, it could lead to a sharp moral upsurge within our community. It would not only meet serious needs in our affluent society, but it would change the tone and direction of that society. The positive implications of such a trend, both in terms of national morale and American world leadership, are almost limitless. It is our hope that these high goals will dominate all thinking and planning in the program.

I am sure it will be of interest to the subcommittee to know that the National Service Corps proposal has won strong support from many other Catholic organizations besides the National Catholic Rural Life Conference. Among those of whom I have record, support has been expressed by the National Catholic Welfare Conference, the National Conference of Catholic Charities, the Bishops' Committee for Migrant Workers, the Bishops' Committee for the Spanish Speaking, the National Council of Catholic Men, the National Council of Catholic Women, and the National Federation of Catholic College Students.

Thank you.

Senator WILLIAMS. That is an excellent statement, Father. It is very helpful to our subcommittee and will, of course, be helpful to the full Senate.

The closing paragraph listing the other groups within the Catholic Church who support this legislation is impressive, indeed. This idea of a National Service Corps is not new, but legislation was only introduced April 11. To have the organizations that you listed so soon in the fray with us is impressive and lends great weight to our effort.

You have been very helpful in specific terms of techniques and programs that the volunteers could undertake in rural America, particularly where we have the transients, the migratory farm families, who are far from assimilated by the communities where they temporarily live, and indeed, not assimilated at all in many cases.

Now we have the health service bill now for them, and we have the six bills that you referred to which passed the Senate. We are very earnestly hoping we will have better luck in the House this year than we had last year, but these programs-education, health, and others could be ideally adopted by the volunteers.

You have given a lot of support to these ideas.

Reverend VIZZARD. Mr. Chairman, if I may suggest, there are two specific techniques by which I think that the National Service Corpsmen could be of particular help to migrant or seasonal labor. One

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