Timothy Roemer: “Gen. Colin Powell says, ``AmeriCorps is doing a lot of good things around this country. They are leveraging other…”

“Gen. Colin Powell says, ``AmeriCorps is doing a lot of good things around this country. They are leveraging other volunteers who come in to work with AmeriCorps.'' Gov. William Weld, a Republican from Massachusetts, and I quote, ``Every taxpayer dollar we spend on AmeriCorps comes back threefold when we add up the value of your innovative ideas, your physical labor and all the skills you bring to the workforce when you finish your education. It is one of the most intelligent uses of taxpayer dollars ever.'' Ever. Now, I think that is where the mainstream of the country is. Support programs that insist on personal responsibility, that leverage dollars, that help our young people afford education and build better communities. This is a program, AmeriCorps, that I strongly support. I hope that we can work in a bipartisan way to support both AmeriCorps and our gulf veterans. I do not think that we should try to pit these programs against one another.”