Parting Blow: Official Questions AmeriCorps

In the latest blow to the beleaguered AmeriCorps national service program, the departing head of the organization under President Bush has raised questions about whether such a program should exist.

The comments by Leslie Lenkowsky, chief executive of AmeriCorps' parent, the Corporation for National and Community Service, provided ammunition to congressional critics, who are seeking to deny $100 million that it needs to prevent losses of 40 percent of its 50,000 slots for the year. Bush had called for increasing enrollment by 50 percent.

The remarks by Lenkowsky, who is leaving this month after a stormy tenure, were made in an interview with the Wall Street Journal's editorial page. The Journal quoted Lenkowsky calling AmeriCorps "another cumbersome, unpredictable government bureaucracy." The Journal said Lenkowsky asked: "Even if [AmeriCorps] is well run, do we really need it? That's a good question."

The remarks, appearing Wednesday, provoked consternation within the administration. Lenkowsky later issued an e-mail to his staff saying the editorial, opposing AmeriCorps, "does not reflect either my views or those of the administration. . . . These programs are extremely valuable to communities and to the people who serve, and they are a worthwhile investment of government funds."

AmeriCorps spokesman Sandy Scott said Lenkowsky's "words were taken out of context" and pointed to other remarks by Lenkowsky this week praising AmeriCorps.

AmeriCorps, a favorite program of Bill Clinton that was embraced by Bush as an emblem of his "compassionate conservatism," faces a budget shortfall brought about by a series of accounting problems that led the program to enroll too many participants. The Senate passed legislation giving AmeriCorps an additional $100 million this year as part of an emergency spending measure, but the House passed the measure without the AmeriCorps funds before it recessed last week.

Senate officials said yesterday that the Senate, confronted with the dilemma of passing the House legislation or leaving town without passing the emergency spending bill, will accept the House legislation without the AmeriCorps funding. That means the next chance for AmeriCorps to get the additional funds would likely be in the 2004 spending bills, which Congress will take up in the fall.

"I've heard the White House supports it, but I've not seen any effort that they've been making," said Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), an advocate of national service programs.

Without the $100 million, AmeriCorps will not be able to fill 20,000 of its 50,000 volunteer slots this year. A dozen groups that participate in AmeriCorps last week pleaded for Bush to intervene, saying their services will be "devastated" by the cuts and the 2004 spending bill "will be too late to prevent AmeriCorps programs, services and membership from collapsing."

"There are literally programs closing every week now," Alan Khazei, chief executive of AmeriCorps participant City Year, said yesterday. Without new funds in the fall, he said, "10 years of work is going to go down the drain. We still have faith that the president still believes in this program and will come up with an answer."

Bush has not made recent public appeals for lawmakers to approve the funding, though spokesmen for the administration said he continues to support AmeriCorps.