Press Releases

Higher Education and Workforce Development Subcommittee Chairman Burgess Owens (R-UT) today chaired a hearing titled, "Examining the Policies and Priorities of AmeriCorps and Its FY 2024 Audit Failure," and offered the following statement, as prepared for delivery:

"It is truly a great honor to be entrusted with ensuring taxpayer dollars are used efficiently and effectively. With that honor comes serious responsibility: if we are going to ask taxpayers to dole out more of their hard-earned money, we better be sure it is worth it.  
 
"Unfortunately, AmeriCorps has a long history of abusing taxpayer dollars. AmeriCorps is entrusted with over $1 billion of taxpayer funds every year, with the result of failure of eight consecutive audits. In 2023, the AmeriCorps Inspector General issued a 'Management Challenges' report detailing significant challenges AmeriCorps faces. This includes being unable to detect fraud. We have no real idea when AmeriCorps will be able to have a clean audit again. In fact, this year’s audit includes 78 recommendations still open, even after AmeriCorps said it addressed 20 last year.
 
"Normally, this would give folks pause—if a bank failed eight consecutive audits and was unable to detect fraud, would you still want to give it your money? Apparently, the answer from Democrats is yes. Democrats want to expand this agency and increase its budget by $80 million more in taxpayer funds despite its long-standing record of financial failure. The Biden-Harris administration has also been routing its radical climate agenda through AmeriCorps funding. In September 2023, President Biden announced its 'American Climate Corps' (ACC) initiative, which uses AmeriCorps dollars—taxpayer dollars—to achieve so-called 'environmental justice.'
 
"It makes no sense to expand this agency or give it more money when it continuously fails to meet basic accountability standards. Every time its representatives come before this Committee, AmeriCorps assures us that they will implement reforms, and year after year nothing changes. We can tell AmeriCorps to modernize and reform until we are blue in the face, but nothing will change unless we recognize the system is built on a flawed idea. It is time to admit that this is a failed program that needs a complete overhaul or elimination. It should be on DOGE’s chopping block.
 
"I recognize that many of AmeriCorps’ programs are well-intentioned, but this doesn’t outweigh its significant problems. Too often this program has been a drain on taxpayer funds—with fewer and fewer results to show it is worth the cost. Our country is known for its robust civil institutions. AmeriCorps aside, the U.S. is often ranked as the most generous country in the world when it comes to money donated and time given to charity. Americans don’t need federal bureaucrats telling them to do what they already naturally do. We also don’t need a federal program to do what the private sector accomplishes at half the price.

"Bottom line, AmeriCorps’ long history of being unable to manage the resources entrusted to it with any sense of accuracy or fiscal accountability is shameful. I look forward to shedding additional light and issuing a sense of accountability.

"Before I recognize the Ranking Member for an opening statement, I wanted to take a few moments to recognize our Chairwoman. 
 
"I was fortunate to play 40 years ago with the Raiders where they used to win football games all the time. And there was a culture that was developed by our owner Al Davis, it was a culture that no matter where you came from you were proud to step on the field and give everything you can to make sure you were a good member of that team. I must say I have been very proud to experience that again.
 
"What Dr. Foxx has done for this Committee is first of all highlight it as a national security issue and we need to make sure that we are presenting the very best in the world in terms of our young people. And she has done that. 
 
"To say that we have now a Committee that is ranked as a priority to our Conference, along with China and the Budget, there’s Education and the Workforce.
 
"I can’t say enough about the honor to have had a chance to serve with Dr. Foxx.
 
"The good thing is she is not leaving us, her legacy will continue here on the Hill, but I just wanted to take a few minutes to say thank you so much."

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