Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., may be away from the Senate fighting a brain tumor. But he and his friend, Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, teamed up anyway Friday to introduce a bill seeking to spend $5 billion to vastly expand national service programs.
"Sen. Kennedy called me," Hatch said Friday, noting that he "wanted me to know that when I made the announcement ... it was to be the 'Kennedy-Hatch' legislation and not the other way around" to ensure top billing.
(...) Hatch said he and Kennedy had long discussed the bill as a way "to marry two formerly competing visions of service," the full-time national service programs such as the Peace Corps and AmeriCorps pushed by Presidents Kennedy and Clinton, and less structured volunteering through charities pushed by Presidents Reagan and George H.W. Bush.
He said he hopes the bill will help again "ignite the spirit that 9/11 evoked in each of us. I am honored to reach across the aisle and join hands yet again with my good friend for the last 32 years, Ted Kennedy ... to provide more Americans more opportunities to sever each other and the country they love."
"Sen. Kennedy called me," Hatch said Friday, noting that he "wanted me to know that when I made the announcement ... it was to be the 'Kennedy-Hatch' legislation and not the other way around" to ensure top billing.
(...) Hatch said he and Kennedy had long discussed the bill as a way "to marry two formerly competing visions of service," the full-time national service programs such as the Peace Corps and AmeriCorps pushed by Presidents Kennedy and Clinton, and less structured volunteering through charities pushed by Presidents Reagan and George H.W. Bush.
He said he hopes the bill will help again "ignite the spirit that 9/11 evoked in each of us. I am honored to reach across the aisle and join hands yet again with my good friend for the last 32 years, Ted Kennedy ... to provide more Americans more opportunities to sever each other and the country they love."
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