AmeriCorps - Member Pledge

Member Pledge

The following pledge is taken by AmeriCorps members, who promise to uphold the duties of their position, and reads as follows:

I will get things done for America - to make our people safer, smarter, and healthier.

I will bring Americans together to strengthen our communities.

Faced with apathy, I will take action.

Faced with conflict, I will seek common ground.

Faced with adversity, I will persevere.

I will carry this commitment with me this year and beyond.

I am an AmeriCorps member, and I will get things done.

The 2002 Citizen Service Act (HR 4854), introduced by Representatives Pete Hoekstra (R-MI) and Tim Roemer (D-IN) on May 24, 2002, would have added references to God and the Constitution to the pledge. AmeriCorps members would be called upon to "support and defend the Constitution of the United States...without any mental reservation...So help me God."

Those who supported changing the pledge argued that taking the new pledge would be voluntary for AmeriCorps members, and that it was similar to the pledge taken by all federal employees. However, the proposal stirred an outcry among current and former participants in the federally supported community service organization, who argued that the proposed pledge was divisive, "militaristic and religious," and might deter recruitment.

Although the Citizen Service Act was approved by both the Subcommittee on Special Education and the Committee on Education and the Workforce in June 2002, the House of Representatives took no further action on the Measure, and the pledge remains unchanged.