30 



years shopping this legislation around to multiple parties and we 

 feel very comfortable with the language as it is. Thank you very 

 much. 



[The statement of Mr. Houck can be found at the end of the hear- 

 ing.] 



Ms. FURSE. Thank you and all your written testimony will be in- 

 troduced in full into the record. 



Mr. Reggie Archie is with the East Bay Conservation Corps. Wel- 

 come, and we look forward to your testimony 



STATEMENT OF REGGIE ARCHIE, EAST BAY CONSERVATION 



CORPS 



Mr. Archie. Thank you much, Ms. Chair. I am going to try to 

 take this in a little different direction. There have been readings 

 all morning. I am here to paint a picture of what the passage of 

 the bill, H.R. 4289, means to the urban lower income areas. 



Throughout its history, the East Bay Conservation Corps has al- 

 ways aimed to foster strong positive directions in urban work with- 

 in these communities. Youth Corps are extremely well suited to 

 working on large service projects such as urban creek restorations 

 which require energetic teams of workers. 



By focusing on high need urban areas, the Waterways Restora- 

 tion Act will enable the East Bay Conservation Corps and local 

 corps and many other local conservation service corps to extend 

 more crews and youth and young adults to work in their commu- 

 nities and, thus, strengthen the social and economic fiber of the 

 overlooked neighborhoods. This placing a high priority on accom- 

 plishing projects in low-income and ethnic minority communities 

 ensures a powerful focus on environmental justice, a focus which 

 we firmly endorse. 



All right. The passage of the bill would allow us to directly re- 

 cruit from these areas. What this means is, one, it is jobs. We just 

 recently finished off a project on Vicente Creek where there were 

 6,000 Corps member hours and 2,000 volunteer hours involved. So 

 we are looking at probably 40 percent of our population gaining 

 from this bill. By passing this bill, we are gaining, in terms of hir- 

 ing potential, workers from these areas. 



There is a lot of education that is involved in any creek restora- 

 tion as well as bringing the community together. Some of the edu- 

 cation that is involved around creek restoration is the building of 

 crib walls, rock structures, going in and revegetating these areas, 

 learning about native plants and creating habitats. Some of the 

 better points that I have gained in the nine years I have been at 

 the Corps is the involvement that it brings in the community. 



By giving us a chance to go in and not only be a fix in the situa- 

 tion that is happening today, but to now give the youth something 

 to do besides selling drugs, now we can put a tool in their hand. 

 We can put a stick in their hand and say go plant this thing, and 

 in terms of seeing that happening, you find that the communities, 

 themselves, automatically want to join in and take a hand and take 

 over the communities. 



On these creeks, as well as when we go in and recruit from these 

 neighborhoods, you automatically get a situation where you build — 

 where people in the community go back and water these trees and 



