Title
CHEROKEE NATION GADUGI CORPS VOLUNTEER AND NATIONAL SERVICE ACT OF 2023
Body
Section 1. Title and Codification
This legislative act shall be titled and codified in Title 31, Chapter 5 of the Cherokee Nation Code Annotated as the "Cherokee Nation Gadugi Corps Volunteer and National Service Act of 2023" or alternatively the "Gadugi Corps Act."
Section 2. Findings
The Council of the Cherokee Nation finds that Cherokee Nation's ability to address some of its highest priority issues requires strong Cherokee communities, which in turn depends on empowered individual Cherokee Nation citizens engaging on these issues at the community level. The Council finds that existing efforts to strengthen Cherokee Nation communities, volunteerism and national service warrant expansion, more investment and stronger coordination. The Council finds that the Cherokee concept of "Gadugi"- the Cherokee word for "working together"- has been a central organizing principal of Cherokee Nation community life and must continue to be so if the Nation is to meet its potential. The Council acknowledges that the "Principal Chief's Executive Order Establishing the Gadugi Corps Task Force on Volunteer and National Service," (2023-CTH-03, August 17, 2023) at its resulting "Gadugi Corps Task Force Report" of October 10, 2023, is valuable in informing the Principal Chief and the Council's analysis of this subject. Based on the foregoing, the Council concludes that legislation is warranted to provide structure for, and to authorize funding for, a pilot program for volunteer and national service, designated herein as "Cherokee Nation Gadugi Corps" that terminates, absent reauthorization, at the end of fiscal year 2027.
Section 3. Purpose
The purpose of this Act is to provide an authorization for fiscal years 2024, 2025, 2026 and 2027, subject to further reauthorization by the Council, of a program for volu...
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