Congress Moves Ahead on Obama Plan to Massively Expand National Service

Quotes from random famous people who believe in volunteering and community service: 

We make a living by what we do, but we make a life by what we give -- Winston Churchill

The miracle is this - the more we share, the more we have -- Dr. Spock (Star Trek doctor, not baby doctor, aka Leonard Nimoy)

No matter how big and powerful government gets, and the many services it provides, it can never take the place of volunteers -- Ronald Reagan 

Everyone can be great because anyone can serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't even have to make your subject and your verb agree to serve... You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love... -- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

This week was a great one for national service, one of the cornerstones of the young Administration of President Barack Obama and a top priority for the First Lady. The U.S. House of Representatives yesterday -- by a rare, massively bipartisan vote -- passed the GIVE Act (Generations Invigorating Volunteerism and Education) sponsored by U.S. Rep. George Miller. There were a few dissenters who opposed the legislation, arguing that the bill would hurt groups like the Boy Scouts because the volunteers under the legislation would be paid. The horror: boosting the economy, helping kids pay for college and helping others. 

Don't worry: a Senate Committee this week reviewed a similar bill in that chamber sponsored by U.S. Sens. Ted Kennedy and Orrin Hatch. The bill has a much simpler name -- the Serve America Act -- and is expected to pass easily early next week.

According to the New York Times:

The House voted Wednesday to approve the largest expansion of government-sponsored service programs since President John F. Kennedy first called for the creation of a national community service corps in 1963.

The legislation, which passed by an overwhelming bipartisan vote of 321 to 105, would more than triple the number of service positions by expanding Americorps and creating volunteer programs focused on education, health care, clean energy and veterans. The total number of positions would grow to 250,000 from 75,000 now in AmeriCorps.

Earlier this month, I wrote about the plan to introduce the bill and the story of how Michelle Obama made it all happen. On Tuesday of this week, the FLOTUS was at a rally on the National Mall to celebrate the 30th anniversary of YouthBuild, a public serviice organization.

National service is near and dear to us here at NDN. Morley Winograd and Mike Hais, NDN's two newest Fellows and authors of the critically acclaimed Milllennial Makeover: MySpace, YouTube & the Future of American Politics, have done extensive research on the values and outlooks of Millennials, the largest U.S. generation ever.

Unlike the preceding idealist generations, the Baby Boomers and Gen Xers, Millennials are a civic generation. As Morley and Mike wrote in December 2008 in "Reinforcing Obama's Millennial Army:"

According to Harvard University’s Institute of Politics, almost 60 percent of Millennials are “personally interested in engaging in some form of public service to help the country.” The ethos of service among Millennials is strongly supported regardless of gender or party affiliation. While many of those surveyed see public service as working for government, or even running for office, there is no reason to channel the generation’s enthusiasm solely into these more politically oriented activities. Instead, the incoming Obama Administration should create an entity to help Millennials find ways to rebuild all of America’s civic institutions.

It's no coincidence that Millennials voted for Obama by a more than 2:1 margin. Now it's payback time and Obama's making good.

Morley and Mike are actually in DC today to celebrate the launch of the new, updated paperback version of their critically acclaimed book. During the forum we held here at NDN, they were asked about Millinnials and national service.

As Morley and Mike have said and written before:

Millennials are of an archetype labeled "civic" by the seminal generational theorists William Strauss and Neil Howe. Like all other civic generations throughout American history, Millennials are defined by their strong desire to advance the welfare of the entire group and, by extension, all of society. The willingness of Millennials to help make things better was reflected in their enthusiastic reaction to Obama’s call during the campaign for a program aimed at young people that would help them pay for college in exchange for two years of public service, either in the military or one of the federal civilian service organizations. While the financial concerns of a generation heavily burdened by educational debt may have partially accounted for the loud applause this idea always generated, there is far more to it than self-interest.