"Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country."
It was more than 47 years ago that President Kennedy spoke those words and challenged an entire nation to put service above self. You've no doubt heard those words repeated time and again, but simply repeating them does not guarantee they are carried out.
Today, I joined my friend Senator Orrin Hatch in renewing the spirit of service in our great nation. We're introducing the "Serve America Act," a broad new bipartisan bill to expand service opportunities for all Americans and encourage a new generation of our people to take part in something larger than themselves.
Democrats and Republicans may disagree on many issues, but we all share a common faith in the extraordinary potential of the American people to volunteer their time and energy to help those in need.
Millions of Americans are ready, willing and able to serve their communities, but don't know where to start.
This new legislation will help them tap their extraordinary potential for service, and enable them to make a very real difference for our country.
In this spirit, the non-profit organization ServiceNation is sponsoring a National Day of Action on September 27th, in which thousands of communities across the country will host service events. People from all walks of life will come together to clean up neighborhoods, mentor children in need, raise funds for medical research, and much, much more.
Visit the ServiceNation website and sign up to take part in this important effort: http://www.democraticmajority.org/service
The Serve America Act builds on America's long tradition of service. It will encourage Americans of all ages to take part in volunteer opportunities that address the full range of these challenges facing our communities. It will create five new "corps" of volunteers to work in the areas of education, poverty, international service, disaster relief, and green energy.
It will also provide incentives for businesses that give paid leave to employees who perform full-time service, and it will promote and fund community service programs such as City Year, which has done so much good for the city of Boston.
Please show your support for a new spirit of service in our country.
Sign up to participate in the September 27th Day of Action: http://www.democraticmajority.org/service
The American people have shown again and again that they can rise to new challenges with amazing selflessness and resolve.
The Serve America Act will build on this great tradition and launch a new era of service for America.
I hope very much that you'll join me in this effort.
Sincerely,
Senator Edward M. Kennedy
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