Bush sets high bar for service initiatives

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By Valerie Richardson

'08 ISSUES:

When it comes to national service and volunteerism, President Bush will be a tough act to follow.

After the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Mr. Bush launched the most ambitious agenda of government-sponsored service initiatives since the Franklin D. Roosevelt administration. He created the USA Freedom Corps and Volunteers for Prosperity. He resurrected the Citizen Corps. He started a church-state partnership with the Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives. He expanded the Peace Corps and AmeriCorps.

The Bush administration also began counting the number of Americans active in volunteer efforts, starting in the months after Sept. 11. In the first year after the terrorist attacks, 59.8 million Americans volunteered. By 2005, despite predictions that volunteerism would wane as memories of the tragic day became more distant, that number had grown to 65.4 million.

It´s likely that Mr. Bush´s legacy of service will continue under a McCain or Obama administration, albeit with a few twists.

"What´s encouraging is that both Senator McCain and Senator Obama have indicated they will continue the USA Freedom Corps and the faith-based initiative," said John Bridgeland, chief executive officer of Civic Enterprises, who served as the Bush administration's first director of the USA Freedom Corps. "It's one of the few things they both agree on."

John McCain's national service proposal calls for "renewing America's civic purpose" with a Service for America initiative, which would bolster "the teaching and understanding of American history, culture and core ideas."

The initiative would boost volunteerism by increasing service opportunities, convening summits aimed at helping people foster ideas, focusing on "urgent situations" such as the high school dropout rate, and boosting opportunities for service overseas.

A Vietnam veteran, Mr. McCain also has called for more service opportunities for veterans and seniors. Returning veterans would be reintegrated into society through civilian service opportunities. Retirees would find more volunteer opportunities as a result of expansions to SeniorCorps.

Mr. McCain, Arizona Republican, also wants to launch a grant program aimed at making competitive grants available to states and private partnerships working with at-risk high school students. The Corporation for National and Community Service would recognize up to 20 schools each year as "Campuses of Service."