The Promise of Service - Obama Signs Serve America Act

[Boomerang Diddle]

President Barack Obama takes a critical step toward changing the way we take action in America by signing the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act today. Two years ago, the Center for American Progress called for service to be focused on priority problems and populations in its “National Service Agenda.” This groundbreaking legislation does both. It also provides a new way for the federal government to leverage private-sector social innovation, and it paves the way for the Corporation for National and Community Service to fulfill its potential as a “Small Business Administration” for the nonprofit sector.

---

Service learning has been a longtime interest of Senator Edward M. Kennedy, whose unfailing leadership and exemplary staff made this bill a reality. It is fitting, and in keeping with the bipartisanship behind the effort, that Senator Hatch should propose to name the bill for him. In his honor, it’s time to fund the new act and move quickly to unlock the promise of service to be a part of our national recovery and our new way forward as a nation.

The Promise of Service Obama Signs Serve America Act Today