Washington, DC - At a press conference on Capitol Hill, Senators Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) and Arlen Specter (R-PA) and Representatives James Moran (D-VA) and Chris Shays (R-CT) today joined with public service leaders, educators and students to call for the creation of a U.S. Public Service Academy. The U.S. Public Service Academy Act (The PSA Act) will establish an undergraduate academy designed to cultivate a new generation of young leaders dedicated to public service. Modeled after the military service academies, the Public Service Academy will provide a four-year, federally-subsidized college education for more than 5,000 students a year in exchange for a five year commitment to public service following graduation.

"We face big challenges as a nation that will require an active leadership and citizenry. I have no doubt that Americans are ready, willing, and able to answer the call and that is exactly what this Academy would demonstrate every single day. The United States Public Service Academy will tap into the renewed sense of patriotism and civic obligation among our young people. I am proud to work with my colleagues from both sides of the aisle and both chambers of Congress to make this idea a reality," said Senator Clinton.

"I am pleased to cosponsor legislation to establish a U.S. Public Service Academy," Senator Specter said. "The academy would develop leaders with a strong foundation in civics and provide the country with a generation dedicated to public service."

"The U.S. Public Service Academy will be the premier training ground for the next generation of public servants. Our public sector faces a brain drain with the impending retirement of the Baby Boom generation. Based on the success of the U.S. military academies, we believe this institution will help close that gap, providing the foundation for the civil service leaders of tomorrow," said Representative Moran.

"We need a 'West Point' of public service, to encourage more young Americans to commit to a career in public service and the build the skills necessary to provide successful leadership in the public sector," Representative Shays said, who service as Co-Chair of the National Service Caucus. "I am so excited to work with Senators Clinton and Specter and Representative Moran to build bipartisan support for this powerful idea."

"The Academy is an historic opportunity to build an institution that will change the way young people perceive, prepare for, and pursue public service," said Chris Myers Asch, architect of Public Service Academy concept.

The National Center for Education Statistics estimates that more than two million teachers will be needed in classrooms across the country in the next decade. At the same time, more than 80 percent of the nation's 17,000 law enforcement agencies report that they cannot fill needed positions due to a lack of qualified candidates. Graduates of the Public Service Academy will help to fill these vacancies by serving their county for five years after graduation in areas such as civil service, the public sector, and other needed fields.

A recent study by the Higher Education Research Institute found that more than two-thirds of a college freshman class expressed a desire to serve others, though the rising cost of college tuition is a barrier to choosing a career in public service. The Public Service Academy will allow such students the opportunity to go to college and tap into the strong desire to serve that already exists among college students.

Prospective applicants to the Academy will follow a nomination process similar to that used for admission to the military academies where each senator and representative nominates candidates from their state for consideration.

Senators Clinton and Specter are joined in sponsoring the bill by Senators Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), Joseph Biden (D-DE), Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Edward Kennedy (D-MA), Mary Landrieu (D-LA) and Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX). Representative Moran and Shays are joined in sponsoring the House version of the bill by Danny K. Davis (D-IL), Tom Davis (R-VA), Diana DeGette (D-CO), Lloyd Doggett (D-TX), Sam Farr (D-CA), Charles Gonzales (D-TX), Al Green (D-TX), Gene Green (D-TX), Ruben Hinojosa (D-TX), Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-TX), Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX), Nick Lampson (D-TX), John Lewis (D-GA), Doris Matsui (D-CA), Jim McDermott (D-WA), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), Solomon Ortiz (D-TX), and Bennie Thompson (D-MS). The PSA Act was first introduced in both the Senate and the House of Representatives during the 109th Congress.

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