President Barack Obama has a new column in Time magazine this week entitled "A New Era of Service" where he explains that through service, he found that his story fit into the larger American story.
We encourage you to read the entire column here and learn more about the GIVE Act here.
In this spirit, Congress is now poised to send me bipartisan legislation — the Serve America and GIVE Acts — that, if passed, will usher in a new era of service in this new century.
This legislation will help connect people at all stages of life with opportunities to serve. It will establish an army of 250,000 Americans a year who are willing to serve part time or full time working to meet our most pressing challenges, from modernizing our schools to building homes for those in need. And this legislation will provide new support for social entrepreneurship, identifying and nurturing promising new service programs around the country.
Members of Congress from across the political spectrum — from Senators Orrin Hatch and Mike Enzi and Representative Howard (Buck) McKeon to Senators Ted Kennedy and Barbara Mikulski and Representative George Miller — have pledged their support for this legislation. I urge Congress to follow their lead and move quickly to pass it so that I can sign it into law. And I pledge that my Administration will also do its part to help more Americans serve their communities. At this time of economic crisis, when so many people are in need of help, this work could not be more urgent.
We encourage you to read the entire column here and learn more about the GIVE Act here.
