A group of national service champions, representing current and former executives in nonprofits and government, have outlined a Call to National Service for the next president and congress. Their plan proposes the creation of a National Service American Dream Account which would invest $5,000 upon the birth of every child in the United States. That investment could be increased by parents and relatives, and would grow for tax-free withdrawal, after the child in question reached age eighteen and served one year of national service.

[Update 22 February 2008: the Obama plan is outlined in full on the site. Barack Obama's Plan for Universal Voluntary Public Service.]

In a 5 December 2007 speech in Mount Vernon, Iowa, Senator Barack Obama outlined an ambitious plan for a voluntary national service plan. Building on many of the existing programs, and proposing several new ones, Obama's plan follows the outline of a series of volunteer programs proposed by Chris Dodd in June.

As a nonprofit booster, I am pleased by the emphasis on nonprofit organization and their social innovations. I wish Senator Obama made his plan mandatory in some way, but see the coherence of this call for voluntary effort and his own campaign.

Below are excerpts of Obama's speech with the specific proposals.

Chris Dodd's web site includes a full description of his new national service plan to be announced formally in New Hampshire on Saturday. The Dodd American Community Initiative does not mandate service for young adults, though it does call for significant expansion of the voluntary service programs offered today and the creation of new programs. It's an ambitious approach, with something for everyone. Here are the main points:

• Promote the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNS) to Cabinet Status.
• Mandate School-Based Service as a Requirement for High School Graduation.
• Double the Size of the Peace Corps by 2011 and Again by 2050.
• Dramatically Increase the Number of AmeriCorps Members to 1,000,000 and Immediately Raise the Amount of the Education Award.

I prepared the following 30-second question for the two Democratic candidates who have expressed an active interest in national service. It has been submitted to the CNN-Youtube Debates.

This is a call to those who support strengthening our national service programs, whether by expanding volunteer programs (ServeNext, AmeriCorps, Learn and Serve America, Senior Corps, and Peace Corps) creating a national service academy (U.S. Public Service Academy), or instituting mandatory national service (Everyone Serves). There is broad interest and support for this cause as evidenced by the writings from voices on the right and left.

The problem, as I see it, is that there is also a vocal opposition to these ideas. That opposition has posted most of the comments on this site. I welcome passion, but want to see that both sides are heard. I will stipulate that the Libertarians will never support the ideas on this site. But many Libertarians would also reject income tax, pollution regulations, and a slew of other policies that most of us see as helping to maintain the society.

So if you think that our country should strengthen its national service programs, share your voice. Many of the dissenting voices on this site choose to post anonymously. You can do so as well. Please show the vocal opposition that there is also a corps of support. Make a comment on this post, or most of the other pieces on this site. I welcome your participation.

Senator Chris Dodd, a returned Peace Corps volunteer, plans to announce his national service plan on his web site in a national town hall meeting at 5:00 pm EDT on Wednesday 20 June 2007. Dodd's site, in a request to other returned Peace Corps volunteers, notes (emphasis mine):

Chris Dodd knows that to meet today's challenges at home and abroad we must fully engage the talents of all Americans. That's why Chris Dodd is working on a national universal service plan that once again asks all of us to be part of something larger than ourselves. Chris Dodd needs your voice and vision to make this plan the best it can be.

This looks promising for the Everyone Serves campaign. We'll see what Dodd outlines on Wednesday, but "national universal service plan" sounds something like what we are looking for.

I've posted links to some related organizations and resources on the new Related Resources page.

There you will find links to Charles Rangel's announcement for his national service bill, [full text: H.R. 393]; an op-ed piece by Gary L. Yates of the California Wellness Foundation; and links to related organizations Olympic Institute for Leadership Development, ServeNext, and U.S. Public Service Academy.

Visit and learn. Please suggest additional resources in the comments.

Mike Hermes of Okiedoke posts Three steps to solve the immigration problem, along with many others in which he suggests that mandatory national service might serve to provide a path to citizenship for people who have entered the country illegally. He makes some good points, noting:

That’s right; I said everyone. In order to get the benefits of being an American citizen, each person would be required to serve their country in some fashion. This might include working in a hospital, a park, a prison, a school, a library, a charity, etc. And of course, military service would count too.

When completed, a person, and any of their dependents too young, or otherwise unable to complete their service, would be eligible to receive the many benefits of American citizenship.

Some of the blog-based discussion on John Edwards's recent support for mandatory service have confused it with support for a military draft. A comment by Elizabeth Edwards on the Daily Kos offers clarification:

In his Tuesday column, [A Human Capital Agenda for Times subscribers] David Brooks argues that the Republican candidates for president should lay out a bold plan for the nation (similar to President Bush's 1999 call for compassionate conservatism). Though I cannot say I agree with much of Brooks's politics, I do agree with his inclusion of national service as one of the elements of his proposed human capital agenda. He notes:

It [the human capital agenda] means increasing child tax credits to reduce economic stress on young families. It means encouraging marriage, the best educational institution we have. It means a national service program, so young people can experience the world.