Great news!  We have just added TEN new co-sponsors to our bill in the House!  H.R. 2102 now has the co-sponsorship of the following ten Representatives:

Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (TX)
Rep. Lloyd Doggett (TX)
Rep. Al Green (TX)
Rep. Howard Berman (CA)
Rep. Sanford Bishop (GA)
Rep. Madeleine Bordallo (Guam)
Rep. Chaka Fattah (PA)
Rep. Leonard Boswell (IA)
Rep. Mazie Hirono (HI)
Rep. Keith Ellison (MN)

Please join us in welcoming them and now take a moment to ring up your own Representative or Senator’s office and ask for their support as well.

Starting today, you will notice that your favorite scripted TV shows have something in common: characters that are doing community service projects as part of the normal storylines.  The Entertainment Industry Foundation, the philanthropic organization of the entertainment industry, is supporting the cause of volunteerism and community service with a campaign called iParticipate.  Starting today, iParticipate will be present on all major broadcast networks for the entire week.  According to their website, “EIF has enlisted major broadcast networks including, ABC, CBS, FOX and NBC, for an unprecedented, week-long television event beginning Monday, October 19. Tune in to seven days and nights of television and watch how your favorite TV shows and personalities shine a light on the power of community service.”

Shining the spotlight on community service through entertainment is brilliant product placement.  Since so many shows are about teachers (”Glee”), cops (”CSI”), firefighters (”Rescue Me”), EMTs (”Trauma”), municipal employees (”Parks and Recreation”) and even doctors treating emergency cases (”Grey’s Anatomy”), the inclusion of community service storylines is seamless and influential.  And even more interesting to me, is that most of the characters in shows like “Glee,” “CSI,” Rescue Me,” and “Trauma” are all PUBLIC SERVICE careers.  Teachers, cops, EMTs, and city employees are all public servants, people who work for our local, county, state and federal government agencies making sure we are educated and safe and that there is access to services for all.

Volunteering in your communities is part of being a responsible citizen.  We must support those who are doing the career work at the public service level.  The next obvious step is to continue to attract the best and brightest to public service careers by creating the US Public Service Academy.  If all goes as planned with the iParticipate initiative, even more citizens will be attracted to public service, not just as volunteers.  Our actors, singers, musicians and entertainers are doing their jobs by inspiring us to volunteer.  Let’s show them one bigger by building the Academy to train those who want to plays these roles in real life.

Yesterday, President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama both highlighted the need for Americans to participate in community service, mainly by being volunteers.  Today, the President continued this message by visiting the 1,000 Points of Light Foundation in Texas, the volunteer organization started by President George H.W. Bush 20 years ago.  This administration has definitely supported the call to service, most notably with the passage of The Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act which provides funding for volunteer programs across the country.  It is an incredible program and we are proud to be endorsed by Service Nation who organized the effort for the bill’s passage.

Now, however, it is time to focus on the next obvious piece of the public service puzzle and that is leadership.  Without rigorously trained leaders, how will we channel all the man-power in our volunteer armies?  Where will these leaders come from?  Certainly not from business schools, or engineering programs, or art schools.  No, they need to come from the US Public Service Academy which will train them in the specifics of public service work, also known as local, state and federal government agencies.  And by creating a school that educates them for four years and requires them to “give back” by serving in a public sector job for five years, it is highly likely that these Academy graduates become career public service leaders, not just volunteers.  We need both ends of the spectrum to solve the crises facing our country, and now is the time to train the leaders by creating the Academy.