A New American Patriotism: A New Call to Service

General Wesley K. Clark
New York, NY
October 14, 2003

My name is Wes Clark and I'm running for President.

I'd like to thank Thomas Anderson and Chevonne James for that wonderful introduction.

It is an honor to be here at Hunter College -- in a theater dedicated by Franklin Delano Roosevelt -- at an institution of higher learning that counts among its missions not only teaching and research, but also service to this city, the country, and the world.

I'm here today to talk about how we can call millions more Americans to serve, but before I do, let me just say that this campaign has already been an incredible experience.

We've only been at this for four weeks, and already I have seen an outpouring of support unlike anything I've ever seen before.

Just arriving in New York, I saw people with flags and banners, celebrating, flooding the streets with a sense of excitement and anticipation. I commented on this to a local representative, and he said, "Wes, they're Yankees fans."

Extraordinary Times/A New American Patriotism

Today, America faces serious challenges. Our country has endured the deadliest external attack in its history. We feel our security threatened here at home for the first time since the Cuban Missile Crisis. America has lost over three million jobs for the first time since Herbert Hoover.

Meeting these challenges of our time demands three things: new leadership, new ideas, and a new spirit of patriotism.

Already, I've released a plan to jump start the economy and create jobs. In the following weeks, I will be laying out some of those new ideas - including the steps we can take to strengthen our economy, to reduce the unconscionably high number of Americans who go without health insurance, and to make our nation - and our world - more secure.

In the face of new and growing challenges, we need to call on A New American Patriotism - from our leaders and our citizens. A New American Patriotism calls that makes the right choices for all of our people. That unites our country and works with the world community. That calls all Americans to make the commitments and sacrifices to meet these historic challenges.

As I travel across this country, I see a new spirit of patriotism in the American people. I see it in the Americans who speak their minds, demand more of their leaders, and serve their country.

This patriotism recognizes that democracy demands discussion, disagreement, and dissent. There is a nothing more American - nothing more patriotic -- than speaking out, questioning authority, and holding your leaders accountable.

This patriotism is born of a love of country, and renewed through service - service in the armed forces and service in our communities; volunteer service and paid service; full-time service and part-time service.

This New American Patriotism recognizes that it's not enough to say you're an American; you have to live it - with action, deed and commitment.

It recognizes that we as Americans owe our strength to certain values and principles - liberty, equality, and the freedom to debate - and it calls on our willingness to sacrifice for those principles.

So today, I want to offer a new call to service - a Civilian Reserve that will reinvigorate America's ethic of service, tap our vast reservoir of skill, generosity, and energy, and call millions more Americans to duty.

In the aftermath of the attacks of September 11th, people were asking what they could do help their country. Here in New York, people lined up to give blood until the blood banks said "no more."

Across America, people donated supplies and work clothes and money - many of them destined for people they had never met, in places they had never visited.

Americans did all of this and wanted to do more. In that moment, there was so much the President could have called on America to do.

Instead, George W. Bush asked us to accept a massive tax cut for the wealthy. One Republican leader in Congress even went so far as to claim it was our patriotic duty to support the tax cut.

And many of those in power acted as if patriotism belonged to one party - challenging and attacking those who questioned the Administration's policies. It's a shame that all of his lofty words about citizen service have been just that: words.

Months went by after 9/11 before president Bush announced in his State of the Union Address that he had heard these pleas and would provide new opportunities to serve by expanding AmeriCorps by 50 percent. But he failed to follow through, and in fact the number of people serving in AmeriCorps has been cut by 50 percent.

This is worse than doing nothing, for it hardens the American public's cynicism towards government and robs us of opportunity to make real headway against our problems.

Under this Administration, service is for those who cannot afford to be served... and patriotism is defined as the many sacrificing for the few.

I believe differently. I believe that the call to service is the highest calling any American can answer -- that your time and talent and energy are the greatest gifts you can give your country. That service to your country is patriotism.

That was the belief that led me to West Point the year after John F. Kennedy admonished us to ask not what our country could do for us, but what we could do for our country. I found the answer to that question in wearing my country's uniform.

In Vietnam, I was hit by four rounds and came home on a stretcher. When others left the army, I stayed in. We lived in 31 places, had 20 jobs, and joked that we're always on the road - and it wasn't the road to riches.

As for the pay, we called it "genteel poverty." We were always struggling to save $100 - $200 a month. We kept clothes longer, drove the car farther, put up with the cranky vacuum cleaner a few years more.

But it was so fulfilling. For me, there was no greater honor - no way to be nearer to the heart of what mattered in America -- than to be serving and protecting the country.

And while I wore my country's uniform proudly for 34 years, I never once believed that those of us who put on a uniform had a monopoly on service, or were the only ones worthy of being called patriots.

We see patriotic service all around our country every day. We see it in our soldiers serving in harm's way in places like Afghanistan, Iraq, Kosovo, and the Korean Peninsula.

But we also see it in people who work every day to strengthen the fabric of America - the police and firefighters who serve and protect us here at home ... the nurses who care for our sick and elderly ... the workers who make our government run ... and the teachers with whom we trust our future, our children.

In this hall today, there are people who -- without regard for public recognition or personal reward - have given of themselves to help other Americans. I want to take a moment and recognize a couple of them.

Hilary Zacroff is here. Hillary has logged hundreds of hours doing everything from helping non-profits figure out their computer systems to helping a fourth grade boy figure out arithmetic.

We've also got Meghan Moloney with us today. Recently, Meghan began working with a group of fourth graders to improve their reading skills and pass the city's reading evaluation tests.

It's the spirit of people like Hillary and Meghan that energizes America. Both of them do their service as part of organization called New York Cares. It's run by Ariel Zwang, and I want to recognize her as well.

New York Cares has entered an agreement with the city of New York to pair ordinary volunteers with first responders in the event of a serious emergency. And we should all thank them.

I'd like to recognize Robe Imbriano as well. Robe owns his own production company and has dedicated his creative energy to telling the stories of people that are seldom seen on network television - of Native Americans, teenagers from America's inner-cities, and those who've been subject to racial discrimination.

By telling these stories, Robe is helping more people respect the diversity that strengthens America.

And Charles Best is here. He's a teacher at Wings Academy, and founded DonorsChoose.org, a website that matches up New York City public school teachers who have exciting, innovative projects with donors who can fund them.

To date, donors in all fifty states have funded 1,600 teacher proposals. By the way - Charles is only 26 years old. Kind of makes me feel like an underachiever. Charles, I want to thank you and recognize the students you brought with you, who not only benefit from Donors Choose, but also help run it.

And these people are not alone. Last year, 59 million Americans did volunteer work. That number tells you all you need to know: We are a great nation because we are a good people.

But in this new world, with the challenges we face at home and abroad, we need a new way to serve. We know by tragic experience that terror and devastation, natural or man made, can happen without warning. In the 21st century, we have learned that many of the most serious conflicts are not between countries -- but within them -- as governments fail to meet popular needs and force becomes the arbiter of disputes.

And even today, we are vitally engaged in Afghanistan, Iraq, Columbia, and so many other states where governments are struggling to emerge ... or survive ... as they deal with internal challenge.

In the 21st Century, heavy demands will be placed on America and Americans -- but we're going to rise to meet them.

The terrorists who brought down the World Trade Center and hit the Pentagon thought they could rock the foundation of our economy, and strike a blow to the symbol of our strength.

They didn't understand that the foundation isn't concrete and steel - it's people like you.

They didn't understand that the measure of America's strength does not rest in our military arsenal.

They didn't understand that the real measure of America's strength is our people.

They didn't understand that freedom and democracy - and our commitment to each other - makes us stronger.

We know that our strength rests in our families and communities.

We know that our strength lies in our commitment to freedom and equality.

We know that our strength lies in a vibrant national debate - an open, honest discussion of the issues, where everyone has right to disagree.

And above all, we know that our diversity is our greatest strength.

Today, all across America, we are capitalizing on those strengths. And many of our leaders have put forth innovative proposals to help more Americans serve.

That's why I have endorsed a bipartisan proposal made by Senators Bayh, McCain, and Kennedy to increase the number of "active duty" volunteers in America today. This will be accomplished by dramatically scaling up AmeriCorps - more than tripling the number of Americans who would serve full-time in non-profit organizations.

I have also endorsed these Senators' bipartisan efforts to broaden the Senior Corps, expand the Peace Corps, enhance the service component of college work-study programs, and bring a new generation of citizen soldiers into the military through a short-term enlistment option.

The Civilian Service

But, as important as these steps are, it's not enough. It leaves us short of what we need to bring a new generation into public service and to meet the uncertainty and challenges of the 21st Century. That is why today I am proposing a bold new vision for national service.

My approach will create new opportunities to serve. It will tap the skills, energy, and ingenuity of ordinary Americans in times of need, while greatly expanding the opportunities to serve year round. We'll call this a "Civilian Reserve" to mobilize all Americans in times of pressing need. We'll ask for volunteers. We'll match their talents with the needs of the day.

There will be times in the future when this country faces extraordinary challenges - from natural disasters we can predict, to national disasters we can't.

In times like those, we see a tremendous desire on the part of Americans to volunteer, but we have no way of organizing their efforts, tapping their talents, and utilizing them where they are most needed.

A "Civilian Reserve" will do all of this -- and more.

I have a huge amount of respect for America's first responders, like firefighters and police, and in my economic plan I would increase funding to support and train them.

But in times of emergency, first responders should not have to be the only responders.

The American people have a huge variety of tools and talents that can also be brought to bear - from foreign language speakers, to welders, to microbiologists. Often, those skills are as needed as the immediate lifesaving ones.

Therefore, to form this Civilian Reserve, I will challenge every American to be prepared to serve their country in times of need.

Here's how it would work: Every American age 18 or over will have the opportunity to register for the civilian reserve. If you register, you'll be asked to list your abilities and the types of service that interest you.

By registering, you commit that those skills can be called on at any time - domestically or internationally -- for the next five years. Every five years thereafter, you will be given the opportunity to re-register.

Should something happen during your five-year commitment that demands your skills, you can be offered the opportunity to serve for a period of up to six months.

Your service could be here in the United States, in the aftermath of an earthquake, a forest fire or a severe storm. Or you could also serve in distant lands, where the struggle for social justice and equality demands our immediate aid. As a village struggles to overcome isolation and hardship, a tribe works to preserve its ancestral territory, or a nation tries to piece together a government of laws.

You could be biologist, a truck driver, or an accountant. Under this program, you'll be offered the opportunity to get involved when your skill set is needed, working with professional staff, lending your talents to the task at hand, making a difference.

For example, members of the Civilian Reserves could be deployed to help to fight forest fires.

Members of the Civilian Reserves could also aid overseas in response to our ambassador's calls for assistance in helping nations deal with environmental disasters, political and legal development, and economic growth.

The Civilian Reserves would provide a basis for marshaling and coordinating their efforts.

The Civilian Reserves would work in partnership with the professional first responders as well as other non-profit and non-governmental organizations.

Under my plan, the President will have the power to call up to 5,000 civilian reservists by Executive Order, and with an act of Congress, would be authorized to mobilize even more.

Members would be offered the opportunity to serve as the need for their skills arose. And the call to serve would, in almost all cases, be voluntary. For the most part, Civilian Reserve members could choose whether or not to accept the call to action.

Under circumstances of grave national emergency, the president would have the authority to issue a mandatory call-up. But this would be exceedingly rare.

Still, if called, this service will not necessarily be easy.

Those who serve may be asked to give up to six months of their lives. In return, they will receive health care, a stipend, and the same rights accorded all our national guardsmen and women - the right to return to their jobs when their service is done.

This bold plan would not create a big, new government bureaucracy. Rather, it would use technology to register the skills of those who volunteer to serve, working largely through existing organizations, and stand ready to demonstrate what we all know: In the American people there exists the spirit and the talents necessary to meet any challenge.

And by organizing the Reserve in advance, my proposal will improve efficiency and potentially save money by reducing the inevitable duplication, waste, and delay that plague ad hoc responses to crises.

I will ask for this service with the full knowledge that at some point people may be called to give up the comfort and routine of their daily lives.

But it is time for more Americans to find satisfaction in sharing service.

This Civilian Reserve will complement and build upon the standing army of service that already exists in this country. The volunteers who are working to combat the persistent problems in our society. The volunteers who work with children needing mentors and tutors ... seniors needing dedicated care ... schools needing renovation ... and parks and trails needing repair.

And most importantly, the Civilian Reserves gives Americans the opportunity to volunteer now. To begin to step forward and accept the responsibilities, the duties, and the joy of the New American Patriotism.

Conclusion

When I was considering running for President, I talked to friends. I talked to my family. I also visited my minister - and his advice touched me deeply. He told me, "the right job for you is where the world's deepest need meets your heart's greatest gladness." My heart's greatest gladness has always been in answering the call, and I hope that millions more Americans will find their heart's greatest gladness in serving their country as well.

I am running for President of the United States because I want to see this century, the 21st Century, be another American Century. For that to happen we must return to the values and principles that have always made us great - democracy, opportunity, responsibility -- and shared sacrifice for our country.

This "Civilian Reserve" will be a powerful representation of A New American Patriotism. A spirit that that goes beyond waving the flag and guarding our borders. A spirit that celebrates America, by doing that which is distinctly American - standing ready to serve our nation and our fellow citizens.

The Civil Reserve is a gateway -- an entry port into a new world of public service opportunities. Imagine the skills and talents of millions of Americans who've volunteered, and offered to us, the possible gift of their services. And imagine that gift multiplied 10, a 100, or a 1000 times. These are the gifts that we could bring to our country and our world. They need only a spark of courage to begin.

We are going to bring this country new leadership, and when we do, we are going to usher in a new era of service and sacrifice. As Dr. Martin Luther King said, "Everybody can be great because anybody can serve ... You don't have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace, a soul generated by love."

King's vision is what the New American Patriotism is all about. It's about tapping into the power of our ideals and the generosity of our service. We must give back to this country the same way we have given to our children - the same way our immigrants built this land. By collective responsibility and sacrifice. New American Patriotism is about bringing renewed life to Dr. King's dream, to those here at home, those abroad, and to future generations.

Thank you all very much.