If you had to pick just one policy idea that New Democrats have most distinctively promoted over the years, it's probably national service, a practical concept that nicely combines our keystone values of opportunity, responsibility and community. Much of the recent debate on national service can be traced back to the DLC's publication of a book entitled Citizenship and National Service in 1988. The first serious national service proposal was introduced in 1989 by then-DLC Chairman Sen. Sam Nunn, and future DLC Chairman Rep. Dave McCurdy. And most obviously, the country's existing national service program, AmeriCorps, was the signature initiative of New Democrat President (and former DLC Chairman) Bill Clinton.

Tomorrow, in the U.S. Senate, current DLC Chairman Sen. Evan Bayh will join with Republican Sen. John McCain to launch the next stage in the national service movement. Their "Call to Service Act" would create a truly national commitment to service by expanding AmeriCorps to 250,000 participants -- with homeland security becoming a major focus -- while creating a new "citizen soldier" form of service through a short-term military enlistment option.

Bayh and McCain are introducing this legislation to spur a serious debate in Washington on national service as an integral part of America's war against terrorism. They intend to push for its enactment early next year. In the House, companion legislation is being sponsored by New Democrat Rep. Harold Ford, Jr. and Republican Rep. Tom Osborne.

The AmeriCorps expansion would help the country cope with the massive new responsibilities associated with homeland defense, from emergency response, to public health, to non-military security staffing -- all of which will tax the resources of existing federal, state and local governments. In effect, AmeriCorps can become a vehicle for mobilizing civil society in the homeland defense effort.

The legislation will also strengthen existing community service initiatives in four ways: (1) by funding a "challenge grant" program aimed at leveraging private investment in community service; (2) by experimenting with national service "vouchers" that will provide post-service educational benefits to volunteers outside the ambit of AmeriCorps; (3) by creating greater opportunities for service by senior citizens; and (4) by pushing for a bigger commitment to community service in the college Work-Study program.

The "citizen-soldier" service program would create a new, non-career track for enlistment in the armed services. Citizen-soldiers would primarily serve in non-combat positions at home, and in peacekeeping missions abroad. The initiative is based on an "18-18-18" concept: eighteen months of active military duty, followed by eighteen months of reserve duty, with participants receiving an $18,000 post-service award. Aside from helping the armed services meet their recruitment goals, the citizen-soldier track would create a much broader pool of citizens with basic military training that could be called upon in future national emergencies.

Finally, the legislation significantly increases the post-service educational benefits for military personal through the Montgomery GI Bill, reflecting the importance of attracting a larger number of college-bound enlistees.

Overall, the goal of the Call to Service Act is to make national service once again a rite of passage for most young Americans, and a living symbol of the mutual responsibility that citizens owe to their country and to each other across geographic, ethnic, socio-economic, and generational lines.

Most of all, the legislation is intended by its sponsors to act upon the upsurge in patriotic sentiment and the national craving to do something tangible for the country in the wake of the September 11 attacks and their aftermath.

In an op-ed appearing in today's New York Times, Bayh and McCain put the matter directly: "Americans ... are eager for ways to serve at home and abroad. Government should make it easier for them to do so."

With the Call to Service Act, the national service movement should command a new level of support from Republicans, from ideological conservatives, and from champions of strong national defense. Indeed, conservatives who used to deride AmeriCorps as a feel-good program of make-work projects should begin to understand the critical role that national service can play in meeting the real-world demands of homeland defense and military recruitment in times of war.

Americans have abundantly displayed a willingness to "give something back" in the weeks since September 11. It's time for America to call them to service.

Blueprint Keywords: Extra National Service