[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 69 (Wednesday, May 6, 2009)]
[House]
[Pages H5274-H5275]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               OBSERVING PUBLIC SERVICE RECOGNITION WEEK

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Sarbanes) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. SARBANES. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to salute Public Service 
Recognition Week. This is a wonderful opportunity for us to recognize 
the contributions that so many who have gone into public service make. 
Whether it be government service or whether it be volunteering for 
nonprofits, serving in the Service Corps, working for a 501(c)(3) 
organization, there are so many ways that people across this country 
can commit themselves to public service. And it is important that we 
take a few moments out of the hectic demands of our day and our year to 
recognize the people that make these contributions.
  I had a unique opportunity before I came to Congress to serve in the 
public sector and the private sector at the same time. I worked as a 
lawyer representing health care providers in my private sector 
position. But I also had the chance for 8 years to work with the State 
Department of Education in Maryland. And I did this simultaneously. So 
every day, I had the opportunity to go between the private sector and 
the public sector and to come to understand the perceptions and 
perspectives that each has of the other.
  One of the things I was glad to be able to report to my colleagues in 
the private sector was that I had come to see the dedication, the hard 
work, the experience and the know-how, and just the pure smarts of 
people that serve in the public sector, who commit themselves to public 
service. It was a true inspiration for me to see that day in and day 
out. Then I came here to the Congress and had the opportunity in the 
first couple of years to serve on the Oversight and Government Reform 
Committee and on the subcommittee that deals with the Federal 
workforce. So every time we had a hearing, we would have panels of 
witnesses, of people, yes, the higher-up folks in these Federal 
agencies, but often the rank-and-file, who could testify as to what 
they were doing, their commitment and their dedication. And I want to 
salute the members of the Federal workforce for what they do day in and 
day out.
  We couldn't be living in a more important time, a more exciting time, 
when it comes to public service. And President Obama has issued a call 
for public service, and people are responding to that across the 
country. The most immediate opportunity that we have seen was with the 
passage last week of a new Service Corps bill, Serve America. Senator 
Kennedy on the Senate side was very involved with this, George Miller 
here in the House and many others. It upgrades the capacity of 
AmeriCorps and other Service Corps programs, increases the number of 
opportunities that are going to exist, and it creates new dedicated 
Service Corps programs. So on this week of recognizing public service, 
we ought to salute Members of this House and Members of the Senate and 
the President of the United States for putting that bill into place and 
for providing those opportunities.
  It is so critical right now to encourage the next generation to come 
into public service. And there are many ways that we can do this. One 
is to talk about the very good benefits and opportunities that exist, 
particularly in the Federal workforce. And I tell that story every day 
to try to encourage people to make that decision. Secondly, we have 
strengthened the loan

[[Page H5275]]

forgiveness opportunities that are available to people. I was pleased 
to be able to author, in the last session, the Education for Public 
Service Act, which now says that if you commit 10 years to public 
service, defined as government service or nonprofit service, during 
that 10-year period, you get reduced monthly payments on your Federal 
loans or federally guaranteed loan, and at the end of 10 years of 
public service, you get whatever is still owed forgiven. What a 
tremendous opportunity for people who want to go into public service 
and want to stay in public service. So that is another thing we can do 
to bring people in. A third thing is to increase flexibility in the 
workplace. I'm glad to have worked with many in the House to lead an 
effort on promoting telework within our Federal agencies to signal to 
people that we are willing to be flexible and work with those who are 
looking for these kinds of kind of job opportunities. That is another 
way to pull people in.
  But the most important way is to emphasize the cutting-edge 
opportunities that exist in public service. I went to the Partnership 
For Public Service luncheon today, and the people they saluted and gave 
awards to, including Tim Evans from my district, from Owings Mills in 
Maryland, who works at the Social Security Administration and has 
helped to upgrade the capacity of the Web site that serves 
beneficiaries, these are people who are on the cutting edge and 
providing cutting-edge services. And they are an example of the 
innovation that you can bring into the public service workplace. And so 
I want to salute all of those people that make that contribution every 
day and celebrate with others in this Chamber Public Service 
Recognition Week.

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