[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 33, Number 31 (Monday, August 4, 1997)]
[Pages 1131-1132]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
The President's Radio Address

July 26, 1997

    Good morning. I am pleased to be joined here at the White House by 
the young men of American Legion Boys Nation, an outstanding youth 
organization that has inspired thousands of young people, including me, 
to serve our country by serving in our communities.
    I want to talk with you today about what we must do to make citizen 
service a part of every American's life for his or her entire lifetime. 
As I said at the Presidents' service summit in Philadelphia this past 
April, the era of big Government may be over, but big challenges remain 
for America, and they require an era of big citizenship, an era with new 
partnerships between Government and business and labor, between wealthy, 
middle class, and poor Americans, between cities, suburbs, and rural 
areas and across all racial lines. At the Presidents' service summit, 
thousands of Americans pledged their commitment to service. As we 
prepare to go forward into a new century, every one of us must join them 
so that we can meet our challenges and come together as one America.
    For the past 4\1/2\ years, my administration has worked to give 
every American a chance to serve. We want to spark a renewed sense of 
obligation, a new sense of duty, and a new season of service all across 
our Nation.
    Of everything we've done to meet that challenge, I am proudest of 
AmeriCorps, our national service organization that has helped more than 
70,000 young Americans all over the country to earn money for college 
while serving in their communities. AmeriCorps members do real work to 
address critical problems, from cleaning the environment to helping at-
risk children learn to read, to working with police to keep our streets

safe, to helping our Nation reach record levels of child immunization.

    At the service summit, one of the goals for young Americans 
announced by the Presidents and General Powell was that every young 
American should be challenged and given the chance to do citizen 
service. To support that goal, I announced at the summit that our 
administration would provide 50,000 new AmeriCorps scholarships over the 
next 5 years to organizations that offer young people a chance to serve. 
I am pleased to say today that 77 organizations have answered that 
challenge by offering to sponsor 10,000 new AmeriCorps members next year 
alone. I thank them for their commitment.
    The success of AmeriCorps proves that citizen service works. And 
it's only one of the many things the National Government is doing to 
work in partnership with citizens, businesses, and civic groups. Our 
administration is busy following up on the commitments we made in 
Philadelphia at the service summit. This fall, for example, the 
Department of Agriculture will hold a food recovery summit to help 
organize volunteers to distribute food to the needy. The Justice 
Department's new mentoring alliance will link children in need with 
volunteer mentors. And the Department of Health and Human Services' new 
partnership with the Girl Scouts of America will teach girls about the 
dangers of drugs. In all these ways, we are committed to encouraging 
service throughout American life.
    Commitment to community should be an ethic that our children learn 
as early as possible, so that they carry it with them throughout their 
lives. That is why I have called on every State to make service a part 
of the curriculum in high school or even middle school. There are many 
creative ways to do this, including giving students credit for service, 
incorporating service into course work, putting service on a student's 
transcript, or even requiring service as a condition of graduation, as 
Maryland does.

[[Page 1132]]

    In addition to the AmeriCorps scholarship program we announced at 
the service summit, last year we took additional steps to encourage our 
young people to serve in their communities while in high school. We said 
we would offer $500 scholarships to high school juniors and seniors with 
the best record of service in their class if their communities and 
private service organizations would match that amount.
    Just a year later, I am proud to say that some of our Nation's most 
prominent service organizations have answered that call. Today I'm 
pleased to announce that 1,600 high school students--some of whom are 
standing with me today--will receive scholarships of up to $1,000 to 
help pay for college. The American Legion, the Kiwanis Club, the Rotary 
Club, the Elks Club, the Lions Club, the Junior Leagues, and the Miss 
America Foundations, these are community groups that are the glue that 
hold America together. And now they're giving our young people another 
reason to give something back to our communities.
    This is just the first year of the national service scholars 
program. I know that next year it will be even bigger. Our goal is to 
make this program available in every high school, so that every high 
school principal in America can stand before a graduating class and 
announce the name of a national service scholar. And with the support of 
groups like those who have already committed to help, I am confident we 
can make it happen.
    Something very important to our Nation occurred at the Presidents' 
service summit. There, people from all walks of life looked beyond their 
differences and came together around the common goal of serving our 
country, to give all our young people a chance to have a better life. 
This is the way we have to meet our challenges: business, working 
together with government and labor, religious and community groups 
joining forces, people lending a hand to help one another. Today we take 
another important step to build on that progress.
    The spirit of the service summit is stronger than ever, and it's up 
to us, all of us, to keep it alive as we move forward together into a 
new century.
    Thanks for listening.

Note: The address was recorded at 2:02 p.m. on July 25 in the East Room 
at the White House for broadcast at 10:06 a.m. on July 26. In his 
remarks the President referred to Gen. Colin L. Powell, USA (ret.), 
former Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff.