General Clark has called for Americans to rally around a New American Patriotism grounded in the belief that citizenship entails responsibilities as well as rights. General Clark challenges all Americans to be willing to sacrifice for their country by joining his proposed Civilian Reserve. The Civilian Reserve will use the latest technology to ensure that Americans with needed skills could be mobilized rapidly to address pressing needs. In addition, as a complement to the Civilian Reserve, General Clark's plan would reverse the cuts made by President Bush and instead expand opportunities for national service to address day-to-day challenges, from crumbling schools to securing the homeland.

General Clark's Strategy for Mobilizing the Citizenry in a Time of Need

For all the talk of service and sacrifice by the President over the past two years, we are no more prepared today to mobilize the citizenry in the event of another attack than we were on September 10, 2001. General Clark's job stimulus plan provides additional funds to train first responders like firefighters and police. But in times of crisis or urgent need, professional first responders are not enough. General Clark's Civilian Reserve proposal enables us to draw on the vast array of skills and the ingenuity of ordinary Americans without creating a new bureaucracy.

• Creating a 21st Century Civilian Reserve for 21st Century Challenges. General Clark challenges all Americans, men and women, to sign up for the Civilian Reserve. By signing up for the Civilian Reserve, volunteers promise to make a sacrifice for their country, when and where needed. In exchange, members of the Civilian Reserve would know that their unique talents and abilities were being effectively mobilized.
• Mobilizing the skills and talents of the American people. Individuals who register with the Civilian Reserve will record their occupations, skills (including language skills on an optional basis), preferences about service, along with name, address, phone number, and e-mail address. Enrollees will record their preference for local, national, or international service. The Civilian Reserve will adhere to the highest standards of privacy protection.
• Renewable commitment every five years. Individuals who volunteer for the Civilian Reserve will make a five-year commitment. At the end of that period, they can choose whether or not to renew and in the process update the listings of their skills and preferences.
• Challenging all Americans over age 18 to make themselves available for service. The Civilian Reserve will be open to all Americans, men and women, over age 18.
• Using modern technology, not old-fashioned bureaucracy. The Civilian Reserve will use the latest technology and will not require a large government program or numerous civil servants. Members of the Civilian Reserve would be contacted and mobilized via mail, phone and e-mail during the voluntary call-up process. The Internet will be vital to communicating with and mobilizing volunteers.
• Calling Americans to Service in Times of Need. The changing threats and issues that face our country require a new and innovative approach to mobilizing the citizenry in times of need. The Civilian Reserve offers a flexible approach. Volunteers will match their skills with the needs of specific crises, such as local communities in times of natural disaster, cities hit by terrorist attack, or famine-stricken countries.
• Matching skills with needs. In General Clark's plan, the President will have the authority to issue a "voluntary call to action" to encourage particular segments of the Civilian Reserve to mobilize to meet the pressing needs of the nation. Only those with the relevant skills will be asked to volunteer.
• Calling up the Civilian Reserve if necessary. During a crisis, if sufficient volunteers were not available, the President would have the authority to call up as many as 5,000 Reservists, through a lottery of those with the required skills. The circumstances precipitating a mandatory call-up would be exceedingly rare, and the maximum period of active duty would be six months. An appeals process would consider hardship exemptions for family and other circumstances. An Act of Congress would be required to call up additional Civilian Reservists beyond the first 5,000 members. Members of the Civilian Reserve would be limited to one six-month call up in their five-year term of service.
• Working domestically and internationally to address pressing needs. At home and abroad, the Civilian Reserve will have a positive impact in several critical areas. Some examples:
• Helping to fight forest fires. Members of the Civilian Reserve could help fight forest fires, including helping with back-line tasks to relieve more highly trained fire-fighters to work at the front line. In the process, they would reduce some of the demands currently placed on the military to mobilize to fight forest fires.
• Nation building. Today America is paying billions of dollars to certain American companies for reconstruction in Afghanistan and Iraq. But numerous Americans have the language skills in Pashto and Arabic, the technical skills, and the desire to help. The Civilian Reserve can marshal and coordinate their efforts.
• Working side-by-side with governments, non-profits, and non-governmental organizations. The Civilian Reserve will work together with first responders and existing non-profit and non-governmental organizations, like the Red Cross, supplementing but not supplanting existing response systems.
• Providing compensation, health benefits and job protection. In the event that members of the Civilian Reserve are mobilized to actively serve their country, they will be paid a stipend, receive health benefits and be guaranteed re-employment at their regular jobs, just like members of the military reserves. In addition, they will receive invaluable training and experience to use throughout their careers.

General Clark's Strategy for Expanding the Opportunities for Service and Strengthening Homeland Security

America needs volunteer help every day, not just in times of crisis. Unfortunately, President Bush's rhetoric on national service has not matched his record.

• President Bush's Record on Citizenship and Service: Missed Opportunities, Misdirection and Broken Promises. When our country came under attack on Sept. 11, 2001, the American people stood ready and willing to be mobilized to serve a cause greater than self. In the two years since that time, the Bush record on involving ordinary Americans in this common struggle has been one of missed opportunities, misdirection and broken promises:
• USA Freedom Corps: An exercise in re-branding. In his 2002 State of the Union Address, the President called on all Americans to serve 4,000 hours over their lifetime and pledged to create the USA Freedom Corps to help Americans reach this goal. However, it turned out that the USA Freedom Corps was essentially a new umbrella for old programs, including AmeriCorps, the Peace Corps, and the Senior Corps.
• Citizen Corps: Less is not more. The President asked for $200 million to fund his Citizen Corps initiative, but secured only $25 million (which amounts to about $500,000 per state).
• AmeriCorps: Promising expansion, delivering a cut. The President promised to expand AmeriCorps by 50 percent, from 50,000 volunteers to 75,000 volunteers. But in 2003, he signed legislation that cut AmeriCorps' operating budget by 30 percent. This year, the national service program has half as many members as it did in 2001.

• General Clark's Strategy to Expand Opportunities For Service. General Clark believes in expanding existing opportunities for service to the country. He endorses the efforts of Congressmen Tom Osborne and Harold Ford in this regard, and the bipartisan Call to Service Act of 2003 introduced by U.S. Senators John McCain, Evan Bayh and Ted Kennedy. This proposal more than triples AmeriCorps from 50,000 volunteers today to 175,000 volunteers by 2008. Furthermore, it directs AmeriCorps to work closely with the Department of Homeland Security to make America safer. General Clark also endorses the Senators' efforts to expand the Senior Corps and 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.