Civic Nation uses organizing, engagement and public awareness to address some of our nation's most pressing challenges. We work with public and private partners to inspire, educate and activate people around the issues that are important to our country.
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A congressional commission is urging a major investment in civic education and a call to service — from joining the military to local volunteerism, like the SF-Marin Food Bank (above).
After more than two years of work, the National Commission on Military, National and Public Service has produced 164 recommendations for improving education about how our country works and for encouraging more people to engage in public service.
Most of the attention on the 225-page report released this week, titled "Inspired to Service," has focused on a single recommendation: requiring women to register for the draft the way men have had to for four decades.
What's being missed is how critical the panel views public service in all forms — from joining the military to volunteering at the local food pantry. Also lost is the report's comprehensive overview of where the country stands in civic education and public service and its detailed agenda for improvement.
"The United States has not unlocked the full, transformational potential of service in all its forms," concludes the report by the 11-member commission, created by Congress at the behest of the late GOP Sen. John McCain. "Building on American's spirit of service in order to nurture, promote and expand a culture of service is vital to securing the nation's future."
Among its most important recommendations are:
The report also calls for expanding existing service-related programs sponsored by the federal government, including a call to grow the AmeriCorps program of post-college domestic service from 75,000 annual volunteers to 1 million by 2031.
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As chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, McCain ensured the 2017 version of the annual defense budget law including language creating the commission, with a mandate to review the selective service process and look for ways to increase participation in the military and other forms of public service.
