Clinton calls for new National Service Reserve during Florida swing
Clinton calls for new National Service Reserve during Florida swing : FORT PIERCE, Fla. — Hillary Clinton on Friday called for the creation of a National Service Reserve, an initiative she said would allow 5 million mostly young people to serve their cities and states on a wide array of projects on a part-time basis.
Speaking in grand terms and invoking her Methodist faith, the Democratic presidential nominee said the issue of service to others is among those “closest to my heart” and would be “a vital aspect of my presidency.”
She pledged to expand the efforts of other presidents who launched enduring service initiatives, including the Peace Corps, a project of former president John F. Kennedy, and AmeriCorps, one of the “proudest achievements” of her husband, Bill Clinton, when he was president.
Hillary Clinton’s new endeavor would be modeled after the Armed Forces Reserves, which allows participants “to make a high-impact contribution, while still building careers and pursuing their dreams in other ways,” she said.
After receiving some “basic training,” those in the services reserves could be called upon to help respond to natural disasters, public health campaigns or other projects.
“Some of those assignments will be just a few days, a month,” Clinton said. “Some might be longer-term. But they will all directly address a vital need in your community.”
The proposal comes with less than 40 days before the election between Clinton and Republican nominee Donald Trump. Clinton acknowledged it might seem odd to push such a plan this close to Election Day, but she said she wants to close the campaign talking about positive agenda items meaningful to her.
“For me, service is about fulfilling the instruction of my Methodist faith,” Clinton said. “‘Do all the good you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can.'”
In contrast to previous policy speeches in which she has excoriated Trump, Clinton hardly mentioned him in Thursday’s 30-minute speech here. One exception came early in her remarks, when she sought to contrast a Trump statement at the Republican National Convention — “I alone can fix it” — with the more inclusive aim of national service.
Trump’s statement, Clinton said, was indicative of Trump’s appreciation of “one person getting supreme power and exercising it ruthlessly.”
“That’s why he admires dictators like Vladimir Putin so much,” she added.
The service initiative comes during a stretch when Clinton has stepped up efforts to appeal to millennials, a demographic in which she lost heavily to Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont during the Democratic primaries.
Although Clinton is performing better than Trump among young voters, polls have shown an unusually large number considering casting a ballot for a third-party candidate this year.
Clinton said her new service initiative would be open to all but have a “special focus” on people between 18 and 30.
Last year, as Clinton was gearing up for the primaries, she said she was committed to tripling the number of members of the AmeriCorps service program to 250,000. That goal was set in legislation signed by President Obama but remains elusive.
Clinton also proposed doubling the financial award, to more than $23,000, for those who complete two years of full-time AmericaCorps service and work another year in public service.
Clinton restated those aims here on Friday during a Florida swing that also includes a rally later in the day in Coral Springs.
The speech was delivered in St. Lucie County, considered a key jurisdiction in Florida’s presidential contest. The county is home to a sizable number of African American and Latino voters who Clinton is trying to turn out in large numbers in November.
Recent polls show Clinton and Trump in a very tight race in Florida, a key battleground state.
Source : https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/09/30/clinton-to-offer-national-service-initiative-during-florida-swing/
