Obama issues call to service

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said Wednesday that all Americans need to sacrifice and volunteer for the good of the country, adding that he would provide incentives for them to do so.

Obama, speaking in Colorado Springs, Colo., argued that volunteer efforts and programs are crucial to the future of the country and said he would ask Americans to sacrifice more than under President Bush if he wins the presidency.

{mosads}“I will ask for your service and your active citizenship,” said the Illinois senator, who also spoke this week on patriotism and faith-based programs.

“We will ask Americans to serve. We will create new opportunities for Americans to serve,” he added. “And we will direct that service to our most pressing national challenges.”

Obama proposed expanding programs like AmeriCorps, USA Freedom Corps and Youth Build, and he said he would set a goal for middle and high school students to volunteer 50 hours a year and for college students to put in 100 hours a year. In return, college students would receive a tax credit of $4,000 a year.

Speaking about his early days as a community organizer and imploring Americans to get more involved in their communities, Obama said “loving your country must mean accepting your responsibility to do your part to change it.”

“If you do, your life will be richer; our country will be stronger,” Obama stated.

Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain's (Ariz.) campaign, on a day when news broke that it was undergoing a shake-up, used the speech to draw more attention to former Gen. Wesley Clark’s criticism of McCain's military service.

“It was refreshing to hear Barack Obama laud military service in his speech today,” said Brian Rogers, a McCain spokesman. “We hope this will be the tone we hear from him, his campaign and his surrogates from now on.”