President Obama Remarks on Public Service

On April 21, President Obama signed the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act, a bipartisan bill co-authored by Senators Kennedy and Hatch expanding national service opportunities. At the signing ceremony, President Obama noted the growth in Teach For America’s application numbers as evidence of young people’s growing desire to serve their country saying, “I’ve seen a rising generation of young people work and volunteer and turn out in record numbers…they have become a generation of activists possessed with that most American of ideas – that people who love their country can change it…they are why 35,000 young people applied for only 4,000 slots in Teach For America.”