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John McCain has not signed the ServeNext Presidential Pledge to Expand National Service, saying "I stand on my record, not on pledges." ServeNext reports John McCain saying, “After 9/11, when America was united, I wouldn’t have asked Americans to go shopping or take a trip. I would have asked Americans to serve, find ways to serve, and provide ways to serve.I would ask people - first and foremost - to consider joining the military. I would have expanded the Peace Corps. I would have expanded AmeriCorps. I would have setup neighborhood volunteer organizations. I would have asked everyone to serve in some way. I believe Americans would have responded very affirmatively.Yes, I would expand AmeriCorps. Yes, I would expand the Peace Corps." John McCain cosponsored the Call to Service Act of 2001 with Senator Evan Bayh. The Call to Service Act would have expanded AmeriCorps to 250,000 members, linked AmeriCorps to Homeland Defense, lifted the camp on the amount the Corporation for National Service can give in direct funding to national non-profits, and eliminated the tax on post service education awards. The Act would have required 25% of work-study funds to go towards serve-study programs by 2011. It would have also expanded opportunities for citizens over 55 to serve. Around this same time, John McCain wrote an article for Washington Monthly called "Putting the 'National' in National Service: AmeriCorps works. In the wake of Sept. 11, it is time to make the national service program bigger. In it, he writes, "If we are to have a resurgence of patriotic service in this country, then programs like AmeriCorps must be expanded and changed in ways that inspire the nation. There should be more focus on meeting national goals and on making short-term service, both civilian and military, a rite of passage for young Americans." His support for national service continues: - USA Today reports on a recent debate in Michigan saying, "Sen. John McCain elaborated on recent remarks that he would have asked Americans to do more than "go shopping," as President Bush urged, after the 9/11 terrorist attacks: "I would have told them … consider the military, also the Peace Corps, also AmeriCorps, also neighborhood watches, also volunteer organizations."
- He has made similar statements in the past, including in a magazine interview in 2005 as reported by PeaceCorps Online , "one thing is to expand opportunities for national service - the Peace Corps and AmeriCorps, neighborhood and community organizations. You see, I think after 9/11 we had a golden opportunity to call all Americans to serve the country - not just to tell them to take a trip and go shopping. And I think they would have responded. I think they will still respond."
- In a 2005 op-ed , he writes, "There are few greater ways of infusing your life with meaning than by spending two or more years in the service of your nation. The military obviously forms an exceptional way to serve America and our ideals, but it is not the only route. The Peace Corps and AmeriCorps also provide excellent and fulfilling ways to serve.
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