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Wesley Clark Proposes New Civilian Reserve
Aired October 14, 2003 - 15:17 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JUDY WOODRUFF, CNN ANCHOR: Turning now to the presidential race, Democrat Wesley Clark today delivered the first of four planned speeches on his theme of a new American patriotism. He proposed what he called a civilian reserve, made up of citizens who could respond to community needs in a time of crisis.
Our Bruce Morton has more on the concept of public service by ordinary Americans.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ask what you can do for your country.
BRUCE MORTON, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Volunteerism goes way back in America. John Kennedy, as president, started the Peace Corps.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN F. KENNEDY, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The peace Corps gives us a chance to show a side of our country which is too often submerged, our desire to live in peace, our desire to be of help.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MORTON: And young Americans went all over the world teaching, sharing their skills, and learning, too.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I drink tea with the family (UNINTELLIGIBLE) with the sisters. And I actually call them my brothers, my sisters, and my mother and father and nieces and nephews. So they've really become part of my family.
MORTON: President Clinton started AmeriCorps, young Americans doing everything from teaching in classrooms to building low-income housing. AmeriCorps has shrunk under the Bush administration, but Clark says he would expand it.
His new program, though, would work more the way the National Guard does, volunteers who could be called up during emergencies, hurricanes, terrorist attacks, here or in other countries, volunteers with civilian skills needed in emergencies.
ELI SEGAL, FORMER HEAD OF AMERICORPS: This could be anything from kind of general skills to people who know how to drive trucks, people who can work on garbage removal, people who are X-ray technicians, anyone who has a skill that could be helpful for us at a time of emergency.
MORTON: Segal, who formerly headed AmeriCorps, thinks people will want to join in.
SEGAL: We think people are going to want to serve and it's going to give resources to the president, as circumstances dictate, using all the new technology matched to 21st century needs.
MORTON: Clark is a novice candidate, but he's learned about the word new, as in New Deal, new frontier. His service corps is part of his program, the new American patriotism.
Bruce Morton, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired October 14, 2003 - 15:17 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JUDY WOODRUFF, CNN ANCHOR: Turning now to the presidential race, Democrat Wesley Clark today delivered the first of four planned speeches on his theme of a new American patriotism. He proposed what he called a civilian reserve, made up of citizens who could respond to community needs in a time of crisis.
Our Bruce Morton has more on the concept of public service by ordinary Americans.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ask what you can do for your country.
BRUCE MORTON, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Volunteerism goes way back in America. John Kennedy, as president, started the Peace Corps.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN F. KENNEDY, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The peace Corps gives us a chance to show a side of our country which is too often submerged, our desire to live in peace, our desire to be of help.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MORTON: And young Americans went all over the world teaching, sharing their skills, and learning, too.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I drink tea with the family (UNINTELLIGIBLE) with the sisters. And I actually call them my brothers, my sisters, and my mother and father and nieces and nephews. So they've really become part of my family.
MORTON: President Clinton started AmeriCorps, young Americans doing everything from teaching in classrooms to building low-income housing. AmeriCorps has shrunk under the Bush administration, but Clark says he would expand it.
His new program, though, would work more the way the National Guard does, volunteers who could be called up during emergencies, hurricanes, terrorist attacks, here or in other countries, volunteers with civilian skills needed in emergencies.
ELI SEGAL, FORMER HEAD OF AMERICORPS: This could be anything from kind of general skills to people who know how to drive trucks, people who can work on garbage removal, people who are X-ray technicians, anyone who has a skill that could be helpful for us at a time of emergency.
MORTON: Segal, who formerly headed AmeriCorps, thinks people will want to join in.
SEGAL: We think people are going to want to serve and it's going to give resources to the president, as circumstances dictate, using all the new technology matched to 21st century needs.
MORTON: Clark is a novice candidate, but he's learned about the word new, as in New Deal, new frontier. His service corps is part of his program, the new American patriotism.
Bruce Morton, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
