President Trump has a historic opportunity and he could unite Americans in solving public challenges together.

In February 2016, when President Trump was asked on the campaign trail what he would do to expand national service opportunities for young Americans, then-candidate Trump pledged to look at the issue “very seriously.” President Trump noted that many young people are asking about national service because it is "a way to get started," and he said "there's something beautiful about it."

National service has strong bipartisan support — 78 percent of Republicans, 90 percent of Democrats, and 84 percent of Independents support it. Additionally, 80 percent of Millennials want to participate in national service. A recent poll of 18-29 year olds from Harvard’s Institute of Politics found that 64 percent of young Republicans, 61 percent of young Democrats, and 51 percent of young Independents support a program like AmeriCorps that is “linked to student loan forgiveness or other relevant incentives.”

National service offers a triple bottom line — uniting Americans of all backgrounds, offering a transformative opportunity to those who serve, and bringing unprecedented skills and willpower to solve local problems. This is what makes national service so powerfully unique and essential.

Service Year Alliance encourages the Trump Administration to maintain or increase the federal investment in national service programs — like AmeriCorps, the Peace Corps, and YouthBuild — to ensure that the 80,000 young people who are currently serving can continue to provide critical services to communities in need across the country.

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