Students who want to spend a year in community service before college could join the Maryland Corps.

Senate President Bill Ferguson and I are the lead sponsors of legislation that would mandate funding for this program.

My prepared remarks for a press conference on our legislation follow.

I know this issue well. I don’t expect I’ll be reading this verbatim tomorrow.

In a campaign speech on October 14, 1960, at 2 a.m., Senator John F. Kennedy told students at the University of Michigan, “On your willingness…not merely to serve one year or two years in the service, but on your willingness to contribute part of your life to this country, I think will depend the answer whether a free society can compete.”

The Peace Corps was born.

Maryland is already a leader in assisting students seeking a career in public service.

Over the last two years, 302 recent college graduates who are working for the government or a non-profit have received state grants to pay off their academic debt. The Janet L. Hoffman Loan Assistance Repayment Program was the first in the nation.

An internship can set a student on the path to public service. Since the Walter Sondheim Internship Program was authorized in 2008, 523 fellows, most of whom are undergraduate juniors and seniors, have received a stipend for an internship with a government agency or a non-profit.

The Maryland Corps will be an historic step forward in our shared endeavor of fostering a free and equitable society.

The full Kennedy speech is at https://www.peacecorps.gov/about/history/founding-moment/#video-modal-0.