Civilian Reserve just words in a speech

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President Bush's call last week for a Civilian Reserve Corps to help troubled countries is either a solid idea whose time has come or yet another throwaway applause line in a State of the Union speech and it's up to Mr. Bush to decide how it turns out.

For a proposal during the annual address to Congress arguably the biggest presidential stage this one is mostly bare-bones. There is no plan or legislation, just a pledge to work with Congress to try to create something.

"The big question right now is whether the White House is really going to seriously act on it," said Carlos Pascual, who worked on the idea when he was director of the State Department's Office of Reconstruction and Stabilization. "I think it's the right thing to do. I'm glad the president raised it. It's not going to happen unless the president, the national security advisor, the secretary of state pick up the phone" to Congress.

"If the White House wants to make it not just a presidential throwaway line in a speech but into a reality that can actually be a useful tool they have to show a little bit of leadership on it," said Mr. Pascual, who is now director of foreign-policy studies at the Brookings Institution.

In his address last week, Mr. Bush coupled the idea to his proposal to increase the active-duty size of the U.S. military by 92,000 troops over five years.

"A second task we can take on together is to design and establish a volunteer Civilian Reserve Corps," the president said. "It would ease the burden on the armed forces by allowing us to hire civilians with critical skills to serve on missions abroad when America needs them. It would give people across America who do not wear the uniform a chance to serve in the defining struggle of our time."

Emily Lawrimore, a White House spokeswoman, said the president often hears from Americans who want to help out in some way. But she said it is just a proposed idea at this point.

"He wants to talk to Congress about this idea and how they can work together on a positive, bipartisan opportunity that would demonstrate the great skill and generosity of the American people," she said.

Melanie Anderton, a spokeswoman at the State Department, said the reserve corps would complement a surge of U.S. government employees that the State Department is already building.

Both the active-duty and civilian reserve concepts grew out of trying to meet the challenges of a post-September 11 world, in which failed states can become breeding grounds for dangers to the U.S.