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As part of an effort to beef up federal recruitment, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., on Wednesday asked a crowd of 2,000 interns in Washington to consider federal service.

"[Government offers] the possibility for us to engage in the process not of perfecting the world, but improving it," Obama said. "Government is one of the most important vehicles by which we do it."

Obama asked the interns, who are working in federal agencies, on Capitol Hill, for nonprofits, and in the private sector, to consider what they were willing to sacrifice for the benefit of their community.

"A big bank account, a fancy house," Obama said. "These things are nice, but in the end they show a poverty of ambition."

Obama, along with Meet the Press moderator Tim Russert, spoke in the Warner Theatre in downtown Washington at the fourth annual summer intern event sponsored by the Partnership for Public Service, whose president Max Stier touted the senator as the country's next John F. Kennedy in his ability to inspire Americans to public service.

Even as he encouraged public service, Obama spoke about the failures of government, such as the federal response to Hurricane Katrina.

"Actually having a federal government that is competent enough to make sure people aren't stranded on rooftops for three days is a good thing," Obama said.

But the senator talked in only vague terms about how to achieve that.

"We've got a bureaucracy and a government structure that really hasn't been updated since the '30s and '40s," Obama said. Americans need to "work hard to redesign government so we get more bang for the buck."

Obama, who received a standing ovation from the young audience when he walked onstage, garnered another round of applause when he mentioned debt relief for college loans. Obama suggested a year or two of mandatory national service be tied to loan forgiveness.

The event is the latest effort from the Partnership for Public Service, a nonprofit advocacy group devoted to encouraging young people to work for the federal government. Last week, the organization announced a new recruitment campaign targeting college campuses, inspired by a survey of students' perspectives on federal service.

The partnership also released a job search guide Wednesday that listed the top 10 reasons to seek government employment, including the opportunity to work in a place that values diversity, earn pay that is "better than you think," advance quickly and make a difference. The guide also contains tips for government interviews and job opportunities organized by major.

COMMENTS

• I was so happy when I got a government job with the Social Security Administration. After 9 years with this agency and spending my own money and time to complete my bachelor degree. I am sitting in the same position that I started out in 9 years ago.People with less education and less time have certainly moved on up in this agency, but the rest of us just sit waiting for some type of promotion. I think that it is just a laugh that people with even more education that I are just being worked to death for a agency that does not know how to ulilize there people to the benefit of the American people. Hopefully I will be able to get a job in the public sector so that I can use my skills and education in a fulling job. Theresa Scullin Posted June 4, 2007 8:42 AM
• Serve your country and serve well. I am a product of another senator that charged me to join the federal government. I can't believe that come November 2006, I will have 26 years of public service behind me. During 1976-1977, I had the opportunity to meet former Vice President Albert Gore (then a congressman) when he came to his father's (Al Gore, Sr. Class of 1932) and my Alma Mater (Middle Tennessee State University, 1978) to speak to students on serving our government. I am so pleased that he stirred the charge to serve and I count it an exceptional privilege. The one comment that has stuck with me over the years was that "if people help you, then you help others,” and he charged us to help others by serving our great country. Looking back, I have been blessed to serve and in my way I’ve gotten to say thank you for the freedom to attend school and to give so others may also have the same privilege. My career with federal government will be coming to a close in the next five to seven years and I have chosen to continue the path to serve by entering my retirement career as a federal attorney in effort to help preserve our constitutional and civil rights. I say to any student: Serve your country, serve well and you will be rewarded in ways you never know will come your way. Wynona James Posted August 18, 2006 1:45 PM
• For "Bemused in the South," I guess you must work for the Army Corps of Engineers or some federal agency such as FEMA where they don't know where their employees are or for that matter, even who they are giving a paycheck to. I’ve been in this government 48 years and I can tell you that there are a lot more worthless, lazy, non-producing managers than there are good ones. Anything they can force an employee under their control to do, which they should be doing, they will do it. Obama needs to wake up and smell the roses and I think you are the one who needs to research more than the others. They have it right and you have it wrong sonny. Charlie Posted August 2, 2006 9:40 PM