While government stimulus money flows to counter the recession, the fate of the nation isn't solely in Washington's hands. Never have the words spoken by President John F. Kennedy at his 1961 inauguration been more timely: "Ask not what your country can do for you -- ask what you can do for your country."

Last week Congress took a major step in empowering the people to lend a hand by boosting one of the nation's traditional virtues -- the spirit of volunteerism. On the 75th anniversary of the day when President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed legislation for the Civilian Conservation Corps, the House of Representatives sent President Barack Obama a $5.7 billion bill -- HR 1388 -- that authorizes a dramatic expansion of national service.

Under the legislation, which Mr. Obama says he will sign, tens of thousands more Americans will have the opportunity to participate in programs administered by the Corporation for National and Community Service, including AmeriCorps.

AmeriCorps volunteers work in such activities as tutoring disadvantaged youth, fighting illiteracy, improving health services, building affordable houses -- indeed, all sorts of activities that help people live better lives. Under this bill, AmeriCorps is set to expand from 75,000 positions to 250,000.

Among other provisions, a Summer of Service program for high schoolers will be introduced and older Americans will have greater opportunities to serve in the Senior Corps. Moreover, new priorities have been authorized in such fields as encouraging energy efficiency and helping veterans. The time is ripe for expansion. As unemployment has risen, online applications to AmeriCorps have tripled in the last year. The stipend for volunteering is modest, but many Americans seem to be jumping at the chance to do something constructive to help ease the general pain.

The House sent the bill to the president by a 275-149 vote. The Senate had earlier renamed the bill the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act to honor a champion of national service who took his dead brother's words to heart, then passed it by a 79-19 vote.

All this was done quickly with considerable bipartisan help -- a far cry from the suspicion that greeted AmeriCorps' founding in 1993 during the Clinton administration. Now nobody is dismissing it as a bunch of kids sitting around a campfire singing "Kumbaya." Even conservatives have come in from the cold, thanks in part to President George W. Bush's leadership before Mr. Obama took up the cause.

This is a good deal for America -- not in the least for stimulus purposes because it asks ordinary Americans what they can do for their country at a time when a lot needs to be done.