Statement on Public Service Recognition Week
Established in 1985, Public Service Recognition Week honors the people who serve our nation as federal, state, county, local, and tribal government employees. Public Service Recognition Week has always been important to the Volcker Alliance because of our focus, day in and day out, on empowering the public sector workforce to solve the challenges facing our nation. This past year, public servants have been on the front lines responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as behind the scenes issuing unemployment benefit payments to millions of Americans, administering Payment Protection Program loans, and ensuring the proper functioning and security of our democracy in countless other roles through these unprecedented times. The Volcker Alliance thanks each and every public servant for their work and dedication over the past year. We hope you will join us in honoring their contributions in an upcoming webinar on May 4 from 2–3 p.m. EDT.
In reflecting on the contributions of public servants across the country, we want to quote the opening lines of a speech our founder, Paul A. Volcker, made in 2014 to celebrate high-performing senior career employees in the federal government. His remarks capture not only his lasting sense of connection to the community of public servants across the country, but also his belief in the meaningfulness of working in public service.
“To me, whatever we call it—a bureaucracy, civil service, government officials—we have devoted most of our working lives to public service, making government work. These days we are currently reminded that can be hard and challenging, requiring unremitting effort to get it right. No doubt, we have faced frustrations. But, in the end, there should also be a sense of satisfaction in devoting our energies and talents to the public good.”
To public servants across our nation, we thank you and we hope that during this week of recognition you feel an extra dose of the sense of satisfaction from public service of which Mr. Volcker spoke.
