Peace Corps Commemorative Work Extension Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. GALLEGO. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 7460) to extend the authority for the establishment by the Peace Corps Commemorative Foundation of a commemorative work to commemorate the mission of the Peace Corps and the ideals on which the Peace Corps was founded, and for other purposes.

The Clerk read the title of the bill.

The text of the bill is as follows: H.R. 7460

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ``Peace Corps Commemorative Work Extension Act''. SEC. 2. EXTENSION OF AUTHORITY FOR ESTABLISHMENT OF COMMEMORATIVE WORK TO COMMEMORATE THE MISSION OF THE PEACE CORPS AND THE IDEALS ON WHICH THE PEACE CORPS WAS FOUNDED.

Notwithstanding section 8903(e) of title 40, United States Code, the authority to establish the commemorative work under section 1(a) of Public Law 113-78 (40 U.S.C. 8903 note; 128 Stat. 647) shall continue to apply through January 24, 2028.
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Mr. GALLEGO. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 7460, the Peace Corps Commemorative Work Extension Act, introduced by Representative Joe Kennedy.

Representative Kennedy served as a Peace Corps volunteer in the Dominican Republic from 2004 to 2006. Unfortunately, he is not able to be here for today's vote, but I know how much this means to him and the entire Returned Peace Corps Volunteers community.

In 2014, the bipartisan Peace Corps Commemorative Act was signed into law to establish a commemorative work to celebrate the Peace Corps and its founding ideals. That legislation authorized the Peace Corps Commemorative Foundation to establish the memorial in Washington, D.C., but the authorization for the project is set to expire in January 2021.

The Peace Corps' roots and mission date back to the 1960s. Since then, more than 240,000 Peace Corps volunteers have served in 142 host countries to train local communities across the world in technologies and skills such as agricultural protection, environmental protection, and basic education.

Since its establishment, the Peace Corps has helped promote world peace and friendship by improving the lives of countless individuals across the world.

Madam Speaker, I would like to thank Representative Kennedy for his efforts to honor these incredible volunteers.

The planned memorial will be a lasting tribute to the legacy of the Peace Corps and its mission. This bill simply provides the foundation with more time to raise money and pick an appropriate design.

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

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Mr. GALLEGO. Madam Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Danny K. Davis).

Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois. Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of the Julius Rosenwald and the Rosenwald Schools Act, and I thank leadership for putting it on the suspension calendar.

This bill starts the process to establish a Julius Rosenwald and Rosenwald Schools national historical park to focus on the incredible impact of Julius Rosenwald, a successful entrepreneur and renowned philanthropist who made a lasting contribution to the advancement of African-American education during the 20th century.

Mr. Rosenwald was the president of Sears, Roebuck and Company during its heyday. He used his fortune to enhance the lives of others, establishing museums, community centers, and housing, as well as helping Jews in Europe and new immigrants coming to the United States. One-third of all African-American children in the South during the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s were educated in Rosenwald schools.

Although I did not attend a Rosenwald school, I grew up in rural America, rural Arkansas, and actually attended a one-room school where one teacher, Ms. Beadie King, taught eight grades plus what we call the little primer and the big primer all by herself.

In many of the rural towns where African Americans lived during that time, there were no schools. If there were, they only went to the sixth grade and sometimes to the eighth grade. So the impact of these 5,300 schools that Julius Rosenwald helped to build--he was a friend of Booker Washington, and Booker Washington helped him understand that it was great for people to get to Tuskegee, but there were thousands of African Americans in these rural areas who never had a first grade, second grade, third grade to get to.

Madam Speaker, I am delighted that leadership put this bill on the calendar today. I thank the gentleman for yielding. And as you can tell, I am very passionate about this bill.

I also live in the area where the international headquarters for Sears, Roebuck and Company existed at that time. So the name ``Julius Rosenwald'' is an entity that our country should never, ever forget, and we ought to have as many ways of expressing it as we possibly can.

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Mr. GALLEGO. Madam Speaker, it is an honor and a privilege to be able to yield time to someone who I grew up in his district as his constituent. It is a great honor to be here and to hear more about, obviously, Sears, Roebuck and Company and an area that I grew up in and know very well.

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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