National Peace Corps Week

Floor Speech

NATIONAL PEACE CORPS WEEK -- (Senate - February 27, 2008)

Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, as a part of National Peace Corps Week, I wish to join many of my colleagues in celebrating the 47th anniversary of the Peace Corps and honoring the important work of Peace Corps volunteers.

During this week, Peace Corps volunteers from around the world who have served over the years will share their overseas experiences with schools and community groups around the United States.

By giving presentations during Peace Corps Week, former Peace Corps volunteers will help Americans better understand the people and cultures they have experienced, and the many benefits of Peace Corps service.

By making presentations in classrooms, former volunteers will help create greater global awareness among students.

The Peace Corps is one of our most effective and successful foreign aid programs.

Since the establishment of the Peace Corps by President John F. Kennedy in 1961, more than 190,000 U.S. citizens, including 25,000 from my home State of California, have served their country in the cause of peace by living and working in 139 developing countries.

The world has changed since 1961--and the Peace Corps has succeeded in keeping up with these changes.

While education and agriculture are still an important part of what a Peace Corp volunteer does, today's volunteers also work on HIV/AIDS awareness, information technology, and business development.

Many volunteers work in orphanages with HIV-positive children, implement programs for at-risk youth, and create support groups for HIV-positive people.

Business volunteers conduct seminars on subjects like marketing, strategic planning, and tourism development. They work with women and minority groups to strengthen their participation in the economic system.

Agriculture volunteers may find themselves working with farmers to implement techniques to improve soil quality and conserve water--or on the business end conducting production cost-and-price analyses.

The Peace Corps also assists countries in need by supplying Crisis Corps volunteers--former volunteers who return to the field on a short-term basis. In 2005, for the first time in its history, Peace Corps deployed 272 Crisis Corps volunteers domestically to assist in Hurricane Katrina relief efforts along the gulf coast.

Also in 2005, Crisis Corps volunteers were deployed to Sri Lanka and Thailand to assist with rebuilding tsunami devastated areas, and to Guatemala following Hurricane Stan. As part of PEPFAR, Crisis Corps has deployed volunteers to Uganda, Kenya, Namibia and Zambia. Finally, Crisis Corps is working with Peace Corps posts in Central America and the Caribbean to address disaster preparedness in the region.

Today's Peace Corps is more vital than ever, working in emerging and essential areas such as information technology and business development. They have made significant and lasting contributions around the world in agriculture, education, health, HIV/AIDS, and the environment.

Peace Corps volunteers continue to help countless individuals who want to build a better life for themselves, their children, and their communities.

At a time when the United States is seeking to reclaim the respect and admiration of the world and once again be seen as a champion and a leader of democracy, justice, and human rights, Peace Corps volunteers revitalize faith in this country.

They are leaders and diplomats, and they serve as an inspiration not only to their fellow American citizens but to citizens all across the world.

I urge all my colleagues to support the Peace Corps and celebrate National Peace Corps Week.

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