[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5255 Introduced in House (IH)]







107th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 5255

 To endorse expansion of the Peace Corps to 14,000 volunteers by 2007, 
 to authorize appropriations for the Peace Corps for fiscal years 2003 
                 through 2007, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 26, 2002

  Mr. Kirk (for himself, Ms. Ros-Lehtinen, Mr. Shays, Mr. Walsh, Mr. 
 Crowley, Mr. Gilman, Mr. Smith of New Jersey, Mr. Issa, Mr. Dingell, 
 Mr. Petri, and Mr. Davis of Illinois) introduced the following bill; 
     which was referred to the Committee on International Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To endorse expansion of the Peace Corps to 14,000 volunteers by 2007, 
 to authorize appropriations for the Peace Corps for fiscal years 2003 
                 through 2007, and for other purposes.

    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 Expansion Act of 2002''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) In his State of the Union address on January 29, 2002, 
        President George W. Bush called for doubling the number of 
        Peace Corps volunteers to 14,000 by the end of fiscal year 
        2007.
            (2) The Peace Corps currently is operating in 70 countries 
        with 7,000 Peace Corps volunteers and an annual budget of 
        approximately $275,000,000.
            (3) Section 2(b) of the Peace Corps Act states that ``it is 
        the policy of the United States and a purpose of the Peace 
        Corps to maintain . . . a volunteer corps of at least 10,000 
        individuals'', and in 1999 legislation was enacted authorizing 
        the appropriation of funds sufficient to achieve this goal by 
        the end of fiscal year 2003.
            (4) The Peace Corps was established in 1961 to promote 
        world peace and friendship through the service of American 
        volunteers abroad.
            (5) Since its establishment, the Peace Corps has operated 
        in 135 countries with a total of approximately 165,000 Peace 
        Corps volunteers.
            (6) After more than 40 years of operation, the Peace Corps 
        remains the world's premier international service organization 
        dedicated to promoting grassroots development.
            (7) The Peace Corps remains committed to sending well-
        trained and well-supported volunteers overseas to promote 
        peace, friendship, and grassroots development.

SEC. 3. DECLARATION OF POLICY.

    Congress declares its support for the goal announced by President 
Bush of doubling the number of Peace Corps volunteers to 14,000 by 
2007.

SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS FOR FISCAL YEARS 2003 THROUGH 
              2007 TO CARRY OUT THE PEACE CORPS ACT.

    Section 3(b)(1) of the Peace Corps Act (22 U.S.C. 2502(b)(1)) is 
amended to striking ``and $365,000,000 fiscal year 2003'' and inserting 
``$320,000,000 for fiscal year 2003, $362,000,000 for fiscal year 2004, 
$404,000,000 for fiscal year 2005, $446,000,000 for fiscal year 2006, 
and $488,000,000 for fiscal year 2007''.
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