[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1382 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1382

  To improve and expand the Peace Corps for the 21st century, and for 
                            other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             June 25, 2009

   Mr. Dodd introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
             referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To improve and expand the Peace Corps for the 21st century, 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 Improvement and 
Expansion Act of 2009''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) Firmly established beliefs of the Peace Corps include 
        the following:
                    (A) The act of volunteering has inherent value.
                    (B) The foreign policy goals of the United States 
                are advanced by--
                            (i) contributing to the reduction of 
                        poverty; and
                            (ii) fostering international understanding.
            (2) More than 195,000 volunteers have ably served in the 
        Peace Corps in 139 countries by--
                    (A) working towards economic and social 
                development; and
                    (B) promoting a better understanding of--
                            (i) the people of the United States on the 
                        part of the peoples served; and
                            (ii) other peoples on the part of the 
                        people of the United States.
            (3) Today, the importance and necessity is greater than 
        ever for the Peace Corps--
                    (A) to promote global economic and social 
                development;
                    (B) to promote understanding and friendship; and
                    (C) to foster collaboration with international 
                nongovernmental organizations.
            (4) Since 1961, a bi-partisan succession of Presidents and 
        Congresses have endorsed the expansion of the Peace Corps in 
        order--
                    (A) to meet requests from countries to increase the 
                size of the Peace Corps programs in their countries;
                    (B) to initiate Peace Corps programs in countries 
                where the Peace Corps does not currently operate;
                    (C) to provide more opportunities for the people of 
                the United States to engage in volunteer service 
                abroad; and
                    (D) to renew dormant Peace Corps programs.
            (5) The purpose of the Peace Corps, as declared by section 
        2(a) of the Peace Corps Act (22 U.S.C. 2501), is to promote 
        world peace and friendship by helping--
                    (A) the people of interested countries in meeting 
                their needs for trained men and women, particularly in 
                meeting the basic needs of those living in the poorest 
                areas of such countries;
                    (B) to promote a better understanding of people of 
                the United States on the part of the peoples served; 
                and
                    (C) to promote a better understanding of other 
                peoples on the part of the people of the United States.
            (6) As the Peace Corps reaches its 50th anniversary in 
        2010, a new forward-looking strategy should be developed to 
        improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the Peace Corps in 
        pursuing the goals described in subparagraphs (A) through (C) 
        of paragraph (5) by analyzing and accounting for the strengths 
        and weaknesses of the following:
                    (A) The program model of the Peace Corps.
                    (B) The current and planned distribution of Peace 
                Corps volunteers throughout the world.
                    (C) Partnership opportunities and operations of the 
                Peace Corps.
                    (D) Recruitment and management practices of the 
                Peace Corps with respect to the diversity of Peace 
                Corps volunteers and staff.

SEC. 3. ASSESSMENT AND STRATEGIC PLAN FOR IMPROVING AND EXPANDING PEACE 
              CORPS.

    (a) Assessment.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than 90 days after the date of 
        the enactment of this Act, the Director of the Peace Corps 
        shall complete the assessment described in paragraph (2) to 
        determine how best--
                    (A) to strengthen the management capabilities and 
                program effectiveness of the Peace Corps;
                    (B) to expand opportunities for Peace Corps 
                volunteers; and
                    (C) to increase the size of the Peace Corps.
            (2) Assessment described.--The assessment described in this 
        paragraph means an assessment of--
                    (A) how the purpose of the Peace Corps declared 
                under section 2(a) of the Peace Corps Act (22 U.S.C. 
                2501(a)) translates into tangible strategic plans for 
                the Peace Corps;
                    (B) the distribution of Peace Corps volunteers in 
                country programs, including how and why volunteers are 
                assigned to various countries and jurisdictions of 
                within countries;
                    (C) the most effective and efficient methods of 
                improving support for the Peace Corps' goal of 
                promoting a better understanding of other peoples on 
                the part of the people of the United States;
                    (D) the prospects for partnerships with 
                international and host country nongovernmental 
                organizations and other entities to achieve the goals 
                of the Peace Corps through development projects;
                    (E) the adequacy of the current program model of 
                the Peace Corps and the feasibility of program models 
                such as the Peace Corps Response Program;
                    (F) the effectiveness and efficiency of volunteer 
                recruitment strategies, methods, and resource 
                allocations used by the Peace Corps;
                    (G) the effectiveness of the Peace Corps in 
                recruiting ethnically, socio-economically, and 
                geographically diverse volunteers with wide-ranging 
                skills and interests;
                    (H) the skills and interests of current Peace Corps 
                volunteers;
                    (I) options for diversification of the skills and 
                interests of Peace Corps volunteers, including 
                volunteers with skills and interests that relate to 
                public health, information technology, urban planning, 
                social services, communications, and community 
                organizing;
                    (J) the Peace Corps volunteer training programs;
                    (K) the options available to volunteers to suspend 
                payment of student loans while serving in the Peace 
                Corps;
                    (L) the medical care received by volunteers while 
                serving in the Peace Corps;
                    (M) the procedures of the Peace Corps for mandatory 
                medical separation of volunteers serving in the Peace 
                Corps;
                    (N) the medical screening process for volunteers 
                entering service in the Peace Corps, including--
                            (i) the cost to the Peace Corps of 
                        providing full reimbursement for medical tests 
                        under taken by volunteers applying for or 
                        entering service in the Peace Corps;
                            (ii) expanded information for applicants 
                        including potentially disqualifying medical 
                        conditions; and
                            (iii) the cost of extending the medical 
                        care provided by the Peace Corps to volunteers 
                        serving in the Peace Corps to include the 5-
                        month period beginning on the date on which a 
                        volunteer completes service in the Peace Corps;
                    (O) the causes of the early termination of service 
                in the Peace Corps, using the cohort and other 
                statistically appropriate methods and the reasons cited 
                by volunteers terminating their service in the Peace 
                Corps early;
                    (P) how the Peace Corps can utilize information 
                technology to improve--
                            (i) program efficiency, effectiveness, and 
                        coordination; and
                            (ii) communication among volunteers;
                    (Q) mechanisms for soliciting the views of 
                volunteers serving in the Peace Corps, on a 
                confidential basis, regarding--
                            (i) the support provided to such volunteers 
                        by senior staff of the Peace Corps; and
                            (ii) the operations of the Peace Corps, 
                        including--
                                    (I) staffing decisions;
                                    (II) site selection;
                                    (III) language training;
                                    (IV) country programs; and
                                    (V) dialogue with host country 
                                partners and ministries; and
                    (R) mechanisms for incorporating the views 
                solicited in subparagraph (Q) into programming and 
                management decisions of the Peace Corps.
            (3) Method.--The assessment shall--
                    (A) be built on a review of past experiences and 
                studies; and
                    (B) draw on the knowledge of--
                            (i) current Peace Corps volunteers and 
                        staff, at all levels of seniority;
                            (ii) returned Peace Corps volunteers and 
                        staff; and
                            (iii) host country nationals and officials 
                        who have worked closely with Peace Corps 
                        volunteers.
    (b) Strategic Plan.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
        the enactment of this Act, the Director of the Peace Corps 
        shall develop, based on the assessment required under 
        subsection (a), a strategic plan for the Peace Corps that--
                    (A) encompasses the findings of the Director with 
                respect to the assessment required under subsection 
                (a); and
                    (B) includes the matters described in paragraph 
                (2).
            (2) Matters described.--The matters described in this 
        paragraph include the following:
                    (A) 1-year and 5-year goals and benchmarks for the 
                Peace Corps that address--
                            (i) each matter included in the assessment 
                        required under subsection (a); and
                            (ii) such other matters as the Director 
                        considers appropriate.
                    (B) Strategies for--
                            (i) distributing volunteers to countries in 
                        which they have maximum value-added for the 
                        host country, for the United States, and for 
                        the volunteers themselves;
                            (ii) identifying countries with strategic 
                        value to Peace Corps goals, currently not 
                        served or dormant, and proposals for starting 
                        new country programs or re-activating dormant 
                        programs, as well as countries with less 
                        strategic relevance to Peace Corps goals, 
                        including proposals for reducing or closing 
                        such country programs;
                            (iii) balancing the Peace Corps' 
                        independence with its need to remain relevant 
                        to broader United States foreign goals; and
                            (iv) ensuring that Peace Corps operations 
                        and goals are not adversely affected in 
                        situations where the bi-lateral relationship 
                        between the host country and the United States 
                        is problematic.
    (c) Report.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
        the enactment of this Act, the Director of the Peace Corps 
        shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a 
        report that includes--
                    (A) the findings of the Director with respect to 
                the assessment required under subsection (a); and
                    (B) the strategic plan developed under subsection 
                (b).
            (2) Appropriate congressional committees defined.--In this 
        subsection, the term ``appropriate congressional committees'' 
        means--
                    (A) the Committee on Foreign Relations and the 
                Committee on Appropriations of the Senate; and
                    (B) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the 
                Committee on Appropriations of the House of 
                Representatives.

SEC. 4. LIMITATION ON NUMBER OF PRESIDENTIAL APPOINTMENTS UNDER PEACE 
              CORPS ACT.

    The Peace Corps Act (22 U.S.C. 2501 et seq.) is amended by 
inserting after section 19 the following:

``SEC. 20. LIMITATION ON NUMBER OF POLITICAL APPOINTMENTS.

    ``Except for appointments made under section 12, the President may 
not make more than 15 concurrent appointments under this Act.''.

SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    Section 3(b) of the Peace Corps Act (22 U.S.C. 2502(b)) is amended 
to read as follows:
    ``(b) Authorization of Appropriations.--
            ``(1) In general.--There are authorized to be appropriated 
        to carry out the purposes of this Act--
                    ``(A) $450,000,000 for fiscal year 2010;
                    ``(B) $575,000,000 for fiscal year 2011; and
                    ``(C) $700,000,000 for fiscal year 2012.
            ``(2) Availability of funds.--Amounts authorized to be 
        appropriated under paragraph (1) for a fiscal year are 
        authorized to remain available for that fiscal year and the 
        subsequent fiscal year.''.
                                 <all>