[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 43 (Tuesday, March 26, 1996)]
[House]
[Pages H2849-H2851]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                THE 35TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE PEACE CORPS

  Mr. BEREUTER. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
joint resolution (H.J. Res. 158) to recognize the Peace Corps on the 
occasion of its 35th anniversary and the Americans who have served as 
Peace Corps volunteers.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                             H.J. Res. 158

       Whereas the Peace Corps has become a powerful symbol of 
     America's commitment to expand hope, create opportunity, and 
     encourage development at the grass roots level in the 
     developing world;
       Whereas more than 140,000 Americans have served as Peace 
     Corps volunteers in more than 125 countries in Africa, Asia 
     and the Pacific, Central Asia, Eastern and Central Europe, 
     and the Western Hemisphere since 1961, and have strengthened 
     the ties of friendship and understanding between the people 
     of the United States and those of other countries;
       Whereas Peace Corps volunteers have made significant and 
     lasting contributions around the world in agriculture, 
     business development, education, the environment, health, and 
     youth development, and have improved the lives of individuals 
     and communities around the world;
       Whereas Peace Corps volunteers, enriched by their 
     experiences overseas, have brought to their communities 
     throughout the United States a deeper understanding of other 
     cultures and traditions;
       Whereas Peace Corps volunteers embody and represent many of 
     America's most enduring values, such as service, commitment 
     to the poor, and friendship among nations;
       Whereas the Peace Corps continues to receive broad, 
     bipartisan support in Congress and from the American people; 
     and
       Whereas March 1, 1996 will mark the 35th anniversary of the 
     founding of the Peace Corps: Now, therefore, be it
           Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the 
     achievements and contributions of the Peace Corps over the 
     past 35 years be celebrated; that the dedication and 
     sacrifice of Peace Corps volunteers be recognized and their 
     continued contributions be acknowledged not only for their 
     service in other countries but in their own communities; and 
     that the President is requested to honor Peace Corps 
     volunteers and reaffirm our Nation's commitment to 
     international peace and understanding.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Nebraska [Mr. Bereuter] and the gentleman from Virginia [Mr. Moran] 
will each be recognized for 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Nebraska [Mr. Bereuter].
  Mr. BEREUTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, House Joint Resolution 158 recognizes the Peace Corps 
and its volunteers on its 35th anniversary year. Mr. Farr and the five 
other original cosponsors of this resolution are all former Peace Corps 
volunteers now serving their country here in the Congress. Their 
resolution recognizes the sacrifice and dedication of Peace Corps 
volunteers, both in their assigned countries and here at home after 
they return on the occasion of the Corps's 35th anniversary.
  I will note that since the first volunteer stepped off the plane in 
1961 at a little airport in Ghana, over 140,000 Americans have become 
Peace Corps veterans in the service of peace, understanding and 
development. Today, Peace Corps volunteers are older, more experienced 
and specialized but their mission is still the same: development and 
basic American values in the developing world at the grassroots level.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman 
from New York [Mr. Gilman], the distinguished chairman of the full 
committee.
  Mr. GILMAN. I thank the gentleman for yielding me the time.
  Mr. Speaker, we all can agree on the bipartisan strength of the Peace 
Corps in the 104th Congress. Founded under President Kennedy and its 
first Director, Sargent Shriver, the Peace Corps grew through the 
1960's and 1970's but really came to the crossroads in the 1980's. I 
want to make a special note for the longest serving Peace Corps 
Director, Ms. Loret Ruppe, whose energy, drive, and dedication set the 
Peace Corps' goal that we still support today: 10,000 volunteers by the 
year 2000. Loret is now struggling with cancer but her mission and her 
impact on the Corps is still felt today. As Loret used to say, ``Peace 
Corps volunteers are working today to help the African farmer and her 
husband * * *.''
  Last month, we debated a highly controversial State Department bill 
on the House floor. I think that one provision of that bill we could 
all support was the funding levels for the Peace Corps. The House 
conferees and especially former Peace Corps Director, Senator Paul 
Coverdell of Georgia, joined together to ensure funding for the Peace 
Corps, even in these tough budgetary times. Under its new Director, 
Mark Geran, I think this Congress is expecting a lot from the Peace 
Corps in its next 35 years.
  I recommend this resolution to the House and urge its support.
  Mr. MORAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman from Nebraska [Mr. 
Bereuter], the subcommittee chairman, and the gentleman from New York 
[Mr. Gilman], the full committee chairman, for bringing this resolution 
before the House. It is actually cosponsored by six Members of the 
House who are former Peace Corps volunteers: Mike Ward, Jim Walsh, Tony 
Hall, Chris Shays, Tom Petri, and Sam Farr.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman 
from California [Mr. Farr] who has come all the way from his district 
to speak on this.
  Mr. FARR of California. Mr. Speaker, I rise today as one of the six 
returned Peace Corps volunteers now serving in the House, and I rise in 
support of House Resolution 158, recognizing the Peace Corps' 35th 
anniversary.
  Let me first take a minute to thank Chairman Gilman and the Ranking 
Minority Member Hamilton for bringing this measure to the floor. I also 
want to thank Mark Geran, who is the Director of the Peace Corps, who 
has been instrumental in the continuing success of the agency, as well 
as the other returned Peace Corps volunteers now serving in this 
country and serving in this Congress, my colleagues Representative Tony 
Hall of Ohio, Representative Tom Petri, Representative Mike Ward, 
Representative Jim Walsh, and Representative Chris Shays.
  President Kennedy created this international service organization 35 
years ago to promote international goodwill. During his powerful 
inaugural address, he challenged Americans with, ``Ask not what your 
country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country,'' and 
many of them, including myself at that time, responded to that call and 
joined the Peace Corps in the early 1960's. The creation of the Peace 
Corps was part of this vision of his.
  Today, there are currently 7,000 Americans working as Peace Corps 
volunteers. The average age in 1961, when President Kennedy made his 
call, was 22 years of age. Today, in 1996, the average age is 29 years 
old. Over 500 volunteers are over the age of 50. The educational 
experience of volunteers has grown; more volunteers with graduate 
degrees than ever before.
  Over 140,000 returned volunteers have served in the Peace Corps in 
more than 125 countries, in Africa, Asia, Eastern and Central Europe. 
They have also served in the South Pacific and in Latin America.
  The Peace Corps was formally established by Executive order on March 
1, 1961. Volunteers were sent to Ghana, Colombia, and Tanzania, and 
over 850 volunteers were in the field by the end of the first year.
  Soon volunteers teaching in schools were joined by those working in 
agriculture, health and nutrition, forestry, and fisheries. In the 
1980's, the Peace Corps was refined and developed new initiatives in 
response to the special needs of the developing world.
  In Lesotho, in Mali, and Niger, Peace Corps began the Africa Food 
Systems Initiative to assist farmers in need of innovative ways to 
increase food production. In the Caribbean, the Peace Corps has 
developed initiatives to stimulate job-creating small enterprises.

  The Peace Corps has undertaken a lot of new initiatives. The Peace 
Corps has plans to send volunteers to South Africa in response to a 
request for assistance from President Nelson Mandela. The Peace Corps 
has also resumed its presence in Haiti following

[[Page H2850]]

the successful presidential elections. Currently the Peace Corps is 
investigating the feasibility of sending volunteers to the Middle East 
and to Cambodia.
  The agency plans on development of a Crisis corps to respond to 
natural disasters in developing countries. The story about that reached 
our office when volunteers were calling about the situation in Rwanda, 
saying that they had been there and served and spoke the language and 
knew the customs and the culture. They knew the history and the 
politics and they wanted to be able to go back. We did not have a 
facility in law to allow that, so we had to ask the State Department to 
make a special process for that, and that is what is now being 
developed into this Crisis Corps, so that indeed when we do have people 
that have the skills that are needed in countries with disasters, we 
can immediately get them there.
  The purpose of the Peace Corps' mission is to promote world peace. 
Peace Corps volunteers have made significant and lasting contributions 
around the world in agriculture, business development, education, 
environmental health, and youth development, and they have improved the 
lives of thousands all over the world. The Peace Corps has become a 
powerful symbol of international humanitarianism.
  The Peace Corps teaches volunteers the value of service and the value 
of commitment. The agency is an example of America's commitment to 
expanding hope, to creating opportunity and offering the volunteers an 
experience that they will remember for a lifetime.
  At a time when funding for foreign assistance programs is under 
severe constraints, it is notable that the Peace Corps continues to 
enjoy strong support in this Congress and among the American people.
  The agency is facing a strong future. In Friday's Washington Post it 
was quoted that the Peace Corps is the employer with the most job 
openings for graduates of the class of 1996. In fact, the demand for 
Peace Corps volunteers overseas far exceeds our ability to supply that 
demand, and I hope that in Congress we will appreciate that as we look 
at its budget next year and realize this is one area that is extremely 
cost effective. If we want to get a good bang for the buck, the Peace 
Corps is there and the countries want us to come.

  The annual survey by Black Collegian magazine stated that the agency 
plans to recruit over 3,000 graduates. That is the third highest 
employer in the country. So while the Peace Corps is promoting 
international goodwill, it is key in benefiting our domestic economy as 
well.
  Please join me and my colleagues in supporting this resolution to 
recognize the Peace Corps on the occasion of its 35th anniversary, and 
the contributions and achievements that its volunteers have brought 
home to America and are now achieving in countries all over the world.
  Mr. PORTER. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. FARR of California. I yield to the gentleman from Illinois.
  Mr. PORTER. Mr. Speaker, I would say to the gentleman I have been on 
the Foreign Operations Subcommittee for 14 of the last 16 years, and 
the Peace Corps is one of the best things that we do in foreign 
relations, without any question. Even in the tough budgetary times in 
which we find ourselves, we have to maintain that commitment and 
increase it if we possibly can, and make certain that this good 
program, which after all is people-to-people, not government-to-
government, people-to-people, continues and is strongly supported by 
the Congress.
  Mr. FARR of California. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the support on both 
sides of the aisle. I think this program is one that we can all be 
proud of, and in a time when people think that there is debate and 
rancor among the parties in Congress, I can tell that this is one area 
where we all agree that America has created a fantastic opportunity for 
its youth, for its people of all ages to be able to experience overseas 
living as minorities in another land.

                              {time}  1430

  As a return volunteer, I reflect on my experience every day, and I 
appreciate the support Congress is giving it.
  Mr. MORAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, it is amazing that there have only been 140,000 
volunteers over the last 35 years, when you consider the profound 
impact that the Peace Corps has had in the lives of individuals and in 
fact in the progress of nations around the world. But the impact has 
also been felt in terms of the volunteers. We just heard from one. 
There are several others in this body.
  The fact is that the leaders in government and in industry in America 
today in many ways share that common experience of having been Peace 
Corps volunteers. I hope that will continue to be the case, because not 
only do we share our national know-how and goodwill, but we benefit a 
great deal with that broadened experience.
  I just want to say that we in the minority, as well as the gentleman 
from New York, Chairman Gilman, expressed for the majority, applaud 
President Clinton's selection of Mark Gearan to be Director of the 
Peace Corps. We could not have had a better choice. We appreciate the 
fact that again we have a broad bipartisan support for this resolution.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. FARR of California. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of House 
Joint Resolution 158 recognizing the Peace Corps on its 35th 
anniversary.
  President John Kennedy created this international service 
organization 35 years ago to promote international goodwill. During his 
powerful inaugural speech the young President challenged Americans 
with, ``Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do 
for your country.'' The Peace Corps was part of this vision for how 
Americans could play a positive role in the developing world. In its 35 
years, the Peace Corps has come to represent what is best about our 
country and our character as a people: our ability to forge a spirit of 
idealism with a commonsense approach to what works for people who need 
and want our help.
  My other returned Peace Corps volunteer colleagues and I know the 
value of volunteer service and the significance of this fine agency. I 
had the benefit of serving in the Peace Corps in Colombia in the early 
1960's. That experience has led me to serve my community in local, 
State, and Federal government. Peace Corps taught me the value of 
service, responsibility, and commitment.
  Currently, there are nearly 7,000 Americans working as Peace Corps 
volunteers. They work at the grass-roots level in places far from their 
homes and families. Some volunteers do not see other Americans for 
months at a time. They are completely entrenched in their countries of 
service. They speak the language, eat their food, and share their 
culture. They put a face on America and its values around the world.
  Volunteers serve in many different programs ranging from the 
traditional education and health programs to promoting new sustainable 
programs to benefit agriculture, the environment, and economic 
development.
  Education remains Peace Corps' largest program. Over 40 percent of 
all volunteers teach English, mathematics, science, and business 
studies. They work in special education, vocational educations, and 
nonformal education activities for adults and at-risk youth. In 
addition to classroom teaching, volunteers work closely with local 
educators to share methodology, integrate relevant content and resource 
centers and teaching materials. In Cameroon, volunteers have helped 
develop a manual on teaching HIV/AIDS prevention in English-language 
classes. The manual has since been adopted for public use by the 
Ministry of Education.
  Teaching and prevention of HIV/AIDS to citizens in high-risk groups 
has played a major part in the health services provided by volunteers. 
In Thailand, volunteers have conducted surveys to help the country 
update its HIV/AIDS education materials. Other health services 
performed by volunteers include providing primary health care services 
to many of the world's women and children including maternal and child 
health activities, nutrition, community health education, and water and 
sanitation projects.
  Peace Corps is the leader in protecting the global environment. The 
focus of the environmental strategy is on community work, teaching 
conservation of national resources, and sustainable resource 
management. Much of the environmental work is in forestry management, 
reforestation, and watershed management. The fastest growing new 
project activity is environmental educations. Volunteers in Tanzania, 
home of the largest wildlife refuge are involved in projects ranging 
from codifying Tanzanian environmental law to ensure protection of 
exported birds to preparing a management plan for Ileje Forestry 
Reserve and teaching environmental education in the schools.
  Food production remains to be a priority for many nations in Africa, 
Asia, Latin America,

[[Page H2851]]

and the former Soviet Union. Rapidly expanding populations, changes in 
climate, and a series of natural and man-made disasters have created 
serious food shortages. With most people in developing nations still 
practicing subsistence farming, there is a critical need to introduce 
and apply sustainable agricultural techniques to village farmers. In 
Guatemala, volunteers are teaching farmers how to increase their family 
incomes and produce animal protein for dietary intake through the 
integration of fish and small animal production.
  The fastest growing program for volunteers is economic development 
especially in Eastern Europe. Volunteers promote local economic 
development through self-sustaining income and employment producing 
practices. Working with local community leaders, businesses, and trade 
associations, volunteers teach business management, commercial banking 
and related skills assisting local efforts to establish free market 
economies. In Poland, a volunteer has been instrumental in establishing 
46 small businesses with no-interest loans from the local government 
with only a 6-percent default rate.
  The Peace Corps has become a powerful symbol of international 
humanitarianism. It is a goal which hundreds of people strive toward 
each year. Not just young college graduates, but people of all ages. In 
fact, 9 percent of Peace Corps volunteers are over 50 years old.
  The Peace Corps remains a popular calling; there is not one State in 
the country which has not sent a Peace Corps volunteer. In my State of 
California, over 20,000 people have volunteered to serve around the 
world.
  The Peace Corps has become a powerful symbol of America's commitment 
to expand hope, create opportunity, and encourage development at the 
grassroots level in the developing world.
  Volunteers embody and represent many of America's most enduring 
values, such as service, commitment to the poor, and friendship among 
nations. Returned volunteers, enriched by their experiences overseas, 
have brought to their communities throughout the United States a deeper 
understanding of other cultures and traditions.
  At a time when funding for foreign assistance programs is under 
severe constraints, it is notable that the Peace Corps continues to 
enjoy strong support in the Congress and among the American people. 
That is a tribute to the thousands of Americans--young and old--who 
have served over the past 35 years, often under very difficult 
conditions. And it is a tribute to the visionary but simple idea behind 
the Peace Corps; that the world will be a more peaceful place if we 
understand one another better and if we can help those in need improve 
their own lives and that of their families and communities.
  Join me in supporting House Joint Resolution 158, recognizing and 
honoring the Peace Corps' achievements and contributions and its 
volunteers over the past 35 years.
  Mr. HALL of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, let me begin by thanking my colleague 
from California, Mr. Farr, for his work on this resolution, and his 
consistent efforts in the past to recognize and support the Peace 
Corps.
  Since 1961, when President John F. Kennedy signed an Executive order 
establishing the Peace Corps, 140,000 men and women have represented 
America by volunteering in 125 countries around the world. I am proud 
to say that I am among that number.
  For me, the Peace Corps represents the best that this Government has 
to offer. When we bring together dedicated, energetic people and arm 
them with tools to work in foreign communities as ambassadors of peace, 
things happen--people's lives improve--and we all benefit. Today, 
nearly 7,000 such dedicated individuals are serving as Peace Corps 
volunteers in 94 different countries. They are improving the 
environmental, agricultural, and business infrastructures in those 
nations. They are educating the children, caring for the sick, and 
teaching the poorest of the poor how to help themselves. But, most 
importantly, these volunteers are the face of America for people across 
the globe. They are people-to-people diplomats building a peaceful 
world from the ground up.
  But, it's not easy. I know first-hand the challenges and difficulties 
that these Peace Corps volunteers face. I also know the tremendous 
rewards. My Peace Corps experience changed my life. When I graduated 
from college in 1964, I had dreams of playing pro football, making big 
money, and driving fast cars. Instead, I ended up teaching English and 
riding a bicycle through the jungles of Thailand.
  During my first night in Thailand, I sat in a restaurant and watched 
a cat chase a rat across the floor and devour it. I thought, ``What am 
I doing here.'' But, as I got to know the people in the village, my 
whole outlook changed. I came home from Thailand with a better 
understanding of the world, with my priorities in order, and prepared 
for a life of public service.
  No other institution does what the Peace Corps does. It serves the 
needy of the world in concrete, practical ways. It promotes world 
peace. And, every year, it brings 3,000 experienced, multicultural, and 
compassionate volunteers back home to America. During its long and 
distinguished history, the Peace Corps has enjoyed wide public approval 
and bipartisan support here in Congress. I certainly hope that that 
support continues as the 1997 appropriation process goes forward.
  Today, as it celebrates its 35th anniversary, the Peace Corps 
deserves our highest recognition and I commend all of its past and 
current volunteers for 35 years of success.
  Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Upton). The question is on the motion 
offered by the gentleman from Nebraska [Mr. Bereuter] that the House 
suspend the rules and pass the joint resolution, House Joint Resolution 
158.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor 
thereof) the rules were suspended and the joint resolution was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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