[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 19 (Tuesday, March 3, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Page S1286]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            PEACE CORPS DAY

 Mr. COVERDELL. Mr. President, I rise today to acknowledge 
March 3 as Peace Corps Day, celebrating the 37th anniversary this past 
Sunday of President Kennedy signing the legislation that created the 
Peace Corps on March 1, 1961. As a former Director of the Peace Corps I 
want to pay tribute to that organization as an example of Americans at 
their best.
  Since 1961, more than 150,000 Americans from all across the nation 
have served in the Peace Corps in over 132 countries. Today nearly 
6,500 volunteers currently serve in the 84 countries, addressing 
critical development needs on a person-to-person level, helping 
communities gain access to clean water; grow more food; prevent the 
spread of AIDS; teach English, math, and science; help entrepreneurs 
start new businesses; and work to protect the environment.
  Peace Corps volunteers have improved the lives of many people abroad 
during their terms of service. They have rightly earned great respect 
and admiration for the American people and for American values. But 
they have also brought the benefits of their experience home and 
continued to contribute to their own communities and to our nation as 
volunteers and in leadership positions. Returned Peace Corps volunteers 
find their experience, their knowledge of other cultures, and the self-
assurance they gain stand them in good stead in their own careers. But 
they also share the benefits of their time in the Peace Corps with many 
others. We call this the ``Domestic Dividend.''
  To commemorate Peace Corps Day, more than 5,000 current and returned 
volunteers will go back to school today to speak with students about 
their overseas experiences, some via satellite or phone, but most in 
person. This is part of the agency's global education program ``World 
Wise Schools.'' Today more than 350,000 students in all 50 states will 
learn about life in communities of the developing world by talking the 
volunteers who have lived there. For example, Peace Corps Volunteer Amy 
Medley will get to talk to her pen pals from Walden Middle School in 
Atlanta, Georgia for the first time. She will be calling from Africa, 
where she is currently serving as a science teacher in Eritrea.
  As we celebrate today, interest in the Peace Corps is growing. In 
1997 more than 150,000 individuals contacted the Peace Corps to request 
information on serving as a volunteer, an increase of more than 40 
percent since 1994. In view of this interest and the tremendous success 
and record of the Peace Corps, President Clinton has called for an 
expansion of the Peace Corps in his 1999 budget, putting the agency on 
a path to fielding 10,000 volunteers in the year 2000. This is a 
request and a goal I strongly support.
  Mr. President, for 37 years, the Peace Corps has extended a helping 
hand to the world and Peace Corps volunteers have demonstrated in 
countless ways the generosity and dedication to service that is so much 
a part of the American character. So I will take this opportunity to 
salute all of our Peace Corps volunteers, past and present, and to 
thank them for their service. We appreciate all they have done and 
continue to do and I look forward to seeing the Peace Corps continue 
its outstanding record of service into the 21st Century. 

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