[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 30 (Thursday, February 25, 1999)]
[House]
[Pages H807-H808]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 669, AMENDING PEACE CORPS ACT TO 
AUTHORIZE APPROPRIATIONS FOR FY 2000 THROUGH 2003 TO CARRY OUT THAT ACT

  Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, 
I call up House Resolution 83 and ask for its immediate consideration.
  The Clerk read the resolution, as follows:

                               H. Res. 83

       Resolved, That at any time after the adoption of this 
     resolution the Speaker may, pursuant to clause 2(b) of rule 
     XVIII, declare the House resolved into the Committee of the 
     Whole House on the state of the Union for consideration of 
     the bill (H.R. 669) to amend the Peace Corps Act to authorize 
     appropriations for fiscal years 2000 through 2003 to carry 
     out that Act. The first reading of the bill shall be 
     dispensed with. General debate shall be confined to the bill 
     and shall not exceed one hour equally divided and controlled 
     by the chairman and ranking minority member of the Committee 
     on International Relations. After general debate the bill 
     shall be considered for amendment under the five-minute rule. 
     The bill shall be considered as read. During consideration of 
     the bill for amendment, the chairman of the Committee of the 
     Whole may accord priority in recognition on the basis of 
     whether the Member offering an amendment has caused it to be 
     printed in the portion of the Congressional Record designated 
     for that purpose in clause 8 of rule XVIII. Amendments so 
     printed shall be considered as read. The chairman of the 
     Committee of the Whole may: (1) postpone until a time during 
     further consideration in the Committee of the Whole a request 
     for a recorded vote on any amendment; and (2) reduce to five 
     minutes the minimum time for electronic voting on any 
     postponed question that follows another electronic vote 
     without intervening business, provided that the minimum time 
     for electronic voting on the first in any series of questions 
     shall be 15 minutes. At the conclusion of consideration of 
     the bill for amendment the Committee shall rise and report 
     the bill to the House with such amendments as may have been 
     adopted. The previous question shall be considered as ordered 
     on the bill and amendments thereto to final passage without 
     intervening motion except one motion to recommit with or 
     without instructions.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Florida (Mr. Diaz-Balart) 
is recognized for 1 hour.
  Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Speaker, for purposes of debate only, I yield 
the customary 30 minutes to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Hall), pending 
which I yield myself such time as I may consume. During consideration 
of this resolution, all time yielded is for the purpose of debate only.
  House Resolution 83, Mr. Speaker, is an open rule providing for the 
consideration of H.R. 669, the Peace Corps Reauthorization Act. The 
purpose of the bill is to authorize funds for the Peace Corps for 
fiscal years 2000 through 2003, expanding the Peace Corps from the 
current number of volunteers to the goal of 10,000 by the year 2003.
  The rule provides for the customary 1 hour of general debate equally 
divided and controlled by the chairman and ranking minority member of 
the Committee on International Relations. In addition, the rule 
provides the bill shall be considered as read. The rule permits the 
Chair to grant priority in recognition to Members who have preprinted 
their amendments and consider them as read.
  Further, as has become standard practice for open rules, the Chair is 
allowed to postpone votes and to reduce the time for electronic voting 
on postponed votes.
  Finally, the rule provides for one motion to recommit with our 
without instructions.
  Mr. Speaker, to keep our record of fair rules for the 106th Congress, 
I am pleased to report to the House that House Resolution 83 is another 
open rule that affords any Member the opportunity to offer any germane 
amendments.
  H.R. 669, the Peace Corps Reauthorization Act, is in line with an 
effort started by President Reagan in 1985 to expand the Peace Corps to 
10,000 volunteers. Since the Peace Corps was established, first by 
President Kennedy and affirmed by the 87th Congress, over 150,000 
Americans have served in 134 countries and have learned 180 languages 
and dialects.
  We are fortunate to have five former Peace Corps volunteers working 
with us in the U.S. House of Representatives: The gentleman from 
California (Mr. Farr), the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Hall), the 
gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Petri), the gentleman from Connecticut 
(Mr. Shays) and the gentleman from New York (Mr. Walsh).
  I commend these gentlemen as well as the thousands of other 
volunteers for their tireless efforts in providing basic health and 
agriculture education, working so communities have access to clean 
water, as well as teaching English and other skills to extraordinarily 
needy populations.
  I am honored to serve on the Committee on Rules with my esteemed and 
distinguished colleague from Ohio (Mr. Hall), whose Peace Corps 
experience, no doubt, had much to do with his clear and long-time 
commitment to fighting hunger throughout the world.
  H.R. 669 fulfills the effort which President Reagan proposed in 1985 
to expand the number of volunteers, and this expansion has been 
requested by President Clinton. I urge my colleagues to support this 
open rule, this fair rule, and hope that they will give careful 
consideration to supporting the underlying positive legislation as 
well.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. HALL of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume, and I thank the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Diaz-Balart) for 
yielding me the time and certainly his many kind words about me.
  Mr. Speaker, this is an open rule. It will allow for full and fair 
debate on H.R. 669. As my colleague from Florida has described, this 
rule provides for 1 hour of general debate to be equally divided and 
controlled by the chairman and the ranking minority member on the 
Committee on International Relations.
  The rule permits amendments under the 5-minute rule. This is the 
normal amending process in the House. All Members on both sides of the 
aisle will have the opportunity to offer germane amendments.
  In 1985, President Reagan set a goal for the Peace Corps of 10,000 
volunteers and, unfortunately, low levels of funding have prevented us 
from getting there. The bill before us would finally accomplish that 
goal. The bill would also expand the work of the Crisis Corps, a group 
of experienced Peace Corps volunteers who assist in emergencies.
  Since it was founded by President Kennedy in 1961, the Peace Corps 
has been one of our most important tools of international diplomacy. 
The people-to-people style of the Peace Corps has won friends for 
America all over the world, and I know this because I was a Peace Corps 
volunteer in Thailand in 1966 and 1967.
  In the rural villages and urban communities where they serve, Peace 
Corps volunteers are educating the children, they are caring for the 
sick, and they are teaching the poorest of the poor how to help 
themselves. They are on the front lines every day fighting the major 
health threats to young children.

                              {time}  1200

  But, most importantly, these volunteers are the face of America for 
people all across the globe.
  The Peace Corps' exciting new Crisis Corps initiative is well under 
way, in which experienced volunteers and return volunteers provide 
short-term assistance during humanitarian crises and natural disasters. 
Crisis Corps volunteers were recently dispatched to Central America to 
aid in recovery from the Hurricane Mitch disaster.

[[Page H808]]

 They have also worked with refugees from Liberia and Sierra Leone in 
Guinea and the Ivory Coast.
  The Peace Corps represents the best that our country has to offer, I 
think. It brings together bright, dedicated, energetic people and arms 
them with the tools to work in foreign countries as ambassadors of 
peace.
  The Peace Corps is one of the best known and loved of our foreign aid 
programs. Its budget represents only a tiny fraction, about 1 percent, 
of our international affairs accounts. It is a remarkable return from a 
very modest investment.
  Last month, I had the opportunity to visit the town in Thailand where 
I served as a Peace Corps volunteer. It is no longer this sleepy rural 
village I remembered but a very large urban center of a million people. 
The old school where I taught English was not only still standing but 
was thriving, and so were the lasting bonds of friendship that I 
established with so many wonderful people in that community.
  I am pleased to be an original cosponsor of this bipartisan 
legislation. I urge adoption of the rule and the bill.
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the open 
rule that will govern the debate for the Peace Corps Act (H.R. 669). 
This bill authorizes appropriations for fiscal year 2000 through 2003. 
This organization has a legacy of service that has become an important 
part of American history.
  President John F. Kennedy first proposed the idea of the Peace Corps 
during a campaign stop at the University of Michigan in 1960. He 
challenged the students to give two years of their lives to help people 
in the developing world.
  Since its inception, the Peace Corps has trained 150,000 volunteers 
to work in 134 countries. Some of these volunteers include members who 
have served here in the House: Representative Sam Farr of California, 
Representative Tony Hall of Ohio, Representative Thomas Petri of 
Wisconsin, Representative Christopher Shays of Connecticut and 
Representative James Walsh of New York.
  Currently there are 6,700 volunteers serving in 80 countries. The 
increased funding would allow the Peace Corps to expand to its goal of 
10,000 volunteers. It would also allow the Peace Corps programs to 
expand to South Africa, Jordan, China, Bangladesh, Mozambique and other 
countries in Central Asia, the Middle East, South America, Eastern 
Europe and Africa.
  The Peace Corps is an important part of our foreign assistance 
program. It helps communities gain access to clean water, grow food, 
prevent the spread of AIDS and work with to protect the environment.
  I look forward to the improvements on this bill via the amendment 
process on the floor of the House. I urge my colleagues to vote in 
favor of the rule on this bill.
  Mr. HALL of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time, 
and I move the previous question on the resolution.
  The previous question was ordered.
  The resolution was agreed to.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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