[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 24 (Monday, March 1, 2004)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1929-S1930]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   IN RECOGNITION OF THE PEACE CORPS

  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, in October 1960, then-U.S. Senator John 
Fitzgerald Kennedy, visited the University of Michigan in the heat of 
his successful Presidential campaign. The Presidential aspirant and 
self-proclaimed graduate ``of the Michigan of the East'' stood on the 
steps of the Student Union and called for the creation of a program 
that would enable college graduates to serve their Nation as part of a 
``greater purpose'' rooted in service.
  Forty-three years later, this program, the Peace Corps, has been a 
resounding success. Seeking to promote world peace and friendship by 
sending American volunteers to participate in community service in 
villages and towns across the world, this program addresses the 
critical shortage in technical capacity that many parts of the world 
face. Further, it fosters increased cultural understanding. Peace Corps 
volunteers, witting or not, represent their Nation while abroad and 
upon returning home help promote increased global awareness here as 
well.
  President Kennedy, in his inaugural address, called for a ``grand and 
global alliance'' to fight tyranny, poverty and disease. With over 
7,500 current volunteers in 71 nations, the Peace Corps has been a key 
part of this alliance. Since its inception, over 170,000 volunteers 
have worked in 137 nations in a variety of programs. An increasing 
number of Peace Corps volunteers are over 60

[[Page S1930]]

years of age. In fact, this year there is one 84-year-old volunteer. 
That said, our Nation's college campuses are still the largest source 
of Peace Corps volunteers. Our universities are ``immense reservoirs'' 
of talent and idealism, and each year thousands of college students 
seek to join the Peace Corps in hopes of pursuing a difficult yet 
rewarding task.
  Last week, the Peace Corps released a list ranking the schools that 
provided the largest number of graduates accepted to the Peace Corps 
this year. Two schools from my home State, the University of Michigan-
Ann Arbor and Michigan State University, were ranked fourth and eighth 
respectively in terms of the numbers of volunteers they provided. Since 
the inception of the program, these schools are ranked fourth and fifth 
overall in terms of the number of total volunteers that they have 
provided to the program. Both schools have worked to instill an ethos 
of volunteerism and service in their graduates, and for that they are 
to be commended.
  All Peace Corps volunteers, regardless of their alma mater, deserve 
our respect and gratitude. By giving of themselves, they take concrete 
actions to improve the lives of countless individuals around the world.

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