[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 19 (Friday, February 18, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E277]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




COMMEMORATING PEACE CORPS 44TH ANNIVERSARY AND THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF SAN 
                            MATEO VOLUNTEERS

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. TOM LANTOS

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, February 17, 2005

  Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in celebration of the Peace 
Corps' 44th anniversary. Since 1961, over 178,000 Peace Corps 
volunteers in 138 countries have counseled teenagers and adults in HIV/
AIDS education and prevention, guided entrepreneurs in the basic skills 
of small business development, worked with women to expand their access 
to credit, conducted curriculum development training for teachers, 
helped to bridge the divide between those who can afford access to 
technology and those who cannot, and effectively completed many other 
notable development projects.
   Among this legion of volunteers are twenty residents of my 
congressional district in San Mateo County, California. They are 
Corrine Basanez, James Choy, Emily Doan, Michael Henley, Brian 
Jungwiwattanapo, Andrew Kerfoot, Adam Ko, Joshua Kroot, Cynthia Lai, 
Anna Lee, Matthew Lewis, Andrew Lind, Theresa Nagan, Joshua Nagler, 
Aida Navarro, Michael O'Donnell, Michelle Pena, Doreen Peterson, Dino 
Saldajeno, and Victoria Wilson. I commend all of them for their 
dedication, commitment, and service to our country.
   Mr. Speaker, this body in the 108th Congress passed with 
overwhelming bipartisan support the Peace Corps Expansion Act of 2003 
and the Health, Safety, and Security of Peace Corps Volunteers Act of 
2004. Unfortunately, our colleagues in the other body were not as 
successful in considering companion legislation. Notwithstanding this 
fact, the needs of Peace Corps Volunteers and the Peace Corps as an 
agency remain pressing. Consequently, I look forward to working with my 
friend and colleague Chairman Hyde as well as other Members to 
reintroduce authorizing legislation that will strengthen Peace Corps' 
ability to fulfill its congressionally mandated mission of conducting 
diplomacy through development. I am also committed to ensuring that 
Peace Corps Volunteers, as our best ambassadors in remote villages 
throughout the globe and particularly in countries with significant 
Muslim populations, reflect the diversity of our great nation.
   Mr. Speaker, I again salute the many thousands of Peace Corps 
Volunteers who have dedicated on average two years of their lives to 
proudly continuing the arduous yet vastly rewarding work of the nearly 
180,000 volunteers that have come before them. I am proud to represent 
twenty of these extraordinary individuals who are currently separated 
from their families, friends, and neighbors in the pursuit of service 
to country and others.

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