[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 37 (Wednesday, March 5, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E310]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     A TRIBUTE RECOGNIZING THE 47TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE PEACE CORPS

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                       HON. LUCILLE ROYBAL-ALLARD

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, March 5, 2008

  Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD. Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize and 
commend the 190,000 former and current volunteers of the United States 
Peace Corps, as we celebrate the 47th Anniversary of this extraordinary 
agency.
  In a 1960 speech to students at the University of Michigan, President 
Kennedy issued one of his most historic challenges. He asked Americans 
to trade the comforts of home for the adversities of volunteer work 
overseas and, in doing so, serve our country by serving the rest of the 
world. -
  President Kennedy's original mission for the Peace Corps remains 
unchanged today. The Peace Corps volunteers--who range from college 
graduates to retirees with decades of experience--help the people of 
host countries by sending trained men and women with expertise in a 
variety of professional fields. The volunteers also promote a better 
understanding of Americans abroad and create bonds of friendship that 
last a lifetime.
  More than 8,000 Peace Corps volunteers currently serve in 74 
countries. In some of the most deeply impoverished regions of the 
world, the volunteers are often the first glimpse of America that the 
people have ever encountered. These volunteers make significant and 
lasting contributions in each host country through their work in 
agriculture, business development, information technology, education, 
youth, environment, health and HIV/AIDS.
  Through the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, PEPFAR, Peace 
Corps volunteers continue to meet the challenges of the HIV/AIDS 
pandemic working both formally and informally in 10 of the 15 focus 
countries. In 2007, approximately 93 percent of all Peace Corps posts 
contributed to HIV/AIDS activities. These volunteers assisted more than 
1 million people.
  I am especially proud of the seven volunteers from the 34th District 
currently in service with the Peace Corps. These remarkable men and 
women from my Los Angeles district and the countries they are currently 
serving in are as follows: Jennifer Baez, Ecuador; Roberto Dubon, 
Paraguay; Anna Frumes, Ukraine; Joyce Hahn, Azerbaijan; Roanel Herrera, 
Panama; and Christina and Justin Senter, Mauritania in North-West 
Africa. I congratulate them and all of the 821 Californians currently 
serving around the globe as Peace Corps volunteers.
  I also thank Peace Corps Director Ron Tschetter, himself a former 
volunteer in India, for his service at the Corps's helm since September 
2006. Mr. Tschetter is the latest in a long line of distinguished Peace 
Corps Directors that includes Jack Vaughn, Carol Bellamy and, of 
course, Sargent Shriver, who served as the organization's first leader 
under President Kennedy.
  Peace Corps volunteers each cross the borders of language and culture 
to inspire new perspectives, provide real assistance in their host 
countries, and extend American values and friendship around the world. 
They are a unique and effective corps of informal ambassadors for this 
country.
  Madam Speaker, as the organization observes its 47th Anniversary, 
please join me in congratulating Ron Tschetter and the Corps's 
thousands of volunteers on a job well done. They truly represent the 
best of what our great Nation has to offer.

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