Congressional Record, Volume 156 Issue 128 (Wednesday, September 22, 2010)

[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 128 (Wednesday, September 22, 2010)]
[House]
[Pages H6826-H6828]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

AUTHORIZING PEACE CORPS COMMEMORATIVE WORK

Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass
the bill (H.R. 4195) to authorize the Peace Corps Commemorative
Foundation to establish a commemorative work in the District of
Columbia and its environs, and for other purposes, as amended.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:

H.R. 4195

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. MEMORIAL TO COMMEMORATE THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE
PEACE CORPS AND TO HONOR THE IDEALS UPON WHICH
IT WAS FOUNDED.

(a) Authorization To Establish Commemorative Work.--The
Peace Corps Commemorative Foundation may establish a
commemorative work on Federal land in the District of
Columbia and its environs to commemorate the formation of the
Peace Corps and to honor the ideals upon which the Peace
Corps was founded.
(b) Compliance With Standards for Commemorative Works
Act.--The establishment of the commemorative work shall be in
accordance with chapter 89 of title 40, United States Code
(commonly known as the ``Commemorative Works Act'').
(c) Use of Federal Funds Prohibited.--Federal funds may not
be used to pay any expense of the establishment of the
commemorative work. The Peace Corps Commemorative Foundation
shall be solely responsible for acceptance of contributions
for, and payment of the expenses of, the establishment of the
commemorative work.
(d) Deposit of Excess Funds.--If, upon payment of all
expenses for the establishment of the commemorative work
(including the maintenance and preservation amount required
by section 8906(b)(1) of title 40, United States Code), or
upon expiration of the authority for the commemorative work
under section 8903(e) of title 40, United States Code, there
remains a balance of funds received for the establishment of
the commemorative work, the Peace Corps Commemorative
Foundation shall transmit the amount of the balance to the
Secretary of the Interior for deposit in the account provided
for in section 8906(b)(3) of title 40, United States Code.

SEC. 2. BUDGETARY EFFECTS.

The budgetary effects of this Act, for the purpose of
complying with the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010, shall
be determined by reference to the latest statement titled
``Budgetary Effects of PAYGO Legislation'' for this Act,
submitted for printing in the Congressional Record by the
Chairman of the House Budget Committee, provided that such
statement has been submitted prior to the vote on passage.

The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from
the Virgin Islands (Mrs. Christensen) and the gentleman from Washington
(Mr. Hastings) each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from the Virgin Islands.

General Leave

Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5
legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and
include extraneous material on the bill under consideration.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentlewoman from the Virgin Islands?
There was no objection.
Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. Mr. Speaker, H.R. 4195 would authorize the Peace
Corps Commemorative Foundation to establish a commemorative work on
Federal land in the District of Columbia. The Foundation was created to
promote a memorial to ``honor the preeminent historical and lasting
significance of the establishment of the Peace Corps . . . and the
American ideals and values upon which it was founded.''
H.R. 4195 was introduced by Congressman Farr, one of six Members of
Congress who have served in the Peace Corps. I commend Representative
Farr for his persistence in championing the Peace Corps and this
legislation, and I urge Members to support H.R. 4195.
I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. HASTINGS of Washington. I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
Mr. Speaker, H.R. 4195 has once again been adequately explained by
the gentlelady from the Virgin Islands. However, I would like to
emphasize--and I

[[Page H6827]]

think this is important in the discussion we're having today--that this
project would be planned, constructed, and maintained using non-Federal
funds. We ought to look at that probably more often in programs we
address here.
I reserve the balance of my time.
Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to
the sponsor of this legislation, the gentleman from California,
Congressman Farr.
Mr. FARR. Mr. Speaker, I rise on behalf of my colleagues in Congress
who are return Peace Corps volunteers--Congressman Petri, Congressman
Honda, Congressman Driehaus, and Congressman Garamendi.
Fifty years ago this October in a predawn address, then-Presidential
candidate, John F. Kennedy, challenged students at the University of
Michigan to give 2 years of their lives to improve America's image by
serving abroad.
This impromptu exhortation ultimately set the stage for the Peace
Corps, redefined U.S. global engagement, and elevated American moral
standing at the height of the Cold War.
The idea ignited the public imagination and the executive branch
initiated the program rapidly. Losing no time, President Kennedy
ordered Sargent Shriver to do a feasibility study. Sargent Shriver said
at the time, ``We received more letters from people offering to work in
or to volunteer for the Peace Corps, which did not then exist, than for
all other existing Federal agencies.''
I was one of those early recruits who found in the Peace Corps an
avenue for national service. And just as 8,000 current volunteers are
doing today around the world, I did many years ago in Medellin,
Colombia, South America.
As a member of the Peace Corps, you wake up in a distant country,
without any modern amenities, and start working with your neighbors to
prioritize community projects. You labor shoulder-to-shoulder to make
those projects a reality. And in the process, you build hope and
understanding and demonstrate American generosity.
The understanding is a two-way street. When I was in Colombia, I
learned as much as I taught. I took away as much as I gave.
When I was in Colombia, my mother passed away from cancer. My father
brought my two sisters to visit me to have a family reunion. My
youngest sister, Nancy, 17-years-old, a junior in high school, was
killed in an accident. She was thrown from a horse. Her death was
avoidable. Better health care, a better hospital could have saved her.
I was angry at Colombia, at sort of Third World poverty, at my
community, and at myself for having brought my family to visit me.
I stuck with it, though, and over time with reflection, I came to
terms with my anger. It was not Colombia. It was not Colombian doctors
who flew hundreds of miles in the middle of the night to try to save
her. It was not my community in Colombia. When the landing strip was
too dark for a plane to land, members of the community put out burning
lanterns to guide the plane in. They consoled me. They took care of our
family.
It was poverty, the grinding poverty that still exists today, that
exposes women and men, young and old, to enormous vulnerabilities.
I might add that those vulnerabilities aren't protected by an
American passport or an American ability to find monetary solutions. If
you're stuck in an underserved, poverty part of the world with a crisis
in front of you, you have to deal with the tools at hand.
I committed then at that moment, and throughout my life, to work to
end the culture of poverty. My life was changed. It was the Peace Corps
that changed me.
My story is one of a quarter of a million volunteer stories and
millions of more Peace Corps stories if you talk to the communities
that receive the volunteers.
Peace Corps was then, and continues to be today, a story of the
goodness of the United States of America. Next year, Peace Corps will
celebrate its 50th anniversary.

{time} 1510

In anticipation of this momentous occasion, the 111th Congress is
poised to take action on two very important measures to honor the Peace
Corps. First, the House will vote today to celebrate a half century of
the Peace Corps with a commemorative work in the District of Columbia.
The commemorative work authorized by this bill is compliant with both
the letter and the intent of the Commemorative Works Act. It costs zero
taxpayer dollars, not a penny.
This bill provides a space where the creation of the Peace Corps will
find its place in American history. It will be a modest commemorative
work, a place to contemplate the spirit of hope that gave rise to the
idea of sending a cadre of Americans into the world to serve their
country by serving the poorest and most vulnerable in the world. It
commemorates the creation of a unique form of public service that seeks
peace through international service, people-to-people diplomacy, and
cross-cultural understanding.
I appreciate the work of Chairman Rahall and Chairman Grijalva and
their staffs; the minority staff and Mr. Doc Hastings, and I
particularly would like to recognize the staffs of both of the majority
and minority committee members who helped bring this bill to the floor.
Later this year we'll have another opportunity to show our
appreciation for the Peace Corps when we vote for the House funding for
Peace Corps in the FY11 State, Foreign Operations Appropriations Act.
The House has met the President's ask of $446 million, the subcommittee
marked it at that, which can renew the promise of the Peace Corps in
anticipation of its 50th anniversary.
President Obama has directed the Peace Corps to aggressively reform
programming and training and open up and expand missions around the
world, specifically in North Africa, Central Asia, and the Middle East.
Just as President Kennedy did 50 years ago, President Obama inspired a
Nation with his call to service. He has redefined the way the United
States engages with the world, emphasizing direct communication and
people-to-people diplomacy. Peace Corps represents those ideals at a
time when diplomacy is a global imperative.
Please join me in voting for H.R. 4195 to commemorate the 50th
anniversary of the Peace Corps and allow a commemorative mark to be
done at no cost to the taxpayers.
Mr. PETRI. Mr. Speaker, I support passage of H.R. 4195, a bill that
would authorize the Peace Corps Commemorative Foundation to establish a
commemorative work to honor the formation of the Peace Corps and the
ideals upon which it was founded.
I served in the Peace Corps in Somalia in 1966-67, just 5 years after
the program's founding, and saw first hand the contribution that Peace
Corps volunteers make to the communities they serve. Fifty years later,
the continued selfless and noble service outside our borders remains a
testament to the timeless American ideals embodied by the Peace Corps
volunteers I served with and those that are serving today. Indeed, the
creation of the Peace Corps by Congress and President John F. Kennedy
in 1961 marked a fundamental turning point in American foreign policy.
The values and ideals of America were put into action to help meet the
needs of people in developing countries through volunteer service
abroad.
The memorials and commemoratives of Washington, DC, tell the story of
the people and events that have shaped our nation's history and our
fundamental ideals. The founding of the Peace Corps was an expression
of those ideals and will continue to inspire new generations of
Americans to embrace the belief that we can and should reach out to
uplift those around us. As such, I believe the Peace Corps's founding,
and the American ideals it represents, deserve an essential and
meaningful part of the national capital landscape to commemorate the
preeminent, lasting significance of a watershed moment in the nation's
history, the founding of the Peace Corps 50 years ago. I ask my
colleagues to join me in supporting H.R. 4195.
Mr. HASTINGS of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I have no requests for time,
and I yield back the balance of my time.
Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time,
and I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentlewoman from the Virgin Islands (Mrs. Christensen) that the House
suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 4195, as amended.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the

[[Page H6828]]

rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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