[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 142 (Thursday, September 22, 2011)]
[House]
[Page H6350]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          HAPPY 50TH BIRTHDAY TO THE UNITED STATES PEACE CORPS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Garamendi) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. GARAMENDI. Madam Speaker, I rise today to celebrate a very, very 
special birthday. It is the 50th birthday of the United States Peace 
Corps, an incredible organization that was started by President John F. 
Kennedy and a whole lot of people that thought that this Nation had an 
opportunity to reach out to the men and women of America, provide them 
with a challenge: to go out to the world to seek peace, to work for 
peace, and to help developing nations meet their needs, whether it be 
in education, community development, economic development, or other 
activities. And so it has been.
  More than 200,000 Americans, young and old, men and women, have 
become Peace Corps volunteers. They have served in 139 countries around 
the world, and today they serve in over 70 countries. It's been a 
terrific program. It has presented the very best face of America to 
millions of people around the world.
  Today, there are leaders of many countries around this world that 
have been taught by Peace Corps volunteers in their high schools, in 
their grammar schools or universities. They have a very special 
understanding of America. They know Americans. They know that Americans 
have a big heart and they have a desire to see progress, economic and 
social progress in every country of this world.
  And so today we celebrate 50 years. We celebrate over 200,000 Peace 
Corps volunteers that have served around the world, and we celebrate 
those who have been in the administration, the directors, the country 
directors, the doctors, the nurses, and the others who have been part 
of this enormously important part of America.
  As those Peace Corps volunteers have returned to America, it is now 
clear in recent polling that they have continued to serve. They serve 
as volunteers at twice the rate of other Americans. And they are found 
in the schools, they are found in the community programs, and they're 
even found in Congress, as strange as that might seem. But, 
nonetheless, they've served in many, many ways, and they continue to do 
so.
  Earlier today, I met two Peace Corps volunteers who were in the very 
first effort in Tanzania, then Tanganyika. They returned some 40 years 
later. I'm going to turn that around. They actually served in 
Afghanistan in the early sixties and then came back 40 years later to 
serve once again as Peace Corps volunteers.
  And what we have found over these many years, that once you've become 
a Peace Corps volunteer, you never stop laboring for peace, wherever it 
may be. And so today we celebrate the 50th anniversary of a remarkable 
idea that was put forward by President John F. Kennedy, the idea that 
Americans could reach out to the whole world and serve wherever that 
need might be.
  Happy birthday, Peace Corps.


                Announcement by the Speaker Pro Tempore

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair will remind all persons in the 
gallery that they are here as guests of the House and that any 
manifestation of approval or disapproval of proceedings is in violation 
of the rules of the House.

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