[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 142 (Thursday, September 22, 2011)]
[House]
[Pages H6355-H6356]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        HONORING THE PEACE CORPS

  (Mr. FARR asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. FARR. I rise today to honor the 50th anniversary of the founding 
of the Peace Corps, and today over a thousand returned Peace Corps 
volunteers are here in our Capitol to bring us the attention that the 
Peace Corps deserves.
  Congress passed legislation authorizing the Peace Corps and giving it 
a mandate to ``promote peace and friendship.''
  Since then, 200,00 Americans, including myself and Congress Members 
Tom Petri, Mike Honda, and John Garamendi have served our great country 
in the name of peace and friendship.

[[Page H6356]]

  I am so proud that 18 volunteers currently are serving from my 
district in California. They include Jonathan Cotham from Monterey. 
He's producing 500 environmental educational books in El Salvador, 
which will help 6,300 folks in local schools; Joshua Twisselman from 
Salinas. He's teaching English in Madagascar and has an English 
language radio station.
  Just now there are 8,655 Americans currently serving in 80 countries. 
But Peace Corps service doesn't end when you leave the country. This 
weekend, more than 1,300 Peace Corps volunteers are here in Washington, 
D.C. They are the advocates for peace and prosperity and goodwill that 
the Peace Corps embodies.
  Join me in making the 50th anniversary of the Peace Corps truly an 
opportunity to serve our country.

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