[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 4]
[Senate]
[Page 5258]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    46TH ANNIVERSARY OF PEACE CORPS

  Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, 46 years ago, President John F. Kennedy 
proposed to the Congress one of the most successful and influential 
programs in the history of our Nation. It was on March 1, 1961, that 
President Kennedy asked the Congress to establish the Peace Corps.
  In making that request, President Kennedy pointed out that the 
program would be of great benefit to struggling nations that were in 
``urgent need for skilled manpower.'' The program has helped meet that 
need as more than 187,000 volunteers have served in the Peace Corps 
since its inception, in 139 countries.
  President Kennedy also explained that the program would benefit 
developed nations as well. ``The future of freedom around the world,'' 
President Kennedy explained, ``depend[s], in a very real sense, on the 
ability to build growing and independent nations where men can live in 
dignity, liberated from the bonds of hunger, ignorance, and poverty.'' 
In pursuit of the Peace Corps mission of helping people help themselves 
throughout the world, Peace Corps volunteers have served as school 
teachers, economic development advisers, agricultural and environmental 
specialists, and in various capacities as skilled laborers. These 
dedicated Americans have helped developing nations with health and 
sanitation projects and have assisted them in increasing their 
agricultural production. They have helped these nations to combat 
diseases, including malaria and HIV/AIDS, that have, for too long, 
plagued underdeveloped nations. Because of the outstanding work of its 
volunteers, the Peace Corps has become an enduring symbol of the 
American commitment to freedom through the encouragement of the social, 
as well as the economic progress of all nations.
  And, in proposing the creation of the Peace Corps, President Kennedy 
forthrightly acknowledged that American self-interest was involved in 
the creation of the program. ``Our own young men and women,'' he 
explained, ``will be enriched by the [Peace Corps] experience . . . an 
experience which will aid them in their future careers.'' And it did. 
Members of the Senate, Senators Paul Tongas and Chris Dodd, came to 
this Chamber as Peace Corps veterans. My good friend and colleague from 
West Virginia, Senator Jay Rockefeller had worked for the Peace Corps 
in Washington, DC, where he served as the operations director for its 
largest overseas program in the Philippines. Members of my staff, like 
Zach Pusch, and even the mothers of members of my staff, like Mrs. 
Dorothy Corbin, have served in the Peace Corps. I have heard all of 
them, on a number of occasions, discuss how their lives and careers 
were enhanced by their service in the Peace Corps. Their experience in 
the Peace Corps inspired them to persevere in making this world a 
better and safer place in which to live, work, and raise families, long 
after they had left the program.
  It is through the Peace Corps that the dreams and the policies of the 
great and beloved President John F. Kennedy live on.
  On this 46th Anniversary of the Peace Corps, and in celebration of 
National Peace Corps Week, I want to congratulate everyone and anyone 
ever involved in this unique organization for your service to our 
country. And, I want to commend you for your efforts in promoting 
freedom around the world.

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