[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 1]
[Senate]
[Page 533]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



  (At the request of Mr. Reid, the following statement was ordered to 
be printed in the Record.)

                        HONORING SARGENT SHRIVER

 Mrs. CLINTON. Mr. President, I would like to pay tribute to 
Sargent Shriver, a humanitarian and powerful advocate for the poor and 
most vulnerable among us.
  While serving under President John F. Kennedy, Sargent Shriver was 
the driving force behind the creation of the Peace Corps and is 
credited with turning a bold idea for public service into a reality. 
Each year, more than 8,000 of our best and brightest citizens travel 
around the world, representing our Nation and values, to work with 
governments, nonprofits, schools, and local citizens to fulfill three 
goals: Providing aid to those in need, promoting a better understanding 
of America, and fostering greater understanding between people of 
different nations.
  Today, Peace Corps volunteers join with people across the globe in 
helping to lift up families and communities: farming and agricultural 
development in Paraguay; promoting education in China; combating HIV/
AIDS in Ghana; and so much else. More than 190,000 Peace Corps 
volunteers have served in nearly 140 countries. The work Peace Corps 
volunteers are carrying out on behalf of our country has never been 
more important than it is today. There is an urgent need to repair the 
damage to America's image abroad, both among our friends and those who 
do not wish America well.
  And the Peace Corps is only one part of Sargent Shriver's important 
contributions to our country.
  Sargent Shriver served as the first Director of the Office of 
Economic Opportunity under President Lyndon Johnson. He helped lead 
President Johnson's war on poverty where he created or inspired the 
creation of many social programs, including Volunteers in Service to 
America, VISTA, Head Start, Foster Grandparents, Job Corps, Upward 
Bound, and the Legal Services Corporation. I was honored and proud to 
serve on the board of Legal Services Corporation from 1978 to 1981, 
chairing the board of directors from 1978 to 1980. The Legal Services 
Corporation, and many efforts mentioned, continue to help millions of 
low-income Americans today.
  He played a significant role in the drafting and passage of the 
National Community Service Trust Act of 1993, legislation that created 
AmeriCorps, and I was proud to work with him on this effort in the 
Clinton administration. In recognition of his service to this Nation, 
on August 8, 1994, President Bill Clinton presented Sargent Shriver 
with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, our country's highest civilian 
honor.
  I continue to be inspired by Sargent Shriver's service to our 
country. In fact, nearly a decade ago, I joined Sargent Shriver at the 
dedication of the new Peace Corps building and recounted a story I once 
heard. When the founders of Peace Corps were just starting out--still 
figuring out what the organization would look like and how it would 
work--Sargent Shriver was shown an organizational chart. This chart 
showed him at the top, with lines pointing down at staff members at 
various levels of a hierarchy. At the bottom of the chart was the word 
``volunteer.'' When Sargent Shriver saw this chart, he turned it upside 
down because he believed deeply that the volunteers were the heart and 
soul--and the most important part--of the Peace Corps. His vision set 
the course of the agency--and that is how it has been run ever since.
  Each of us has a responsibility to live up to that vision, to promote 
volunteerism, to give our young people a chance to give back to the 
Nation that has given each of us so much. That is why I stood with my 
colleagues in 2003 to undo massive funding cuts to AmeriCorps. These 
are cuts that would have meant thousands of Americans who wanted to 
serve through programs like VISTA, City Year, and Teach For America but 
would be turned away at the doors.
  And that is why I have worked to support AmeriCorps and to remove 
barriers to public service. I proposed the Public Service Academy Act. 
It would create a new Public Service Academy, modeled on the military 
service academies, to provide a 4-year, affordable college education 
for more than 5,000 students each year in exchange for 5-year 
commitment to public service.
  Sargent Shriver is a leader and servant whose legacy will live on for 
generations to come. It will live on in the work of Peace Corps 
volunteers in nations around the world. It will live on in the work of 
AmeriCorps helping to lift up communities here at home. And it will 
live on in his work to create more opportunities for children and 
families living in poverty.
  Together, we can help to carry his legacy forward, too, through 
public service--and through small and large acts of kindness and 
generosity to build better communities and a better world.

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