[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 3]
[House]
[Page 3199]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                            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. Mr. Speaker, I rise this morning to commemorate the 
creation of the Peace Corps. Forty-seven years ago this month, March 
1961, President Kennedy called upon Americans to serve abroad. Since 
that time, nearly 200,000 Americans have responded to that call, 
including five sitting Members of Congress. They left behind the 
comforts of family and friends and decided to forego high-paying jobs 
to share their abilities with people across the globe.
  Peace Corps volunteers work in the poorest communities of the world's 
poorest countries, where they build lasting relationships, inspire 
young people to become leaders, and simply make good friends. Peace 
Corps volunteers improve America's standing worldwide, one community at 
a time.
  Today I have introduced a bill to reauthorize the Peace Corps and to 
double its size by the year 2012. I look forward to bipartisan support 
for the Peace Corps and ask all Members to join the Returned Peace 
Corps Volunteer Members of Congress who cosponsored the Peace Corps 
reauthorization.

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