[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 2]
[House]
[Page 2420]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                   WE MUST PROTECT OUR ANGELS ABROAD

  (Mr. POE of Texas asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, Peace Corps volunteers are America's 
angels abroad. These unique volunteers are some of our best diplomats. 
They travel to the ends of the Earth to spread the message of democracy 
in lands far, far away.
  Sometimes they work alone, and they help in remote regions of the 
world, areas where most of us could not even locate with Google Maps. 
They help small villages with sanitation and lack of water, for 
instance, and they do it all with great passion.
  These volunteers are called to serve. However, we must serve and 
protect these volunteers as well.
  Sometimes bad things happen to Peace Corps volunteers overseas. If 
so, America must help with medical services. We must help with care and 
counseling if they are assaulted in a foreign country. That is why 
Congress passed the Kate Puzey Peace Corps Volunteer Protection Act of 
2011.
  But Congress must continue to advocate for victims in the Peace 
Corps. We need to make sure that our volunteers with service-related 
medical conditions and injuries are cared for and compensated both in 
the field and when they return home to America.
  We must protect these angels abroad. After all, Mr. Speaker, they are 
ambassadors to the world from America.
  And that is just the way it is.

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