[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 5]
[House]
[Page 6312]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     STRENGTHENING THE PEACE CORPS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Texas (Mr. Poe) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, at the young age of 23, Nick Castle 
knew he had a higher calling. So directly following his graduation, he 
headed overseas to China to teach English, volunteering in the Peace 
Corps.
  Sadly, Nick became seriously ill after becoming an ambassador abroad. 
He was the victim of an inefficient, underequipped, and unresponsive 
Peace Corps-led medical team in China.
  After he reported that he was ill, he was prescribed a broad 
antibiotic. Nick quickly began to experience drastic weight loss, but 
he was reassured he was okay. As the weeks progressed, he was confined 
to his bed, too ill to even stand up. But his doctor never recommended 
that he go to the hospital.
  After experiencing dangerously low blood pressure, Nick was finally 
sent to a hospital. As the ambulance made its way to him, it got lost 
on the winding roads in the remote area of China. Before the ambulance 
could get Nick to the hospital, he stopped breathing. Nick died a few 
weeks later in early 2013.
  A 2014 Peace Corps Inspector General report found that Nick was the 
victim of medical negligence. ``Failures and delays in treatment'' were 
exposed, ultimately leading to Nick's death. Investigations revealed 
that the Peace Corps medical team misdiagnosed his illness.
  This heartbreaking death of a young man serving our country and the 
world could have been avoided had the Peace Corps staff been properly 
trained, equipped, and had a responsive team.
  Unfortunately, Nick's case is representative of a broader problem: 
Peace Corps volunteers struggle to access quality medical treatment 
when they are abroad in remote areas of the world. And when they return 
to America, then they face a red-taped, bureaucratic nightmare.
  They are covered by the Peace Corps for 3 months while they wait on 
the Department of Labor to determine that their illnesses or injuries 
are service-related. But the Department often takes much longer than 3 
months to make that determination, forcing those Peace Corps volunteers 
to pay out of pocket for costly medical expenses. When attempting to 
get medical coverage through the Department of Labor, many are faced 
with costly personal expenses.
  So, Mr. Speaker, Congressman Kennedy and I have sponsored H.R. 2259, 
the Sam Farr Peace Corps Enhancement Act. Sam Farr was a Peace Corps 
volunteer and a Member of Congress. This act seeks to improve and 
strengthen the health, safety, and well-being of current and returning 
Peace Corps volunteers. It requires that Peace Corps volunteers have 
access to a qualified Peace Corps medical officer and medical 
facilities while they are at posts overseas. And when those volunteers 
return home, it extends their Peace Corps coverage for up to 6 months 
while they wait on the Department of Labor to determine coverage. It 
enhances access to health care for returning Peace Corps volunteers as 
well, and it expands and improves provisions of the Kate Puzey Peace 
Corps Volunteer Protection Act, enhancing the ability to assist and 
protect volunteers that have experienced sexual assault, among other 
issues, while in lands across the seas.
  Mr. Speaker, Peace Corps volunteers are America's angels abroad. They 
are some of the best that we have. They are the spirit of humanitarian 
assistance. They work in remote areas of the world helping others--
areas of the world that many Americans can't find on a map.
  So America must make sure to take care of these amazing people when 
they serve in lands far away so that there are no more deaths like Nick 
Castle's.
  And that is just the way it is.

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