Peace Corps Reauthorization Act of 2022

Floor Speech

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this bill. Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Garamendi and Mr. Graves for their bipartisan work on the Peace Corps Reauthorization Act.

Last year, the Peace Corps celebrated its 60th anniversary. The Peace Corps has played an important role in America's foreign assistance efforts, and I thank the volunteers who have selflessly given their time to do work abroad.

The Peace Corps faced many challenges during the pandemic, but I am pleased that volunteers are finally returning to their important tasks overseas. As they return, volunteer safety must continue to be the agency's top priority.

Tragically, the number of volunteers reporting sexual assault during their service has risen. This is devastating, and we must continue to hold the Peace Corps accountable for maximizing the safety and welfare of our volunteers.

This bill reinforces and builds on key reforms made by Congress in 2011, including extending the mandate of the Sexual Assault Advisory Council.

It also expedites the reenrollment process for volunteers whose service was cut short by the pandemic, and it directs the Peace Corps to establish a zero-tolerance policy on volunteers' drug use.

This bill is an important step toward exercising our oversight responsibilities and driving reforms that will protect the Peace Corps volunteers that we all represent.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill. In the more than two decades since the Peace Corps was last authorized, the agency and its volunteers have done great work around the world on behalf of the American people, but the agency still has work to do.

By building on key reforms as volunteers go back into the field, this legislation will ensure that the Peace Corps is prepared to meet the challenges of tomorrow.

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