Peace Corps Reauthorization Act of 2022

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. GARAMENDI. Mr. Speaker, today, I am excited to join my colleagues as we consider the first reauthorization of the Peace Corps in two decades and also celebrate the 61st anniversary of the establishment of this extraordinary American invention.

This week, we celebrate the anniversary of President John F. Kennedy's signing of the Peace Corps Act into law on September 22, 1961. My wife, Patti, and I began our careers in public service when we joined the Peace Corps as young married graduates fresh out of UC Berkeley.

Our post was to a remote village in western Ethiopia. We taught the seventh and eighth grades and engaged in community development. Like so many Americans of every age and background, we answered JFK's call to service.

Over the 60 years since the first volunteers arrived in Liberia, more than 240,000 Americans have served in 143 countries. Their tasks were to assist in the economic and social development in those countries.

JFK gave the call to service: ``Ask not what your country can do for you--ask what you can do for your country.'' By 1962, Peace Corps volunteers were in-country. They were bringing advanced agricultural production techniques. They were teaching and providing medical education and healthcare services. They were creating cooperatives. They were building roads. They were bringing every conceivable skill that every nation needed.

When the Soviet Union collapsed, Peace Corps volunteers were asked by 13 newly independent states to come and bring the best of America with them. Americans young and old with every skill arrived. Since 1992, 3,552 American Peace Corps volunteers have served in Ukraine.

Prior to the global COVID-19 pandemic, Peace Corps volunteers served in 61 countries. For 60 years, the benefits of these Peace Corps volunteers' work at home and abroad were undeniable.

Over the decades, many Members and former volunteers have had the honor of co-chairing the Congressional Peace Corps Caucus. I thank my co-chair, Garret Graves, as we lead congressional understanding and support for this essential element of America's international engagement and also the indelible impact that the Peace Corps service has had on the lives of so many around the world and in our own country.

The COVID-19 pandemic shut down Peace Corps programs around the world. Today, the Peace Corps is diligently returning its volunteers to this essential work. The agency has set an ambitious goal of surpassing 10,000 volunteers annually serving abroad. Volunteers are now in 27 countries, and every month, another country is restarting its program.

My bill, the bipartisan Peace Corps Reauthorization Act, H.R. 1456, builds upon the Sam Farr and Nick Castle Peace Corps Reform Act of 2018 and the Kate Puzey Peace Corps Volunteer Protection Act of 2011.

It does make many important reforms, which have already been discussed here on the floor. I would only add that it does guarantee additional health insurance coverage for returned volunteers immediately following their service and requires the Peace Corps to facilitate long-term public and private health insurance coverage opportunities for returning volunteers. As mentioned, the workers' compensation rate has increased.

This bill strengthens the protection of volunteers against reprisals or retaliation for reporting wrongdoing within the agency and overseas.

In total, this bill would provide the necessary Federal resources to support international programs, and current, returning, and former Peace Corps volunteers, by authorizing an annual appropriation of $430,500,000. This current, critical legislation will reinvigorate the Peace Corps and ensure that its essential work can continue to shape and inspire people around the world for years to come.

In 1961, President Kennedy understood that the Peace Corps would ``permit our people to exercise more fully their responsibilities in the great common cause of world development.''

He set out three goals. To paraphrase, first, unpack your bag and live with and help meet the needs in your new community. Second, in your new community, work to create a better understanding of America by being the real face of America. Third, bring an understanding of the world back home.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. GARAMENDI. Mr. Speaker, I can think of no better way to honor JFK's vision than for this Congress to pass the bipartisan Peace Corps Reauthorization Act and advance the Peace Corps into the 21st century.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to pass this important bill.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source