The latest additions are Representatives Keith Ellison (MN), Ed Markey (MA), Henry Waxman (CA), Donald Payne (NJ), Donna Edwards (MD), John Conyers (MI), Hank Johnson (GA), Jan Schakowsky (IL) and Jerrold Nadler (NY).
Follow this link for the complete list of signers to date. Securing additional signatures will be a primary focus of Tuesday's National Day of Action. A similar letter is expected to begin circulating in the U.S. Senate this week.
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The letter, which requests $465 million for the Peace Corps for Fiscal Year 2010, now has 19 signatures.
The latest additions are Representatives Edolphus Towns (NY), Mazie Hirono (HI), Barney Frank (MA), John Sarbanes (MD), Jim McGovern (MA), Luis Gutierrez (IL), Eddie Bernice Johnson (TX) and Dennis Moore (KS).
You can see the complete list of sign ons by following this link.
This letter will be a major focus of next Tuesday's National Day of Action. If you want to take action now with your Congressman/woman, follow this link to our February 24th update and look for a phone action in the middle of the story.
]]>As the March 2nd National Day of Action in Support of the Peace Corps is just days away, the U.S. House of Representatives is starting to take action. You can get a jump start on your Day of Action activities now!
Once again this year, the five RPCVs in the House (Congressmen Farr, Honda, Petri, Driehaus and Garamendi) have issued a "Dear Colleague" letter that other lawmakers are being asked to sign. The letter seeks $465 million for the Peace Corps in Fiscal Year 2011. This would be a 16% increase from current funding, and is roughly 4% higher than President Obama's requested $446 million.
Six other Congressmen/women have already added their name to this letter. They are Madeleine Bordallo (Guam), Yvette Clarke (NY), Diana DeGette (CO), Gwen Moore (WI), Bill Pascrell Jr. (NJ) and David Price (NC). If you reach out to these lawmakers, thank them for signing the letter.
If your Congressman/woman is yet on this list, you can take the following action:
Return to the News and Events Page of this website for regular updates on signers of the House Peace Corps funding letter. This letter will be a major focus of the March 2nd Day of Action. A similar Senate letter is expected to be circulating soon.
Not sure who your Congressman/woman is? Visit www.house.gov and go to the "Find Your Representative" section in the upper left corner of the page.
(Photo above - RPCV Congressmen Farr, Petri, Driehaus and Honda - pictured at last year's National Peace Corps Association Director's Circle meeting - are joined by new RPCV Congressman Garamendi in authoring the Peace Corps funding letter for Fiscal Year 2011)
]]>A series of national conference calls will be held throughout the month of February to help you prepare for the Day of Action.
Contact us at advocacy@peacecorpsconnect.org to register for any of these upcoming calls. Then, share this information with others you know.
(Please note: The February 16th conference call is for NPCA member group representatives and will include a general overview of NPCA advocacy. All other calls are open to any interested advocates)
Language in the President's budget suggests it will increase "volunteer numbers, recruitment efforts and the entry of the Peace Corps into new countries in order to have approximately 9,400 Americans enrolled in the Peace Corps by the end of 2012 and 11,000 by the end of 2016." Peace Corps currently reports roughly 7,700 volunteers and trainees in the field.
The President's budget also references steps included in the Fiscal Year 2010 appropriation (approved by Congress and signed into law last December 16th) related to a better and bolder Peace Corps. That language states that "not later than 45 days after enactment of this Act, the (Peace Corps) Director shall submit a spending plan to the Committees on Appropriations on the proposed uses of funds." Not later than 180 days after enactment (June 16, 2010), "the Director shall, after consultation with the Committees on Appropriations, submit a report to the Committees that includes the findings of a comprehensive assessment of the current program model of the Peace Corps and a strategy for reforming and improving operations." Persuasive and compelling reports on use of the funds and improving its operations will be critical to generating congressional support for another significant funding increase.
"Although short of our More Peace Corps campaign's goal of doubling the size of the Peace Corps by the 50th anniversary, the President's Peace Corps request represents a continued commitment to service through an expanded and improved Peace Corps," said National Peace Corps Association President Kevin Quigley. "We will move forward with Peace Corps leaders in Congress to secure at least the President's request for Fiscal Year 2011."
Current funding for the Peace Corps - $400 million - provided the largest single-year dollar increase ($60 million) in the history of the agency. If the President's Fiscal Year 2011 request is approved, it would mark the second highest increase in history and the largest percentage increase (other than last year) since 1991.
You can follow this pdf link to read more about the funding request for Peace Corps in relation to the entire budget proposal for the State Department and other international affairs programs.
]]>A classroom teacher in South Chungcheong Province, "Stephens said that the experiences shaped her skills and ideas about what she wanted to do with her life later on." The article quotes Ambassador Stephens as saying "(Peace Corps) made me a better diplomat. And my first exposure to Korea in the 1970s left me, as it did many Peace Corps volunteers, with a lifelong interest in all things Korean."
You can read the complete article by following this link. The article coincides with a photo exhibition opening today in Seoul celebrating volunteerism between the two countries, and highlighting the work of Korea RPCVs. Since 1990, the Korea Overseas Volunteer Program has sent more than 6,000 South Koreans to more than 50 nations as volunteers.
]]>It is also the week when the National Peace Corps Association and its MorePeaceCorps Campaign mobilizes activists for an annual "National Day of Action" in support of the Peace Corps.
Please mark your calendars as Tuesday, March 2nd, will be this year's Day of Action. We hope everyone will - at the very least - set aside five minutes on that day to make a phone call, send an email or send a fax to their representatives in Congress urging continued support for a bigger, better and bolder Peace Corps.
For those living in or near Washington DC, there's a lot to do to help prepare for the Day of Action. This includes volunteer advocates who can participate in Capitol Hill meetings on the 2nd. If you can volunteer, please let us know.
If you live elsewhere, please start reaching out to friends, family and other members of the Peace Corps community to let them know about the Day of Action.
The Day of Action is timely in that it comes several weeks after the President submits his Fiscal Year 2011 budget proposal to Congress.
Stay tuned for updates as the Day of Action approaches. For volunteer information and other questions, please contact jonathan@peacecorpsconnect.org
]]>Members of the Peace Corps community from Colorado (l to r: Billie Day, Ann Moore, Mike Moore and Grant Knutson) met with Congressman Ed Perlmutter in 2009 to thank him for his support of a bigger, better and bolder Peace Corps. They were among the thousands of advocates who made a tremendous difference in 2009.
The MorePeaceCorps campaign and its successes are highlighted in the National Peace Corps Association's 2009 Year in Review. Follow this link for reflections back on MorePeaceCorps petition drives, Capitol Hill advocacy, rallies, speakers and other activities that make up NPCA's advocacy program.
]]>Connecticut Senator Chris Dodd, a returned Peace Corps volunteer who served in the Dominican Republic from 1966-68, will not to seek re-election this November.
Dodd has been the leading voice in the Senate on Peace Corps issues. He is the author of Peace Corps legislation including the Peace Corps Improvement and Expansion Act, and has led the annual effort to secure signatures on a Senate Dear Colleague letter urging robust funding for Peace Corps.
Last year, Senator Dodd. as Chair of the Foreign Relations Peace Corps Subcommittee, convened the confirmation hearing for Director Aaron Williams and expedited Senate confirmation of the new director.
You can read more about Senator Dodd's decision by clicking here.
Senator Dodd is the only RPCV serving in the Senate. There are five RPCVs currently serving in the House of Representatives.
]]>But along with a bigger Peace Corps, the MorePeaceCorps campaign also advocates for a better, bolder Peace Corps. The latest effort on this front is a survey of the Peace Corps community, in which more than 4,500 individuals offered their views and comments on how to improve and embolden the agency as it begins to embark on its next fifty years of volunteer service and collaborative engagement with people around the world.
Follow this link to read the full report (or an executive summary).
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As the curtain was closing on the Fiscal Year 2010 budget deliberations, the MorePeaceCorps Campaign was already beginning its work on Fiscal Year 2011, with the assistance of RPCV leaders from around the nation.
Because the President is required to submit his next budget to Congress no later than the first Monday in February, the administration is already in the process of reviewing requests from agencies and putting together its Fiscal Year 2011 budget plan. With this in mind, a letter was sent to the President and other administration officials, urging an increase in funding for the Peace Corps "that will allow for significant improvement of operations and continued growth of programs."
With the tremendous assistance and leadership of 64 member groups of the National Peace Corps Association, the letter cited recent developments - including the nomination of two RPCVs with strong development experience to head the agency and announcements of Peace Corps' planned return to Indonesia and Sierra Leone - as positive steps forward.
You can lead the RPCV Group letter to the President by following this link.
]]>President Obama is expected to sign the appropriations package into law shortly.
]]>You can follow this link to read a summary of final figures for the State/Foreign Operations portion of the budget (including Peace Corps - found on page four of the document). State/Foreign Operations was one of six appropriations bills that were packaged together by the House and and Senate leadership for expedited action.
Action on this package of appropriations bills now heads to the Senate for final approval. News reports indicate the Senate could vote on the package this weekend.
]]>Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown is the fourteenth member of the United States Senate to co-sponsor S. 1382, the Peace Corps Improvement and Expansion Act of 2009.
Since joining the Senate in 2007, and also during his years representing the 13th Congressional District of Ohio, Senator Brown has been a consistent supporter of legislation and other initiatives of importance to the Peace Corps community.
You can read the text of the Dodd legislation by following this link. For a list of current co-sponsors, click here.
(photo: At a 2007 breakfast gathering hosted by his office, Senator Brown met with Ohio constituent and National Peace Corps Association intern Molly Carney to discuss the importance of Peace Corps)
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While this figure is below the $450 million recommended by the House of Representatives, it is an historic step forward. $400 million is significantly higher than the $373.4 million proposed by President Obama and recommended by the Senate. This funding level represents a nearly 18% increase in funding above the $340 million Peace Corps appropriation in Fiscal Year 2009. The approximately $60 million increase would also be the largest single-year dollar increase in funding for the Peace Corps in the agency's nearly fifty year history.
"This wonderful news represents a tremendous and historic investment for a bigger, better and bolder Peace Corps", said National Peace Corps Association President Kevin Quigley. "Our congratulations to the many lawmakers on Capitol Hill who championed this cause, and also to the thousands of members of the Peace Corps community who took action over the past two years. As we prepare to continue future advocacy to improve, embolden and expand the Peace Corps, we applaud everyone who helped secure this initial victory. You really made a huge difference."
Congress will still need to give final approval to this spending recommendation. However, with a current December 18th deadline to conclude work on appropriations, ongoing work on health care legislation and several other key matters that must be addressed this calendar year, lawmakers are expected to consider negotiated appropriations bills in their entirety, leaving little - if any - room for amendments. You can follow this link to read more about the work before Congress and plans for appropriations bills.
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