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National Peace Corps Association > News > Advocacy > Deadlines Approach on Peace Corps Funding Letters
Deadlines Approach on Peace Corps Funding Letters
By Jonathan Pearson on Thursday, March 8th, 2012
There's still time to support the March 1st Capitol Hill advocacy efforts of these District of Columbia RPCVs - among the 75 citizen lobbyists who held more than 120 meetings on Peace Corps Day
Senate and House Dear Colleague letters to support strong Peace Corps funding could close as early as this Friday, so time for continued action is critical!
As of 5 PM Thursday, thanks to your efforts, 99 Senators and Congressmen/women have signed – so far -letters urging strong funding support for the Peace Corps. Please read this update and keep taking appropriate action!
SENATE
As of Thursday morning, here are the fourteen Senators who signed the Feinstein-Isakson Dear Colleague letter (most recent signatures are listed in bold).
California: Feinstein
Colorado: Udall
Delaware: Coons
Georgia: Isakson
Hawaii: Akaka
Louisiana: Landrieu
Maryland: Cardin, Mikulski
New Jersey: Lautenberg
New Mexico: Bingaman
Oregon: Merkley, Wyden
Rhode Island: Whitehouse
Vermont: Sanders
Please thank these Senators for their support.
For all other Senators, please take the following action.
- Follow this link for contact information to phone or email your Senators.
- If you are a constituent of Senators Daniel Inouye (D-HI), Patrick Leahy (D-VT) or Lindsey Graham (R-SC) follow this link for a special action.
- For other Senators, ask them to “Please sign the Feinstein-Isakson Dear Colleague letter in support of strong Peace Corps funding in Fiscal Year 2013.”
- If you are sending an e-mail to your Senators, you can use the sample message below as a guide. We encourage you to personalize your message if time allows.
HOUSE
As of Thursday 5 PM, here are the 85 Congressmen/women who signed the Farr-Petri-Honda-Garamendi Dear Colleague letter (Please thank these lawmakers for their support).
(Most recent additions to this list are in bold)
For all other Representatives, please take the following action:
- If you are not sure who your Congressman/woman is, visit www.house.gov and use the “Find Your Representative” link in the upper right corner.
- If you are a constituent of Congressman Hal Rogers (R-KY), Congresswomen Kay Granger (R-TX) or Nita Lowey (D-NY), follow this link for a special action.
- For all others, call your Rep’s office or the Capitol Hill switchboard (202-225-3121) and ask to be connected to the office of your Representative. If you want to send an email, visit your Reps’ website or follow this link to send your message (you may need your nine digit zip code for this link)
- Ask your Rep to: ”Please sign the Farr-Petri-Honda-Garamendi Dear Colleague letter in support of $400 Million for the Peace Corps in Fiscal Year 2013.”
- If you are sending an email to your Congressman/woman you can use the sample message below as a guide. We encourage you to personalize your message if time allows.
SAMPLE LETTER – SENATE
(Feel free to use this letter as a guide when writing to your Senator(s). Personalize if you can. Include your Peace Corps service and why you believe the Peace Corps is important.)
Dear Senator ______
As a strong supporter of the Peace Corps, I am writing to urge you to please sign the Feinstein-Isakson Dear Colleague letter requesting strong support for Peace Corps funding in Fiscal Year 2013.
As the Peace Corps community embarks on its next 50 years of service to our nation, your support for strong Peace Corps funding will help provide resources that are necessary to support more than 9,000 volunteers and trainees at work in service to our nation. The Peace Corps remains as one of our nation’s enduring expressions of global friendship and understanding. More than 200,000 citizens have answered the call to service, while Returned Peace Corps Volunteers provide ongoing service as leaders in communities all across our country.
Here is a link to the Dear Colleague letter:
To add your name to this letter, please contact Richard Harper in Senator Feinstein’s office, or Chris Sullivan in Senator Isakson’s office.
I thank you in advance for taking positive action to support the Peace Corps.
Sincerely,
(Your Name, Address and Peace Corps Affiliation/if applicable)
SAMPLE LETTER – HOUSE
(Feel free to use this letter as a guide when writing to your Congressman/woman. Personalize if you can. Include your Peace Corps service and why you believe the Peace Corps is important.)
Dear Representative ______
As a strong supporter of the Peace Corps, I am writing to urge you to please sign the Farr-Petri-Honda-Garamendi Dear Colleague letter requesting $400 Million for the Peace Corps in Fiscal Year 2013.
As the Peace Corps community embarks on its next 50 years of service to our nation, your support for $400 Million for the Peace Corps will help provide resources that are necessary to support more than 9,000 volunteers and trainees who are at work in service to our nation. The Peace Corps remains as one of our nation’s enduring expressions of global friendship and understanding. More than 200,000 citizens have answered the call to service, while Returned Peace Corps Volunteers provide ongoing service as leaders in communities all across our country.
Here is a link to the Dear Colleague letter:
To add your name to this letter, please contact Caitie Whelan Congressman Farr’s office.
I thank you in advance for taking positive action to support the Peace Corps.
Sincerely,
(Your Name, Address and Peace Corps Affiliation/if applicable)
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Follow this link for background information on Peace Corps funding
