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National Peace Corps Association > News > Advocacy > Last Call for Peace Corps Funding Letters!
Last Call for Peace Corps Funding Letters!
By Jonathan Pearson on Monday, March 12th, 2012
California advocates met March 1st with staff of Senator Barbara Boxer, who signed the Senate Peace Corps funding letter. Only hours remain for your Senators and Congressmen/women to sign these letters in support of strong Fiscal Year 2013 funding for the Peace Corps
With the House Peace Corps funding letter now closed and the Senate letter into its final hours, we stand only one signature shy of establishing a new record of congressional signatures in a single year. We can still reach that mark with your continued involvement.
With your help, 156 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
The deadline for signing onto the Feinstein-Isakson Dear Colleague letter is 6 PM (EST) Wednesday, March 14th.
As of 6 PM Wednesday, these are the 28 Senators who are confirmed as signing the letter.
(most recent signatures are listed in bold).
California: Boxer, Feinstein
Colorado: Bennet, Udall
Connecticut: Blumenthal
Delaware: Carper, Coons
Georgia: Isakson
Hawaii: Akaka
Illinois: Durbin
Louisiana: Landrieu
Maine: Collins, Snowe
Maryland: Cardin, Mikulski
Massachusetts: Brown, Kerry
Michigan: Levin
New Jersey: Lautenberg
New Mexico: Bingaman, Udall
North Carolina: Hagan
Oregon: Merkley, Wyden
Rhode Island: Whitehouse
Vermont: Sanders
West Virginia: Rockefeller
Wisconsin: Kohl
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 at the bottom of this post as a guide. We encourage you to personalize your message if time allows.
HOUSE
The deadline for signing onto the Farr-Petri-Honda-Garamendi Dear Colleague letter was Monday.
These are the 128 Congressmen/women who signed this year’s letter, marking a new record for House signatures on this letter!
Please contact the following lawmakers and thank them for their support!
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.
Please note that the deadline for signing this letter is close of business, Wednesday, March 14th.
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 Daniel Saphire 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)
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Follow this link for background information on Peace Corps funding
I would like to know some more information about the Peace Corps in general. I’m only a sophomore in high school, but I’d like to join the Peace Corps once I graduate from college with the correct majors. I think the program is really changing the world, and I want to be a part of it. Could you e-mail me some more information, please? And thank you for responding to the message.
Sincerely, Morgan.