Peace Corps Reauthorization Act Passes Its First Hurdle
In a time of partisan rancor, the House Foreign Affairs Committee passes the bill with ringing bipartisan approval: a vote of 44 to 4. By Jonathan Pearson It is a sweeping piece of Peace Corps legislation, addressing everything from Volunteer health, safety, and security, to enhanced support and recognition, to expanded opportunities through Peace Corps service, to prioritizing recent evacuees who wish to resume their service as Peace Corps begins redeployment. And over the next year, it is also a top priority on National Peace Corps Association’s advocacy agenda. The Peace Corps Reauthorization Act of 2021 (H.R. 1456),...
Peace Corps Days of Advocacy 2022: In Person?
National Peace Corps Association hopes to host in-person meetings as part of Capitol Hill Advocacy Day on March 3, 2022. This is an opportunity to meet with members of Congress and staff. The last in-person meetings were in March 2020, just days before the Capitol shut down. Health and safety concerns mean we can’t yet confirm in-person meetings in 2022, but NPCA hopes to announce definitive plans in January. Check back with the NPCA website for updates — or head to our homepage and scroll down to sign up for the NPCA Newsletter.
November Update: Important Peace Corps Funding Letter Circulating in the House, Calling for Robust Funding to Make Reforms and Meet the Needs of a Changed World
While the House and the Senate seek to reconcile funding recommendations, Rep. Betty McCollum calls on colleagues to back $430.5 million in Peace Corps funding. This increase is crucial for ensuring that the Peace Corps returns to the field better than before, she says, while also making crucial and long overdue reforms. By Jonathan Pearson On Capitol Hill, Senate and House negotiators are trying to reconcile differences in their recommendations for federal spending for the new fiscal year (FY 2022). Their timeline to reconcile differences was extended when Congress voted keep the government funded at current levels through February 18,...
Peace Corps Hearing in the House: Budget, Programs, and When Volunteers Will Return Overseas
Takeaways from the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee hearing on October 27, 2021 Words by Jonathan Pearson Transcript editing by Rachel Edwards Video editing by Orrin Luc Acting Peace Corps Director Carol Spahn appeared before the House Foreign Affairs Committee on October 27, 2021, for a hearing on Peace Corps’ operations. Spahn fielded a range of questions, including diversity initiatives, recruitment strategies, decolonizing U.S. foreign assistance, and — not surprising — the status of redeployment of Volunteers internationally. Along with the Peace Corps, the three hour hearing also included representatives of the Millenium Challenge Corporation and the U.S. International...
Action Alert: Let’s Make sure Congress Supports House Efforts to Fund Peace Corps to Meet the Needs of a Changed World
The House of Representatives proposes robust Peace Corps funding of $430.5 million. But Senate Appropriations proposes flat funding of $410.5 million that lacks support for needed reforms. Now’s the time for the Peace Corps community to take action. By Jonathan Pearson As Congress continues to work on federal spending packages for the fiscal year that began October 1, 2021, a disagreement on the spending level for the Peace Corps has emerged between the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives. This week, the Senate Appropriations Committee released its remaining funding bills for FY 2022. Along with a lower recommendation than...
House Foreign Affairs Committee Advances the Most Sweeping Peace Corps Legislation in Years
The Peace Corps Reauthorization Act now moves forward. It would bring critical reforms to better protect Volunteers and put Peace Corps on the path toward a budget to bolster the number of Volunteers around the world. Though when it comes to health insurance and the Volunteer readjustment allowance, today’s changes provide a little less support. By Jonathan Pearson The Peace Corps Reauthorization Act (H.R. 1456), bipartisan legislation introduced by Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Representative John Garamendi (D-CA) and fellow Representative Garret Graves (R-LA), cleared its first significant hurdle on September 30th, when the House Foreign Affairs Committee moved the bill out of committee...
Time to Connect
This year, for the first time, two returned Volunteers in the Midwest reached out to their members of Congress to talk about Peace Corps. That effort made a difference at a critical moment. By Jonathan Pearson From her home in central Illinois, Nikki Overcash had written to her elected representatives in the past, but she had never asked for a meeting or directly engaged with them. She heads up academic services at Illinois College, not far from the state capital, Springfield. This past spring, when National Peace Corps Association put out a call for returned Volunteers to seek meetings with...
Peace Corps Funding: The House Says It’s Time to Invest in More
It has been six years since the Peace Corps received a meaningful increase in its baseline funding. Could this be the year that changes? By Jonathon Pearson Illustration by John S. Dykes In December 2015, President Obama signed an appropriations bill that provided $410 million for the Peace Corps, an increase of about $30 million. Since then, the agency has received a mere $500,000 bump in annual appropriation — one-tenth of 1 percent. Indeed, the Peace Corps community has spent much time in recent years fending off proposed cuts while some needed reforms languished — due, in part, to...
Here’s Some of the Latest Peace Corps Legislation: Respect for Peace Corps Act, NOVID Against COVID, and an Amendment Missing from the Budget
The Peace Corps Reauthorization Act of 2021 is the biggest, most sweeping piece of legislation affecting the Peace Corps in years. Here are some individual pieces of legislation that you should also know about. By NPCA Staff A Sign of Respect Though they may not realize it, Returned Peace Corps Volunteers are not allowed to display the Peace Corps emblem on a grave marker or in an obituary. And unauthorized use of the Peace Corps logo, even for memorial purposes, carries the risk of a $500 fine or jail time. In the U.S. House of Representatives, Rep. Albio Sires (D-NJ) has...
Letters: Readers respond to the Spring 2021 edition of WorldView
Letters, emails, LinkedIn and Instagram comments, Facebook posts, tweets, and other missives: Readers respond to the stories in words and images in the Spring 2021 edition of WorldView. We’re happy to continue the conversation here and on all those nifty social media platforms. One way to write us: [email protected] Sixty Years of Peace Corps Thanks for another great issue! Glad you included “If I had three minutes to talk to President Biden about the Peace Corps…,” which we heard in March, and then lots of other good stories such as “Once More, with Feeling” in Moldova and “Triage, Respite, and Isolation” at the Lord Baltimore Hotel. Glad, too, to...