It’s High Stakes Time in Congress for the Peace Corps
Everyone get ready! It's high stakes time in Congress for the Peace Corps, as we're on the cusp of achieving the Peace Corps community's three major advocacy goals. With only days before this session of Congress ends and a new House majority takes over in January, we have the chance to achieve dramatic wins for the Peace Corps that haven't been achieved in decades. - First, the Peace Corps Reauthorization Act is being considered by the Senate after having already passed the House. If this bill becomes law, it will be the first full reauthorization of the agency since 1999, ushering in significant reforms to how the...
Action Alert: Ask Your Senators to Sign the Peace Corps Funding Letter to Provide Robust Support for Volunteers as They Return to Service Overseas
U.S. Senators Dianne Feinstein and Susan Collins circulated the annual Peace Corps funding letter, seeking a $20 million increase in agency funding. Thanks to your efforts, a record number of senators signed this year's letter. By Jonathan Pearson Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Susan Collins (R-ME) have concluded circulating their annual Peace Corps “Dear Colleague” letter, asking other senators to sign on and ensure robust support for the agency as Volunteers return to service overseas. The letter, addressed to the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on State & Foreign Operations, calls for increasing Peace Corps funding for Fiscal Year 2023 (FY 2023) from $410.5 million to $430.5 million. 43 senators signed this...
Action Alert: Ask Your House Rep to Sign the Peace Corps Funding Letter to Provide Robust Support for Volunteers as They Return to Service Overseas
In the House of Representatives, today (April 22) is the deadline for a bipartisan letter from the co-chairs of the Peace Corps Caucus seeking a $40 million increase in agency funding. Now is the time to contact your House Rep and ask them to sign this letter. By Jonathan Pearson Congressmen John Garamendi (D-CA) and Garret Graves (R-LA), co-chairs of the House Peace Corps Caucus, have begun circulating a Peace Corps funding letter asking other House members to sign on and ensure robust support for the agency as Volunteers return to service overseas. The letter, addressed to the House Appropriations Subcommittee on State &...
Peace Corps Budget Update: Congress Votes for Flat Funding for the Seventh Year in a Row
Congress has finally passed a budget for fiscal year 2022. It keeps funding flat for the Peace Corps for the seventh year in a row. To ensure a better and stronger Peace Corps as Volunteers return to the field, and to enable the agency to make needed reforms, Congress needs to provide more funding. By Jonathan Pearson Congress has completed its work on a budget for fiscal year 2022, passing a $1.5 trillion spending package. That’s the good news. Unfortunately, for a seventh consecutive year, instead of providing new resources to better meet the needs of a changed world, it...
National Days of Advocacy in Support of the Peace Corps Underway
On March 3 we kicked off our 18th season of advocacy in support of the Peace Corps. Our key priority: passing the Peace Corps Reauthorization Act. Congressional meetings are being organized, and op-eds are being published. Now is the time to get involved. By Jonathan Pearson National Peace Corps Association kicked off National Days of Advocacy in Support of the Peace Corps on March 3. For 18 years, this grassroots effort by the Peace Corps community to work with members of Congress has been one of NPCA’s key contributions to Peace Corps Week (which concluded on March 5, 2022). Moving forward, our key legislative priority this year is passing...
Letters: Readers Respond to the Summer 2021 edition of WorldView and Snapshots of Peace Corps History
Peace Corps Response at 25. Sarge leads the first Volunteers. Budget advocacy. Remembering 9/11 two decades later. JFK at the Cow Palace in ’60. Letters, emails, LinkedIn and Instagram comments, Facebook posts, tweets, and other missives: Readers respond to the stories in words and images in the Summer 2021 edition of WorldView, special digital features, and the conversation on social media. We’re happy to hear from you there and here: [email protected] An anniversary. A pandemic. Peace Corps Response. Great magazine — I always read it cover to cover. Congratulations! Nancy Hatch Nepal 1966–69 Big Picture: Sarge Leads Photo courtesy John F. Kennedy Library and...
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...