Activity
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Jonathan Pearson posted an articleYou took action - Your members of Congress responded see moreEach spring, the Peace Corps community mobilizes to support letters issued in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives urging robust funding for the Peace Corps.
Senators Johnny Isakson (R-GA) and Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) circulated a Dear Colleague letter asking for an increase in Peace Corps funding, and the Peace Corps community responded. The Dear Colleague letter, an official correspondence sent by Members of Congress to encourage others to support or oppose a bill, received a record 41 signatures this year. That number surpassed the previous high of 37 signatures, achieved in both 2009 and 2018.
Coupled with a record breaking House Dear Colleague letter and its 181 signatures, a combined 222 lawmakers, representing 41 percent of Congress (also a new record), demonstrated strong support for the Peace Corps. With such a high number of signatures, it is more likely that Congress will include an increase in Peace Corps's budget for the 2020 Fiscal Year.
To read the Senate letter, follow this link.
If you Senator(s) are listed below, follow this link to call or write them to thank them for signing the bi-partisan Isakson-Feinstein Peace Corps funding letter!
Senators who signed the Isakson-Feinstein Peace Corps Funding Letter
ARIZONA
Kyrsten Sinema
CALIFORNIA
Dianne Feinstein (co-author)
COLORADO
Michael Bennet
CONNECTICUT
Richard Blumenthal
Chris Murphy
DELAWARE
Tom Carper
Chris Coons
GEORGIA
Johnny Isakson (co-author)
HAWAII
Mazie Hirono
Brian Schatz
ILLINOIS
Tammy Duckworth
MAINE
Susan Collins
Angus King
MARYLAND
Ben Cardin
Chris Van Hollen
MASSACHUSETTS
Ed Markey
Eliabeth Warren
MICHIGAN
Gary Peters
Debbie Stabenow
MINNESOTA
Amy Klobuchar
Tina Smith
MONTANA
Jon Tester
NEVADA
Catherine Cortez Masto
Jacky Rosen
NEW HAMPSHIRE
Maggie Hassan
Jeanne Shaheen
NEW JERSEY
Cory Booker
Robert Menendez
NEW MEXICO
Martin Heinrich
NEW YORK
Kirsten Gillibrand
NORTH CAROLINA
Thom Tillis
OHIO
Sherrod Brown
OREGON
Jeff Merkley
Ron Wyden
RHODE ISLAND
Jack Reed
VERMONT
Bernie Sanders
VIRGINIA
Tim Kaine
Mark Warner
WASHINGTON
Maria Cantwell
WEST VIRGINIA
Joe Manchin
WISCONSIN
Tammy Baldwin
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Jonathan Pearson posted an articleA record number of Representatives ask for an extra $40 million for the agency see more
A record number of 181 members of the House of Representatives signed a letter calling for a $40 million increase for the Peace Corps!
The letter, which was drafted by National Peace Corps Association (NPCA), was circulated by the three co-chairs of the House Peace Corps Caucus: RPCV Congressmen John Garamendi (D-CA) and Joseph Kennedy III (D-MA), and fellow Congressman Garret Graves (R-LA).
172 Democrats (making up 73% of House Democrats) and nine Republicans signed the letter to the House Appropriations Subcommittee for State/Foreign Operations requesting an increase in funding for the fiscal year that begins this coming October from $410.5 million currently to $450 million. Thirty-five new members of Congress also signed the letter.
NPCA advocates from all fifty states sent more than 2,000 messages to Congress in the past week, urging members to sign the letter.
Help keep our efforts going by investing in our advocacy program today!
Take Action - Say Thank You!
The following members of the House of Representatives signed the Peace Corps funding Dear Colleague letter. If your representative is listed below, contact them and say "thank you for signing the Peace Corps funding Dear Colleague letter."
ALABAMA
- Terri Sewell
ALASKA
- Don Young
AMERICAN SAMOA
- Aumua Amata Coleman Radewagen
ARIZONA
- Ruben Gallego
- Raul Grijalva
CALIFORNIA
- Karen Bass
- Ami Bera
- Julia Brownley
- Salud Carbajal
- Tony Cardenas
- Judy Chu
- Gilbert Cisneros
- Jim Costa
- Susan Davis
- Mark Desaulnier
- Anna Eshoo
- John Garamendi (co-author)
- Jimmy Gomez
- Katie Hill
- Ro Khanna
- Doug LaMalfa
- Barbara Lee
- Mike Levin
- Ted Lieu
- Zoe Lofgren
- Alan Lowenthal
- Doris Matsui
- Jerry McNerney
- Grace Napolitano
- Jimmy Panetta
- Scott Peters
- Katie Porter
- Harley Rouda
- Lucille Roybal-Allard
- Linda Sanchez
- Adam Schiff
- Jackie Speier
- Eric Swalwell
- Mark Takano
- Juan Vargas
- Maxine Waters
COLORADO
- Diana DeGette
- Joe Neguse
- Ed Perlmutter
CONNECTICUT
- Joe Courtney
- Rosa DeLauro
- Jahana Hayes
- Jim Himes
- John Larson
DELAWARE
- Lisa Blunt Rochester
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
- Eleanor Holmes Norton
FLORIDA
- Kathy Castor
- Ted Deutch
- Alcee Hastings
- Al Lawson
- Stephanie Murphy
- Donna Shalala
- Darren Soto
- Frederica Wilson
GEORGIA
- Sanford Bishop
- Hank Johnson
- John Lewis
- David Scott
GUAM
- Michael F.Q. San Nicolas
HAWAII
- Tulsi Gabbard
ILLINOIS
- Cheri Bustos
- Sean Casten
- Danny Davis
- Bill Foster
- Jesus Garcia
- Robin Kelly
- Daniel Lipinski
- Bobby Rush
- Jan Schakowsky
- Brad Schneider
INDIANA
- Andre Carson
IOWA
- Cynthia Axne
- Dave Loebsack
KENTUCKY
- Andy Barr
- John Yarmuth
LOUISIANA
- Garrett Graves (co-author)
- Cedric Richmond
MAINE
- Jared Golden
- Chellie Pingree
MARYLAND
- Anthony Brown
- Elijah Cummings
- Jamie Raskin
- Dutch Ruppersberger
- John Sarbanes
- David Trone
MASSACHUSETTS
- William Keating
- Joseph Kennedy III (co-author)
- Stephen Lynch
- James McGovern
- Seth Moulton
- Richard Neal
- Ayanna Pressley
- Lori Trahan
MICHIGAN
- Debbie Dingell
- Dan Kildee
- Andy Levin
- Elissa Slotkin
MINNESOTA
- Angie Craig
- Jim Hagedorn
- Collin Peterson
MISSISSIPPI
- Bennie Thompson
MISSOURI
- Emanuel Cleaver
NEVADA
- Susie Lee
- Dina Titus
NEW HAMPSHIRE
- Ann McLane Kuster
- Chris Pappas
NEW JERSEY
- Josh Gottheimer
- Andy Kim
- Tom Malinowski
- Donald Norcross
- Bill Pascrell Jr.
- Frank Pallone Jr.
- Donald Payne Jr.
- Mikie Sherrill
- Albio Sires
- Jeff Van Drew
NEW MEXICO
- Deb Haaland
- Ben Ray Lujan
NEW YORK
- Yvette Clarke
- Antonio Delgado
- Eliot Engel
- Adriano Espaillat
- Brian Higgins
- Hakeem Jeffries
- John Katko
- Carolyn Maloney
- Sean Patrick Maloney
- Gregory Meeks
- Joseph Morelle
- Jerry Nadler
- Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
- Kathleen Rice
- Thomas Suozzi
- Paul Tonko
- Nydia Velazquez
NORTH CAROLINA
- Alma Adams
- G.K. Butterfield
NORTHERN MARIANAS ISLANDS
- Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan
OHIO
- Joyce Beatty
- Marcia Fudge
OREGON
- Earl Blumenauer
- Suzanne Bonamici
- Peter DeFazio
PENNSYLVANIA
- Brendan Boyle
- Mike Doyle
- Dwight Evans
- Brian Fitzpatrick
- Susan Wild
PUERTO RICO
- Jennifer Gonzalez-Colon
RHODE ISLAND
- David Cicilline
- Jim Langevin
TENNESSEE
- Steve Cohen
TEXAS
- Colin Allred
- Joaquin Castro
- Lloyd Doggett
- Veronica Escobar
- Al Green
- Sheila Jackson Lee
- Eddie Bernice Johnson
- Marc Veasey
- Filemon Vela
VERMONT
- Peter Welch
VIRGINIA
- Don Beyer
- Gerald Connolly
- Donald McEachin
- Bobby Scott
- Abigail Spanberger
- Jennifer Wexton
WASHINGTON
- Suzan DelBene
- Denny Heck
- Pramila Jayapal
- Rick Larsen
- Kim Schrier
- Adam Smith
WISCONSIN
- Ron Kind
- Gwen Moore
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Meisha Robinson posted an articleA record-breaking 180 members signed the Peace Corps Funding Dear Colleague Letter. see more
A record-breaking 180 members of the House of Representatives signed the Peace Corps Funding Dear Colleague Letter, encouraging their colleagues to support Peace Corps funding! This bipartisan letter additionally hosts a record 13 signatures from House Republicans (versus nine House Republican signatures last year).
Our advocates have played a vital role in the success of the Peace Corps Funding Dear Colleague Letter. Over the last few weeks, many proponents have spent hours organizing and contacting legislators to lobby for support. NPCA is grateful for the dedicated efforts by our community that contributed to the submission of the Peace Corps Funding Dear Colleague Letter.
The letter, authored by Representatives John Garamendi (D-CA), Garrett Graves (R-LA), and Joe Kennedy (D-MA), was dispersed to Chairman Hal Rogers (R-KY) and Ranking Member Nita Lowey (D-NY) of the House Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Problems requesting a $410 million appropriation for Peace Corps in FY2019.
With this level of funding the agency should be able to sustain the sending of approximately 3,400 new volunteers a year to serve. As the letter stated, “Today, approximately 7,000 Volunteers serve in 64 countries to train, elevate, and inspire the next generation of global leaders.” These volunteers are fundamental representatives of our nation around the world. Supporting Peace Corps Volunteers is a cost-effective investment to address international issues. From combating infectious disease outbreaks to helping combat poverty through education, Peace Corps volunteers undertake pressing intersectional issues in innovative ways. Further, these volunteers return to the United States with unique skills that enrich their human capital in a competitive workforce.
