S. HRG.

107707

THE PEACE CORPS

HEARING
BEFORE THE

SUBCOMMITTEE ON WESTERN HEMISPHERE,

PEACE CORPS AND NARCOTICS AFFAIRS
OF THE

COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN RELATIONS

UNITED STATES SENATE
ONE HUNDRED SEVENTH CONGRESS
SECOND SESSION

JUNE 25, 2002

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 COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN RELATIONS
JOSEPH R. BIDEN, JR., Delaware, Chairman
PAUL S. SARBANES, Maryland JESSE HELMS, North Carolina
CHRISTOPHER J. DODD, Connecticut RICHARD G. LUGAR, Indiana
JOHN F. KERRY, Massachusetts CHUCK HAGEL, Nebraska
RUSSELL D. FEINGOLD, Wisconsin GORDON H. SMITH, Oregon
PAUL D. WELLSTONE, Minnesota BILL FRIST, Tennessee
BARBARA BOXER, California LINCOLN D. CHAFEE, Rhode Island
ROBERT G. TORRICELLI, New Jersey GEORGE ALLEN, Virginia
BILL NELSON, Florida SAM BROWNBACK, Kansas
JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER IV, West Virginia MICHAEL B. ENZI, Wyoming

ANTONY J. BLINKEN, Staff Director

PATRICIA A. MCNERNEY, Republican Staff Director

SUBCOMMITTEE ON WESTERN HEMISPHERE, PEACE

CORPS AND NARCOTICS AFFAIRS
CHRISTOPHER J. DODD, Connecticut, Chairman
BILL NELSON, Florida LINCOLN D. CHAFEE, Rhode Island
JOHN F. KERRY, Massachusetts JESSE HELMS, North Carolina
RUSSELL D. FEINGOLD, Wisconsin MICHAEL B. ENZI, Wyoming
JOSEPH R. BIDEN, JR., DELAWARE RICHARD G. LUGAR, Indiana

(II)

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 CONTENTS

Page
Coyne, John, Peace Corps volunteer in Ethiopia/Eritrea (1962-1964), New
York City Regional Manager (1994-2000), co-founder, the Peace Corps
Fund, Pelham, NY ............................................................................................... 42
Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 43
Ferris, Barbara A., Peace Corps volunteer in Morocco (1980-1982); Women
in Development Coordinator (1987-1993), co-founder, the Peace Corps Fund,
Washington, DC ................................................................................................... 38
Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 40
Schneider, Mark, former Director, the Peace Corps; vice president, Inter-
national Crisis Group, Washington, DC ............................................................. 21
Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 25
Shays, Hon. Christopher, U.S. Representative from the 4th Congressional
District of Connecticut ......................................................................................... 4
Smith, Dane, Peace Corps volunteer in Ethiopia (1963-1965); president, Na-
tional Peace Corps Association, Washington, DC .............................................. 33
Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 36
Vasquez, Hon. Gaddi H., Director, the Peace Corps, Washington, DC ............... 5
Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 8
(III)

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 THE PEACE CORPS

TUESDAY, JUNE 25, 2002

U.S. SENATE,
SUBCOMMITTEE ON WESTERN HEMISPHERE,
PEACE CORPS, AND NARCOTICS AFFAIRS,
COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN RELATIONS,
Washington, DC.
The committee met, pursuant to notice, at 2:38 p.m., in room
SD419, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Hon. Christopher J. Dodd
(chairman of the subcommittee), presiding.
Present: Senators Dodd and Chafee.
Senator DODD. Good afternoon. And I thank you. I apologize for
starting a little bit late, but we had a vote that began just around
2:30. And so rather than come over and start early and then have
to recess very quickly, I decided to wait a couple minutes.
I believe my colleague from Rhode Island, Senator Chafee, who
is the ranking member of this subcommittee, will be joining us at
some point. And other members may come in and come out. And
I thank them for their attention and support.
I am going to share with you some opening comments and re-
marks. I note the presence in the audience of my colleague from
Connecticut, Congressman Shays. And hiding out in the back of the
room, I would point out.
Congressman, you are more than welcome to join us up here on
the dais. I would not want you to get any exaggerated thoughts
about leaving the House, but you are welcome here to join us on
the dais if you would like to and be part of the hearing.
This is a wonderful friend and colleague, a former Peace Corps
volunteer himself, and very, very active and interested in the sub-
ject matter. I know it is uncharacteristic of Senators to invite
House Members to share in their
Congressman SHAYS. What side do I sit on, sir?
Senator DODD. Well, I would kind of like you on this side. But
if you want to sit on this sideanywhere you would like to be
Congressman SHAYS. Thank you.
Senator DODD [continuing]. We are more than happy. And thank
you for doing so.
Congressman SHAYS. Thank you.
Senator DODD. Thank you for doing so.
Well, today the Foreign Relations Subcommittee on the Western
Hemisphere, Peace Corps, and Narcotics Affairs convenes to receive
testimony on the future of the Peace Corps, and specifically on leg-
islation that I have introduced, along with Senator Gordon Smith,
Senators Kennedy, Toricelli, and several other members, to define
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 2

the Peace Corps charter so that we are better able to meet the
challenges the Peace Corps will face in the coming years.
A companion bill has also been introduced in the House by Sam
Farr, Mark Udall, and others. I want to thank Congressman Farr
and Congressman Udall as well as members of the return Peace
Corps community for working with us to craft the bill that is the
subject of todays hearing. I look forward during the course of the
hearing today to receiving comments on the legislation and to dis-
cussing ways in which we can begin to address the needs and chal-
lenges of today and tomorrows Peace Corps so that it can continue
to be as relevant in the 21st century as it was in the latter part
of the 20th century.
As we all know, some 41 years ago, President John Kennedy
made public his vision for the future of an American volunteer
service. He spoke of a corps of committed and idealistic young vol-
unteers, the Peace Corps, who would travel all over the world pro-
moting world peace and friendship. He saw public service as an
ideal that would transcend political rhetoric.
Volunteers were not to reflect particular Republican or Demo-
cratic ideologies, but rather their service was to be a manifestation
of American values, values held in common by all of us as Amer-
ican citizens. The goal of this new endeavor was to support the de-
velopment and betterment of the countries and communities where
the Peace Corps volunteers served to foster a greater under-
standing of American values and culture abroad and to likewise
foster a greater appreciation of other peoples cultures on the part
of Americans.
Four decades later, and more than 165,000 Americans have vol-
unteered to serve in the Peace Corps and worked with diligence
and compassion to achieve the very aims outlined some 41 years
ago. As remarkable as the success of the Peace Corps has been and
as important a symbol and example it is of public service in the
aftermath of the tragic events on American soil on September 11,
it has become something more. It has become a necessity.
The terrorist attacks of last September have shown us that the
world has become a much smaller place. The United States can no
longer afford to neglect certain countries or certain parts of the
world. We need to find ways to help developing countries to meet
their basic needs, and we need to do so now.
We especially need to act in places where there are people who
are unfamiliar or hostile to American values. Now more than ever
the Peace Corps volunteers play a pivotal role in helping to achieve
a greater understanding of America abroad, especially in predomi-
nantly Muslim nations. If we are to expand the reach of the Peace
Corps, to send our volunteers into more countries, then we must
provide the Peace Corps with adequate resources to safely and ef-
fectively pursue these objectives.
I believe that the legislation that we have introduced last week,
the Peace Corps Charter for the 21st Century Act, provides a
framework for the Peace Corps to maintain its relevance in the
context of the new challenges it confronts and authorizes sufficient
funding to implement that framework, including expanding the
number of volunteers, as called for by President Bush.

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 3

Today our witnesses have been asked to comment on the various

provisions in that bill. Before turning to them, let me first take a
few minutes to outline some of the significant provisions in the pro-
posed legislation.
First, our bill stresses the importance of maintaining the Peace
Corps independence from any political affiliation, party, govern-
ment agency, or particular administration. This independence is
absolutely critical to the continued success, credibility, and accept-
ance of the volunteers in the countries where they are to serve.
We must vigilantly preserve this independence. This is especially
critical as we attempt to open new programs in challenging places.
We must make sure that the Peace Corps goal of friendship, peace,
and grassroots development are in no way muddled or com-
promised by short-term political objectives.
One way the Peace Corps can address the needs of the 21st cen-
tury is to give special emphasis to recruiting volunteers for place-
ment in countries whose governments are seeking to foster a great-
er understanding by and about their citizens. Moneys are author-
ized in the bill for this purpose.
The bill also calls upon the director of the Peace Corps to outline
a strategy for increasing the Peace Corps presence in countries
with substantial Muslim populations and other places of particular
concern. We must find ways to engage with these nations, particu-
larly with the younger generation, and to foster more open inter-
action and understanding between our citizens.
I know that the current Peace Corps Director is anxious to pro-
vide opportunities for Americans for all walks of life and ethnicity
to become volunteers. And I commend him for that.
Gaddi, you have my compliments on the work you have done.
To that end, the pending legislation attempts to level the playing
field in order to make it possible for more Americans to become vol-
unteers through an assessment of the adequacy of college loan for-
giveness programs offered to volunteers and by an increase in the
readjustment allowance provided to volunteers at the end of their
service.
Another important provision in this legislation is the training
mandated for volunteers in the areas of education, prevention and
treatment of infectious diseases, such as HIV/AIDS, malaria, and
tuberculosis, so that they can better help fight these diseases in the
communities in which they will be serving.
This training, in cooperation with the Centers for Disease Con-
trol and Prevention, the National Institutes of Health, the World
Health Organization, the Pan American Health Organization, and
local officials, I believe will help prepare volunteers promote a bet-
ter grassroots approach to public health safety and disease preven-
tion.
I also feel very strongly that we must find better ways to utilize
the insights and experience of return volunteers to get them more
involved in the promotion and support of the Peace Corps three
core goals. One way I believe to do this is to provide Federal grant
moneys to nonprofits established by return volunteers. These non-
profits would be established for the express purpose of using the
knowledge, experience, and expertise of return volunteers to help
carry out the goals of the Peace Corps. Return volunteers are an

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 4

underutilized resource, I think, in this country. This would seek to

remedy that under-use.
As our witnesses today will make clear, many return volunteers
do continue to make a difference here at home through their endur-
ing community service and their work to strengthen Americas ap-
preciation of other cultures. Together they are building a legacy of
service for the next generation. And it is my hope that the non-
profit grant moneys provided in this bill will help provide them
with yet another outlet for continued service.
Finally, let me speak briefly about the funding level increases
called for this legislation. Over the next 4 years, this bill authorizes
annual appropriations in the following amounts: $465 million for
fiscal year 2004; $500 million for fiscal year 2005; $560 million for
2006; and $560 million for 2007.
In addition and most importantly, this bill allows for additional
appropriations to be made to address the specific funding needs of
the Peace Corps as it seeks to increase volunteer strength. Again,
we must not allow our desire to expand the number of volunteers
in the field to infringe on the security of our volunteers or the qual-
ity of the Peace Corps experience. If that means that the Presi-
dents goal of doubling the Peace Corps by 2007 is not met, then
so be it, in my view. Quality must go hand in hand with quantity
if this organization is to remain true to its goals, as I have stated
earlier.
In conclusion, I believe that the Peace Corps charter for the 21st
century provides a road map for the Peace Corps to enable it to
better meet the future needs of our volunteers while expanding and
refining the organization. The Peace Corps is a symbol of the very
best of American ideals of service, sacrifice, and self-reliance. And
our volunteers are to be commended again for their enduring com-
mitment to these ideals and for the way that they are able to com-
municate the message of the Peace Corps throughout the world.
They are entitled to an organizational framework and funding lev-
els that meet the demands that they will confront in the coming
years.
I am now going to turn toCongressman, do you want to make
any opening brief comments here before we start?
Congressman SHAYS. Absolutely.
Senator DODD. Do this before some Senator shows up so I do not
get myself in trouble here.
Congressman Shays, as I mentioned earlier, is a former volun-
teer, as is his wife, Betsy, and knows the organization very, very
well. I am delighted you are here. Thank you for coming over.

STATEMENT OF HON. CHRISTOPHER SHAYS, (R-CT) U.S. REP-

RESENTATIVE FROM THE 4TH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT
OF CONNECTICUT
Congressman SHAYS. Thank you, Senator Dodd. You are one of
my heroes in public life. And I attribute a lot of your instincts to
your opportunity to serve in the Peace Corps. And I consider you
such an extraordinary friend of the Peace Corps. I find myself sit-
ting in Mr. Feingolds chair, and I feel very comfortable in this
seat.

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Senator DODD. Do not try to amend this bill with any campaign
finance reform.
Congressman SHAYS. Then-Senator Kennedy, John Kennedy,
when he was debating President Nixon, he captivated me by his
in eighth grade, the opportunity to potentially serve in another
country and walk in the paths that people would walk in, travel
their roads, drink their water, eat their food, dress in their clothes,
live in their houses, speak their language, you know, just get to un-
derstand and appreciate their culture. And I think that we both
learned that as much as we thought people were different, there
was so much that united us, so many similarities between people
of all cultures. And for me, the Peace Corps was the greatest expe-
rience in my life. And I came here truly not to participate here, but
just to understand this billbecause I have some questions. And
I want to understand the motivation and also frankly to support
the Director of the Peace Corps, because I feel that he is working
really hard to try to make this a very humane and magnificent or-
ganization. And I think all Peace Corps volunteers rally around
your effort to do that.
And so I thank you.
Senator DODD. Thank you very much, Congressman.
Now I am going to invite Mr. Gaddi Vasquez, who is the Director
of the Peace Corps. Gaddi, we welcome you to the committee. And
that chair right in front of you is your chair.
I said toin fact last week there were some wonderful cere-
monies. I did not attend all of them. But the reception on Thursday
night and a program at Constitution Hall on Friday morning where
Sargent Shriver came in and mesmerized the entire audience, as
apparently he did on Friday night or Saturday, arriving on a Har-
ley Davidson. I was thinking they gave me a Honda 50 when I was
a volunteer. I would have appreciated a Harley Davidson back in
those days.
But I said it then and I will say it here publicly for this record,
Gaddi, there were people who raised a lot of concerns when the
President nominated you for this job. I supported you. And you
have proven to be a good Director. You have only been on the job
a relatively short amount of time, but I like the fact that you are
getting out, you have visited as many different countries as you
have, you are meeting with all the return volunteer groups in the
country, listening to them, which I think is very, very important.
And so I commend you for the work you have done. It has been
good. And we look forward to working with you and are anxious to
receive your testimony.
I will say to you and to the other panelists who will be appearing
shortly that all of your statements in full will be included in the
record and supporting data, materials you may think are important
we will include as well as part of this record.
And so with that, the floor is yours, Mr. Vasquez.
STATEMENT OF HON. GADDI H. VASQUEZ, DIRECTOR, THE
PEACE CORPS, WASHINGTON, DC
Mr. VASQUEZ. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I appreciate this oppor-
tunity. And I also want to thank Congressman Shays for his com-
ments.

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Mr. Chairman, I also want to thank you very much for your con-
tinued support and interest in the work of the Peace Corps. As a
former volunteer, you certainly have a very unique perspective of
Peace Corps service. And I thank you for all that you have done
on behalf of the Peace Corps and the volunteers who have served
over the 41-year history of this great organization.
As you have mentioned, this past weekend, the National Peace
Corps Association hosted a gathering of our RPCVs, return Peace
Corps volunteers, their families, their friends, to celebrate that an-
niversary. These are exciting times for the Peace Corps as we em-
bark on what could really be one of the most significant areas of
expansion for the Peace Corps in many decades.
President Bush, as has been referenced, has called for a doubling
of the Peace Corps. And we have been mapping out organizational
plans subject to appropriations by Congress. But I can report to
you, Mr. Chairman, that the American public is responding to that
call. The interest in serving has seen an upward trend since Presi-
dent Bush called on Americans to engage in community and public
service.
From January to the present, we have seen an almost 17 percent
increase in applications over the same period last year. Requests
for applications are up almost 59 percent over last year. So it is
fair to say that the Presidents message, coupled with our recruit-
ment strategies, are having some results.
We have also been using technology to advance and expedite the
application process. I know that those who have served in the
Peace Corps would appreciate the fact that now you have online ac-
cessibility to tracking your application. And for those who have not
been, it is maybe not too important. But for those that have, that
is a major, major step forward in order to expedite our process.
And as the new director of the Peace Corps, I have made many,
many efforts and have engaged in visitations with staff, with vol-
unteers, and return Peace Corps volunteers, because that is a very
high priority. And based on their input and their unique perspec-
tive, I have initiated a number of efforts at the Peace Corps.
We are moving aggressively to become more agile and responsive
to the needs of the applicants, the trainees, and volunteers. And we
are enhancing our safety and security functions.
As Peace Corps Director, I have had the privilege of visiting 7
countries thus far, including Afghanistan, Pakistan, China, Peru,
Senegal, Mauritania, and Morocco. In Peru I had the privilege of
signing the bilateral agreement that will result in our reentry to
Peru after a 27-year absence. And in addition, on June 21, 16 vol-
unteers arrived in East Timor, the first new country of the 21st
century.
So, Mr. Chairman, I believe that we are well positioned to imple-
ment a smart growth plan by entering new countries, optimizing
the number of volunteers in existing countries, expanding our re-
cruitment efforts to create greater diversity in the Peace Corps, re-
cruiting more seniors to serve in the Peace Corpsand, I might
add, about 7 percent of our current volunteers are 50 and over
and using technology and advanced communications
Senator DODD. We still consider that very young.
Mr. VASQUEZ. Yes, sir. It is very young.

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Senator DODD. I just wanted to make sure that I heard that

right. When I talked about young Americans, I was thinking about
people over 50. I want you to know that.
Mr. VASQUEZ. Yes, sir. Duly noted.
We are also using technology and advanced communications
strategies to reacquaint Americans with the Peace Corps. So, Mr.
Chairman, I appreciate the opportunity to address your committee
today about the proposed legislation that has been introduced.
We have had a limited amount of time to review the legislation
and to analyze it in any kind of great detail. There are a number
of portions within the legislation that would require some analysis
on our part before I could provide in-depth comments or perspec-
tives on some of the elements of the proposal.
But I do hope that we have the opportunity to work with you,
Mr. Chairman, and your staff to analyze those sections of the pro-
posal. I would like to offer some general observations about man-
aging the Peace Corps that may relate to the proposal.
As has been mentioned, the Peace Corps has enjoyed a 41-year
history of success, progress, and achievement. And while the num-
bers of volunteers has fluctuated over the 41-year history, I think
it is very fair to say that the Peace Corps has been a great success.
The Peace Corps is a unique agency operating in 70 countries with
7,000 volunteers. The challenges are many. But as you know, Mr.
Chairman, the volunteer is always No. 1. I would offer the opinion
that directors need to have the latitude and managerial freedom to
make important decisions affecting the safety and security of vol-
unteers and staff overseas. We have to be able to administer our
initiatives and other matters that require swift and decisive action.
A change in a directors ability to launch initiatives, like the Cri-
sis Corps or safety enhancements or other potential initiatives,
could hamper the directors ability to make critical and timely deci-
sions. The current Peace Corps Act provides for a broad advisory
board that would include 15 members and 7 return Peace Corps
volunteers.
Since coming to the Peace Corps, I have made it a point to begin
to explore the history of the advisory board, to better understand
how it has been used by previous directors and to try to maximize
value where appropriate. And also since coming to the Peace Corps,
I have launched a number of initiatives that I would like to briefly
share with you but that are critical to the future of the Peace
Corps.
One is an initiative to evaluate the barriers and obstacles to
service in the Peace Corps. You have identified one in your com-
ments, Mr. Chairman, relative to student loans. That is a major
issue. We want to examine those barriers, those obstacles, to serv-
ice in the Peace Corps.
We also have enhanced our staging of security and safety train-
ing for volunteers. We have reorganized the safety and security
functions within the Peace Corps to create more direct account-
ability to the directors office and we have restructured the process
of compliance.
We have also announced an initiative with the National Peace
Corps Association to enhance the role of the return Peace Corps
volunteer community. I totally concur and agree with you, Mr.

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Chairman, that the return Peace Corps volunteer community is ab-

solutely one of the most underutilized assets that we have avail-
able to us. And we want to change that. And that is why President
Dane Smith of the NPCA and I have agreed to form a working
group to identify opportunities to work together.
If we are provided the appropriations to expand the Peace Corps
and are empowered to make the key decisions that need to be
made, we can accomplish a great deal. I am committed to pro-
tecting and preserving the core values of the Peace Corps. And I
am committed to preserving the quality of the Peace Corps volun-
teer experience. And moreover, I am committed to building a new
Peace Corps for the 21st century.
And in conclusion, while I have had a limited amount of time to
analyze the scope and the intent of the legislation, I do look for-
ward to possible discussions with you, Mr. Chairman, and the com-
mittee and staff to get some clarification and then be able to move
forward.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Senator DODD. Thank you very much, Mr. Director.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Vasquez follows:]
PREPARED STATEMENT OF HON. GADDI H. VASQUEZ, DIRECTOR, PEACE CORPS
I am pleased to appear before your Committee today. I have a heightened appre-
ciation for your interest in the Peace Corps and sincere admiration for your own
service in the Dominican Republic in the late 1960s. Because you are a Returned
Peace Corps Volunteer (RPCV), I know you share in our enthusiasm to ensure the
Peace Corps continues as a world-class organization promoting world peace and
friendship abroad.
While I understand the purpose of todays hearing, let me reserve some general
comments on the legislation for later in my testimony, but at the outset, let me say
that I look forward to working with you, Mr. Chairman, and your staff and hope
that together we can continue a productive relationship that will serve this agency
and our Volunteers well. In an effort to put my testimony in context, one must un-
derstand the past, present, and future of the Peace Corps. Valuable lessons have
been learned over the last 41 years. We remain committed to the core values of the
Peace Corps and believe that any changes or alterations to the management struc-
ture and administration of the agency require thoughtful and constructive dialogue
and, again, we look forward to working with you.
I thought I would begin my comments by reviewing with you some of the actions
and initiatives that I have taken since my swearing-in on February 15th of this
year. It has been an exciting four months at the agency as we set the stage to carry
out President Bushs call for public service and his goal to double the number of
Peace Corps Volunteers over the next five years. Mr. Chairman, never in the history
of our nation has the mission of Peace Corps been more important. As you are quite
familiar, the work of the Volunteers is carried out through three goals as outlined
by President John F. Kennedy upon the formation of the Peace Corps. Those goals
are:
to help the people of interested countries and areas in meeting their need for
trained men and women;
to help promote a better understanding of Americans on the part of the peoples
served; and
to bring that information back home to help promote a better understanding of
other peoples on the part of Americans.
While the world today is very different from how it was in 1961, and even more
so since September 11ththe American spirit of sharing with others remains a fun-
damental part of our democratic society.
Many host country leaders and community members have expressed deep feelings
about the Peace Corps, similar to those shared recently by Mr. Teburoro Tito, the
President and Foreign Minister of Kiribati, when he said, This Republic is in love
with the Peace Corps, he said. We are in love with them, with their goals, their
hard work, and their willingness to live like us.

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And, just as President Kennedy challenged a new generation during the establish-
ment of the Peace Corps in 1961 to join . . . a grand and global alliance . . . to
fight the common enemies of man: tyranny, poverty, disease, and war . . . To those
people in the huts and villages across the globe struggling to break the bonds of
mass misery, he said, we pledge our best efforts to help them help themselves.
Kennedy went on to note that, . . . the life will not be easy, it will be rich and
satisfying. For every young American who participates in the Peace Corpswho
works in a foreign landwill know that he or she is sharing in the great common
task of bringing to man that decent way of life which is the foundation of freedom
and a condition of peace.
TRAVEL TO PAST AND PRESENT PEACE CORPS COUNTRIES

In the spirit of President Kennedys remarks, and inspired by the challenge from
President Bush, in early March, I traveled to the counties of Afghanistan and Paki-
stan where I met with government officials to discuss Peace Corps programs and
future opportunities that may exist for our Volunteers. In Afghanistan, in par-
ticular, I met with the Peace Corps assessment team members who were conducting
programming and security assessments, along with embassy officials, to determine
if conditions would support the sending of our agencys Crisis Corps Volunteers. I
traveled to China, and had an incredible visitwith Helen Raffel a Peace Corps vol-
unteer who, at age 74, teaches environmental science and English at Sichuan Uni-
versity in the Chengdu province of China. Her enthusiasm, vigor, and accomplish-
ments were truly amazing and offered many insights into the needs of these na-
tions. Peace Corps has the ability to provide trained men and women to meet the
emerging needs of their respective peoples, but within our grasp is the ability to
touch an entire generation of people throughout the world.
I traveled to Peru during President Bushs visit with President Alejandro Toledo,
and I had the privilege of signing a bilateral agreement with the government of
Peru. This agreement will allow Peace Corps volunteers to return to Peru for the
first time in more than 27 years. As a young man, President Toledo was taught by
Peace Corps Volunteers who lived in his family home. The Volunteers made a last-
ing impact on his life and he remains a strong advocate of the Peace Corps today.
In June, I visited Peace Corps programs in Senegal, Mauritania and Morocco.
While in the city of Azib, Morocco, I visited an environmental Volunteer and the
Womens Center where she works. The Volunteer is providing training and assist-
ance to expand the sales of their locally produced crafts.
BUDGET REQUEST

Mr. Chairman and Members of the Subcommittee, I report to you today, that the
future of the Peace Corps is brighter than ever and we are setting into motion plans
that will lead the agency into the 21st Century and increase our efforts around the
world. This Administration is committed to the Peace Corps and the President has
demonstrated his support by requesting an increase in our budget from $275 million
in FY 02 to $320 million in FY 03. We believe that the budget request will enable
us to increase the number of Volunteers while at the same time ensure that the
quality of our Volunteers and the Volunteer experience remain high. We advocate
fill funding, which we believe is warranted.
SAFETY AND SECURITY

Safety and security remains a top priority for the Peace Corps particularly in the
aftermath of September 11th. Meeting the Presidents initiative to double the num-
ber of Peace Corps volunteers over the next five years is dependent on the Peace
Corps providing a safe and secure environment during each Volunteers term of serv-
ice. A number of important initiatives are now underway. These initiatives not only
strengthen the safety and security training for our Volunteers, but also galvanize
the security infrastructure at posts around the globe.
These new initiatives include:
The implementation and compliance ofnew procedures for Volunteer/Trainee
Safety and Security (Manual Section 270) to measure and monitor posts compli-
ance with important safety and security requirements;
The hiring of over 40 new personnel in the field and at headquarters in security
related positions;
The addition of one full day of safety and security training during staging for
new trainees;

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The establishment of regular safety and security staff training on a two-year
cycle;
An enhancement of the safety and security information message that a poten-
tial applicant receives from his or her first contact with Peace Corpsduring
recruitment and throughout the application process; and
The ready availability of a library of safety and security information on the
Peace Corps Intranet.
STRATEGIC PLAN TO DOUBLE THE NUMBER OF PEACE CORPS VOLUNTEERS

Following President Bushs State of the Union Address when be called for the
doubling of Peace Corps Volunteers, we had an immediate 300 percent increase in
traffic to the Web site in the first 48 hours. Since January, interest in the Peace
Corps remains high. Traffic to the Web site is 89 percent higher than the same pe-
riod of time last year, inquiriesrequests to our offices for an applicationare up
39 percent over last year and the number of applications submitted both online and
on paper total 4,701, a 17 percent increase over this same period of time last year.
We received approximately 94,500 inquiries last year resulting in 8,897 applica-
tions, which produced 3,166 trainees in addition to those who were serving in the
field. Our standards remain high as to the suitability requirements and technical
skills required of the Peace Corps assignments. Currently, we have a number of
task forces to examine our recruitment and selection process, our internal proc-
essing of applications and to identify and examine barriers and obstacles to service.
Although there are more and more Volunteers who have advanced degrees and
specialized technical skills who are joining the Peace Corps, the vast majority are
people with solid generalist backgrounds with lots of leadership and community
service experience. Volunteers serve in a broad range of programs. Such as:
Education
Health and HIV/AIDS
Environment
Agriculture
Business Development
Information and Communication Technology
Recruiting is one of our key challenges and in responding to the Presidents chal-
lenge to increase the number of Volunteers, our agency has recently delivered to
Congress our Fiscal Year 2003 Congressional Budget Presentation, which outlines
our eleven goals to accomplish this effort.
The first goal is to reacquaint the American people with the mission of the Peace
Corpsby introducing the value of Peace Corps service to a broader audience, par-
ticularly school children, seniors and those baby boomers who are nearing retire-
ment, we bring the visibility of the work of the Volunteers to a new audience of po-
tential Volunteers.
Second, the agency will seek to expand recruitment efforts and increase diversity
of our Volunteer population. This means that recruitment efforts will grow beyond
college campuses. Just as the face of America has changed over the past 40 years,
so will our recruitment efforts so that we reach out to all people regardless of faith,
married couples and the disabled, seniors and retirees, and the scores of men and
women who are currently in the work force or between jobs and looking to make
a meaningfull contribution to the United States.
Third, efforts will be made to optimize the number of Volunteers and staff cur-
rently working in each country. The Peace Corps will continue to seek advice from
country directors about possibilities for growth and the placement of additional Vol-
unteers in new programs. We believe that incremental growth in a number of coun-
tries will increase the number of Volunteers worldwide.
Fourth, the Peace Corps will expand programs into new countries. I am pleased
to announce that just last week, we sent 19 eager and enthusiastic Volunteers to
the new nation of East Timor. It is thrilling to know that these Volunteers, after
traveling over 36 hours, will be the first Americans that many people of this island
nation will see. We will also be re-opening the Peru program this August. We have
been approached by a large number of representatives from the governments of
countries who are anxious to have Peace Corps return to their country. We are also
eager to forge new alliances with countries that have never had Peace Corps Volun-
teers.
Fifth, we are going to explore new ideas such as expanding current alliances with
organizations such as the American Red Cross and the AOL Time Warner Founda-
tion, as well as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. We are also work-
ing with the RPCV community on how to make best use of their collective talents.

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The 165,000 RPCVs are a resource that we intend to maximize both in their impor-
tant work with Third Goal activities and in the recruitment of potential new Volun-
teers.
Sixth, Peace Corps plans to improve the Volunteer delivery process. Nearly 60 per-
cent of current applications are now using the online application, which decreases
considerably the Volunteer delivery timetable. However, we have more work to do
to shorten the time between the first contact with a potential applicant and the time
that the applicant departs to begin training.
Seventh, we plan to expand and broaden the Crisis Corps program, which mobi-
lizes returned Volunteers to respond to natural disasters throughout the world on
a short-term basis. To date, more than 450 Crisis Corps Volunteers have served in
30 countries. Currently, Crisis Corps Volunteers work in eight countries in Africa
on HIV/AIDS-related activities.
Eighth, we are going to review the participation of the Peace Corps in the United
Nations Volunteer program. This program was developed in 1971 by the United Na-
tions General Assembly and is administered by the United Nations Development
Program. There are approximately 50 United States citizens currendy serving in
two-year UNV assignments supported by Peace Corps.
Ninth, I intend to strengthen and expand the scope of the Peace Corps domestic
programs that are designed to help educate Americans about other countries. The
Volunteers years of experience working and living in cross-cultural situations pre-
sents a treasure trove of information that must be preserved and made available
to the American public. Development of publications and placing these materials on-
line will be useful to domestic and international educators, students, domestic vol-
unteer organizations, and people who volunteer in their home communities. Exam-
ples of our publications include: Culture Matters: The Peace Corps Cross-Cultured
Workbook and Insights From the Field: Understanding Geography, Culture and
Service.
Tenth, we intend to continue to provide high-quality programming and training
support to our overseas staff and Volunteers. Building on our agencys existing
strength in teaching Volunteers to speak new languages, the Peace Corps will re-
assess and redesign our training programs. We are looking at additional training
opportunities prior to departure to ensure that Volunteers are prepared to under-
take increasingly sophisticated project activities in complex environments with dif-
ficult-to-learn languages.
Our eleventh goal is to place a special emphasis on the use of world class tech-
nology to communicate and share knowledge to achieve improvements in overseas
communications and connectivity around the globe. In August 2000, Peace Corps
headquarters completed its migration from a Macintosh-based to a Windows-based
computing platform. The Peace Corps also recently redesigned its Web site
(www.peacecorps.gov) and was nominated by the International Academy of Digital
Arts and Sciences for their prestigious Webby award. The Peace Corps was very
pleased to have been nominated among such notable organizations as Amazon.com,
Google.com and the United States Army.
THE PEACE CORPS CHARTER FOR THE 21ST CENTURY ACT

Collectively, we are all at the beginning stages of reviewing the legislation just
introduced at the end of last week. While I have not had sufficient time to thor-
oughly examine the specifics of the proposal, one of the major strengths of the Peace
Corps Act is that it is a broad authorization, which has over the years, given ample
opportunity for the agency to maintain its independence and its effectiveness. Con-
gress set forth broad objectives, and let the Executive Branch, in consultation with
the host government or its peoples and Congress, establish programs that meet the
individual needs of each country. Few agencies have been so successfully and effi-
ciently managed over such a long period. In addition to its traditional Volunteer pro-
grams, this broad authority has enabled the Peace Corps to launch such successful
initiatives as the Paul D. Coverdell World Wise Schools Program and the Crisis
Corps. These accomplishments were possible because of the flexibility under the
Peace Corps Act.
Our effectiveness in an era of continued growth and opportunity requires the
flexibility to manage a decision-making process that best serves the agency and,
most importantly, the Volunteers. While there are a number of initiatives and pro-
grams that we have undertaken at the Peace Corps; several stand out as prime ex-
amples of our ongoing efforts to build the Peace Corps for the 21st Century.
First, we consider the RPCV community to be the most underutilized resource we
have. That is why I have made it my highest priority to meet with RPCVs at every
opportunity in the U.S. and abroad. As I stated earlier, I believe they are one of

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our best resources for recruitment. These RPCVs have first hand experience in the
field and can help us to capture the imagination of those interested in international
volunteer service. I have also been working with Dane Smith, President of the Na-
tional Peace Corps Association (NPCA), to design a strategy to expand the role for
RPCVs and former Peace Corps staff in America.
Peace Corps has been in countries with predominantly Muslim populations since
the program began. Currently, 23 percent of Volunteers are serving in countries
with predominantly Muslim populations, while two-thirds of potential new country
entries are predominantly Muslim countries. From Senegal to Kazakhstan, the
Peace Corps mission in these regions has become increasingly important. Host com-
munities are exposed to positive and personal images of America and returning Vol-
unteers share their new understanding of different cultures with friends and family
in the United States.
The Peace Corps continues to be actively engaged in activities addressing HIV/
AIDS. Fightirg the ravages of this disease continues to be paramount to the lives
of people across the globe, and to this agency. Volunteers who serve in Africare-
gardless of their program sectorare trained to provide HIV/AIDS prevention and
education as part of their duties. This year we are re-entering Botswana and Swazi-
land, exclusively to address the HIV/AIDS epidemic in those countries. In June of
2000, the original HIV/AIDS Initiative was greatly strengthened with additional
funding from USAID and grants from the Gates and Packard Foundations. In the
future, we anticipate a further expansion of HIV/AIDS programs outside of the Afri-
ca region.
CONCLUSION

The Peace Corps has a clear mission that has served the agency well for the past
41 years. The strategy outlined above is our blueprint as we set out to double the
number of Peace Corps Volunteers over the next five years, heighten the visibility
of the work of the Volunteers, and create a renewed worldwide interest in inter-
national volunteer service. Our FY 2003 budget request of $320 million will also
support the enhancements to the safety and security of our Volunteers and permit
the Peace Corps to open new programs and, at the proper time, re-open currently
suspended programs with dedicated Volunteers.
In conclusion, I am grateful to you and members of the Committee for your con-
tinued support of the Peace Corps mission. September 11th is a grim reminder that
the work of past, present, and future Volunteers is more critical than ever. I believe
that the Peace Corps is well positioned to achieve expansion and build upon the suc-
cesses of the past 41 years.

Senator DODD. We will be hearing from Dane Smith shortly, but

I want to commend the National Peace Corps Association as well
for their fine conference. They had a great turnout. And it was
wonderful to hear so many people and share thoughts with them
about the Peace Corps. And it was wonderful to watch so many
people who had not seen each other in a long time come together.
So I thank Dane Smith and all those who were involved with the
organizational efforts over last weekend.
Let me begin with just a series of questions for you. And I am
going to
Chris, if you have some questions, I am going to turn to you at
some point and ask you to be part of the record if you would like.
I emphasized in my comments, Mr. Director, the independence of
the Peace Corps. In fact, I think you were there on Friday morning
when I shared some brief remarks with the audience and talked
about the independence and the reaction of the return Peace Corps
volunteers, how strongly this is felt among the 165,000 of us as re-
turn volunteers, as well as obviously those in the field, I think, the
importance of independence.
I am curious whether or not the Bush administration supports
the continued independence of the Peace Corps as required by law,
No. 1. And two, what is the relationship between the USA Freedom
Corps and the Peace Corps?

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Mr. VASQUEZ. Well, Mr. Chairman, the relationship between the

USA Freedom Corps and Peace Corps is one that the President de-
scribed in the Executive order that created USA Freedom Corps.
But in essence, for us, the USA Freedom Corps is two essential
things.
The first is that it creates an opportunity for an interagency
council comprised of a number of agencies that are part of the re-
sponse or the opportunity, as I like to call it, for Americans to re-
spond to the Presidents call for service.
As you know, Mr. Chairman, the President has issued a call to
all of us to contribute our time and our lives and our talents to
some form of community or volunteer service. The Peace Corps is
one of those avenues, one of those opportunities to serve.
The USA Freedom Corps is an interagency council and an office
that is monitoring to see how we are creating the opportunities for
people in the United States to serve. And they are, for instance, an
organization that provides Americans a passage or an avenue to
our Web site, our linkages.
But my clear understanding of the USA Freedom Corps is that
it is intended to be an interagency council to be able to track the
opportunities that we are creating for Americans to be able to
serve. I do not believe that there is any change or any alteration
to the independence of the Peace Corps within the executive
branch. We continue to do our work on a daily basis. We continue
to design our priorities for our agency. And we continue to expand
where we believe it is safe, it is secure, and it fits within the goals
and within the mission of the Peace Corps.
So in my view, the USA Freedom Corps, and based on the discus-
sions that I have had with Mr. John Bridgeman, whom you know,
is that it is intended to be a coordinating council. And I fully expect
that we will be meeting in the not too distant future to discuss how
we are progressing in terms of creating greater opportunities for
Americans to serve, specifically in the Peace Corps.
Senator DODD. Let meI will just make the statement, and you
can answer yes or no. So the administration does support, as re-
quired by law, the continued independence of the Peace Corps.
Mr. VASQUEZ. Yes, sir.
Senator DODD. And as I understand it, the USA Freedom Corps,
the role as has been explained to me is primarily one to help pro-
mote the Peace Corps by a Web site or other such means to facili-
tate further volunteerism. I am curious about it in a sense because
I do notI mean, I know about USA Freedom Corps. But if I had
to ask a room full of people if they had heard about USA Freedom
Corps and the Peace Corps, I suspect more people will have heard
about the Peace Corps than USA Freedom Corps.
So the question becomes, we have one organization that very few
are familiar with promoting an organization that people are very
familiar with. And I am sort of curious as to how that is going to
work.
Mr. VASQUEZ. Well, Mr. Chairman, I think that the USA Free-
dom Corps, again, is the coordination council, within the adminis-
tration. But at the end of the day, it is the Peace Corps who is still
strategically responsible for the recruitment, for promoting the
Peace Corps, not only in terms of the public knowing about who we

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are and what we do, but also managing it, administering the actual
recruitment efforts in terms of accounting, in terms of accessing, in
terms of screening, in terms of approval, in terms of placement,
and obviously the deployment of volunteers in the countries in
which we serve.
So that has not changed. That remains very much intact. It is
true that if you go to the USA Freedom Corps Web site, it allows
you the opportunity, if I am sitting out in Nebraska somewhere
trying to figure out how I respond to President Bushs call to public
serviceis it Crisis Corps that is for me? Is it Peace Corps? I have
an opportunity then to go off of that USA Freedom Corps Web site
and link to the Peace Corps Web site and in turn then identify
what opportunities may exist for me.
So I think it facilitates information, but the USA Freedom Corps
office also facilitates some coordination to ensure that we are doing
what we can do to create those opportunities for Americans to
serve.
Senator DODD. Well, if that is going to be the role, I do not find
anything on its face that is troublesome about that. But obviously,
we all are going to be watching it.
Mr. VASQUEZ. Certainly.
Senator DODD. I understandand you and I have talked about
thisthere have been times over the 41 years when others have
sought to sort of deprive the Peace Corps of its unique historic,
independent role. And so we are somewhat sensitive to the subject
matter because we have been down the path before. And it took a
long time to undo the deprival of independence of the Peace Corps.
So keep your eye on this one very carefully
Mr. VASQUEZ. Certainly, Mr. Chairman.
Senator DODD [continuing]. Mr. Director. It is one where obvi-
ously people up here are going to be watching it carefully. But we
are sort of calling on you to keep an eye on it as well.
Mr. VASQUEZ. Certainly.
Senator DODD. Let me ask you about the budget submissions, if
I can. According to the fiscal year 2003 Peace Corps budget submis-
sion, the administration is projecting budget increases for the next
4 years to coincide with the Presidents proposal to double the
number of volunteers. I wonder how you develop those numbers.
And does it include additional funding to expand headquarters to
better manage the growth of the organization, the point I tried to
make in here, the quality versus quantity issue, which is some-
thing that many of us are very, very concerned about?
Mr. VASQUEZ. Certainly. Well, thank you, Mr. Chairman. First of
all, let me say that I am truly committed to the principle that we
will not compromise the quality of the Peace Corps volunteer expe-
rience. I think it is critically important on a number of fronts. And
I will speak to the budget specifically, but if I may for just a mo-
ment talk about the philosophy that we are trying to exercise here.
The philosophy we are trying to exercise is that we need to pro-
tect the core values of the Peace Corps. And one of the core values
is providing good jobs and a good opportunity for Americans to go
overseas and to serve in the Peace Corps, to make a contribution
in country, but also to come back with the experience of having
served and to hopefully then participate in the third goal of the

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Peace Corps, which you are more familiar with, which is to stay in-
volved through the National Peace Corps Association, the return
Peace Corps volunteer community.
One of the examples that I give to you of that commitment is
that I have had a personal hand in the selection of 20 country di-
rectors since I have arrived at the Peace Corps. And 15 of those
20 are return Peace Corps volunteers, because they bring a unique
perspective to the management and administration they can offer
in country.
That is very, very important because the country director plays
a major role in helping us to find what are those valuable jobs,
what are those opportunities, so when a volunteer comes in a coun-
try that they will be attached, affiliated with a responsibility and
a program that is meaningful.
So to that end, we have sought information from our countries,
our country directors. And that is why the quality of the country
director is important. We have asked staff and headquarters to give
us a foretaste and analysis of what it would take to achieve the
goals that have been set out and do so in an integrated way so that
the infrastructure grows incrementally with the growth of Peace
Corps volunteers.
So we are assessing what it would take to recruit, what it would
take for medical services; what it would take both at headquarters,
in our regional offices in terms of recruitment, to get to those goals;
as well as what it would cost to be able to finance the operations
in country.
Senator DODD. So you areI mean, this is, the issue of making
sure we have the infrastructure to support these increases is crit-
ical.
Mr. VASQUEZ. Absolutely.
Senator DODD. Let me do some followup on that, because in the
budget submission, the average number of volunteers as I read it,
now here projected for fiscal year 2003, was about 6,300, while the
number of volunteers expected to be on board on September 30,
2003, was 8,200. And I was confused about the discrepancy of al-
most 2,000 volunteers in those two numbers.
Mr. VASQUEZ. The numbers that we describe in our reports, Mr.
Chairman, have to do with the fact that we have a fluctuation of
numbers as trainees come into the service of the Peace Corps. We
typically use the end of September as the time to gauge the num-
ber of volunteers that we have in service. But at any given time,
we will have trainees who will be coming into the Peace Corps and
others who will be, what we call, close of service, at the end of their
Peace Corps service.
And so there are numbers that fluctuate. But we believe that by
the end of 2003 we will be at 8,200, based on all of the assessments
that we have done and recognizing that there are all those fluctua-
tions. But we use the number of 8,200 as the goal that we will
achieve. We have had internal discussions about that number and
about the goals that have been set out. And staff, both at head-
quarters and overseas, agree that we can achieve and attain that
target.
Senator DODD. Could you as welland you may haveI think
you shared this with me once before, but I have forgotten the num-

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ber. What are we looking at today in terms of number of applicants

versus acceptances, roughly the ratio?
Mr. VASQUEZ. Roughly right now the ratio is between 9,000 and
10,000 applicants and approximately, if I recall correctlyI will be
glad to provide you more specific informationI think 3,000 to
4,000 ultimately that are invited to be trainees.
Senator DODD. So somewhere between one in three, one in four,
is the ratio of applicants to acceptances, roughly. Is that right?
Mr. VASQUEZ. Yes, sir. I think that is, if I amyes. I will be glad
to provide some additional information.
Senator DODD. Let me know if I have the wrong share on that.
I was just curious what that number is.
Mr. VASQUEZ. Certainly.
Senator DODD. Last, let me turn to, if I can, because you talked
about it, the Peace Corps National Advisory Council, which was es-
tablished in 1985. And I know that, you know, this isyou know,
anybody who is heading up, the last thing some people want is
enoughyou have Members of Congress picking at you and the ad-
ministration. An advisory council can be threatening to some de-
gree, although I think it can be of tremendous value. That is why
we established it. But it has been basically a nonfunctioning orga-
nization since it was called for back some 17 years ago.
I mentioned 165,000 return volunteers in every imaginable walk
of life. And while we deal with the group such as the National
Peace Corps Association and others, having an advisory committee
to function and provide aid and assistance to the organization
itself, I think, could be a very strong feature. You would, of course,
continue to serve on the council, as would Jodie Olsen, in that ca-
pacity.
Would you expand your thoughts and views on this, on how you
think you would benefit from a functioning advisory council rather
than just one in name only? And what are your intentions regard-
ing that?
Mr. VASQUEZ. Well, thank you, Mr. Chairman. I appreciate that
question, because it is one that I have given a lot of thought to.
I have had the personal privilege of serving on a number of na-
tional advisory boards for organizations, and I know they can be
valuable. Sometimes I have probably been, some would attest, a bit
of an annoyance as an advisory board member of some of those or-
ganizations, but you ask the questions and you want to be engaged
because you care about the organization.
Since arriving at the Peace Corps, I have been examining the
history of how directors have used the advisory board that is in the
act. And it, frankly, runs the gamut. Some have been very active.
Others have not. It has been dormant for a number of years. I do
believe that there is some viability and a place for a good, solid ad-
visory board to be a participant, to help us, frankly, not only to
give us insight about what we are doing, what we can do better,
but frankly also assist us in elevating the profile of the Peace
Corps.
As I think you and I have discussed, one of the goals that we
have is to reacquaint the American public with the Peace Corps.
Frequently people say to me, well, you know, I did not even know
the Peace Corps existed. What do they do these days? What kind

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of programs are they involved in? So an advisory board could serve

a valuable purpose.
What I would certainly advocate is an advisory board that would
be representative of the cross-section of America, representing var-
ious diverse interests. And I do note that in the act that establishes
the current advisory board, it does provide for 15 members. Seven
of those members would be return Peace Corps volunteers and rep-
resent a cross-section of the community, no more than 8 of one po-
litical party. So there is a structure in place that I think is work-
able.
I, to be frank with you, have not completed my total assessment
of that function. But I think it is manageable. And I think there
could be some very, very positive outcomes as a result of that in-
volvement.
Senator DODD. Well, thank you. I will include in the record
hereI think it must be the Peace Corps Web page 1I believe it
is the Peace Corps Web pagethat lists a rather lengthy list of
people who are called notable.
Mr. VASQUEZ. Yes, sir.
Senator DODD. That is not a self-description, I hope. But people
who have done various things in all sorts of fields.
Mr. VASQUEZ. I certainly hope that you were on there, Mr. Chair-
man.
Senator DODD. What is that?
Mr. VASQUEZ. I certainly hope that you were on that list, if you
are checking our Web site.
Senator DODD. I am not going to check it. I am afraid I might
not find myself there. But this is a good list of just some ideas of
people in arts and literature and so forth that I think are wonder-
ful examples of whatand that is people that are notable. There
are a lot of return Peace Corps volunteers who may not make a list
of notables but are doing very notable things.
Mr. VASQUEZ. Indeed.
Senator DODD. And that will take a little affirmative action, if
you will, to reach out and try to find people who do not necessarily
step up and fill out questionnaires about what they are doing. But
there are wonderful people out there who are making a huge con-
tribution, really care about this organization very deeply. And I
strongly urge you to look at them.
Last, let me turn to the issue of the Corporation for National and
Community Service, which is included in the bill. And this is a bit
of a different idea. I will be the first to admit it. It is unique in
its proposal, and that is, you know, the idea to provide some mon-
eys to nonprofit corporations established by return volunteers as a
way to promote the continued service of volunteers.
Do you have any comments you want to share about that concept
or idea?
Mr. VASQUEZ. No, Mr. Chairman. Well, I haveI will qualify my
comments by indicating that I do not want to represent the Na-
tional Corporation for Service, because I think they will probably
have some comments at some point. However, just in general, I
would like to offer this perspective. And that is that I know that
1 The Web site can be accessed at www.peacecorps.com

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you are committed, and I know Congressman Shays is committed,

and Senator Chafee is committed, and I am committed to pro-
tecting the integrity of the Peace Corps as an agency, as an entity
that has built an incredible reputation over 41 years.
I thinkand again, I base this on my experience of having been
involved with foundations, advisory boards, and whatnot, who have
expanded and who have had groups grown out of core organiza-
tions. And that is that one must be very, very careful so as to pro-
tect the integrity of the name Peace Corps, in that while there are
many well-intentioned folks who would want to become involved in
this kind of a programand I think it might serve a positive pur-
posethe important thing is to make sure that there is account-
ability so that there is no confusion amongst the donor community,
the support community, as to who is the Peace Corps and who is
not the Peace Corps.
And I want to say as an example I applaud Dane Smith because
I notice on his literature that he makes reference to the fact that
NPCA is not part of the Peace Corps, a Federal agency, but is an
association. I think it is important for people to know the difference
as they make decisions about contributing dollars and investing
their talents and skills to these efforts.
So that is the only observation I would make that would be im-
portant in any kind of a process that would involve expanding
funding programs that would represent or suggest Peace Corps.
Senator DODD. Maybe I should make it clear, and staff has re-
minded me here, we do not take any moneys out of the Peace Corps
budget for this purpose.
Mr. VASQUEZ. Understood.
Senator DODD. So we are not competing in that sense. But, be-
lieve me, we have struggled over the years with this goal of the
Peace Corps and how to engage a willing group of people, many of
whom were willing to begin with; they joined the Peace Corps for
that purpose. Some may not have been. But because of the Peace
Corps experience they have wanted to find some way to continue
their service in a way that would be constructive.
And we have grappled with this over the years to find some sort
of a structural mechanism that will allow for return volunteers to
be able to utilize their talents in a way that would contribute at
home to the goals of the Peace Corps. And this is just one such idea
as a way to find some framework by which they could fit back into
the process.
With that, we have been joined by my colleague from Rhode Is-
land. And I thank him for coming over. I have completed my ques-
tions. So we have been joined by the Congressman from Con-
necticut, a former volunteer as well. I think you know Chris Shays.
I think you know each other, hope you do.
Senator CHAFEE. You have said, Mr. Chairman, that one way to
continue your years of service to your country after the Peace
Corps is to do as these two gentlemen did and run for office.
Senator DODD. I am not sure the Peace Corps would like to fund
that, though.
Senator CHAFEE. Speaking of funding, before I turn it over
Senator DODD. Is it campaign finance reform? Do you think we
could include that as a part of the budget each year?

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Any comments, Senator, or questions?

Senator CHAFEE. Just one. I know Congressman Shays has been
here for awhile, and I just came in.
But does the Peace Corps have any kind of endowment of its own
where alumni might contribute?
Mr. VASQUEZ. No, Senator, we do not have any kind of an endow-
ment. We certainly have foundations that participate with us on
specific programs. Like the Gates Foundation, AOL, participates
with us on programs. But there is no endowment per se.
Senator CHAFEE. And alumni who have done well after their
time in the Corps, and who might want to help the Peace Corps
and future volunteers, are encouraged to give to these foundations?
Mr. VASQUEZ. Well, in some cases many return Peace Corps vol-
unteers involve themselves with local chapters of the NPCA or the
return Peace Corps volunteer community. And there are partner-
ship projects where they are able to fund projects that volunteers
submit on our Web page that we are then able to then identify
some funding and make that connection. But usually that comes
from a chapter oras an example, in Chicago there is a strong re-
turn Peace Corps volunteer community that raises dollars, which
are then sent out to projects that volunteers are working on over-
seas.
Senator CHAFEE. And in the long 41-year historyis that cor-
rect?
Mr. VASQUEZ. Yes, sir.
Senator CHAFEE. As you have testified, the Presidents initiative
to double the number of volunteers means the budget, of course, is
going to go up. Is there any preclusion to establishing some sort of
alternative means of reaching this funding level? Can we be cre-
ative and consider some kind of endowment, or is that forbidden
by the charter?
Mr. VASQUEZ. Well, there are some limitations and prohibitions
on how we can seek funding. However, we do have an Office of Pri-
vate Sector Enterprise in the Peace Corps that has done a good job
in the past of establishing some partnerships with organizations
like AOL, the foundation, like the Gates Foundation, Hewlett-Pack-
ard and others. And we certainly look to the opportunities of maybe
expanding those kinds of relationships that might provide some
funding for global programs that we are doing.
Senator CHAFEE. Well, I wish well and hope you are successful.
Mr. VASQUEZ. Thank you very much, Senator.
Senator DODD. Congressman Shays.
Congressman SHAYS. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I really appre-
ciate your courtesy in allowing me this opportunity. I am somewhat
reluctant to ask questions of the Director, since he is my wifes
boss. And I just want to say
Senator DODD. Perfect time, it seems to me.
Congressman SHAYS. I just want to say that whatever I say
should not be held against her.
Mr. VASQUEZ. All right, sir.
Congressman SHAYS. And just say to you that Chris and I have
had conversations about this in the past. At one time the Peace
Corps was part of Action, I think. And, you know, you had the do-
mestic and you had the international. And it was under this thumb

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 20

of Action. And it proved to be quite unacceptable. And it took away

the spirit and the independence of the Peace Corps.
So when Senator Dodd asks you about the concept of independ-
ence, I guess I would like to know that no matter who tried to com-
promise the independence of the Peace Corps, could I feel assured
that you would stand up to whomever that may be, no matter how
powerful that person or persons might be, to maintain the inde-
pendence of the Peace Corps?
Mr. VASQUEZ. Congressman, you have my commitment that I
would defend the independence of the Peace Corps within the exec-
utive branch of Government. I believe in that. I think it is impor-
tant. And it is important to our future. It is important to our suc-
cess.
Congressman SHAYS. And the only other question I wanted to
ask is: It is my understanding, and Chris really drove that. But
when I have expressed my concern about the USA Freedom Corps,
it was made clear to me that this is an organization where people
can come to learn about all the places they can serve. And one of
the places is the Peace Corps.
Therefore, the logic of not allowing them to talk about possibly
being able to serve in the Peace Corps would be kind of crazy. In
other words, we want, when people contact the USA Freedom
Corps, that the Freedom Corps can say, you know, one of the
places you may want to go is the Peace Corps. And that it has no
control over your budget. It has no control over your management.
It has no control over the Peace Corps whatsoever. Is that your un-
derstanding?
Mr. VASQUEZ. That is my understanding, Congressman.
Congressman SHAYS. And if you found that to be different in the
future, you would rise up in arms against any possibility that it
would play a greater role?
Mr. VASQUEZ. I would certainly seek to articulate and advocate
for the position of its independence because I think it is important.
It is part of what makes the Peace Corps a unique agency. And I
would argue vigorously that it needs to maintain its independence
and needs to move in the same kind of framework that exists today
and that that should not be changed or altered.
Congressman SHAYS. And just as I do not want you to be influ-
enced by or controlled by any political entity or any Government
agency, I just would say that I think the advisory group that you
have established should be nothing more or nothing less than an
advisory group.
Thank you.
Mr. VASQUEZ. Thank you, Congressman.
Senator DODD. Just to make the point again, because the inde-
pendence of the Peace Corps is not a voluntary conclusion, it is a
legal conclusion, even though we passed legislation a number of
years ago because of what had happened. I did not raise it with you
here because there is no reason to at this point. But just toback
a few years ago, we had those who wanted to turn the country di-
rectorshipsit was a wonderful opportunity to take care of some
good friends politically. And it came to a screeching halt.
But nonetheless, there was a real program under way topeople
who would not necessarily qualify to be an ambassador in peoples

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 21

minds through a confirmation process, they were put in country di-

rectorships. And that was just clearly an over-politicization of the
institution. That stopped, and I know you have made a commit-
ment that that would not be the case at all under your leadership.
And I appreciate that very much.
Mr. VASQUEZ. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Senator DODD. Well, Gaddi, we will leave the record open for oth-
ers who may have some questions for you. We are very much inter-
ested in having you back with us as soon as we can. We would like
to mark this bill up here. We do not have a very long session left
here. And there are some windows to get some things done. So we
would like to move forward with legislation.
It would be very important, obviously, to have the input of the
administration, you particularly, on the bill. So as soon as we can
get that, we would appreciate that very much.
Mr. VASQUEZ. OK. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Senator DODD. And we thank you for appearing here today.
Mr. VASQUEZ. Thank you.
Senator DODD. Our second witness, Mark Schneider, is the
former Director of the Peace Corps. He is the vice president of the
International Crisis Group.
And, Mark, we are very honored to have you here. Mark and I
have known each other a long time and he worked here on the Sen-
ate side, worked for Senator Kennedy, and of course was the Direc-
tor of the Peace Corps, a former Peace Corps volunteer himself.
And did a tremendous job with some very innovative and creative
programs that were authored under your stewardship, Mark. And
so it is a pleasure to have you here.
You have known the institution. You have worked with it for
many, many years, in addition to your service as Director. But long
prior to that, your interest and involvement with the Peace Corps
is something we have all appreciated immensely. So we are hon-
ored to have you here today and interested in hearing your testi-
mony.
STATEMENT OF MARK SCHNEIDER, FORMER DIRECTOR OF
THE PEACE CORPS; VICE PRESIDENT, INTERNATIONAL CRI-
SIS GROUP, WASHINGTON, DC
Mr. SCHNEIDER. Thank you very much, Senator Dodd. It is a
privilege to appear before you and the members of the committee
today to testify on the importance, value, and heightened need of
the Peace Corps in the post 9/11 world. And let me say at the out-
set that I support the fundamental purpose of the Peace Corps
Charter for the 21st Century Act to double the size of the Peace
Corps to 15,000 volunteers over the next 5 years.
As Director, I was proud that we had moved toward the congres-
sionally mandated goal of achieving 10,000 volunteers. When I left
the Peace Corps, we had already matched the highest number of
Peace Corps volunteers in the field in 27 years, some 7,300.
And at that time, we had a strategy to get to 10,000. We did not
have the funding, but we had the strategy. And hopefully now with
this bill, the funding will be available to go beyond that.
I applaud President Bushs decision to restore the Peace Corps
to the highest levels in the 1960s. And I am sure, and we have

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heard, that the new Director, Gaddi Vasquez, is working to imple-

ment that decision and working to do it in a way that maintains
the core values of the Peace Corps.
We also celebrated the 40-plus-one anniversary of the establish-
ment of the Peace Corps this last weekend. And I am sure we also
commend the Bush administration for its 40th anniversary gift to
us. Of course, Sarge said it should be 50,000, not 15,000, but
President Kennedys idea of a Peace Corps to join the struggle of
people in developing countries across the globe and to strengthen
international understanding appealed to young Americans on cam-
puses all across the Nation. And as you have said, as volunteers
we may have contributed a little something to our host community
and to our host country. But we were the greatest beneficiaries of
that experience. And we brought that knowledge back home.
As a volunteer, I learned of the realities of poverty in El Sal-
vador, of the way that repression denies human dignity, and the
courage of men and women who risk everything to give their chil-
dren a better life. And I can attest, after four decades and after vis-
iting volunteers in 21 countries as Director, that they, too, not only
are contributing but are learning skills, leadership, and inter-
national awareness in what may be the most effective graduate
education program ever conceived.
Sarge once said that the road to peace is no highway. It is
wracked with wars, riddled with mistrust and suspicion. And if hu-
manity ever hopes to pave this road, it must accomplish an under-
standing even deeper and more durable than the world has ever
known. The Peace Corps has been trying to pave that road ever
since.
On my trips, I met a half dozen government ministers who were
students, colleagues, or friends of volunteers. And we have to ask
ourselves how many millions of students have been taught by vol-
unteers or whose teachers were trained by volunteers? I knew the
director of the WHO campaign that eradicated smallpox from Ethi-
opia. And he told me it never would have succeeded without the
Peace Corps.
So you have to ask how many men and women are alive today
because volunteers were part of the immunization campaigns to
eradicate small pox and polio and measles. And how many families
avoided death from diarrheal disease because volunteers have ex-
plained in 180 different languages how to avoid waterborne dis-
ease.
I know that after 9/11 there were some who asked whether the
Peace Corps is still needed, is still safe, is still a priority. My an-
swer is yes, yes, and yes. Peace Corps volunteers still are needed
at the development core of our work in carrying out the first goal
of the Peace Corpsteaching in classrooms, carrying health and
nutrition messages to distant villages, and working with farmers to
find more sustainable ways of growing food.
And volunteers are also on the cutting edge of change. They are
answering the challenge of globalization by bringing computers and
information technology to the task of development, not only in the
cities but in rural villages as well. They are answering the chal-
lenge of HIV/AIDS by carrying education and prevention awareness
throughout sub-Saharan Africa.

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I am proud that as Director I required that every volunteer in

Africa be trained in HIV/AIDS prevention education. And last year
I have been told volunteers reached more than 370,000 people with
HIV/AIDS prevention education activities. This bills proposal to
train more volunteers in addressing global health risks is to be
commended, obviously with the caveat that the training must be
appropriate to the country in which they are serving.
Volunteers also are beginning to play a role in countries coming
out of civil conflict. In most instances, Crisis Corps volunteers
begin that process. Experienced volunteers can be brought back to
help countries respond to natural disasters and to also help coun-
tries respond to the aftermath of the conflict.
One way, it seems to me, that we can help increase the capacity
of the Peace Corps is to increase the capacity of Crisis Corps. And
it seems to me that we might look at how to do that.
We know that there are jobs waiting for volunteers. We know
that there are countries who want volunteers to fill those jobs. And
I am pleased that the bill recognizes that upping the number of
volunteers in a 5-year authorization requires increases in funds for
staff in the countries, in Washington, in our recruiting centers, as
well as for strengthening program quality and strengthening the
measures that assure the safety and security of volunteers.
Also with respect to recruiting, I think it is important to recog-
nize that the bills provisions to have a modest increase in the
amount of the adjustment allowance provided to volunteers and to
explore the possibility of student loan forgiveness can also be im-
portant incentives.
Currently, only the Perkins Student Loan Program provides for
a volunteer reducing his or her repayment by 15 percent for each
of the 2-years that they serve. Otherwise, there is no reduction in
the debt owed as the result of Peace Corps service. So I am pleased
the committee is looking at that.
I also would urge the committee to consider measures to
strengthen and expand the Masters International Program. It is a
marvelous concept. I wish that I could take credit for it, but it was
there when I arrived. It provides for applicants to apply both to the
Peace Corps and to graduate school. A participating university ac-
cepts the applicant and the Peace Corps accepts the applicant. All
the course work is done in the first year. And then the volunteer
enters the Peace Corps. When he or she returns after 2 years, they
have a masters degree as well.
It is a marvelous way to get more specialized volunteers into the
Peace Corps. And I think with some modest incentive funding, that
we could expand the program significantlythere are only 40 col-
leges and universities who currently participate. They essentially
receive no additional funding with respect to this program.
Peace Corps volunteers also are the best way to convey an under-
standing of who we are as a people, which is the second goal of the
Peace Corps. It is even more crucial in a world where the United
States is the last remaining super power and a lightening rod of
envy for too many raised in frustration and incapable of coping
with the clash of modern and traditional cultures.
I thought about our volunteers, obviously, after 9/11. And I asked
what was the reaction. And in many cases, just as when we were

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volunteers, volunteers are the only way that people in those vil-
lages or communities could convey their sympathy about what had
occurred.
In Jordan, a Peace Corps teacher received this letter from her
Palestinian student. Please accept our, the class and I, condo-
lences and our deepest sorrow toward evil acts that took place in
the United States. May God bless the victims, their family, and
their loved ones. After all, we are all citizens of the world.
In China, a volunteer had to teach class soon after she learned
of the attack. As usual, she started to write a word on the board
at the start of the class that they could all discuss. Flustered, she
just wrote the word terrorism. The whole class of students imme-
diately starting crying. They stood and each hugged her, saying
how sorry they were for her, for her family, and for America. This
public expression of emotion was, as she wrote, not normal, in
China. And the response of her students was deeply moving to her.
When Walter Cronkite was asked what one could do to answer
the terrorists, he responded, Join the Peace Corps. And what he
meant, I think, are three things. First, that we have to engage
around the world even more than in the past. And there is no bet-
ter way for individual Americans to engage than by joining the
Peace Corps.
Second, we still have to break through the mythology about this
country and the misconceptions about our people. And the Peace
Corps remains the very best way to accomplish that mission as vol-
unteers live, work, and play with their host country colleagues.
And third, we need to find more ways to help nations break
through the constraints of poverty and equality, repression, and
fear. Peace Corps does work to reduce those conditions. And while
we may not be able to eradicate them entirely, it is also worthwhile
that others see us trying harder.
That message in a way also underscores the rationale for the
independence of the Peace Corps, which I am pleased to see under-
lined in bright letters within the proposed legislation. It is not
merely that the Peace Corps must maintain its own independence
in every sphere as you indicated is legally required, but it has to
be seen that way by other governments and other peoples.
Every Secretary of State has sent a message to ambassadors
around the world reaffirming the independence of the Peace Corps.
And let me just quote the 1983 cable from the Secretary of State
at that time. To be effective, the Peace Corps must remain sub-
stantially separate from the formal day-to-day conduct and con-
cerns of foreign policy because of its unique people-to-people char-
acter.
As former Secretary of State Rusk wrote to the chiefs of the U.S.
missions, To make the Peace Corps an instrument of foreign policy
would be to rob it of its contribution to foreign policy.
It seems to me that this legislation should seek to do whatever
it can to maintain and strengthen the independence of the Peace
Corps in every possible way. And I am pleased to have heard the
dialog that took place earlier.
In relation to the third goal of the Peace Corps, helping improve
our awareness and understanding of the peoples and nations
around us, our PCVs, like those who came here this past weekend,

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have been engaging their communities and their nations in ways

even President Kennedy never would have imagined.
It happens naturally. But a few important programs have devel-
oped to enhance that experienceWorld Wise Schools is one of the
best; the National Peace Corps Association, now the new Peace
Corps Fund; and other RPCV organizations around the country.
My one suggestion about the proposal in the bill that provides
some direct funding for such groups through the Corporation for
National and Community Service would be to make it even broader
so that any organization of RPCVs would qualify for direct funding
with a proposal for its community activity without necessarily
going through any particular intermediary.
And with respect to the third goal, I also would urge the com-
mittee to examine how best to strengthen the Peace Corps fellow-
ship program so that those who want to participate in the program
can do so. RPCVs who want to go to graduate school can get some
of their tuition covered if they make a commitment to work in un-
derserved communities for 2 years while they get their degree.
That would be an additional way to strengthen the involvement of
RPCVs in the third goal.
Mr. Chairman, President Kennedy said, Peace does not rest in
the charters and covenants alone. It lies in the hearts and minds
of all people. The Peace Corps has been helping to build that
peace. The bill before the committee can help give countless other
Americans the chance to become part of this magnificent 40-year
legacy of making a difference.
Thank you.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Schneider follows:]
PREPARED STATEMENT OF HON. MARK SCHNEIDER, FORMER DIRECTOR, THE PEACE
CORPS
Mr. Chairman, it is a special privilege to appear before you and the members of
this Committee to testify on the importance, value and heightened need for the
Peace Corps in the post 9/11 world.
Let me say at the outset, I strongly support the fundamental purpose of the
Peace Corps Charter for the 21st Century Act introduced by you, Mr. Chairman,
and others here in the Senate and its companion in the House of Representatives
to double the size of the Peace Corps to 15,000 Volunteers over the next five years.
As Director, I was proud that we had moved toward the congressionally mandated
goal of achieving 10,000 Volunteers. When I left the Peace Corps, we already had
matched the highest number of Peace Corps Volunteers in the field since 1974
7,300.
Now I am sure the same bipartisan coalition, led by you and the other RPCV
members of Congress, supported by Senator Ted Kennedy and others, will help
President George W. Bush restore the Peace Corps back to the highest levels of the
1960s. I applaud his decision and his recognition of the Peace Corps contribution
to development, understanding and peace around the world.
Just this past weekend, we all celebrated the fortieth plus one anniversary of the
establishment of the Peace Corps. I commend the Bush Administration for this 40th
anniversary initiative. Of course, Sarge said it should be 50,000 not 15,000.
In October 2000, as a Peace Corps Director, I stood at the student union on the
campus of the University of Michigan at 2 a.m., where 40 years earlier, then can-
didate John F. Kennedy launched the idea of the Peace Corps. On March 1, 1961,
he signed an executive order creating the Peace Corps and a few months later Con-
gress followed with the Peace Corps Act to complete that call to service and inter-
national engagement. Even as it was being passed, the Peace Corps first director,
the Honorable R. Sargent Shriver, had the first Volunteers on their way to Ghana
and Chile and the Philippines.
The idea of a Peace Corps to join the struggle of people in developing countries
across the globe and to strengthen international understanding, appealed to young

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 26
Americans on campuses all across the nation. Now 165,000 Volunteers have served
in 135 countries. As you have said frequently, Senator, as Volunteers we may have
contributed a little something to our host community and to our host country; but
we were the greatest beneficiaries of that experience. And we brought that knowl-
edge back home.
As a Volunteer, I learned of the realities of poverty in El Salvador, of the way
that repression denies human dignity, and of the courage of men and women who
risk everything to give their children a better life.
I can attest, that after four decades, after visiting Volunteers in 21 countries as
Director, that they too not only are contributing but also are learning skills, leader-
ship and international awareness in what may be the most effective graduate edu-
cation ever conceived.
Sarge Shriver said, The road to peace is no highway. It is racked with wars, rid-
dled with mistrust and suspicion . . . If humanity ever hopes to pave this road, it
must accomplish an understanding even deeper and more durable than the world
has ever known.
The Peace Corps has been trying to pave that road ever since.
On my trips, I met a half dozen government ministers who were students, col-
leagues and friends of Volunteers. Ask yourselves, how many million students
have been taught by Volunteers, or whose teachers have been trained by Volun-
teers?
The Director of the WHO campaign that eradicated smallpox from Ethiopia told
me it never would have succeeded without the Peace Corps. How many men and
women are alive today because Volunteers were part of the immunization cam-
paigns to eradicate smallpox and polio and measles?
How many families have avoided death from diarrheal diseases because Volun-
teers have explained, in 180 different languages, how to avoid waterborne dis-
eases?
As Director I was privileged to witness the dedication, energy and ingenuity that
Volunteers were bringing to their communities. After 9/11, I know there were those
who asked whether Peace Corps is still needed, is still safe, is still a priority.
My answer is yes, yes, and yes. Peace Corps Volunteers still are needed at the
development core of our work in carrying out the first goal of the Peace Corps
teaching in classrooms, carrying health and nutrition messages to distant villages,
and working with farmers to find more sustainable ways of growing food.
Todays Volunteers also are on the cutting edge of change.
They are answering the challenge of globalization by bringing computers and
information technology to the task of developmentnot only in the cities but also
in rural villages.
They are answering the challenge of HIV/AIDS by carrying education and pre-
vention awareness throughout sub-Saharan Africa. I am proud to have required that
all Volunteers in Africa be trained in HIV/AIDS prevention educationlast year
Volunteers reached more than 376,000 people with HIV/AIDS prevention education
activities. And the bills proposal to train more Volunteers on addressing global
health risks is to be commended, but with the caveat that the training obviously
must be appropriate to the Volunteers country of service.
And Volunteers also are beginning to play a role in helping countries coming
out of civil conflict find a new future. In most instances, Crisis Corps Volunteers
begin that processexperienced Volunteers who can be brought back to help coun-
tries respond to natural disasters, so too can they help their countries respond to
the aftermath of conflict, always after full evaluation and assurance of conditions
of safety and security.
I would like to urge a renewed effort to increase Crisis Corps capacity to serve
in HIV/AIDS support and in post conflict situations. More can and should be done.
We know there are jobs waiting to be done by Volunteers. And we know there
are countries who want Volunteers to fill those jobs. I am pleased that the bill rec-
ognizes that upping the number of Volunteers and the five-year funding authoriza-
tion also requires increases in funds for staff, in the countries, in Washington and
in our recruiting centres, as well as for strengthening programs and for strength-
ening the measures that assure the safety and security of Volunteers.
Also, with respect to recruiting, I want to commend the Chairman for including
a modest increase in the amount of the adjustment allowance provided to Volun-
teers, and for exploring the possibility of greater student loan forgiveness. Currently
only the Perkins student loan program provides for a volunteer reducing his or her
repayment obligation by 15% each of two years. Otherwise the current law and reg-
ulation merely provide for postponing interest payments while in Peace Corps.

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I would urge the Committee to consider measures to encourage the Masters Inter-
national program. It is a marvellous concept, which began before I arrived but
which I tried to strengthen. It provides for applicants to apply both for a masters
degree program at a participating university and to the Peace Corps. Usually, it
means all of the course work is done in the first year and the Peace Corps service
occurs in the second and third years and fulfills the thesis, or fieldwork require-
ment. The Volunteer finishes the Peace Corps and returns home with a Masters
Degree as well. I believe some incentive funding could multiply this program far be-
yond the 40 colleges and universities, which currently participate. It also could help
attract more Volunteers with more specialized training that some countries would
like to see for specific needs.
Peace Corps Volunteers also still are the best way to truly convey an under-
standing of who we are as a people. And the second goal of the Peace Corps is even
more crucial in a world where the Unites States is the last remaining super power
and a lightening rod of envy for too many raised in frustration and incapable of cop-
ing with the clash of modern and traditional cultures.
After 9/11, I thought about our Volunteers around the world and wondered about
the reaction. As in times past, the Volunteers were the only way that people in vil-
lages around the world could convey their sympathy and caring.
In Jordan, a Peace Corps teacher received this letter from her Palestinian stu-
dent: Please accept our, the class and I, condolences and our deepest sorrow toward
evil acts that took place in the United States. May God bless the victims, their fam-
ily and their loved ones. After all, we are all citizens of the world.
And in China, a Volunteer had to teach class soon after she learned of the attack.
As usual, she started to write a word on the board at the start of the class that
they all could discuss. Flustered, she just wrote the word, Terrorism. The whole
class of students immediately started crying. They stood and each hugged her, say-
ing how sorry they were for her, for her family and for America. This public expres-
sion of emotion was not normal in China, and the caring response of her students
was particularly moving to her.
When Walter Cronkite was asked what one could do to answer the terrorists, he
responded, Join the Peace Corps.
What he summed up in those words was an important lesson for all of us:
First, we have to engage around the world even more than in the past and there
is no better way for individual Americans to engage than by joining the Peace
Corps.
Second, we still have to break through the mythology about this country and the
misconceptions about our people and the Peace Corps remains the very best way
to accomplish that missionas Volunteers live, work and play with their host coun-
try colleagues.
Third, we need to find more ways to help nations break through the constraints
of poverty, inequality, repression, and fear. Peace Corps does work to reduce those
conditions and while we cannot eradicate them entirely, it also is worthwhile that
others see us trying.
That message also underscores the rationale for the independence of the Peace
Corps, which I am pleased to see underscored in bright letters, within the proposed
legislation. It is not merely that the Peace Corps must maintain its own independ-
ence in every sphere but it must be recognized by the rest of our government and
be seen by other governments as fully independent.
Every Secretary of State has sent a message to Ambassadors around the world
reaffirming that, and I quote the 1983 cable under President Reagan, to be effective
(Peace Corps) must remain substantially separate from the formal day-to-day con-
duct and concerns of foreign policy because of its unique people-to-people character.
As former Secretary of State Rusk wrote to the chiefs of U.S. missions: To make
the Peace Corps an instrument of foreign policy would be to rob it of its contribution
to foreign policy . . . . From the start Peace Corps was to be independent. If any-
thing has protected Volunteers across the globe, it has been that separateness.
Whatever is done with this legislation, maintaining the Peace Corps independence
is crucial.
In relation to the third goal of the Peace Corps, helping improve our own aware-
ness and understanding of the peoples and nations of the world, Returned Peace
Corps Volunteers, like those who came here this past weekend, have been engaging
in their communities and their nations in ways even President Kennedy never
would have imagined.
It happens naturally, but a few programs have developed to enhance that experi-
ence including Worldwide Schools, the National Peace Corps Association, now the
new Peace Corps fund and countless other Returned Peace Corps Volunteer organi-
zations around the country. My one suggestion about the proposal in the bill to help

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provide for some direct funding of such groups through the Corporation for National
and Community Service would be to make it even broader so that any organization
of Returned Peace Corps Volunteers would qualify for direct financing of its social
projectswithout necessarily going through an intermediary.
With respect to the third goal, I also would urge the committee to examine how
best to revitalize the Peace Corps Fellows program, so that all those who want to
participate in this program can do so. Returned Volunteers who want to go to grad-
uate school can get some of their tuition covered if they agree to work in an under-
served community for two years while they get their degree.
Mr. Chairman, President Kennedy said, Peace does not rest in the charters and
covenants alone. It lies in the hearts and minds of all people . . . The Peace Corps
has been helping to build that peace. The bill before the Committee can help give
countless other Americans the chance to become part of this magnificent 40-year
legacy of making a difference.

Senator DODD. Thank you very, very much, Mark, some very
good ideas and thoughts. And again, we thank you for your service
and your good leadership during your directorship.
Let me ask you how hard you think it is going to be. I mean,
I raised the issue of what the number of applicants was to accept-
ances to Director Gaddi Vasquez. And I wonder if you might share
with us, you know, how difficult you think it will be. Let us assume
we have resources and so forth. But is it going to be hard to raise
and get the quality of numbers we are talking about here? Is it in
any way unrealistic?
Mr. SCHNEIDER. I think it is going to be hard. I also think it can
be done. I think what has been interesting is that every time that
we have had the resources and the authorization to go higher, we
have gotten the applications increased. And I think that in this
case as well, that if we have the resources to reach out and do ad-
ditional recruitingand I think that Gaddis concern to expand di-
versity, which is something we have been trying to do over the past
10 yearsand Paul Coverdell started it. When he started, there
was about 6 percent of volunteers who were from minority back-
grounds. We are now at 15 percent. And I think that we can do
better.
And I think that we have to look at our advertising and recruit-
ing efforts. At the same time, I am convinced that we can reach
those numbers.
Senator DODD. Any other particular thoughts on altering the re-
cruiting practices in your mind? You mentioned a couple of things
there. But anything else?
Mr. SCHNEIDER. Well, again, I think that we need to do more ad-
vertising. I went to the movies the other night and saw the Marine
Corps had an ad in every movie that you go to. And it is volun-
tarily done by the Motion Picture Association and by the Adver-
tising Council of America. It seems to me that they might cooperate
with the Peace Corps in spreading our message as well.
Senator DODD. Pick a corps.
Well, let me ask you about thein talking about theI men-
tioned expanding Peace Corps activities in Muslim countries. And
part of our efforts to better understand and to create better under-
standing of who we are, particularly when you read reports of a
younger generation and their attitudes, that some of these
madrasses and other schools the other day in Malaysia, stories in
I believe one of the national newspapers, about schools that very
much duplicate what is going on in Pakistan and elsewhere, where

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you get a sense of the level of hatred being taught to very young
people.
And obviously, the Peace Corps cannot take on all this itself. And
public diplomacy at the State Department has to be vastly im-
proved. But the Peace Corps can play a role here, it seems to me.
What thoughts do you have about expanding Peace Corps activities
in the Muslim world?
Mr. SCHNEIDER. There is no question. And I think there are two
things there. One is that we already have a significant experience
in having volunteers in Islamic countries. And we need to build on
that and take the lessons.
And the second is thatand again, this goes back to diversity
I would suspect that we have not made any efforts to reach out to
the Islamic community here, specific targeted efforts.
When I was director, I asked what have we done to reach out
and communicate across the religious spectrum, especially at the
time of high school. In other words, a lot of times families that are
very close to their religions, they get a lot of their information from
their churches or their synagogues or their mosques. And yet we
have very little communication. It seems to me that we could do
more, particularly with respect to the Islamic community in reach-
ing out.
Senator DODD. Good suggestion. The Peace Corps has a modest
student loan forgiveness program. I wonder if you think it should
be doing more in this area. And the bill also raises the readjust-
ment allowance paid to volunteers for their service from $225 each
month to $275. Now I am going back a few years to my days of
volunteer. But I think my readjustment allowance was $75.
Mr. SCHNEIDER. I think that is right. But that is $75 for each
month of service.
Senator DODD. And I was a volunteer when Thomas Jefferson
was President. So that has not gone up much in those years.
Mr. SCHNEIDER. I think that you are absolutely right. I think
that going up to the level of $275 for each month of service is thor-
oughly appropriate. I also think that we should look at the whole
range of student loans, provide the opportunity to perhaps some re-
duction in the balance owed by volunteers who complete the 2-
years of service.
Senator DODD. Are you concerned at all about this USA volun-
teer program and the independence of the Peace Corps? Are con-
cerns that are being raised by that, based on what you know, un-
warranted?
Mr. SCHNEIDER. At the outset, I was very concerned. Knowing
that we have both you and Senator Chafee, I feel less concerned.
And I think the commitments from Director Vasquez earlier today
are important.
I think one has to alwaysthere is a tendency always to say,
well, gee, it would be more efficient to have all service agencies in
one department. And there is a tendency sometimes for people to
move in that direction. So I think you always have to be vigilant.
I remember the phrase, Trust, but monitor; trust, but verify.
Senator DODD. Senator Chafee.
Senator CHAFEE. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

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Is there any apprehension on behalf of the Peace Corps alumni

about doubling the numbers and that entire initiative?
Mr. SCHNEIDER. I think there is concern that it be done in a way
that assures the quality of the program, and the safety of volun-
teers. And I think that the legislation providing additional re-
sources for staff and for programming is essential. And I think that
as well, going back for a second, you mentioned the concern. The
return Peace Corps volunteer community was very concerned about
any effort to reduce the independence of the Peace Corps. So I
think it is important that that provision, those provisions, be in the
bill to make clear that that shall not occur.
But I think you are right. You have to be concerned about the
quality of the programming. And thus far, what I have heard is
that the assessment missions that have gone out from the Peace
Corps to look at new countries have said that these are our stand-
ards, we are not going to jeopardize them. So I think we have to
continue to press for that high quality.
Senator CHAFEE. And I guess following along that same line, in
my short time here in Congress, everything has been so partisan.
Is there anyI do not want to put boogeymen where there are not
any, but is there any apprehension about anything partisan to do
with this doubling of the Peace Corps?
Mr. SCHNEIDER. Oh, no, no. I think that this is an absolutely
wise decision in the national interest. And I think that we all
should support it.
Senator CHAFEE. That is good to hear. Yes.
Thank you.
Senator DODD. Thank you.
Congressman.
Congressman SHAYS. Thank you again for the opportunity.
Mark, you were a great Director of the Peace Corps and obvi-
ously a wonderful volunteer in your earlier years. I was thinking
of the allowance as you were raising it. I remember we had, my
wife and I collectively when we went in Peace Corps, we had about
$2,000 we put in a mutual fund. When I came back, it was $1,000.
The $1,500 that we each received, I remember putting my nice
clothes away, packing them away. And when I came back, the la-
pels were too wide; I could not use any of them. And all my under-
wear and all the other clothes, after cleaning on rocks for 2 years,
were not very serviceable. So I had to buy all new clothes. And by
the time you did, you did not have anything left in your allowance.
So anything we can do to increase that allowance would probably
be good. People do not go into the service for the allowance, but it
is nice to come back and at least be able to buy some clothes with
it.
I would be interested to have a sense of the role you think any
advisory group should play with an organization. And I will preface
my comments by saying I do not like knowing that if you have a
grievance against an attorney, the only people you can speak to are
attorneys. And there is a part of me that rebels, thinking that this
advisory group of Peace Corps volunteers will advise the Peace
Corps Director.
And I am sharing my bias. I would like the full range of Amer-
ican creativity to be part of that. And so with my bias known, tell

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me how you argue against why we should have 150,000 volunteers

have a special impact on the Peace Corps.
Mr. SCHNEIDER. I guess there would be two things. One is that
I would hope that among those 165,000 volunteers you have a
range and diversity that would reflect the broad reach of the Amer-
ican people and that you would get the kind of breadth of view that
you want.
And the second is yes, I do believe that in this particular in-
stance the special experience of returned Peace Corps volunteers
can help the agency think through new ideas, can give, for exam-
ple, a Peace Corps Director a sense of how something he has pro-
posed is going to work in the field and how it is going towhat
is the reaction going to be. It is a feel.
And I think RPCVs have it. I agree with having an advisory
board of RPCVs.
Congressman SHAYS. Have you ever worked with people, though,
that even though they were Peace Corps volunteers, almost put
Peace Corps volunteers to shame, candidly? I mean, I think of this
young man who spoke at Fairfield University, graduated 10 years
ago. He went to Haiti, and he ended upa young homeless kid, as
they call the kids, in Haiti said to him, Can you promise me that
I can go to school? And this young man out of school said, I prom-
ise you that you will go to school. And the next thing, he realizes
he had to start the school.
He came back to speak to the graduates 10 years later. I am a
Peace Corps volunteer, listening to what he has done in the last
10 years and saying to myself, this man is magnificent. He has
Peace Corps through and through, and he is not even a volunteer.
And frankly, one of his themes to his staff was: Difficult, impos-
sibledone. And he had all these other ways of dealing with these
issues. And he talks about a kid who every morning gets up and,
you know, goes to the bathroom in his pants because he sits in a
car afraid police are going to harm him. And in the morning, he
comes and gives him a hug. And he says, My best laid plans are
left. And I have to go change my clothes. But I give that kid a
hug.
All I am trying to say to you is, I would like him, that man, to
be part of an advisory group to the Peace Corps without the spe-
cial, you know, Peace Corps history. So that is kind of what I wres-
tle with. Why should he not be part of that?
Mr. SCHNEIDER. In that sense, you do notyou have an endless
board, because there are lots of people who have enormous cre-
ativity and have done things that are unique. And that would be
helpful. The difference, it seems to meand by the way, I do not
think there is anything that would restrict and I hope there would
not be anything that would restrict, a Peace Corps Director, any
Peace Corps Director, from reaching out and consulting with any-
body they want to.
But I think that there is a value in having an advisory board of
RPCVs to bounce things off of because they have gone through the
Peace Corps experience. And I think that that is the reason that
I would support it.

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Now I also would say I would like this to be an advisory board

to the Director so that the Director is the one in a sense setting
the agenda.
Congressman SHAYS. And I hear Senator Dodd say, if you have
an advisory board, it should be something. And it should not just
be in statute or whatever and not be somehow involved. I guess the
question I have is: Would you be open to advocating or considering
that if you have had overseas experience, that you have done
things, like this young man has done for the last 10 years of his
life. By the way, not just 2, the last 10 yearscould something like
that meet your criteria of someone who could advise the Peace
Corps and advise the Director? Would they have to beif they had
experiences like that, would you be open to them?
Mr. SCHNEIDER. There is no question that they would have some-
thing to offer. I still go back in terms of I would still keep it to
RPCVs, not so much because the others would not have something
to offer, particularly the individual that you just mentioned, but in
terms of the experience of what it is like being a Peace Corps vol-
unteer in the institution and then how an issue would have an ef-
fect.
Congressman SHAYS. Thank you, Senator Dodd.
Senator DODD. Thank you.
And, Mark, we thank you immensely. We want you to stay in
touch with us here. And we appreciate your support of the legisla-
tion and look forward to your continuing involvement as we move
forward with the bill. And we look forward to your continuing in-
terest in the areas that the Peace Corps has been involved in. And
we wish you very well with your International Crisis Group, as
well.
Mr. SCHNEIDER. Thank you.
Senator DODD. Our last panel is made up of some very valuable
people. I mentioned Dane Smith already. And Dane, we thank you
for being with us today.
Dane is the president of the National Peace Corps Association,
a Peace Corps volunteer in Ethiopia back along with, I think, the
days of Paul Tsongas. You had overlapping service, I believe, any-
way.
Mr. SMITH. Overlapping. That is correct.
Senator DODD. He was there probably, I think, the year before
you. He went in 1962, I think.
Mr. SMITH. That is correct.
Senator DODD. Mrs. Barbara Ferris, who was a volunteer in Mo-
rocco, Women in Development Coordinator 1987 to 1993, Peace
Corps in Washington. And Barbara, we thank you. Once again, it
is nice to have you with us.
Ms. FERRIS. Thank you.
Senator DODD. And John Coyne was a volunteer in Ethiopia in
1962 to 1964. Now you did serve with Paul
Mr. COYNE. Right.
Senator DODD [continuing]. In those years. He is the New York
City Regional Manager, 1994 to 2000, Peace Corps in Pelham, New
York.
We thank all three of you for being here. What I would like to
do, if you would, I will ask Bertie to keep an eye on the clock here,

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not to make you live by it, but if you can just sort of keep your
remarks to around 5 or 6 minutes, so we can get to some questions.
And if you run over a little bit, do not worry about it. But if you
could try to keep it within that timeframe, I would appreciate it.
And we will obviously take all of your statements in full. And we
thank you all for being here.
Dane, thank you again for a very fine weekend. I am sorry I
could not participate in all the events. But I know Janice OConnell
of my office was on one of the panels on Saturday. And I gather
from press accounts it sounded like a good old Peace Corps party.
Having Sarge show up on that motorcycle washe came in on Fri-
day morning. And I know what his age is, and, believe me, I wish
I had half his energy. And I am half his age. He was remarkable.
His enthusiasm is contagious.
So we thank you, Dane, for your fine work this weekend, as you
have over the years with the National Peace Corps Association. We
will begin with your testimony.
STATEMENT OF DANE SMITH, PEACE CORPS VOLUNTEER IN
ETHIOPIA (19631965); PRESIDENT, NATIONAL PEACE CORPS
ASSOCIATION, WASHINGTON, DC
Mr. SMITH. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
Congressman Shays, thank you for your kind remarks about our
conference. We greatly appreciate the participation of both you and
Janice in our conference.
It is an honor to appear before this subcommittee to represent
the National Peace Corps Association and its membership. We are
a 501(c)(3) organization. And we are the only national organization
which represents return Peace Corps volunteers or RPCVs, former
staff of the Peace Corps, and friends of the Peace Corps.
We have 15,000 members in all 50 states. And we have 141 affil-
iate Peace Corps alumni groups in 44 of those states. We carry out
programs in global education, service, and peace-building. And we
have launched a Microenterprise Program working with FINCA,
the Foundation for International Community Assistance, and the
Calvert Foundation, to promote investment in micro-lending pro-
grams for poor countries.
In early January of this year, two members of the National Peace
Corps Association, Roger Landrum and David Hibbard, convened a
small group to formulate ideas to be conveyed to the U.S. Congress
on a new mandate for the Peace Corps, namely, how to strength-
en the agency and position it for greater effectiveness in the post-
September 11 world. NPCA leaders, including Pat Reilly, soon to
become chair of the NPCA board of directors; Ed Crane, our advo-
cacy coordinator; and I joined this group.
And immediately after the State of the Union Message, our
group, which had reached a kind of consensus on our views, sub-
mitted recommendations at the request of offices in the Senate and
the House, including your office, Mr. Chairman. And we have since
participated in consultations on the draft legislation before it was
introduced with staff of this subcommittee.
For the Peace Corps family, September 11 underlined more than
anything else the vital importance to our security and well-being
of Americas positive engagement with the rest of the world. No as-

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pect of Americas engagement with the world over more than 40

years has been more positive and effective than the Peace Corps.
It has had a positive impact on 135 countries already, with many
more to come.
Moreover, 165,000 Americans have served in the Peace Corps
over this period. These Americans return still fired with a passion
for service, which they undertake in their own communities in the
United States, nationally or internationally.
As you pointed out, Mr. Chairman, we have just completed a na-
tional conference celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Peace
Corps, a conference which brought together 2,000 Peace Corps
alumni to Washington. And the main question before this con-
ference was: How can the Peace Corps and Peace Corps alumni
make an even more effective contribution to a peaceful world
through grassroots development and the promotion of harmony and
understanding among peoples of different ethnicities and religion?
Mr. Chairman, we believe that this bill goes a considerable way
toward answering this question and that it should be supported by
a strong bipartisan majority. Having examined an initial draft of
the legislation and aware that the bill was likely to undergo some
further change, the National Peace Corps Association board of di-
rectors last month adopted a set of general principles it wanted to
see reflected in the legislation in its final form, so as to enable the
Peace Corps and its alumni to address new challenges of peaceful
grassroots development in the 21st century.
And these principles very briefly are support for President Bushs
proposal to double the number of volunteers over 5 years in the
context of volunteer security, quality programming and placement,
and broader, more innovative, initiatives of people-to-people devel-
opment assistance.
Second, the historic independence of the Peace Corps from other
agencies of foreign policy and from any and all forms of intelligence
gathering. Third, a well-funded strategic planning unit within the
Peace Corps. Fourth, a streamlined bipartisan advisory council to
the Peace Corps composed of Peace Corps alumni representing a
broad range of international knowledge and relevant career exper-
tise. Fifth, an RPCV innovation fund providing grants to support
selected innovative projects and programs proposed by return
Peace Corps volunteers, both domestic and international projects,
which are consistent with the goals of the Peace Corps.
A restructured Crisis Corps that better utilizes the career exper-
tise of return volunteers to extend the mission and goals of the
Peace Corps into challenging new contexts of peaceful development
in the 21st century. And finally, a new era of collaboration between
the Peace Corps agency, the National Peace Corps Association,
other Peace Corps alumni organizations, and initiatives and other
international volunteer programs.
Mr. Chairman, the NPCA considers that this bill is consistent
with the mandate principles we have formulated. And therefore, we
strongly support its passage. We believe that the bill, if enacted,
would provide a strengthened mandate for the Peace Corps and im-
portant suggestions about how the agency can be strengthened.
We particularly favor the important role envisaged for return
Peace Corps volunteers in contributing to a strengthened agency.

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There are 165,000 Americans who have served in the Peace Corps.
They have brought knowledge and experience back from that serv-
ice. And they continue to serve in their own communities, as well
as overseas.
And I want to emphasize how pleased we are with the commit-
ment of Peace Corps Director Gaddi Vasquez to draw on the in-
sight and talents of our PCVs in moving the Peace Corps forward
and to the formation of the working group that he has mentioned.
In closing, I would like to make a few comments on section 10
concerning the Peace Corps Innovation Fund. The National Peace
Corps Association has been promoting service initiatives of the
kind envisaged for the proposed fund for more than 15 years. In
1986, we first awarded the Sargent Shriver Award for Outstanding
Humanitarian Service. And in the intervening years, this award
has been given to Peace Corps alumni who have done such things
as establish a family hospital in Appalachia or an eye clinic in
Haiti or carrying on reconciliation between warring ethnic groups
in Bosnia.
This year the award was just given to Molly Melching, who
through her Senegalese NGO Tostan has brought about decisions
in hundreds of Senegalese villages to halt the practice of female
genital cutting.
A second award, we also confer the Loret Miller Ruppe Award
annually to an NPCA affiliate group for group service projects. And
in recent years, the Ruppe Award has been given for such projects
as a mentoring program at a high school in inner city Chicago,
which includes a carefully tailored three-week visit to West Africa
for several students or conflict resolution work in civil war-ravaged
Sierra Leone and efforts by Ethiopia and Eritrea returned Peace
Corps volunteers to encourage a peaceful resolution of the war that
broke out between Ethiopia and Eritrea in 1998.
We not only encourage such projects, Mr. Chairman, but we are
beginning to provide funding for them. The NPCA has just
launched a program of continuation of service grants, seed money
to be made available for projects undertaken domestically or inter-
nationally by our affiliate groups under a set of criteria endorsed
by our board of directors. During the conference which just ended,
we raised $10,000 to support the continuation of service grants.
In anticipation that this legislation will be enacted, the National
Peace Corps Association is proceeding with planning for organizing
a separate nonprofit corporation which would meet the criteria es-
tablished in section 10. We expect to draw on the talents of our
new mandate group led by Roger Landrum and Dave Hibbard and
on others with experience in particular project areas and in project
design and evaluation.
And we anticipate that the new entity would give emphasis to
projects for educating Americans about the developing countries,
for AIDS education, for community, national, and international
service, including youth service programs, and for conflict resolu-
tion.
And so, Mr. Chairman, the NPCA supports this bill, the Peace
Corps Charter for the 21st Century Act, and intends, with its affil-
iate groups, to work hard for its passage.
Thank you very much.

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[The prepared statement of Mr. Smith follows:]

PREPARED STATEMENT OF DANE F. SMITH, PRESIDENT, NPCA
A PEACE CORPS CHARTER FOR THE 21ST CENTURYVIEWS OF THE NATIONAL PEACE
CORPS ASSOCIATION

Mr. Chairman. I am Dane Smith. President of the National Peace Corps Associa-
tion, It is an honor to appear before this Subcommittee to represent the National
Peace Corps Association and its membership. The NPCA, a 501(c)(3) organization,
founded in 1979 as the National Council of Returned Peace Corps Volunteers and
incorporated in the State of North Carolina, is the only national organization which
represents Returned Peace Corps Volunteers (RPCVs), former Staff of the Peace
Corps and Friends of the Peace Corps. The NPCA has 15,000 members in all 50
states and has 141 affiliate Peace Corps alumni groups in 44 of the 50 states. The
NPCA carries out programs in global education, service, and peace-building and has
just launched a Microenterprise Program, in collaboration with the Foundation for
International Community Assistance (FINCA) and the Calvert Foundation, which
promotes investment in micro-lending programs in poor countries.
In early January of this year two members of the NPCARoger Landrum and
David Hibbard, who both served in the Peace Corps in Nigeriaconvened a small
group to formulate ideas to be conveyed to the U.S. Congress on a new mandate
for the Peace Corps, namely how to strengthen the Agency and position it for great-
er effectiveness in the post-September 11 world. NPCA leaders, including Pat Reilly,
soon to become Chair of the NPCA Board of Directors, Ed Crane, NPCA Advocacy
Coordinator, and I joined this group and hosted it at NFCA headquarters. By the
time President Bush delivered his State of the Union message proposing a doubling
of the Peace Corps within five yearsa proposal we warmly welcomedour group
had reached a consensus on basic ideas and had visited Congressional offices, both
Republican and Democratic, seeking support. Immediately after the State of the
Union message, our group submitted recommendations at the request of offices in
the Senate and the House. We have since participated in consultations on draft leg-
islation with Congressional staff, including staff of this Subcommittee.
Why has the NPCA pressed for legislation embodying a Peace Corps Charter for
the 21st Century? For the Peace Corps family, September 11 underlined more than
anything else the vital importance to our security and well-being of Americas posi-
tive engagement with the rest of the world. No aspect of Americas engagement with
the world over more than 40 years has been more positive and effective than the
Peace Corps. It has had a positive impact on 135 countries already, with many more
to come. Moreover, 165,000 Americans have served in the Peace Corps over 41
years. These Americans return still filled with a passion for service which they un-
dertake in their own communities in the United States, nationally or internation-
ally. The NPCA has just completed this past week-end a National Conferrnce cele-
brating the 40th Anniversary of the Peace Corps. The Conference brought over 2000
Peace Corps alumni to Washington. The primary question before this Conference
was: How can the Peace Corpsand Peace Corps alumnimake an even more effec-
tive contribution to a peaceful world through grassroots development and the pro-
motion of harmony and understanding among peoples of different ethnicities and re-
ligions? Mr. Chairman, we believe that S. 2667 goes a long way toward answering
this question and that it should be supported by a strong bipartisan majority.
Principles for a Mandate for the Peace Corps in the 21st Century
Having examined an initial draft of legislation and aware that the bill was likely
to undergo further change, the NPCA Board of Directors last month adopted a set
of general principles it wanted to see reflected in the legislation in its final form
so as to enable the Peace Corps and its alumni to address new challenges of peace-
ful, grassroots development in the 21st century. These principles are as follows:
1. Support for President Bushs proposal to double the number of Peace Corps
Volunteers over five years, in a context of quality programming and volunteer
placement and broader, more innovative initiatives of people-to-people develop-
ment assistance.
2. The historic independence of Peace Corps, from its inception, from other
agencies of foreign policy and from any and all forms of intelligence gathering.
3. A well-funded Strategic Planning Unit within the Peace Corps with the ex-
pertise and authority to guide the expansion of volunteer numbers and pro-
gramming initiatives with improved reserch evaluation, and forward strategic
planning.

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4. A streamlined, bipartisan Advisory Council to the Peace Corps composed
of Peace Corps alumni representing a broad range of international knowledge
and relevant career expertise.
5. An RPCV Innovation Fund providing grants to support selected innovative
projects and programs proposed by RPCVs, both domestic and international,
consistent with the goals of the Peace Corps and experience gained through
Peace Corps service.
6. A restructured Crisis Corps that better utilizes the career expertise of
RPCVs to extend the mission and goals of the Peace Corps into challenging new
contexts of peaceful development in the 21st century.
7. A new era of collaboration between the Peace Corps agency, the National
Peace Corps Association, other Peace Corps alumni organizations and initiatives
and other international volunteer programs.
NPCA Support for S. 2667
Mr. Chairman, the National Peace Corps Association considers that S. 2667 is
consistent with the Mandate principles we have formulated and strongly supports
its passage. We believe the bill, if enacted, would provide a strengthened mandate
for the Peace Corps and important suggestions about how the Agency can be
strengthened. We particularly favor the important role envisaged for Returned
Peace Corps Volunteers in contributing to a strengthened agency. There are 165,000
Americans who have served in the Peace Corps. They have derived important
knowledge and experience from their service overseas, and they have brought back
a passion to continue to serve, in their own communities as well as overseas. And
we are pleased that Peace Corps Director Gaddi Vasquez has indicated a strong de-
sire to draw on the insight and talents of RPCVs in moving the Peace Corps for-
ward.
Funding Projects of Peace Corps Alumni
In closing I would like to make a few comments on Sec. 10 concerning the Peace
Corps Innovation Fund. The National Peace Corps Association has been promoting
service initiatives of the kind envisaged for the proposed Fund for more than 15
years. In 1986 we first awarded the Sargent Shriver Award for Outstanding Hu-
manitarian Service. In the intervening years this award has been given to Peace
Corps alumni who have done such things as establish a family clinic in Appalachia,
create an eye clinic in Haiti, carry on reconciliation between warring ethnic groups
in the Balkans. This year the award was given to Molly Melching, who through her
Senegalese NGO Tostan, has brought about decisions in hundreds of Senegalese vil-
lages to halt the practice of female genital cutting. We also confer the Loret Miller
Ruppe Award annually to an NPCA affiliate groups for group service projects. In
recent years the Ruppe Award has been given for such projects as a mentoring pro-
gram at a high school in inner-city Chicago, to include a carefully tailored three
week visit to West Africa for several students; conflict resolution work in civil war-
ravaged Sierra Leone; and efforts by Ethiopia and Eritrea Returned Volunteers to
encourage a peaceful resolution of the Ethiopia-Eritrea war. We not only encourage
such projects, but we are beginning to provide funding for them. The NPCA has just
launched a program of Continuation of Service Grants, seed money to be made
available for projects undertaken domestically or internationally by our affiliate
groups under a set of criteria endorsed by our Board of Directors. During our Con-
ference, which just ended, we raised $10,000 to support the Continuation of Service
grants.
In anticipation that this legislation will be enacted, the NPCA is proceeding with
planning for organizing a separate non-profit corporation which would meet the cri-
teria established in Section 10. We expect to draw on the talents of our new man-
date group led by Roger Landrum and Dave Hibbard and on others with experience
in particular project areas and in project design and evaluation. We anticipate that
the new entity would give emphasis to projects for educating Americans about the
developing countries; for AIDS education; for community, national and international
service, including youth service programs; and for conflict resolution.
Mr. Chairman, the National Peace Corps Association supports the passage of
S.2667 A Peace Corps Charter for the 21st Century. Thank you.

Senator DODD. Thank you very much. You did say in 44 states,
you had that many affiliate organizations. So we look forward to
having cosponsors from all 44 states. And I tell you this much, I
can promise you this, when you were here and I know you had an
advocacy day on Thursday, I guess it was

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Mr. SMITH. That is correct, Mr. Chairman.

Senator DODD [continuing]. And I can tell you I would like these
folks in town on every bill all the time. I ended up with more co-
sponsors in one day than any other bill that I can think of that I
have offered up, and I thank the members of the National Peace
Corps Association who went around and knocked on doors. It was
remarkable the number of colleagues of mine who called and said,
Put me on the bill.
So we thank you immensely for that work. We may bring you
back to town another time for that kind of
Mr. SMITH. Well, 200 of our members came specifically for that.
Senator DODD. Well, they did a good job, I can tell you.
Ms. Ferris, how are you?
Ms. FERRIS. I am good. How are you?
Senator DODD. Good. Nice to see you.
Ms. FERRIS. Thank you.
Senator DODD. Welcome.
Ms. FERRIS. Thank you.
STATEMENT OF BARBARA A. FERRIS, PEACE CORPS VOLUN-
TEER IN MOROCCO (19801982), WOMEN IN DEVELOPMENT
COORDINATOR (19871993), CO-FOUNDER, THE PEACE CORPS
FUND, WASHINGTON, DC
Ms. FERRIS. Mr. Chairman and Congressman Shays, I want to
thank you for the opportunity to testify today in support of section
10 of the legislation of the Peace Corps Charter for the 21st Cen-
tury Act, which provides $10 million to RPCVs to implement the
third goal.
I am a return Peace Corps volunteer from Morocco, where I
taught English as a second language. I served for 5 years as the
Women in Development director for the Peace Corps, 6 years as a
member of the board of directors of the National Peace Corps Asso-
ciation, and I chaired the 40th anniversary task force for the cele-
bration, cochaired the Committee for the Future of the Peace
Corps, and now I am the cofounder of the Peace Corps Fund.
I am also the founder and the president of the International
Womens Democracy Center, which trains women outside the
United States in the technical skills of how to run for elected office,
how to engage in building their civil society, and how to lobby their
legislatures.
I want to applaud you and this institution for finally designating
resources to support return Peace Corps volunteers who want to
implement the third goal in their communities, as stated in the
Peace Corps Act of 1961. Bill Moyers said that Peace Corps volun-
teers carry two passports, one stamped American and one stamped
human being.
Last weekend, as Dane said, nearly 2,000 people from the Peace
Corps family gathered in Washington to lead and attend work-
shops, to celebrate the music and traditions of the countries where
we lived and worked as Peace Corps volunteers, to honor those who
died in service, and to support the very organizations like IWDC
that continue to embrace the challenges of service.
The Peace Corps Fund was created at the urging of thousands
of return Peace Corps volunteers and staff, who formerly and force-

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 39

fully support the third goal of the Peace Corps Act. I am here today
as cofounder of the fund, a nonprofit organization established in
the District of Columbia to provide grants up to $100,000 to re-
turned Peace Corps volunteers who want to carry out the third goal
in their communities in the shapes of programs, projects, and ac-
tivities.
The fund brings together an extraordinary team of returned
Peace Corps volunteers with demonstrated skills in nonprofit man-
agement, fundraising, grants management, budget and finance,
foundation relationships, communications, public relations, tech-
nology and vision combined with an extensive network that reaches
to every corner of our country and the farthest corners of the world.
In order to enhance efficiency and keep costs down, the Peace
Corps Fund will take advantage of the latest technology and facili-
tate our grant making on line through its Web site,
www.asknot.org. The online grant making process includes applica-
tion, awards of grants, project reporting, and evaluations.
Individuals representing three generations of the Peace Corps
family, including one of the early architects of agency and a re-
cently returned Peace Corps volunteer from Asia, incorporated the
fund. Many of the early architects of the Peace Corps, Members of
Congress, members of the National Peace Corps Association, and
numerous individuals and organizations committed to sustainable
development support this innovative idea.
The fund does not have dues paying members. It does not pub-
lish a magazine. It does not have programs and does not engage
in peacemaking activities around the world. The fund is open to
support all return volunteers who want to do third goal activities.
It will act as a fiscal agent to provide grants to do so. And my col-
league, John Coyne, will provide a more detailed example as to the
specific projects that the fund could support.
For the past 41 years, RPCVs have been bringing the world back
home in small ways with limited resources, as you stated earlier.
Creating speaker bureaus for their local schools, hosting forums to
discuss culture and tradition of countries where they served, teach-
ing English to immigrant parents with children in local schools,
and a multitude of other activities that continue to share what we
have learned and to carry on a tradition of service here at home.
While many RPCVs carry their unique experiences gained
around the world into classrooms and boardrooms, thousands have
become leaders in corporations, educational institutions, jour-
nalism, international organizations and here in our Nations polit-
ical leadership, both at the state and national levels.
Increasing the resources available to RPCVs will have a signifi-
cant impact on increasing understanding among Americans about
the people, places, cultures, and traditions of the nations where we
lived and worked as volunteers.
While I could spend days speaking about the depth and range of
the transforming projects initiated by RPCVs in their communities
with little or no resources, I do want to share with this committee
the 13-year-old calendar project, which I gave each of you, created
by the RPCVs of Wisconsin. And it is their collective effort to bring
the world back home.

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 40

As a former teacher, this annual calendar is one of the most pow-

erful development tools I have ever seen. It not only lists all the
holidays from the Peace Corps countries every month, it provides
spectacular photos taken by RPCVs of one nation a month with a
description of a tradition or event that highlights the culture of the
country. At the moment, they produce nearly 35,000 of these. Imag-
ine the power of this teaching tool if our Nations schoolchildren
were given one of their very own.
It is a very cost-effective, efficient, simple way for kids not only
to learn every day about different holidays and cultures, but every
month about a different country and tradition. More importantly,
I believe it would give students a chance to aspire and dream about
exploring places far from home.
September 11 changed us forever. And we all continue to wrestle
with the injustices of terrorism. One way to fight terrorism is to
learn about and engage in the rest of the world. In 1961, when
Sarge Shriver went to Ghana to lay the foundation for the first vol-
unteers to serve there, the President of Ghana agreed to host
Americans on the condition that he send the best and the brightest.
The 165,000 RPCVs who have served in over 135 nations speak-
ing 300-plus languages for the past four decades, giving 300,000
years of service are, in my opinion, the best and the brightest.
Among the outstanding moments at the conference this past
weekend, including the motorcycle, Sarge Shriver said the Peace
Corps stands for everything we believe in America, that we care
about the people of the world, that Peace Corps is dedicated to the
goal of permanent peace.
Mr. Chairman, I speak in strong support of the Peace Corps
Charter for the 21st Century Act, and particularly section 10,
which provides $10 million for RPCVs to carry out their goal activi-
ties.
Thank you.
[The prepared statement of Ms. Ferris follows:]
PREPARED STATEMENT OF BARBARA ANNE FERRIS, RPCV, MOROCCO, CO-FOUNDER,
THE PEACE CORPS FUND

Mr. Chairman, Members of this Committee, I thank you for the opportunity to
testify today in support of the legislation of the Peace Corps Charter for 21st Cen-
tury Act. I am a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer from Morocco where I taught
English as a second language. I have served for 5 years as the Women in Develop-
ment Director for the Peace Corps, for 6 years as a member of the Board of Direc-
tors for the National Peace Corps Association, I chaired the 40th Anniversary Cele-
bration of the Peace Corps, co-chaired of the Committee for the Future of the Peace
Corps and am the co-founder of the Peace Corps Fund. And now I am the founder
and president of the International Womens Democracy Center, which trains women
outside the United States in the technical skills of how to run for elected office, how
to engage in building their civil society, and how to lobby their legislatures.
I want to applaud you and this institution for finally designating resources to sup-
port Returned Peace Corps Volunteers who want to implement the 3rd goal of the
Peace Corps as stated in the Peace Corps Act of 1961to educate Americans about
the people, places and countries where we lived and worked as Peace Corps Volun-
teers. Bill Moyers said that Peace Corps Volunteers carry two passportsone
stamped American and one stamped human being.
Last weekend, nearly 2,000 people from the Peace Corps family gathered in Wash-
ington to lead and attend workshops, celebrate the music and traditions of the coun-
tries where we lived and worked as Volunteers, honor those who died in service,
and support the very organizations that continue to embrace the challenges of serv-
ice.

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 41
The Peace Corps Fund was created at the urging of thousands of Returned Peace
Corps Volunteers and staff who formally and forcefully support the Third Goal of
the Peace Corps Act of 1961, I am here today as co-founder of The Peace Corps
Fund, a non-profit organization established in the District of Columbia to provide
grants up to $100,000 to Returned Peace Corps Volunteers who want to carry out
the 3rd goal in their communities in the shape of programs, projects and activities.
The Peace Corps Fund brings together an extraordinary team of Returned Peace
Corps Volunteers with demonstrated skills in non-profit management, fundraising,
grants management, budget and finance, foundation relationships, communications,
public relations, technology and vision combined with an extensive network that
reaches to every corner of our country and the farthest corners of the world.
Individuals representing three generations of the Peace Corps Familyincluding
one of the early architects of the Agency incorporated the Peace Corps Fund and
a recently returned Peace Corps Volunteer. Many of the early architects of the
Peace Corps, Members of Congress, members of the National Peace Corps Associa-
tion, and numerous individuals support the Peace Corps Fund and organizations
committed to sustainable peace and development throughout our global community.
In order to enhance efficiency and keep costs down, the Peace Corps Fund will take
advantage of the latest technology and facilitate grant making on line through its
web sitewww.AskNot.org The online grant making process includes application,
awards of grants, project reporting and evaluations.
The Peace Corps Fund does not have dues paying members, does not publish a
quarterly magazine, does not have programs and does not engage in peace making
activities around the world. The Fund will be open to support all Returned Peace
Corps Volunteers and the fund will simply act as a fiscal agent to provide grants
to RPCVs and RPCV groups for 3rd goal activities. My colleague John Coyne will
provide a more detailed example as to the specific project the Fund could support.
For the past 41 years, RPCVs have been bringing the world back home in small
ways with limited resources. Creating speaker bureaus for their local schools,
hosting forums to discuss culture and tradition of countries where they served,
teaching English to immigrant parents with children in local schools and a mul-
titude of other activities that continue to share what we have learned and to carry
on a tradition of service here at home. While many RPCVs carry their unique expe-
riences gained around the world into class rooms, board rooms, thousands of RPCVs
have become leaders in corporations, educational institutions, journalism, inter-
national organizations and our nations political leadership both at the state and na-
tional levels. Increasing the resources available to RPCVs will have a significant im-
pact on increasing the understanding among Americans about people, places, cul-
tures, religions and traditions of the nations where we lived and worked as Volun-
teers.
While I could spend days speaking about the depth and range of transforming
projects initiated by RPCVs in their communities, I want to share with this com-
mittee the 13-year-old calendar project created by the RPCVs of Wisconsinas their
collective effort to bring the world back home. As a former teacher, the annual cal-
endar is one of the most powerful development education tools I have ever seen. It
not only lists all the holidays from all the Peace Corps countries every months, it
provides spectacular photos taken by RPCVs of one nation a month with a descrip-
tion of a tradition or event that highlights the culture of the country. At the mo-
ment, they produce nearly 35,000 of these calendars. Imagine the power of this
teaching tool if our nations school children were given one for their very own. It
is a very cost effective and efficient, simple way for kids to not only learn every day
and about different holidays and cultures, but every month, about a different coun-
try and tradition. More importantly, it would give students a chance to aspire and
dream about exploring other places.
September 11 changed us forever and we all continue to wrestle with the injus-
tices of terrorism. One way to fight terrorism is to learn about and engage in the
rest of the world. In 1961, when Sarge Shriver went to Ghana to lay the foundation
for the first Volunteers to serve there, the President of Ghana agreed to host Ameri-
cans on the condition that he sent the best and the brightest. The 166,000 Returned
Peace Corps Volunteers who have served in over 130 nations speaking 300+ lan-
guages for the past 4 decades giving 300,000 years of service are in my opinion, the
best and the brightest.
Among the many outstanding moments at the conference this past weekend,
Sarge Shriver said that Peace Corps stands for everything we believe in America
that we care about the people of the world that Peace Corps is dedicated to the goal
of permanent peace.

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 42
Mr. Chainnan, I speak in strong support of the Peace Corps Charter for the 21st
Century Act and Section 10 which provides $10 million dollars for RPCVs to facili-
tate 3rd goal activities.
Thank you.

Senator DODD. Thank you, Ms. Ferris.

John, thank you for being here. Thank you for the wonderful
work you are doing, as well, with Barbara.
STATEMENT OF JOHN COYNE, PEACE CORPS VOLUNTEER IN
ETHIOPIA/ERITREA (19621964), NEW YORK CITY REGIONAL
MANAGER (19942000), CO-FOUNDER, THE PEACE CORPS
FUND, PELHAM, NY
Mr. COYNE. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have prepared my re-
marks that I have submitted. So I will just be brief.
Congressman Shays, thank you very much for the honor, Mr.
Chairman, to appear before you. And I, too, support the Peace
Corps Charter for the 21st Century. I do soI bill myself as the
oldest living former Peace Corps volunteer, because in October
1960 I happened to be on the campus of the University of Michigan
when President Kennedy introduced the idea. And from Kala-
mazoo, Michigan, I joined the Peace Corps in 1962 and went to
Washington, where one of the first people I met was Paul Tsongas.
And our Director was, as you know, the former Senator Harris
Wofford from Pennsylvania.
And late in the session we went to meet the President on the
White House lawn just before we left for Ethiopia. And he said
then, I hope you will regard this Peace Corps tour as the first in-
stallment in a long life of service, as the most exciting career in the
most exciting time, and that is serving this country in the sixties
and the seventies.
Well, here we are in a new century, and we are still trying to
fulfill the third goal. We are still trying to bring the world back
home.
In the 1980s, to fulfill the third goal of the Peace Corps, I started
with another Peace Corps volunteer from Ethiopia, Marian Haley
Beil, a newsletter to promote and share the writings of Peace Corps
writers. Three years ago, we also established a Web site,
peacecorpswriters.org. We believe that the writings of returned
Peace Corps volunteers, all their novels, short stories, essays, and
poetry are a positive way of educating America about the world, an
essential third goal activity.
The poetry and prose is a literary bridge that links the cultures
of the world. The writings of Peace Corps volunteers provide Amer-
ica a chance to learn about Peace Corps countries that they will
never have the opportunity to visit. Today, on our Web site, we
have listed over 500 writers who have published more than 1,200
books, many of which are based on their Peace Corps experience.
All this work on the newsletter, as with the site, continues to be
done on a volunteer basis. We believe that we are promoting serv-
ice by our own example of serving the Peace Corps community.
It was during the 1960s when I was on the staff of the Peace
Corps in New York that I edited a series of essays written by Peace
Corps writers, essays that I had previously collected and published
into a paperback book. There have been three of them now. These

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 43

stories by former volunteers have been an extremely effective re-

cruitment tool for the agency because they give a picture in the
words of the volunteers in well-written language of what it is like
to actually live in the Third World and to be a Peace Corps volun-
teer.
I was also recently asked, thanks to the Congressmans wife, to
help her with the Paul D. Coverdell World Wise Schools production
of essays in a new textbook called, Voices from the Field, to be
used for language arts teachings in grades 7 through 12.
Mr. Chairman, these are just two examples of what can be done
with the writings of people who have served our Nation as volun-
teers. I would like to add in addition to that, on my own and
around the 40th anniversary I went out and I sought a foundation
grant from the Shulman Foundation of $25,000 so that I could get
Peace Corps writers to read across the country in a series of loca-
tions, classrooms, libraries, community centers. This is still going
on. We started with Harvard University in Cambridge, and our
next one will take place in Venice, California, at the Venice Public
Library. We will have several volunteers, former volunteers read-
ing, and also talking about their Peace Corps experience.
This $25,000 grant could be expanded under something like the
section 10 of the new act in the sense that we can bring volunteers
to many, many more communities if we only had a limited amount
of resources to do it.
I believe at this moment in history we can provide what we call,
or what Mark Gearan actually called, the domestic dividend from
our Peace Corps service. We can share the lessons we learned over-
seas and working in another culture, when we can help people here
understand what the whole world is like and what it is like to be
a Peace Corps volunteer.
In closing, Mr. Chairman, let me offer the perspective of just one
Peace Corps volunteer. The core of the Peace Corps is about serv-
ice, service to our country and service to the fellow citizens of the
world. It is a simple but very powerful concept, one that has stood
the test of time and one that in my view has helped strengthen the
ties of cross-cultural understanding between Americans and the
people of the world.
This sort of understanding has never been more important than
it is today. And as return volunteers, we have a responsibility to
share with our fellow Americans what we have learned overseas,
all in the hope of making the world a better, more peaceful place.
This legislation will help us do our job as returned volunteers.
With your help and support we will continue to help bring the
world back home. Thank you very much for your time.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Coyne follows:]
PREPARED STATEMENT OF JOHN COYNE, RPCV, ETHIOPIA, CO-FOUNDER, PEACE
CORPS FUND
Mr. Chairman, members of the Subcommittee, I am deeply honored to appear be-
fore you today and offer testimony about the Peace Corps Charter for the 21st Cen-
tury Act. I join many other Returned Peace Corps Volunteers, or RPCVs, as we refer
to ourselves, in thanking you for working to strengthen the Peace Corps at this im-
portant time in the agencys history and our countrys history.
In October of 1960 when John F. Kennedy was campaigning for the presidency,
he spoke after midnight on the campus of the University of Michigan and intro-

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 44
duced the idea of a Peace Corps. It was a moment in time that defined four decades
of public service by young and older Americans.
I was one of the students on campus that night swept up by John F. Kennedys
challenge to go to Asia, Africa, or Latin America and contribute a few years to my
country. I had never thought of leaving the U.S. before. I would never even have
thought of leaving my hometown of Kalamazoo, Michigan. Now I wanted to be part
of the New Frontier. I wanted to do something for my country.
In the summer of 1962, I went to Washington to train at Georgetown University
with the first group of Volunteers to Ethiopia.
On our first night of training, all of us Ethiopia-bound Volunteers went en masse
for a long walk on the C&O Canal. Leading us was Supreme Court Justice William
O. Douglas who had recently saved that canal by having it designated a historic
monument.
At the end of the two miles we stopped for hot dogs, beer, and an impromptu talk
from a lanky kid named John D. Rockefeller IV. I am not sure if Senator Rockefeller
remembers that evening or not, but he was just back from studying in Asia and was
working at the Peace Corps headquarters with Sargent Shriver.
Towards the end of our training we went to meet President Kennedy in the Rose
Garden. Leading us was Harris Wofford, then Country Director for Ethiopia and
later, as you know, U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania. Also in our group was another
young Volunteer like myself, the late Senator from Massachusetts, Paul Tsongas.
On the White House lawn, President Kennedy told us, I hope that you will re-
gard this Peace Corps tour as the first installment in a long life of service, as the
most exciting career in the most exciting time, and that is serving this country in
the sixties and the seventies.
Well, here it is in a new century and those of us who responded to President Ken-
nedys challenge of life long service are still trying to fulfill the Third Goal of the
Peace Corps to bring the world back home.
In 41 years of service in the developing nations of the world, the Peace Corps has
come to represent the best that America has to offer the worid. It is also one of
Americas best bridges of friendship to the peoples of the world. We have touched
the lives of people in 135 countries over these last four decades. We have made life-
long friends, and to an amazing degree, changed the global perception of America
by living among, and with the peoples of the world. We have changed the face of
the ugly American in many communities who have never had the opportunity to
see, to touch, and to know an American. And we have come home to America and
in our daily lives, within our extended families, and our communities, we have
taught America about what we saw and, more importantly, learned from other peo-
ple and cultures.
Our impact here in America has often been very personal.
In the 1980s, to fulfill this Third Goal of the Peace Corps of bringing the world
vividly home to America, I started with another Returned Volunteer from Ethiopia,
Marian Haley Beil, a newsletter to promote and share the writings of Peace Corps
Volunteers. Three years ago, we expanded this effort by developing a web site,
peacecorpswriters.org
We believe that the writings of Returned Peace Corps Volunteers, all their novels,
short stories, essays and poetry are a positive way of educating Americans about
the world, an essential Third Goal activity. This poetry and prose is a literary
bridge that links the cultures of the world. The writings of Peace Corps Volunteers
provide America a chance to learn about Peace Corps countries that they will never
have the opportunity to visit. Today, on our online bibliography, we have over 500
writers who have published more than 1,200 books, many of which are based on
their experiences overseas.
All this work on the newsletteras with the sitecontinues to be done on a vol-
unteer basis. We believe that we are promoting service by our own example of serv-
ing the Peace Corps community.
It was during the 1990s that I also edited a series of essays written by Peace
Corps Volunteersessays about their Peace Corps experiencethat I had first pub-
lished in our newsletter and turned them into a paperback book. These stories by
former Volunteers have been an extremely effective recruitment tool for the agency.
I also was recently asked by Paul D. Coverdell Worldwise Schools of the Peace
Corps to find essays for their new classroom textbook, Voices from the Fields, to be
used by language arts teachers in grades 7-12.
Mr. Chairman, these are just two examples of what can be done with the writings
of people who have served our nation as Peace Corps Volunteers. There are many
other projects and programs that RPCVs can do here at home to further the Third
Goal of the Peace Corps Act. It is my hope that the new Peace Corps bill will make
it possible for me to continue the work of peacecorpswriters.org and make the prose

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and poetry of Peace Corps writers accessible to students and older audiences across
the United States.
At this critical moment in our history, we can deliver a domestic dividend from
our Peace Corps service. We can share the lessons we learned living and working
in another culture. We can help our country understand the world by writing about
the people we knew as friends.
Mr. Chairman, in closing, let me offer the perspective of just one of more than
166,000 people who have served as Peace Corps Volunteers. At its core, the Peace
Corps is about serviceservice to our country, and service to our fellow citizens of
the world. Its a simple but very powerful concept, one that has stood the test of
time, and one that, in my view has helped strengthen the ties of cross-cultural un-
derstanding between Americans and the people of other countries.
This sort of understanding has never been more important than it is today, and
as returned Volunteers, we have a responsibility to share with our fellow Americans
what we have learned overseas, all in the hope of making the world a better, more
peaceful place.
This legislation will help us do our jobs as returned Volunteers. With your help
and support, we can continue to help bring the world back home.
Thank you very much.

Senator DODD. Thank you, John, very, very much; and, Barbara,
for the tremendous work you are doing with the fund. My com-
pliments to you and look forward to any ways we can be helpful
to it. It is a very worthwhile endeavor.
I am just curious, Dane, over the weekend I had the opportunity
to talk to a couple of people who have been up on the Hill talking
about the pending, well, proposed, legislation. I wonder if you
mightI know there was an opportunity to discuss it in some of
the workshops. Can you give us sort of a flavor of what the reaction
was among the participants in last weeks conference to the bill?
What were some of the comments, criticisms, whatever you think
may be appropriate to share with the committee?
Mr. SMITH. Mr. Chairman, as you know, during advocacy day, a
major aspect of what the returned volunteers and other members
of our association were doing as they met with their Members and
Representatives on the Hill, was to promote this legislation. And
the effect, as you said, was quite extraordinary. And I understand
that a number of sponsors were added as a result of their activi-
ties.
In addition, we designed the conference to have as one of its
major forums the future of the Peace Corps in the 21st century.
And that panel, which included Deputy Director Jody Olsen from
the Peace Corps, as well as Janice OConnell from your committee
staff, and Dave Hibbard, who was one of the organizers of the man-
date group that I discussed, collected a very large number of people
in the hall. It was one of our best-attended workshops. Ken Hill
also spoke as a former chief of staff of the Peace Corps.
So we had a tremendous response, which continued during the
course of the conference, and a lot of very positive reaction from
members. And a number of our affiliate groups have signed on. We
expect many more of them will do so in the coming weeks.
Senator DODD. Well, great. That is very helpful. Share with me,
if you wouldand all three of you comment on thisif you have
any comments at all about the bill, anything more than what Dane
has added in terms of the weekend. Again, the doubling the size
of the Peace Corps, the President has advocated this as, I think,
a general sense that this is needed. Obviously, there are concerns

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about the adequate resources to support the increased number of

volunteers.
But I wonder if you might just share with us your views, Bar-
bara, we will begin with you, just on this notion.
Ms. FERRIS. I think I agree with what I think you have heard
before. It is really important that volunteers have jobs and not be
sent out to the field because it is such a transition when you are
a volunteer to go out to the field and stand there with nothing, and
not having a job to find is difficult. Although I do not think Peace
Corps volunteers join the Peace Corps for a whole lot of structure
anyway. And they are very innovative, creative, and flexible people.
And we all know this. You get 10 volunteers in a room, and you
have 11 opinions.
So there is a strength in the American, I think, who does sign
up to be a volunteer. I think it is imperative that volunteers have
jobs and that the security and safety of the volunteers is also con-
sidered. I think it is important, too, that the relationship with the
countries where we are planning to enter be established and that
there is an opportunity for a Peace Corps volunteer to have a job.
You know, there are countries that are very well developed that
may be taking jobs away from host country nationals if you put vol-
unteers in. And there are other places where volunteers are des-
perately needed. So I think it has to be done in a thoughtful way.
For those of us who have had the experience, obviously it was life
transforming. And you want as many people as possible to have
that opportunity. But I think it has to be done in a very thoughtful
way.
Senator DODD. John.
Mr. COYNE. Speaking from my experience in 5 years in recruit-
ment in the nineties with the Peace Corps, several things struck
me about that. One was that we came out of the erawe joined
because of John F. Kennedy. But to most of these new recruits, you
know, he was a figure in history. But when I talked to them and
asked them, well, when did you decide to become a Peace Corps
volunteer and what was the moment, invariably it was when they
were in middle school. They had a teacher who had been a Peace
Corps volunteer who brought her or his slides in and talked about
it or told tales about it. Or they saw a commercial on television;
and they decided that when they grew up, they were going to be-
come a Peace Corps volunteer.
So our recruitment efforts really should be geared toward, I
think, reaching down into this group and build toward the future.
Because of the 5-year rule, we think only in short terms and quick
hits and do something before we leave. But I think we should re-
structure the recruitment cycle in that sense.
The next important thing, I have a son going off to college in the
fall. And I realize how expensive all of this is. And it is certainly
true, we lose an awful lot of volunteers, potential volunteers, be-
cause they just cannot afford to go into it.
Senator DODD. Yes.
Mr. COYNE. And if we could figure out a way to, like the National
Service does, get them into it and relieve some of their debt, this
would be a tremendous help.

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Senator DODD. One of the things, you know, we all heard this,
and it is a constant source of debate and discussion about the role
of the Peace Corps and its service. And I know when I left the
project in my community in the Dominican Republic, I think I was,
what was it, maybe the third, second or third, volunteer in this
community. And there was concern about exhaustion a little bit of
the Peace Corps. So there was some talk, obviously, of giving the
community a break for a period of time and to see what would hap-
pen in a sense after having gone through 6 or 7 years of a Peace
Corps experience.
And that goes to the issue of whether or not we are becoming
more of an aid agency or people-to-people program. And there is a
sense in many communities that after they have had their fourth
or fifth English major who brings some wonderful attitudes, or
skills even, to some degree, there is a level at which they are look-
ing for more. They want something more than just the people-to-
people experiences.
And I am wondering how thatfirst off, do you agree with that?
But second, how that can be accommodated if we are expanding the
numbers to such a degree? I know there are a lot of places in the
world people can be, but there is obviously security and other such
considerations that narrow the scope worldwide to some degree,
and then being able to service volunteers in such a way that they
are going to be effective.
I wonder if you might address those points.
Mr. COYNE. Well, I was an associate director in Ethiopia after I
was a Peace Corps volunteer. And when I went in as a volunteer,
they would not allow women to leave the major cities. And this
changed rapidly over the year. But this is a big concern in terms
of recruitment.
When I was out as a volunteer, I think the women were 23 per-
cent. They are now approximately 64, maybe 65, percent. So there
is a security issue on that part. But recently I looked at a map of
Ethiopia. And we had served in over 200 different villages, towns,
and places I had never heard of. So there is an endless stretching
of the possibilities of going into new countries.
I think that it is possible to take a BA generalist, who I think
is still the strong volunteer, and prepare them as they did years
ago in India with checking identification projects, to do a specific
skill for a period and also do the other part of it that Mark has
alluded to earlier about being on the ground.
President Toledo talked about this. You cannot replace this
touching another person. This is a key factor, I think, in the experi-
ence, not only for the volunteer who comes home and talks about
it, but also for the country that there is an individual, there is a
family, there is a community, that knows America as a person, as
an individual.
Senator DODD. Good points. The independence of the Peace
Corps, we have talked about it here today. Any of you have any
concerns about the USA Freedom Corps and its relationship with
the Peace Corps? Dane, do you want to start.
Mr. SMITH. We are absolutely committed to supporting the inde-
pendence of the Peace Corps from the foreign policy agencies and
intelligence. I frankly do not see a problem with the White House

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encouraging people to join the Peace Corps. But the continuing

independence and autonomy for the Peace Corps, particularly from
intelligence gathering or from any threat that it be absorbed into
the State Department or USAID, continues to be a matter that con-
cerns the NPCA membership a great deal.
Senator DODD. John.
Mr. COYNE. I think that I believe it will not become a factor in
terms of the independence. I do know that if it were to become in-
volved in the Freedom Corps, that it would be an interesting re-
sponse from the returned Peace Corps community.
Senator DODD. That is a diplomatic way of answering, I guess.
Ms. FERRIS. In earlier testimony, it is my understanding that on
the Freedom Corps Web site there is a link to the Peace Corps
where you can find out how to do it. I guess my question when I
heard that was: How many hits does the Peace Corps site get on
its own and how many hits does this Freedom Corps get and links
go to the Peace Corps site? My guess is that, and I think it was
you who mentioned it, the Peace Corps is far better known than
the Freedom Corps. And I would be interested to know those statis-
tics.
I, like my colleagues and everybody else in this room, am abso-
lutely adamant that it remain separate, because a volunteer really
does struggle when you go to a site and you are an American and
the first question is, Are you CIA? And so I do not think that the
Peace Corps needs one more thing to deal with in terms of volun-
teers adjusting to their sites and doing a good job at their site, with
having to worry about perception. And we all know that perception
becomes reality.
Senator DODD. Chris.
Congressman SHAYS. Again, Senator Dodd, thank you for allow-
ing me to sit in the front rather than in the back. And one of the
reasons I wanted to be here was to hear from three of my col-
leagues who I think are just extraordinary people. And so it is nice
to be able to look at their faces and listen to them and say to you
that I have no doubt about this one thing. And I would want to say
it to all three of you, because I have checked 100 different ways
to make sure this is true.
The Peace Corps is better known. But the President is trying to
establish a knowledge of people on where they can contact to volun-
teer for service. And you want the Peace Corps on that Web site.
You want, when they turn to the Freedom Corps, because the Free-
dom Corps will become better and better known, that there is a
wonderful opportunity of service overseas, and that is the Peace
Corps.
So you want the Freedom Corps involved in terms of being able
to know and send people to this site. But that is the extent of it.
And it is not controlling. It is not management. And I was think-
ing, and maybe it was you, John, who said it, you know, if it ever
was different, there would be all 160,000 of us in an uproar. So I
smile, thinking, you know, what better protection than that?
But obviously, you have Members of Congress who are going to
be watching it as well. But we have made our point to them. I
guess what I want you to know is you have expressed a concern.
Chris and I have made our concerns known to the administration.

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They have responded that, you know, please relax on this one. This
is notthis is not your concern.
And just to say I have lots of respect for all of you. And I will
just end by saying that, you know, when you said, Barbara, if there
are 10 people, there are 11 opinions. But, you know, you did not
finish the story. I find with Peace Corps volunteers, when you put
us all in a room, we get consensus pretty early. There are lots of
different opinions. We express them. But we find consensus pretty
well. It is one of the skills, I think, that I learned from my Peace
Corps experience.
The other thing I would say to you is that one of the dangers in
the Peace Corps, it may have been true in your case, but in Fiji
where I was, in the urban areas there were a number of us. And
we liked each other so much that there was always this danger we
did not just want to be with each other, because we all had certain
goals and certain interests that were very compatible. And we
sometimes had to remind ourselves, you know, we cannot be too cli-
quish, you know, as Peace Corps volunteers overseas and need to
make sure we are reaching out to the people we work and live
with.
So thank you all for your participation. And, Chris, I want you
to know that this still feels a little weird to be over on this side.
And thank you for giving me this very weird experience.
Senator DODD. We know what you House Members think of Sen-
ators.
Congressman SHAYS. No one else laughed. How come?
Senator DODD. Well, I thank you, Chris, for being here.
Congressman SHAYS. Thank you. It is an honor to be with you.
Senator DODD. And it was a great job. As I say, in Connecticut
we were the only state with two former Peace Corps volunteers, I
believe, in the Congress. And we are bicameral and bipartisan in
that sense. So it is a pleasure to have you over here.
I served alone in the Peace Corps. And there were times when
I envied the volunteers who were clustered with each other. But
then again, in the long run, I much preferred the situation where
I was in the sense of really getting into it. I had no choice. But you
really had to learn the language and the culture and so forth to get
along. And that was one of the advantages of being alone as a vol-
unteer.
But in many places, that does not work. And the importance of
having volunteers on joint missions is extremely valuable.
Congressman SHAYS. I wonder if you would allow me to note just
for the record, I got concerned when I saw the Director stand up
and all the staff stand up, that all the staff came back to listen to
our colleagues as well. And I would like the record to show you still
have your Deputy Director here and your chief of staff and others
who wanted to listen to what our colleagues had to say.
Senator DODD. Very good. We note the presence of the Peace
Corps staff in the room. We thank them for being here. I thank all
three of you for your work. And we look forward to your continuing
effort.
And, Dane, you have some work to round up the rest of these co-
sponsors on this bill. So the ball is in your court.
Mr. SMITH. We will get at that.

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Senator DODD. This hearing will stand adjourned.

[Whereupon, at 4:30 p.m., the subcommittee adjourned, to recon-
vene subject to the call of the chair.]

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