Political Quotes

On the recordMarch 1, 2011
And as you were talking about Peace Corps volunteers working with young families, our son and daughter served in Paraguay in the Peace Corps, and her work was precisely that, working with her families in her community in Paraguay. They were also in a rural area working on family health on the issues of raising children, healthy children, and providing them with information about how they could better take care of their families and have a better life. Our son was involved in community development work. Our two daughters also served in the Peace Corps, and for young men and women, and others who are not so young, the Peace Corps offers an incredible opportunity to serve the world, serve this country, and to serve the needs of individuals in a one-on-one relationship in some 77 countries now, and hopefully with a small increase in the Peace Corps budget, which stands just at $400 million. You issued, you gave a statistic earlier in your discussion that is really, I think, important. For every soldier that we send to Afghanistan, we could send 13 Americans somewhere in the world to work on the issues of poverty, the issues of education, social development, societal development, and peace. So it's a 13-1 ratio, a great investment.
Said by
John Garamendi
Democratic · California

Editor's note · Context

The speaker discusses the impact of Peace Corps volunteers and advocates for increased funding for the program.

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