Sam Farr: “it has been 35 years since I joined the American Peace Corps, and I rise today to celebrate this month and this very…”

“it has been 35 years since I joined the American Peace Corps, and I rise today to celebrate this month and this very day, the 37th anniversary of the Peace Corps. It was started on March 1, 1961, when President Kennedy signed legislation passed by this Congress creating the Peace Corps. Today there are more than 150,000 returned volunteers in the United States, five of whom serve in the House of Representatives and two in the United States Senate. Today, because of the anniversary of the Peace Corps, there are more than 6,000 returned volunteers that are presently, as I speak, working in schools throughout the United States to bring a program called World Wise Schools. They bring the cross-cultural awareness of these countries that they served in to the school children of America. I just participated in a program like that downtown at the Peace Corps headquarters, where we had life interaction with students from South Africa, that was being taught by an American Peace Corps volunteer from Washington, D.C. Today there are 84 countries in the world that have invited the Peace Corps to be in them. There are 6,500 volunteers that are now serving overseas.”