Sam Gejdenson: “Mr. Chairman, oftentimes the debate on the floor is whether the investment of the taxpayers' resources is commensurate…”

“Mr. Chairman, oftentimes the debate on the floor is whether the investment of the taxpayers' resources is commensurate with the benefit we get as a country from the expenditure. The entire foreign assistance program is less than 1 percent of the Federal budget, and the Peace Corps is less than 1 percent of that budget. When we take a look at the impact it has on the world community from President Kennedy's initiation of this program, there is no American program that has been a better ambassador for America and its values than the Peace Corps. I think a sense of what the broad-based support in this Congress is for this program is not because of a Washington decision, it is a decision in the countryside. The American people like what the Peace Corps does. It takes people with normal skills in survival, building dams, houses, finding ways to train people better, and puts them in countries where they are desperately needed. Unlike other programs that are often hard to calculate in their impact, that have fungible effects on their economy, this is one where we can see one individual helping a family, helping a village, and representing the very best of our American society. So I am proud to be here today to support this budget, to support the Administration's request to make sure there is adequate funding so these ambassadors for America's best interest can continue to do their job.”