On the recordJuly 20, 2022
Mr. President, I rise to highlight the Senate Foreign Relations Committee's vote to favorably report the Peace Corps Reauthorization Act to the full Senate for its consideration. This legislation, the first reauthorization since 1999, is critically important to strengthening American leadership in the world. Last year, the Peace Corps celebrated its 60th anniversary of when President John F. Kennedy established this important program, run by its first Director, Sargent Shriver. The Peace Corps' mission then, as it is today, is to ``promote world peace and friendship'' by encouraging economic growth and well-being to underserved populations abroad, as well as giving Americans a better understanding of the wider world and vice-versa. The Peace Corps is emerging from one of the most challenging crises it has ever faced. On March 15, 2020, as the gravity and uncertainty of the COVID pandemic gripped the world, every mission was suspended for the first time in the Peace Corps' history. In addition to executing the enormously complex operation of evacuating more than 7,000 Peace Corps volunteers from all around the globe, the Peace Corps was faced with the challenge of how to operate and serve during a period of global social isolation. As the world continues to recover from the pandemic, the Peace Corps is busy executing plans for reentering countries and resuming its mission of service around the world.…
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