Ted Poe: “America's Peace Corps volunteers are our angels abroad. They represent the very best about America. They give years of…”

“America's Peace Corps volunteers are our angels abroad. They represent the very best about America. They give years of their lives to help people they have never met in some of the most remote areas of the world. Often this means putting their own safety at risk, expecting the United States to have their backs. But right now we are not doing enough to protect them while they are overseas. This will change with the Sam Farr and Nick Castle Peace Corps Reform Act sponsored by myself and Joe Kennedy of Massachusetts. Many returning volunteers, like Sara Thompson, struggle to receive the medical care they need while they are in a foreign country. Sara's troubles began when the Peace Corps prescribed a medication called mefloquine to protect her from malaria. But during her service in Burkina Faso, she began to have horrific nightmares and struggled with her mental health. When she turned to the Peace Corps for help, the medical officer excused her symptoms by simply saying: You are not adjusting well. The nausea and nightmares continued. With no support from the Peace Corps, she started to research the problems. It was then she realized the malaria medicine the Peace Corps had given her was making her sick. But today she still deals with these medical issues and feels abandoned by our Peace Corps.…”