Committee Report Language
State, Foreign Operations, and Related
Programs Subcommittee
Senate Appropriations Committee
July 9, 2009
PEACE CORPS
(INCLUDING TRANSFER OF FUNDS)
Appropriations, 2009…………………………………………………$340,000,000
Budget estimate, 2010………………………………………………..
373,440,000
Committee recommendation…………………………………………
373,440,000
The Committee recommends $373,440,000 for the Peace
Corps, which is equal to the budget request and $33,440,000 above the
fiscal year 2009 level.
The Committee strongly supports the mission of the
Peace Corps, which can be as relevant today in promoting American values
abroad as it was when it was founded almost a half century ago.
But the world has changed significantly since then, and the Peace Corps
needs to adapt to the 21st century. Past efforts by the
Committee to encourage the Peace Corps to reform and make better use of
resources have been ignored. A new Director with a new vision, who
recognizes the need for reform, supports transparency and seeks a
constructive relationship with Congress, is urgently needed.
The Committee is aware that some have called for a
large increase in funding above the amount requested by the President
for fiscal year 2010, in order to send volunteers to new countries.
Very few of such countries are safe enough or otherwise ready to host
volunteers, and there are hundreds of volunteers currently serving in
countries with little if any strategic importance to the United States
who could be used more effectively. At a time of intense pressures
on a limited budget, each volunteer costs the U.S. Government $50,000 a
year. Each dose of vaccine for measles, which threatens hundreds
of millions of children in poor countries and needlessly kills 200,000
children annually, costs a few dollars. This is but one of the
many difficult funding choices the Committee faced, yet its
recommendation for the Peace Corps is the largest percentage increase in
the Peace Corps’ budget since 1993. The Committee believes that
reform, not dramatic increases in funding in a single year, is the Peace
Corps’ most urgent need.
The Committee expects to recommend additional
increases in funding to support the goal of doubling the Peace Corps,
including sending more volunteers to countries with large Muslim
populations, once it is clear that a new Director is providing the
leadership the Peace Corps needs.
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