Peace Corps celebrates 50 year anniversary; 2011 budget safe for now
The Empire State Building will be lit up red, white, and blue tonight, in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of President John F. Kennedy‘s creation of the Peace Corps. "Life in the Peace Corps will not be easy," Kennedy said on March 1, 1961. "But if the life will not be easy, it will be ...
The Empire State Building will be lit up red, white, and blue tonight, in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of President John F. Kennedy's creation of the Peace Corps.
The Empire State Building will be lit up red, white, and blue tonight, in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of President John F. Kennedy‘s creation of the Peace Corps.
"Life in the Peace Corps will not be easy," Kennedy said on March 1, 1961. "But if the life will not be easy, it will be rich and satisfying. For every young American who participates in the Peace Corps — who works in a foreign land — will know that he or she is sharing in the great common task of bringing to man that decent way of life which is the foundation of freedom and a condition of peace."
Kennedy set a goal of recruiting 500 Peace Corps volunteers that year. In 2011, the Peace Corps has 8,675 volunteers who serve in 77 countries. Its alumni include author Paul Theroux (Malawi, 1963-65), Chris Matthews (Swaziland, 1968-70), Sen. Chris Dodd (Dominican Republic, 1966-68), former Secretary of Health and Human Services Donna Shalala (Iran, 1962-64), Assistant Secretary of State Johnnie Carson (Tanzania, 1965-68), former U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Christopher R. Hill (Cameroon, 1974-76), and four other members of Congress.
Tonight’s commemoration in New York City kicks off over 4 months of Peace Corps events, culminating in a featured program at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival on June 30 to July 11.
The Peace Corps received $400 million in fiscal 2010 from Congress, and has been largely immune from the slash-and-burn mood of many House Republicans, who have proposed large cuts in rest of the international affairs budget. The House GOP’s version of funding for the rest of fiscal 2011 would keep the organization’s funding at 2010 levels.
In addition to its alumni representation on Capitol Hill, the Peace Corps has been able to stay out of the budget debate — in part because the organization is spread out over the country and therefore has advocates in many districts. The Obama administration has asked for $439.5 million for fiscal 2012, but the debate over that request has yet to begin.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton issued a statement today praising the Peace Corps’ role in preparing people for careers in diplomacy and development.
"Every day, I work with dedicated colleagues at the State Department and USAID, many of whom paved the foundation for their careers in the Foreign Service and Civil Service with their years in the Peace Corps," she said. "The Peace Corps taught them compassion, patience, and continues to bridge cross-cultural divides."
Sargent Shriver, the Peace Corps’ first leader, died in January. Here’s a video of then Senator Kennedy pitching his idea to University of Michigan students on Oct. 14, 1960, about three weeks before he was elected President.
Josh Rogin covers national security and foreign policy and writes the daily Web column The Cable. His column appears bi-weekly in the print edition of The Washington Post. He can be reached for comments or tips at josh.rogin@foreignpolicy.com.
Previously, Josh covered defense and foreign policy as a staff writer for Congressional Quarterly, writing extensively on Iraq, Afghanistan, Guantánamo Bay, U.S.-Asia relations, defense budgeting and appropriations, and the defense lobbying and contracting industries. Prior to that, he covered military modernization, cyber warfare, space, and missile defense for Federal Computer Week Magazine. He has also served as Pentagon Staff Reporter for the Asahi Shimbun, Japan's leading daily newspaper, in its Washington, D.C., bureau, where he reported on U.S.-Japan relations, Chinese military modernization, the North Korean nuclear crisis, and more.
A graduate of George Washington University's Elliott School of International Affairs, Josh lived in Yokohama, Japan, and studied at Tokyo's Sophia University. He speaks conversational Japanese and has reported from the region. He has also worked at the House International Relations Committee, the Embassy of Japan, and the Brookings Institution.
Josh's reporting has been featured on CNN, MSNBC, C-Span, CBS, ABC, NPR, WTOP, and several other outlets. He was a 2008-2009 National Press Foundation's Paul Miller Washington Reporting Fellow, 2009 military reporting fellow with the Knight Center for Specialized Journalism and the 2011 recipient of the InterAction Award for Excellence in International Reporting. He hails from Philadelphia and lives in Washington, D.C. Twitter: @joshrogin
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