I got an email today from the coordinator of Push for Peace Corps, an organization lobbying for an increase in Peace Corps funding to put more volunteers on the ground in more countries. While the House of Representatives passes a budget with a substantial increase in Peace Corps funding, the latest proposed budget from the White House has barely enough of an increase to offset inflation. This is an issue close to my heart as a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer (RPCV) that served in Morocco from 2004-2006. You can find the series of diaries I did on Morocco here: http://www.dailykos.com/....
Please call the White House at 202-456-1111 or email at www.whitehouse.gov/contact. Remind President Obama of his pledge to increase Peace Corps funding. Remind him of how the Peace Corps fits into his focus on service. Remind him of how the Peace Corps is so important in rebuilding America's place in the world. Remind President Obama of his own words;
To the people of poor nations, we pledge to work alongside you to make your farms flourish and let clean waters flow; to nourish starved bodies and feed hungry minds. And to those nations like ours that enjoy relative plenty, we say we can no longer afford indifference to suffering outside our borders; nor can we consume the world's resources without regard to effect. For the world has changed, and we must change with it."
Here is some text to work off of:
"President Obama, please urge Congress to provide $450 million to the Peace Corps in fiscal year 2010.
You promised during your campaign to double the Peace Corps to 16,000 Volunteers by 2011. But the budget you proposed to Congress for Fiscal Year 2010 requested only $374 million, an increase over FY09 of only $34 million – not enough after inflation and security costs to more than expand slightly its size now.
However, the House of Representatives voted an increase of $110 million, a historic increase that would bring the budget to $450 million; this would enable the new Peace Corps Director to improve operations, add many more Volunteers (from the 15,386 now applying to serve – an 18% increase over 2008) and open new programs (in many of the 20 countries now requesting Volunteers).
BUT because the Senate included your proposed increase of only $34 million, the difference between House and Senate versions must now be resolved in Conference.
So, I ask you to call Senator Patrick Leahy and Representative Nita Lowey, Chairs of the Senate and House State/Foreign Operations Subcommittees, and urge them, when they meet in Conference within a few days, to agree to the House total – $450 million.
To continue under-funding the Peace Corps would not only block needed reforms, but also signal tepid support for service programs."
- Your name, country, and years of service
See also Rajeev Goyal National Coordinator, PushforPeaceCorps.org Campaign's article in Huffinton Post.