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Feingold pushes increase in Peace Corps funds

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by Carolyn Potts

Monday, January 21, 2008

The United States Senate passed an amendment in early January to grant the Peace Corps an additional $10 million for this year.

Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., worked with Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., and Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., to pass the amendment for the extra funding in the Senate-approved budget. The amendment is part of the 2008 Omnibus Appropriations Bill.

“We got $330.5 million, and we are very happy because it is nearly what we asked for,” said Kim Ramsden, Peace Corps public affairs specialist in Minneapolis. “It is an increase of $11.1 million from last year’s budget.”

The Peace Corps has had over 187,000 volunteers in 130 countries since the founding of the organization in 1961. There are currently 7,749 volunteers in 73 countries, including 99 volunteers from the University of Wisconsin.

UW is the second ranked volunteer producing university across the country, just behind the University of Washington.

“We have always been an agency that has strong bipartisan support, and we are a program that has strong public support,” Ramsden said. “Our mission is to represent and promote world peace and friendship and to provide a better understanding of Americans abroad.”

The money will allow the organization to bring in more volunteers and help more countries around the world with education, information about HIV, health, technology and environmental programs.

“We are always receiving requests from different countries to start more programs,” Ramsden said. “[With the money], we will be able to start new programs to meet the needs of host countries while strengthening our existing program by adding more volunteers.”

According to Feingold, the push for more funding for the Peace Corps is an effect of the negative view of America adopted by many other countries over the past few years.

“Over the last several years, America has suffered some pretty negative PR around the world,” Feingold said in a statement. “The abuses at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq and stories about Guantanamo Bay feed the misperception that the U.S. is no longer the beacon of freedom and democracy in the world. To help restore our image, America needs a surge in international diplomacy and one great way to do that is through the Peace Corps.”

The Peace Corps also aims to bring foreign culture back into the United States through its volunteers.

“During the 47-year history of the Peace Corps, Americans have volunteered to help developing countries meet difficult challenges like battling disease or improving education,” Feingold said. “As Peace Corps volunteers work to improve the lives of those in foreign countries and cultures, they are directly and positively affecting the U.S. image abroad.”

Feingold added the Peace Corps is an invaluable program that helps bridge the gap between the United States and the rest of the world.

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