An August 22 article in the Washington Post's "In the Loop" section corroborated what we've been hearing from a variety of resources: That the Peace Corps is facing a budgetary crunch caused in part by rising travel costs and currency fluctuations. Just when the agency should be poised for growth, it finds itself cutting recruiting offices and volunteer positions.
Read the article, "Peace Corps to Pare Ranks of Volunteers: Despite Bush's Goal of Doubling Program's Size, Tight Budget Forces Cuts." A letter to the editor entitled "Fully Fund the Peace Corps" appeared a few days later.
The Post story was picked up by several newspapers and prompted several blogs, articles and editorials in support of Peace Corps:
- Facing Budget Cuts, Time for Peace Corps to Think Again? - Foreignpolicy.com
- Cuts Likely as President Bush Falls Short of Peace Corps Goal - Los Angeles Times
- Tight budget cuts into Peace Corps: Dollar's decline, high energy costs add to woes for volunteer agency - Houston Chronicle
- Peace Corps Cuts: U.S. Should Fully Support Agency's Mission - Watertown Daily News
- Budget Cuts Shrink Peace Corps - UPI
- Let's Fund the Peace Corps - Miami Herald (Original article not available online)
- Facing Tough Times: Strengthening the Peace Corps to spread good will overseas is in our nation’s best interest - Las Vegas Sun
- Keep Peace Corps Strong - NJ.com (The Times of Trenton)
It's stories like these that are helping to fuel our MorePeaceCorps campaign, which seeks to create a grassroots legislative movement for greater support for Peace Corps. The kick-off for the campaign's 100 House Party events takes place on September 6. Visit the website to see how you can get involved in supporting a bigger, better and bolder Peace Corps!
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