Federal budget cycles can be a bit confusing because of the overlap. For example earlier today, the House of Representatives gave its final passage to a large package of Fiscal Year 2010 spending bills. Passage included the State/Foreign Operations bill which contains $400 million for the Peace Corps (see page 4 of the link). Final action is still needed in the Senate, which may take up the package as early as Friday and possibly vote over the weekend.
While Senate action and the President's signature are still needed on FY 2010 spending, the Obama administration is also busy preparing its budget request to Congress for Fiscal Year 2011. And earlier this week, NPCA's MorePeaceCorps Campaign initiated its first FY 11 action.
With the tremendous assistance and leadership of 64 NPCA member groups, a sign-on letter was sent to President Obama, urging an increase in funding for the Peace Corps in FY 11 “that will allow for significant improvement of operations and continued growth of programs.” The letter cited recent developments – including the nomination of two RPCVs with strong development experience to head the agency and recent announcements of Peace Corps’ return to Indonesia and Sierra Leone – as positive steps forward by the administration. It also noted that Peace Corps volunteers represent key values outlined in the President’s historic speech at Cairo University when he called for a sustained effort “to find common ground, to focus on the future we seek for our children and to respect the dignity of all human beings.”
You can read the full letter by following this link.
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