U.S. Rep. John Garamendi’s bipartisan “Peace Corps Reauthorization Act” (H.R.1456) passed in the House on Tuesday by a vote of 290 to 125. The legislation now heads to the U.S. Senate for consideration.
The Act would provide additional federal funding and resources to advance the Peace Corps’ mission around the world and better support current, returning, and former Peace Corps volunteers by expanding benefits and protections.
Commemorating the anniversary that President John F. Kennedy’s signed the Peace Corps Act into law on Sept. 22, 1961, the Act authorizes $430.5 million in annual funding (an increase of $20.5 million) by fiscal years 2023 and 2024 for the Peace Corps to support the goal of deploying 10,0000 volunteers worldwide, expedites re-enrollment of volunteers whose service ended involuntarily due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and allows volunteers to resume in-country service.
“Over the 60 years since the first volunteers arrived in Liberia, more than 240,000 Peace Corps volunteers have answered JFK’s call service in 142 countries to assist in their economic and social development…,” Garamendi, who served in the Peace Corps from 1966 to 1968, said in a press release. “Peace Corps volunteers support agriculture production, education, healthcare, infrastructure, and much more. They achieve this while also augmenting America’s image abroad.
The Act directs the Peace Corps to provide benefits (readjustment allowance, health insurance, noncompetitive eligibility status for federal hiring) to volunteers whose service ended involuntarily due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It also guarantees two months of health insurance coverage for returned volunteers paid by the Peace Corps, with the option to renew for an additional month at individual expense, and requires the Peace Corps to outline various public and private health insurance coverage options to returned volunteers ■.