Harris Wofford comments on Bush proposal to double the number of Peace Corps volunteers
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Harris Wofford comments on Bush proposal to double the number of Peace Corps volunteers
The president proposed doubling the number of Peace Corps volunteers. A total of 7,000 are serving two-year tours in 70 countries, and doubling it would bring program levels to the highest since the mid-1960s, when they reached a peak of 16,000.
``We will renew the promise of the Peace Corps, double its volunteers over the next five years and ask it to join a new effort to encourage development, and education and opportunity in the Islamic world,'' Bush said.
``We have no intention of imposing our culture, but Americans will always stand firm for the nonnegotiable demands of human dignity: the rule of law, limits on the power of the state, respect for women, private property, free speech, equal justice and religious tolerance,'' he said.
A senior administration official said Bush hoped to send Peace Corps volunteers to Afghanistan, which has been the first front in the U.S. led war against global terrorism.
Harris Wofford, who helped former President John Kennedy found the Peace Corps and oversaw a broad expansion of AmeriCorps and Senior Corps under former President Bill Clinton, welcomed Bush's announcement after watching it in person.
``People of all ages have been waiting to be summoned,'' Wofford told Reuters. ``I think he'll get a very good response.''
He cited consistent poll results showing a high proportion of the population favors mandatory national service. Any call to action must be backed up by realistic avenues for service, Wofford added, and he said Bush's proposals appeared to provide them.
Bush was to discuss the plan in further detail during a trip to North Carolina and Florida Wednesday, administration officials said.
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