By Admin1 (admin) on Saturday, July 07, 2001 - 3:42 pm: Edit Post |
STATEMENT BY DONNA M. SHALALA: "I like to think of the Peace Corps as the 51st star on the American flag, because it represents the very best in the American character. I know this from my own service as a Peace Corps volunteer in Iran in the 1960s.
STATEMENT BY DONNA M. SHALALA: "I like to think of the Peace Corps as the 51st star on the American flag, because it represents the very best in the American character. I know this from my own service as a Peace Corps volunteer in Iran in the 1960s.
STATEMENT BY DONNA M. SHALALA: "I like to think of the Peace Corps as the 51st star on the American flag, because it represents the very best in the American character. I know this from my own service as a Peace Corps volunteer in Iran in the 1960s.
TEXT: SHALALA STATEMENT ON CLINTON'S NEW PEACE CORPS INITIATIVE (Peace Corps represents very best in the American character)
Washington -- Secretary of Health and Human Services Donna M. Shalala says she likes to think of the Peace Corps "as the 51st star on the American flag because it represents the very best in the American character."
The HHS Secretary said that her own service in the Peace Corps (in Iran 1962-1964) "not only helped prepare me for my job as Secretary of Health and Human Services, it helped prepare me for life.
"And now, thanks to the President," she said, "this great instrument of American volunteerism is about to become even better. That's why I applaud the President's announcement that he intends to increase the number of Peace Corps volunteers from 6,500 to 10,000 by the year 2000.
Following is the HHS text:
(begin text)
STATEMENT BY DONNA M. SHALALA, SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, ON NEW PEACE CORPS INITIATIVE
"I like to think of the Peace Corps as the 51st star on the American flag, because it represents the very best in the American character. The Peace Corps is a voice for democracy and American values. Like the stitching of a quilt, it helps bring together the world's diverse cultures. And the Peace Corps sows the seeds of peace by planting the enthusiasm, ideals, and skills of America's young people in the soil of other nations. I know this from my own service as a Peace Corps volunteer in Iran in the 1960s, and from a trip I took to Thailand just last month where I met with Peace corps volunteers doing AIDS prevention work.
"My Peace Corps service not only helped prepare me for my job as Secretary of Health and Human Services, it helped prepare me for life. And now, thanks to the President, this great instrument of American volunteerism is about to become even better. That's why I applaud the President's announcement that he intends to increase the number of Peace Corps volunteers from 6,500 to 10,000 by the year 2000. I urge Congress to continue their historic bipartisan support of the Peace Corps so that all of our volunteers can fulfill their mission of public service and international peace -- a mission that for more than three decades has been a source of inspiration and hope to people around the globe."
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