From NPCA
By Jonathan Pearson on Monday, March 10th, 2014
California Congressman Sam Farr served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Colombia from 1964-66
We are into the final hours of the House of Representatives “Dear Colleague” letter, urging support for strong funding for the Peace Corps in the next fiscal year (FY 2015). Thanks to your help, we are now just two signatures shy of setting a new record level of support.
Colombia RPCV Congressman Sam Farr (D-CA) is leading the charge on the letter, which asks the House Appropriations Subcommittee on State and Foreign Operations to support $400 million for the Peace Corps in Fiscal Year 2015. This request would represent a 5 percent increase over current funding and return the Peace Corps to funding levels it had reached five years ago. The other four Returned Peace Corps Volunteers in the House of Representatives – Tom Petri (R-WI), Mike Honda (D-CA), John Garamendi (D-CA) and Joe Kennedy (D-MA) – are all original signers of the letter.
Follow this link to read the letter.
Take Action Now!
This is a House of Representatives Action ONLY.
Even though this past Friday was technically the deadline to sign the letter, it will take a day or two for the letter to be prepared, so there is still time for your lawmaker to get on the letter.
- Check the list below for the current list of Congressmen/women who have signed onto the letter. If your lawmaker is listed below, it means s/he has already agreed to sign the letter. Contact them to say thank you!
- If your lawmaker is not listed below, contact them today. Identify yourself as a constituent and leave the following message, “I urge Representative ______ to demonstrate support for the Peace Corps by signing the Farr-Petri Peace Corps funding letter. Signatures are being collected by Caitie Whelan in Congressman Farr’s office.”
- If you are contacting the office of your rep by phone, ask to speak with (or leave a message) the staff who handles Peace Corps issues.
- Please contact family, friends and others and ask them to take similar action. Anyone who believes in the importance of the Peace Corps can take action.
Follow this link for contact information and weblinks for your Congressman/woman.
If you are sending a written message, feel free to use this sample letter as a guide. Please personalize if you can and emphasize today’s deadline.
Signers of the Farr-Petri-Honda-Garamendi-Kennedy Peace Corps Funding Letter
Our Goal: At least 142 signatures
Signatures as of Tuesday, March 23 (12:00 Noon): 141 signatures – 2 away to pass last year’s record!
(Please bookmark and return to this site regularly for updates on signatures. Most recent additions are listed in bold)
If your Congressman/woman is listed below, contact them and say thank you for signing the Fiscal Year 2015 Peace Corps Funding Letter.
Alabama: Sewell
Arizona: Grijalva
California: Becerra, Bera, Brownley, Capps, Cardenas, Chu, Davis (Susan), Costa, Eshoo, Farr, Garamendi, Honda, Huffman, Lee, Lofgren, Matsui, McNerney, Miller (George), Napolitano, Negrete McLeod, Roybal-Allard, Sanchez (Linda), Sanchez (Loretta), Speier, Swalwell, Vargas, Waters, Waxman
Colorado: DeGette, Perlmutter, Polis
Connecticut: Courtney, DeLauro, Esty
District of Columbia: Norton
Florida: Brown, Castor, Deutch, Frankel, Garcia, Grayson, Hastings, Wasserman Schultz, Wilson
Georgia: Bishop, Johnson (Hank), Lewis
Guam: Bordallo
Hawaii: Gabbard, Hanabusa
Illinois: Davis (Danny), Gutierrez, Lipinski, Rush, Schakowsky
Indiana: Carson
Iowa: Braley, Loebsack
Kentucky: Yarmuth
Maine: Michaud, Pingree
Maryland: Cummings, Delaney, Edwards, Ruppersberger, Sarbanes, Van Hollen
Massachusetts: Capuano, Clark, Keating, Kennedy, Lynch, McGovern, Neal, Tierney, Tsongas
Michigan: Conyers, Dingell, Kildee, Levin
Minnesota: Ellison, McCollum, Nolan, Walz
Missouri: Clay, Cleaver
New Hampshire: Kuster, Shea-Porter
New Jersey: Holt, Pascrell, Sires
New Mexico: Lujan
New York: Bishop, Clarke, Crowley, Engel, Higgins, Israel, Jeffries, Maloney (Carolyn), McCarthy, Meeks, Nadler, Rangel, Slaughter, Tonko, Velazquez
North Carolina: Butterfield, McIntyre, Price
Northern Marianas: Sablan
Ohio: Beatty, Fudge
Oregon: Blumenauer, Bonamici, DeFazio
Pennsylvania: Cartwright
Puerto Rico: Pierluisi
Rhode Island: Langevin, Cicilline
Tennessee: Cohen
Texas: Castro, Doggett, Hinojosa, Jackson Lee, O’Rourke, Veasey
Vermont: Welch
Virginia: Connolly, Moran
Washington: Heck, Kilmer, Larsen, McDermott, Smith
Wisconsin: Kind, Moore, Petri, Pocan