Peace Corps Mission Accountability Act

According to section 2 of the Peace Corps Act (22 U.S.C. 2501), the Peace Corps, which was established by Congress in 1961, was intended “to promote world peace and friendship through a Peace Corps, which shall make available to interested countries and areas men and women of the United States qualified for service abroad and willing to serve, under conditions of hardship if necessary, to help the peoples of such countries and areas in meeting their needs for trained manpower, particularly in meeting the basic needs of those living in the poorest areas of such countries, and to help promote a better understanding of the American people on the part of the peoples served and a better understanding of other peoples on the part of the American people.”.

The Peace Corps plays a role in implementing aspects of United States foreign policy like any taxpayer funded agency of the executive branch involved in foreign policy.

The Peace Corps is not an advisory agency, but implements aspects of United States foreign policy through its personnel, particularly volunteers who serve in foreign countries representing the United States Government’s mission “to promote world peace and friendship.”.

Section 2A of the Peace Corps Act (22 U.S.C. 2501–1) transferred the Peace Corps from the ACTION Agency and established it as an independent agency within the executive branch, beginning on December 29, 1981. Since that date, executive orders have required the Director of the Peace Corps to report to the President and have given the Secretary of State authority over and responsibility for Peace Corps activities.

the current position of the Peace Corps as an independent agency in the executive branch charged with implementing aspects of United States foreign policy, while being subject to the Secretary of State’s “continuous supervision and general direction of the programs … to the end that such programs are effectively integrated both at home and abroad and the foreign policy of the United States is best served”, creates a problem of management detrimental to the foreign policy goals of the United States Government; and

since determining in which countries the Peace Corps should work and the volunteers’ activities in those countries are components of United States foreign policy, the Secretary of State, who is responsible for implementing United States foreign policy, should have direct and clear control over the Peace Corps, including the Director of the Peace Corps, in order to coordinate the Peace Corps’ work with the overall foreign policy goals of the United States Government.

in subsection (a), by striking “President” and inserting “Secretary of State”;

in subsection (b)—

in subsection (c)—

describes the programs and placement of Peace Corps volunteers around the world;

includes a justification of the placement and presence of Peace Corps volunteers in each country; and

describes how such placements and presence furthers the interests of the United States and is not contrary to the national security interests of the United States.