In the August 4th Washington Post, this paragraph stuck out from the story “Gonzales Now Says Top Aides Got Political Briefings” :
At the July 24 hearing, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) asked Gonzales whether any of “the leadership of the Department of Justice” had participated in political briefings, pointing to examples involving employees from the State Department, Peace Corps and U.S. Agency for International Development. [emphasis mine]
Sen. Kennedy’s inquiry pertains to the 20 private briefings that the White House held on “Republican electoral prospects in the last midterm election for senior officials in at least 15 government agencies covered by federal restrictions on partisan political activity.” The deputy to chief White House political adviser Karl Rove presented these briefings in an effort to use Federal resources and personnel to help vulnerable Republicans in upcoming elections. Watch:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IiZRfDxPkE]
The only problem with these White House briefings is that they directly violate the the Hatch Act. Let’s visit this piece of legislation for a moment:
The Hatch Act of 1939 is a United States federal law whose main provision is to prohibit federal employees (civil servants) from engaging in partisan political activity. Named after Senator Carl Hatch of New Mexico, the law was officially known as An Act to Prevent Pernicious Political Activities.
…
It prohibits using any public funds designated for relief or public works for electoral purposes. It also forbids officials paid with federal funds from using promises of jobs, promotion, financial assistance, contracts, or any other benefit to coerce campaign contributions or political support.
The most restrictive measure was brought about by Republicans in the Senate. It dictates that persons below the policymaking level in the executive branch of the federal government must not only refrain from political practices that would be illegal for any citizen but must abstain from “any active part” in political campaigns.
The reputation of Peace Corps domestically and abroad is one of high regard and apolitical. Peace Corps depends on that non-partisan reputation to recruit new volunteers, ensure program integrity and affect change in developing countries.
A recent Senate hearing held by Senator and RPCV Christopher Dodd [D-Conn.] raised concerns that “the institution has allowed the White House entry into its offices and created a discouragingly inefficient, unfriendly bureaucracy.”
The mere perception of politics in the Peace Corps do little to secure the safety of volunteers on the ground and damage the overall reputation and mission of the organization. The repurcussions of injecting politics into a purposely apolitical environment could be severe.
The benefit of using the resources of Peace Corps to aid vulnerable Republican candidates comes at the expense of the integrity of the program itself and the safety and well being of our volunteers globally.
On March 1st, 2007 Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-CT), a former Peace Corps Volunteer of the Dominican Republic, introduced the Peace Corps Volunteer Empowerment Act. This legislation is meant to address the many issues brought forth by returned and current Peace Corps Volunteers regarding project funding, administration oversight and volunteer participation among other things.
What I’d like to do is go through each title and section of the act and break it down. For the sake of space, I’m not posting the legislation in its entirety but the links to each title of the Act.
TITLE I–PROMOTION OF PEACE CORPS PROJECTS AND GOALS
Section 101 - Pertains to seed funding provided by Peace Corps itself. This act allows 1% of the total fiscal year ‘08 (and every subsequent year) budget to be used as seed funding for the volunteers. Volunteers will submit their project proposals to their country directors and once approved, will receive funds not exceeding $1,000.00 per project. At the end of service, volunteers must submit a report on the project that money was funded toward.
Section 102 - States that volunteers can team up with US governmental organizations, NGOs and host country nationals in applying for grants and loans for projects. Before applying for funding or receiving money from friends/family, volunteers must request approval from their respective Peace Corps Country Directors. Once the money is received, records must be kept of all transactions and purchases. Repayment of loans is not addressed.
Section 103 - Provides funding for eligible non-profits and RPCVs to promote the goals of the Peace Corps. Funding under this section applies toward educational programs for elementary and highschool students that teaches about RPCV host countries, teaming up with local libraries to share other cultures and multimedia presentations regarding an RPCVs host country for general educational purposes.
Section 104 - Seeks to double the number of skilled professionals with at least five years of experience before entering Peace Corps. Works toward eliminating barriers to entering Peace Corps. Fiscal years ‘08 - ‘10, 20 sector-specific programs in at least 20 different countries for a minimum of five years of relevant work experience will be established.
Section 105 - This section is a bit ambiguous, it seeks to establish a system for promoting improved communications among Peace Corps volunteers and staff electronically, including password protected websites and email for in-country volunteers to discuss development strategies, funding resources, etc. All Close of Service reports will be available via these websites or e-mail links (?).
I don’t know if password-protected websites refer to an intranet or if this includes using external password protected websites, blogs and other various services, like Google Docs, wikis and so on. It also doesn’t mention the preservation of documented projects for the sake of organizational memory, a rather large omission.
TITLE II–EMPOWERMENT OF PEACE CORPS VOLUNTEERS
Section 201 - Volunteers will be able to participate admin support staff oversight and shall be given “weight” in decision making regarding contract renewal. Volunteers also get a say in how their program functions with, again, appropriate “weight” given to their views.
Section 202 - Makes VAC a requirement in all countries and allows for quarterly recommendations to Country Director, Chief Administrative Officer, Associate Peace Corps Directors, and Peace Corps Medical Officers. Recommendations shall be forwarded to the Regional Peace Corps Director and appropriate “weight” given to VAC recommendations.
Section 203 - APCDs shall give substantial weight to volunteer recommendations on site selection, new/subsequent volunteers placement and volunteer training curriculum.
TITLE III–PERSONNEL ISSUES AND BENEFITS
Section 301 - Reforms the health screening process by making it more transparent; listing conditions that disqualify people, explaining what conditions can be worked around, allowing input into the process, and allowing appeals to rejections on medical grounds. And most importantly providing full reimbursement for medical screening.
Section 302 - Currently, if a Peace Corps volunteer receives Federal health coverage prior to Peace Corps, they can suspend the coverage and resume enrollment post-service but not for State and local governments, private entities, and other organizations, that will soon change.
Section 303 - The Director of the Peace Corps has to inform Congress of the cost of extending volunteers post-service health coverage from one to five months.
Section 304 - Congress has to figure out what to do with the taxes you might owe if you sell your home to join Peace Corps, similar to what they’ve done with soldiers and the foreign service.
Section 305 - The Secretary of the Treasury and the Peace Corps Director get to decide how much of your gross income they get to keep in taxes after your service.
Section 306 - Volunteers can only be administratively separated from Peace Corps for conduct violations specified in the Peace Corps handbook. Volunteers will receive Whistleblower Protection when reporting the misconduct of Peace Corps staff or advocating for reforms. Volunteers do not need to seek prior approval for publishing stories, articles, or other materials unless it pertains to that volunteer’s host country or program. If a country director prohibits certain material from being published, that decision may be appealed to the Regional Director.
Section 307 - Guidance for volunteers on how to manage finances while serving overseas will be put forth.
TITLE IV–AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS
Section 401 - Money. $336,000,000 for fiscal year ‘08, $380,000,000 for fiscal year ‘09, $450,000,000 for fiscal year ‘10, and $618,000,000 for fiscal year ‘11.
To follow the progress of the Peace Corps Volunteer Empowerment Act as it makes its way through committee, you can check it out on GovTrack.us.
UPDATE: Attached is the pdf The Peace Corps Empowerment Act
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee will convene on July 25th to hear testimony on S. 732, The Peace Corps Volunteer Empowerment Act. Witnesses include:
Panel 1
The Honorable Ronald A. Tschetter
Director
Peace Corps
Washington, DC
Panel 2
The Honorable Mark L. Schneider
Former Director of the Peace Corps
Senior Vice President and Special Adviser
on Latin America International Crisis Group
Washington, DC
Mr. David Kotz
Inspector General
Peace Corps
Washington, DC
Panel 3
Ms. Kate Raftery
Country Director, Eastern Caribbean
Peace Corps
Washington, DC
Mr. Chuck Ludlam
Volunteer, Senegal
Peace Corps
Washington, DC
Ms. Paula Hirschoff
Volunteer, Senegal
Peace Corps
Washington, DC
Mr. Kevin Quigley
President
National Peace Corps Association
Washington, DC
Ms. Nicole Fiol
Applicant to the Peace Corps
Bayamón, Puerto Rico
Update: To check the actual progress of the bill as it makes its way through Congress, check here
On March 1st the Peace Corps Volunteer Empowerment Act (S.732) was introduced into Senate. This legislation contains many of the things that RPCVs and current PCVs in Guyana fought for. I know that in our Volunteer Advisory Committee (VAC) meetings many of these issues were brought up, some successfully like participation in site selection and some not so like the extranet. This legislation covers these issues and more, giving power to the Director “establish a system for promoting, by electronic means, improved communication among Peace Corps volunteers and staff, including the establishment of websites and e-mail links…” (Sec. 105)
In some ways many of the sections of this legislation look like they came right out of our VAC minutes. This has the power to make a huge difference in the way Peace Corps Volunteers operate and improve the quality of the program to a huge extent. I strongly encourage everyone to read it (it’s very short) and contact your Senators and Congressmen to ensure that it passes. You can also go to the NPCA link below to fill out their survey, the results of which will also be shared with members of Congress.
Peace Corps Volunteer Empowerment Act (S.732)
NPCA Survey
