it also provides $450 million for the peace corps. this is a $77 million above the president's request which accelerates the president's commitment to expanding the peace corps, one of the most valuable programs our government can fund. the lack of capacity in our civilian agencies has resulted in an increased reliance on american troops to carry out diplomatic missions. beside placing an additional work load on our overburdened troops and taking their focus away from their critical core missions, it is not in the best interest of our nation to place diplomatic missions with our military. secretary clinton, secretary gates and the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff have all stressed the need to increase the capacity of the state department and usaid. as such, the bill provides resources to hire 1,000 new state department personnel and 300 new you said personnel so our -- usaid personnel so we can restore our diplomatic capabilities that we shortchanged and underappreciated for far too long. finally the bill also improves and continu

there's also a surge in membership in the peace corps. e government agency made of volunteers who live and work in developing countries, but the biggest reason is that the economy at all. it is the new leadership at the white house. adam is live and los angeles with that. adam? >> the peace corps as people serving in 70 countries across the globe, helping in areas from education to aids awareness to business development. but in the last to the face to 40% increase in people taking out the starter applications, and one in three actually end up joining the corps. that is not just recent college graduates. it is a 44% jump in applications from people over 50. >> we're lucky to have one of the highest percentages. >> so the peace corps says that the biggest influence has been obama. they say his frequent calls to public service during his campaign a presidency has inspired people, and the recession and slow the job market has influenced the decision. >> when i was looking for a new career, it was because i had been laid off. >> obama wants to

for service, with so many people out of work, the peace corp. has seen a surge in applications. adam takes a closer look. >> today sign around executive order providing for the establishment of a peace corp. of a temporary pilot basis. >> since he founded the peace corp., nearly 200,000 volunteers served their country by working to improve living countries in developing nations. decades later, more americans than ever are answering the call. >> i wanted to both serve people and travel at the same time and the peace corps seemed like the right choice. >> reporter: they report application requests are up 40% over last year and 16% more volunteers complete the process. recruiters say it's a mix of people fresh out of college and others at the opposite end of their working life with years of experience to draw from. >> we dry to draw diversity. we want to show the face of america. we have one of the highest of applicants. >> one is kate. when she heads to morocco, she'll help local artisans set up their own businesses. she said she was inspired by president obama's call to public ser

the dancers. michelle and i and our daughters enjoyed it very much. i want to recognize our peace corps volunteers who are here. you know, ghana, ghana was the very first nation to host young people from the peace corps. and for decades our two neighs have formed vital partnerships and lasting friendships because of this program. so, all of you in the peace corps, you are doing an outstanding job. and we are proud of you. as somebody whose father comes from africa, obviously, this visit has been particularly meaningful for me. i have had a chance to discuss the future of ghana, but also the future of africa with president mills. i have spoken to the parliament here in ghana about america's commitment to supporting democracy and development. michelle and i visited la general hospital where we met with beautiful women and their children who are getting the care they need for a healthy start. and finally, we toured cape coast castle, a place for centuries where men, women and children of this nation and surrounding areas were sold into slavery. i'll never forget the image of my two young d

bill: americans, answering the call to volunteer time and abilities for the peace corps. ve. what is the story here? >> the peace corps has about $8,000 serving in seven or eight countries across the world, delivering everything from agriculture and hiv aids medication to business help. there has been an increase in that one out of every three people that fills out papers actually goes through with the process. really interesting that a 4% jump of applications has gone through in people over the age of 50. >> what do they attribute that to? >> they attributed to president obama. that inauguration this year as compared to last year saw an increase in applications. president bush pushed other organizations, like americorps, which went up under his watch. the peace corps says that numbers have gone up significantly. they also say that not only is it because of the call to service from the president but also because of the recession in the bad jobs market. >> at the time i was casting around for a career direction, i had been laid off and was unemployed at the time. >> preside

the u.s. peace corps. we got a fabulous chance to see the historic efforts some very good people are making to save the amazing wildlife of africa. i've got to give a shout out to greg card, an american who is working and investing so hard to rebuild the great game park in mozambique. he's working with the government there of that country to bring back that country's precious resource. i also want to pay tribute to ted riley, who spent his whole life in swaziland. his father fought in the boer war. he's now helping the king to build up that beautiful little country's wildlife. i have got to praise the king for having the strength and vision to mean it, and he bans poaching, zero tolerance, no bail, no breaks. you kill, you go to jail. we've had too many elephants and rhinos killed in that part of the world. i can't overlook, of course, the work of today's peace corps volunteers in swaziland to deal with the hiv/aids challenge. they're up against some of the real challenges in this world. i was happy to get

jane: a tough economy, plus a obama's service call may be sending more people to the peace corps, andle are talking about? adam? >> there are about 8000 volunteers around the globe in 76 countries during everything from agricultural and education work and awareness, and they say last year the peace corps has sent a 40% increase in those with initial paperwork. not just college graduates -- they have seen a 44% increase in those over the age of 50. >> we want to show the full face of america. we would like to have one of the highest percentages of the verse applicants. >> that includes people all ages. also, they said the biggest influence, in their opinion, has been president obama. 875 president bush also pushed volunteerism. they said they had a push up to 75,000 people from 50,000 in his tenure, and obama's says the goal for next year, the 50th anniversary, says they want to double the size and increased budget by 10%. jane? jane: what did they attribute the increase to? >> they say that president obama has pushed the idea of volunteerism, and we talked to a lot of volunteers sayin

you have the peace corps. >> socially and politically, the place was coming apart between assassinationsnd riots and the generation gap in america. >> america was out of their living rooms and out in the field, working and driving and marching. the feelings i had in mission control were part of this cadre who really intended not only to win the space race, but to do it for our dead president john f. kennedy and the crew of apollo 1. this was truly an inspired group of young americans. greta: buzz aldrin, a self- described egghead from mit, inspired americans. >> i think anybody will tell you that the most critical part of that mission was not kicking up dust, walking around on the moon. that was relatively easy to do unless you fell over. the most critical thing was to take a spacecraft from orbit and put it on the surface. that is a significant task. greta: abuzz described his extraordinary experience of this sending down to the surface of the moon with neil armstrong. >> houston, what is with this program alarm? at 100 feet, about, when we get the 60 seconds, i am beginning to get a li

exhortation not ask what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country and then the peace corps actually became my goal for what i might contribute, not only to the larger world. >> majesty queen noor we're thankful for your insights. we wish you the best. >> thank you, john, very much. >> take care. coming up a call to service. into revolutionary performance. one word makes the difference between defining the mission and accomplishing the mission. one word makes the difference in defending our nation and the cause of freedom. how... is the word that makes all the difference. ( rake scratching ) why throw away your money? - ( piano music playing ) - switch to sprint. save $360 a year with the everything data family plan and get the blackberry curve 8330 smartphone for just $49.99. deaf, hard-of-hearing and people with speech disabilities access www.sprintrelay.com. ouch! ow! oops! it's neo to go!® ready. aim. protect. neosporin® gives you infection-protection, and pain relief. neo to go!® plus pain relief. every cut. every time. everywhere. ♪ 'cause germs don't stick on me! ♪ on

when he was finally released, france and the peace corps helped him get a scholarship in the united states for basketball, a sport he never played but he was very tall. once he got to the united states, he thought he would be able to start in search of new life they have only just begun. and it's true david's high as we begin the journey through tortures and fickle process. this is a picture of him starting the rallies. and this is him with two of his lawyers. they are standing on the shares. [laughter] this book is an intense read. at once a compelling biography hard to put down a perfect for a public library, but at the same time it opens a person's eyes and shows a side of the united states that is so often hidden from the ordinary citizen. the incredible amount of bureaucracy that exists it almost seems as a real at times and hard to believe officials come up against are not in a third-world country. so much of the asylum process is based on her block. which judge do you get, what number do you have, what country are you from? here is a man who followed all the rules, was in the united

a native of new york, near buffalo, he studied at fordham and clark university before joining the peace corpshe went to west africa. while there he applied for and received a full body fellowship to continue to live in that country and conduct research on the society and development. john, committed to serving his country and helping others, joined the foreign service. he worked for the u.s. agency for international development in kenya before heading to sudan in 2005. it was a dangerous assignment that year. the sudanese government signed a cease-fire to end a war. john's assignment was to distribute radios to villagers. with democratic elections approaching these radios would give the local sudanese access to unkressorred broadcast. -- uncensored broadcast. i can attest the importance of providing free news. it also promotes hope and understanding which help deter the spread of extremist views. john worked for the dedicated team of a.i.d. officials to distribute these radios. one of the co-workers said that john was the glue that held the group together an kept up their spirits throughout t

even americans in the peace corps are on missionary work, ask them if they're living under an oppressivethey will laugh and tell you they're living under an independent, vibrant democracy with a representative government led by people they elected. they'll tell you about the free and open debate and the ongoing presidential campaign and who they're supporting in the november elections. there is still time to correct our position in -- and support our true allies and because we can, we should. we must. today, and i will try my spanish again [speaking spanish] a friend rf freedom is a -- of freedom is a friend of honduras. thank you, mr. speaker. and before i yield, i would like to set aside the pending amendment and call up the demint amendment. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection, so ordered. the clerk will report. the clerk: the senator from south carolina, mr. demint, proposes amendment 1399 to amendment 1372. mr. demint: i will speak on the amendment later. i see a colleague waiting to seek, so i'll yield the floor. a senator: mr. president? the presiding offi

than a foreigner who had only been in the country less than a year should be given such a distinguished come and command washington largely to keep peace within the corps had to -- had to back off and had to deny steuben his demand for a permanent field command. it was something that -- something balad trinkle steuben a great deal especially the months immediately in seven. on the issue of authority, a product of steuben's prussian upbringing, although he sympathized with representative government and although he initially at least had a very high regard for congress, a re that would steadily deteriorated as the war went on and down to virtually nothing by the time that the war was over, he didn't see how democracy fit into army command. that in times of national emergency like war, officers simply had to put aside their ego for the good of the service. in the army there were no such thing as injured egos were bruised pride and officers who didn't like the fact that perhaps they had been temporarily shunted aside for the good of the service, they would have to put up with it. and it was this attitude that shows that steuben had unrealistic expectations

for instance, we must increase the number of peace corps volunteers and foreign service officers. we must encourage more america americans, young americans to volunteer to serve in that region. more business people to visit there, to seek opportunities where they can help those countries and help us in -- at the same time. it sounds simple, but i believe that by putting more american sandals and sneakers on the ground, we can avoid sending in american combat troops later. i saw firsthand the payoff of smart power when several southeast asia nations, particularly indonesia, were devastated by the tsunami in december of 2004. the month after that disaster, i traveled to southeast asia with representatives of the u.s. government, the deputy secretary of defense, our ambassador. we visited the tsunami ravaged areas and met with representatives from the relief organizations, and we saw the tremendous benefits that the volunteer n.g.o.'s, nongovernment organizations, and the american military brought by bringing fresh water, by bringing medical supplies, by bringing food to the region,

the amount of economic support fund assistance. they also instituted other programs to provide more assistance for peace corps. an expanded peace corps is one way we can get american sandals on the ground now so we don't have to put american boots on the ground later. the smart power says that when you are faced with a radical, violent extremist group, like al qaeda or like the taliban, which we face in afghanistan and pakistan now, you have to use force to deal with them. but at the same time you're using force, you must build up the economy, meet the needs of the local leaders so that they will work with the forces who are trying to drive the extremists out. that was the secret to the success of general petraeus in iraq. the counterinsurgency strategy said we'll not only clear an area, but we'll go in and hold it and build, looking to the local leaders to tell us what they're doing. my son, a marine intel officer who served two tours there, said the first time he was there, they couldn't get any support from the local government because they were getting no assistance from baghdad. they were sunnis in falluja

with its procedures, help it come under rule of law, but it will be up to the country to select their leaders. i was a peace corps volunteer many years ago. it was one of my favorite trumps. it was always better to teach people how to do something, rather than do it for them. i think that is something that you can take too many endeavors in life. host: thank you. coming up, representative christopher murphy, talking about health care. >> following last week's confirmation hearings, the senate judiciary committee meet today to consider the nomination of sonia sotomayor to the u.s. supreme court justice. a vote on the nomination is expected to be postponed until next tuesday. john kyl of arizona has said that he thought the floor debate could be completed in four days. you can watch last week's hearings on line, or take a look at specific question and answer sessions organized by senator. go to featured links at c- span.org. >> donations? >> taxpayers? >> through philanthropy? >> 30 years ago, america's cable companies created c-span as a public service. host: congressman christopher murphy joins us right now, repr

the same persons. i guess -- >> reporter: how are you different? >> i'm different -- i'm more patient. i am more optimistic. >> reporter: as iraqi teens their share experiences on grounds that were once used to train peace corps volunteers, americans like ariel goodman of vermont see a far-lasting impact. >> this is like what ends wars is, like, the future coming together, the future of two countries at war coming together and healing them through the past by talking and having relationships. >> reporter: it's citizen programmers that they target. >> i think the young people can take a sense of shared leadership. they learn how to communicate. they learn how to problem solve together, learn how to make me decisions. >> reporter: and as these two boys prepare to enter college, they know they face an uncertain future but hope to bring home leadership quality. >> acting like being angry, being always crying, being always, like -- it's not an option for us, no. >> before heading back to iraq, these teens will be visiting cities in the united states that includes washington, d.c. it's all part of a program created by the u.s. embassy in baghdad. and john, it's in its third year. >> interesting take. mary snow, tha

father of three, a successl attorney, a member of the catholic church, a peace corps volunteer, and a legislator. in 1982 jim was elected to the u.s. house of representatives, the fifth seat in the district of arizona newly created seat. though he only served for one single term, he was widely praised for his passion advocacy, for his community and constituents. on behalf of the entire arizona delegation, i would like to request that all members please stand and observe a moment of silence in memory of our dear friend and former colleague, jim mcnulty. the chair: please rise and the unfinished business is request for recorded vote on amendment number 2, printed in part b of house report 111-193. offered by the gentleman from indiana, mr. buyer, on which furtheproceedings were postponed and the noes prevoiled by voice vote. the clerk will redesignate the amendment. the clerk: art b amendment number 2 offered by mr. buyer of indiana. the chair: recorded vote has been requested. those in support of the request for recorded vote will rise and be counted a sufficient number having arisen,