Peace Corps to cut volunteers

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By Nicholas Kralev

The number of Peace Corps volunteers is expected to drop by as many as 400 next year because of budget shortages, in spite of an increase in applications and President Bush's one-time goal of 14,000 volunteers by the time he leaves office in January.

Officials at the organization's headquarters said that last year's figure of just more than 8,000 volunteers has decreased "slightly" in 2008, though the exact number will be released later this month.

Congress has so far not approved Mr. Bush's 2009 budget request of $343 million for the Peace Corps. Lawmakers instead authorized a "continuing resolution," which extended the current budget of $330 million a year through March.

"In light of the continuing resolution, and other budgetary impacts, we anticipate a small decline in trainee input by 300 to 400 volunteers," said Joellen Duckett, the organization's press director.

David Liner, chief of staff to Peace Corps director Ron Tschetter, said that operational costs will have to be reduced by 15 percent. Two of 11 domestic offices — in Minneapolis and Denver — are closing down, with the staff there joining the branches in Chicago and Dallas, respectively.

No one will be laid off, Mr. Liner said, but vacant positions will not be filled at this time. He does not expect the overall number of recruiters to be affected significantly. Travel by officials in Washington to overseas posts, however, will be reduced.

The two main presidential candidates, Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain, have said that the Peace Corps deserves better funding, but analysts do not expect a substantial increase in the short term because of the current financial crisis.

"Both presidential candidates have talked about expanding the Peace Corps," Ms. Duckett said. "Of course, we'd also like to increase volunteer numbers with highly qualified, diverse and determined Americans, while ensuring there is appropriate infrastructure to support them."

Unlike the Peace Corps, its domestic sister organization, AmeriCorps which operates domestically, expects few, if any, cuts, spokesman Sandy Scott said. Its 2008 budget was $374 million, and the increase in the 2009 request is about $1.3 million.

Although AmeriCorps' new budget has not been approved, either, and the "continuing resolution" applies to it as well, the impact on operations will not be significant, because they are not affected by the dollar's weakness, Mr. Scott said.

"We anticipate being able to support the same number of members, which is about 75,000," he said. "We have very strong support for our programs in Congress."

The Senate Appropriations Committee has even proposed increasing AmeriCorps' budget to $392 million in fiscal 2009, which began Oct. 1.

"Due to the budget cuts, a number of Peace Corps countries will probably be dropped as well as certain services for volunteers already abroad," said Ina Arnaoudova of Alexandria, who recently returned home after 27 months in the former Soviet republic of Azerbaijan.

"At my post, the budget cuts will be felt in the sense the Peace Corps is forced to cut a number of staff positions, cancel Newsweek subscriptions for volunteers, decrease staff visits to volunteer sites, as well as reconsider the reasons for letting volunteers get paid leave to the main office in the capital," she said.

Since President John F. Kennedy created the Peace Corps in 1961, many volunteers have gone on to become senior government officials, members of Congress or business executives.

"As a former Peace Corps volunteer, I can personally attest to the substantial contributions the program makes to economic development, higher living standards and improved health and nutrition," said Rep. Christopher Shays, Connecticut Republican. "We should be increasing the size of the Peace Corps, rather than allowing it to contract."

Richard Boucher, assistant secretary of state for South and Central Asian affairs, said that the corps was "one of the best things" he has ever done.

"It taught me to see societies from the bottom up, from the poorest of the poor to the elites — not the other way around," he said.