WASHINGTON — The Peace Corps is so identified as a creature of the John F. Kennedy administration that some Americans are unaware it still exists. Such ignorance is bound to dissipate with President Clinton's decision to expand the Peace Corps by more than half by 2000, the largest boost in volunteers since the 1960s.
In fact, the Peace Corps has been expanding its territory of service--if not the number of its volunteers--for years. Volunteers now work in the former communist countries of Eastern Europe and in many of the nations, including Russia, that once made up the Soviet Union.
South Africa, the newest country on the Peace Corps' agenda, is preparing to receive its first group of 70 volunteers next week. They will include former President Carter's grandson, Jason.
Still, Peace Corps Director Mark D. Gearan describes Clinton's push as "an historic moment," and it is clear that he and his aides hope to recover some of the magic of the agency's early days. Back then, the idea of young Americans fanning out across the globe to help the poor made even those Americans still at home feel good about themselves.
The proposal to expand the Peace Corps from 6,610 to 10,000 volunteers over the next two years would require Congress to increase the Peace Corps budget by 21%, to $270 million. Since the president first proposed the expansion in his weekly radio broadcast Saturday, it has provoked no major outcries from Capitol Hill.
It doesn't hurt that Congress has an in-house Peace Corps lobby: a Democratic senator, three Republican representatives and two Democratic representatives were Peace Corps volunteers, and all six have announced their support of the expansion.
So has Sen. Paul Coverdell (R-Ga.), who headed the Peace Corps during the George Bush administration. Coverdell now is a key member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which is chaired by Sen. Jesse Helms (R-N.C.), the conservative who usually looks askance at what he regards as pet liberal projects.
Helms is not, however, considered an enemy of the Peace Corps.
"He is very close to Coverdell, and usually follows his lead on Peace Corps issues," a Helms aide said.
Said one Peace Corps official of the Helms-Coverdell axis: "We used to criticize Coverdell when he was director for spending all that time in Georgia looking for votes. Now we're glad he was elected."
