HR1807-1989

101ST CONGRESS  1ST SESSION                                   H.R. 1807

To request the President to conclude agreements with the appropriate representa­tive of the Government of the Soviet Union to create the United States-Soviet Peace Corps.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, APRIL 12, 1989

Mrs. BOXER (for herself, Mr. KENNEDY, Mr. WEISS, Mr. ATKINS, Mr. ACKER­MAN, Mr. DYMALLY, and Mr. LELAND) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs

A BILL

To request the President to conclude agreements with the ap­propriate representative of the Government of the Soviet Union to create the United States-Soviet Peace Corps.

1   Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4   This Act may be cited as the “United States-Soviet  Peace Corps Agreements Act”.

6 SEC. 2. STATEMENT OF PURPOSE. 

It is the purpose of this Act to enhance prospects for  world peace by promoting understanding and cooperation between individuals in the United States and the Soviet Union through the joint implementation of projects designed to address critical problems facing the United States, Soviet  Union, and developing nations in the areas of care for elderly and disabled persons and children, promotion of health, and protection of the environment and to provide for assistance in  instances of emergencies and natural disasters.

7 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING EXECUTIVE AGREE-

MENTS TO ESTABLISH UNITED STATES-SOVIET  PEACE CORPS. 

It is the sense of the Congress that the President should enter into agreements with the appropriate representative of the Government of the Soviet Union for the purpose of estab­lishing a United States-Soviet Peace Corps. The President is requested to negotiate, with the advice of the Director of the Peace Corps, agreements to provide for the mutual establishment, organization, administration, and management, by the Soviet Union and the United States, of the United States-Soviet Peace Corps, as follows:

(1) PROJECTS.—The United States-Soviet Peace Corps should, by mutual agreement between the United States and the Soviet Union, establish projects designed to aid the persons who are most vulnerable, particularly elderly and disabled persons and children, preserve and protect health and the environment, and provide for assistance in instances of emergencies and disasters. Projects should be established in both countries and, 3 years after the creation of the United States-Soviet Peace Corps, should be established in developing nations.

(2) PARTICIPANTS.—The United States-Soviet Peace Corps should select and employ individuals from the United States and the Soviet Union to carry out the projects of the United States-Soviet Peace Corps.

The total number of participants in the United States- Soviet Peace Corps from the United States and the Soviet Union should be equal. The number of partici­pants in each project and in each office, agency, divi­sion, or level of the United States-Soviet Peace Corps from the United States and the Soviet Union should be equal.

(3) RECRUITMENT AND SELECTION.—The United States and the Soviet Union should use the same process of recruitment and selection of participants for the United States-Soviet Peace Corps, which should be as follows:

(A) PARTICIPANT DIVERSITY.—Selection should be made in an open and fair manner so that participants include individuals with various and differing beliefs, opinions, and person­al backgrounds.

1     (B) NONDISCRIMINATION.—Selection should   not be made on the basis of sex, age, race, ethnic  origin, or religious belief.

(C) HUMAN RIGHTS EXPERTS.—The selection process should include participation by individuals from the United States and the Soviet  Union who are experts in the area of human rights to ensure compliance with the provisions of this paragraph.

(4) COOPERATIVE NATURE OF PROJECTS.—Work on projects established by the United States-Soviet Peace Corps should be organized in such a manner that participants work in pairs or small groups containing an equal number of individuals from the United States and the Soviet Union.

(5) COLLATERAL GOALS OF PROJECTS.—The United States-Soviet Peace Corps should incorporate as an objective of the projects the promotion of the free expression of individuals and the elimination of discrim­ination based upon nationality and religion.

(6) COST.—The cost of operation of the United States-Soviet Peace Corps should be equally divided between the United States and the Soviet Union.

24                      (7) ADMINISTRATION.—The operation of the United States-Soviet Peace Corps should be jointly administered by the United States and the Soviet Union and the duties of such operation belonging to the United States should be the responsibility of the Direc­tor of the Peace Corps.

5     SEC. 4. REPORT REGARDING IMPLEMENTATION OF AGREEMENTS.

For each agreement referred to in section 3 that is concluded, the President shall submit to the Congress a report before the expiration of the 90-day period beginning on the date of the conclusion of the agreement. The report shall contain the agreement, together with any related information that the President determines is reasonable or necessary for the implementation of the agreement.

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Post Script: HR 1807 & AWSCNS Congressional Proposal

American World Service Corps National  Service Congressional Proposals (AWSCNS) is an updated and expanded version of a People’s Lobby’s (PLI) 1987-89 proposal, the American Soviet Peace Corps (ASPC), for which we pushed to do a model training/start up via Marin County’s Buck Trust grant funding in the late 1980’s.

If  the ASPC had been enacted as envisioned, Soviets and Americans would have  trained and served side-by-side in developing countries throughout the world.  Had this been done 10,000+ times, PLI believes tensions between the Soviet Union and America would have been lessened and the world have been a much healthier place.

We failed to receive Buck Trust funding to develop a model program out of Marin, California.  Nonetheless, then Congresswoman Boxer wisely introduced it as House Resolution 1807 (linked to old site) in 1989.

If the AWSCNS Congressional Proposal were enacted, the related cousin to 1989’s proposed  Americans Soviet Peace Corps Congressional Proposal, competition to pursue war versus economic development would dramatically shift over the ensuing generation.

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