Presidential Documents

Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 42 / Thursday, March 3, 2011 / Presidential Documents 11933 

Proclamation 8631 of February 28, 2011 

50th Anniversary of the Peace Corps 

By the President of the United States of America 

A Proclamation 

In 1961, President John F. Kennedy signed an Executive Order establishing 

the Peace Corps, forever changing the way America sees the world and 

the world sees us. Today, one of President Kennedy’s most enduring legacies 

can be found in the over 200,000 current and returned Peace Corps Volunteers 

who have collectively given over a half-century of service to the cause 

of peace. On its 50th anniversary, the United States Peace Corps remains 

an enduring symbol of our Nation’s commitment to encouraging progress, 

creating opportunity, and fostering mutual respect and understanding 

throughout the world. 

Over the past five decades, Peace Corps Volunteers have served in nearly 

140 countries, bringing a wealth of practical assistance to those working 

to build better lives for themselves and their communities. From the first 

group of volunteers to arrive in Ghana and Tanzania in August 1961, they 

have been emissaries of hope and goodwill to the far corners of our world, 

strengthening the ties of friendship between the people of the United States 

and those of other countries. Living and working alongside those they serve, 

volunteers help address changing and complex global needs in education, 

health and HIV/AIDS, business and information technology, agriculture, environmental protection, and youth development. With each village that now 

has access to clean water, each young woman who has received an education, 

and each family empowered to prevent disease because of the service of 

a Peace Corps Volunteer, President Kennedy’s noble vision lives on. 

In our increasingly interconnected world, the mission of the Peace Corps 

is more relevant today than ever. Returned volunteers, enriched by their 

experiences overseas, bring a deeper understanding of other cultures and 

traditions back to their home communities in the United States. The lasting 

accomplishments of the Peace Corps continue to strengthen partnerships 

with leaders and countries around the world. This year, we also mourn 

the loss and pay tribute to the extraordinary life of Sargent Shriver, the 

founding director of the Peace Corps. The impact of his decades of public 

service will echo forever in countless places across the globe that have 

been touched by the Peace Corps. 

On this anniversary, we honor the men and women from across the country 

who have carried forward our Nation’s finest tradition of service, and we 

rededicate ourselves to fulfilling the dream and continuing the work of 

all those who aspire and yearn for peace. 

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States 

of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution 

and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim March 1, 2011, 

as the 50th Anniversary of the Peace Corps. I call upon all Americans 

to observe this day with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities 

that honor the Peace Corps and its volunteers, past and present, for their 

many contributions to the cause of global peace and friendship. 

mstockstill on DSKH9S0YB1PROD with PRESDOCD3

11934 Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 42 / Thursday, March 3, 2011 / Presidential Documents 

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-eighth 

day of February, in the year of our Lord two thousand eleven, and of 

the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and 

thirty-fifth. 

[FR Doc. 2011–5031 

Filed 3–2–11; 11:15 am] 

Billing code 3195–W1–P 


mstockstill on DSKH9S0YB1PROD with PRESDOCD3OB#1.EPS</GPH>