{'html': "Washington, D.C., June 15, 1998—Peace Corps Director Mark Gearan will address the Center for National Policy on Friday, June 19, to discuss the proposed budget increase for the Peace Corps, which would put the agency on the path to having 10,000 Peace Corps volunteers overseas by the year 2000.
Gearan will explain how the budget increase would not only allow more Peace Corps volunteers to address critical needs in the developing world, but would also benefit those here in the United States.
WHO: Peace Corps Director Mark D. Gearan
WHAT: Speech to the Center for National Policy 'The Peace Corps at the New Millennium: In the National Interest'
WHEN: 8:30 a.m., Friday, June 19, 1998
WHERE: Hyatt Regency on the Hill, 400 New Jersey Ave., NW, Washington, D.C. The budget increase proposal comes at a time when interest in the Peace Corps remains strong: more than 150,000 individuals contacted the agency in 1997 to learn about volunteer opportunities, a 40 percent increase over 1994.
Currently, about 6,500 Peace Corps volunteers are working in 81 countries to help fight hunger, bring clean water to communities, teach children, protect the environment, help start new small businesses, and prevent the spread of AIDS. Since 1961, more than 150,000 Americans have joined the Peace Corps.
"}