WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Senator Rick Scott released the following statement after Peace Corps Director Dr. Jody Olsen refused Senator Scott’s request to terminate all Peace Corps programs in Communist China by October 1, 2019, and use those resources to help the Bahamas.

Senator Rick Scott said, “I’m disappointed that the Peace Corps ignored my request to get out of Communist China. President Xi is a Communist dictator and human rights violator. Communist China is supporting Maduro’s genocide of young children in Venezuela, killing over a million of its own citizens a year with hazardous air pollution, and attacking religious freedom by detaining possibly more than one million Uyghurs, a Muslim ethnic minority group in China, in internment and re-education camps. There is no reason the Peace Corps should be using taxpayer dollars to prop up one of our greatest adversaries – a wealthy nation that can fund its own initiatives. Our friends in the Bahamas are still hurting, and it makes no sense that the Peace Corps would rather do the work of Communist China than help our neighbors in need.”

In case you missed it, Senator Scott returned from a trip to Hong Kong last week, where he met with pro-democracy leaders, business leaders and religious leaders – all fighting for their freedom and human dignity, and standing strong against Beijing’s aggression.

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