WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Senator Rick Scott introduced the Peace Corps Mission Accountability Act, a bill to get the Peace Corps out of China and align operations with the national security interests of the United States. The Peace Corps Mission Accountability Act will prohibit all Peace Corps activity in hostile countries, like China, and transfer oversight to the Department of State. Currently, the Peace Corps has no effective oversight, operating as an independent agency within the executive branch.

Senator Rick Scott said, “The Peace Corps has an honorable mission of promoting freedom and spreading American ideals to developing countries around the world. We want the Peace Corps to do good work across the globe - just not with our enemies like China. The Peace Corps continues to use taxpayer dollars to support programs in places like China, which continues to steal our technology and intellectual property, refuses to open up their markets, is militarizing the South China Sea, violates human rights and supports Maduro’s genocide in Venezuela. The Peace Corps Mission Accountability Act provides the oversight necessary to make sure all Peace Corps activities are in line with our national security interests and in underdeveloped countries that truly need our help – not wealthy nations like China. This is about protecting both taxpayer money and the American people.”

The Peace Corps Mission Accountability Act:

• Transfers the status of the Peace Corps from an independent agency to a subordinate agency within the Department of State. Currently, the Peace Corps has no effective oversight, operating as an independent agency within the executive branch.
• Gives the Secretary of State authority over the Director of the Peace Corps to ensure the agency’s work and budget is in line with the foreign policy goals of the United States.
• Terminates all Peace Corps activities in China and prohibits the Peace Corps from operating in countries hostile to the United States. This will ensure Peace Corps resources are used in countries that truly need the help. 
• Requires the Secretary of State to annually submit a report to Congress on the status of the Peace Corps.

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