Peace Corps Commemorative

Background

The Peace Corps program was established by Executive Order 10924, issued by President John F. Kennedy on March 1, 1961, and legislatively authorized by Congress on September 21, 1961, with passage of the Peace Corps Act (Pub.L. 87–293). Between 1961 and 2013, over 215,000 Americans joined. The National Peace Corps Association, a nonprofit for alumni, created the Peace Corps Commemorative Foundation to advocate for a commemorative. Legislation for a commemorative was first introduced in the House by Representative Sam Farr, a former Peace Corps volunteer, on December 3, 2009.

Previous legislative efforts

It passed the House but died in the Senate at the end of the 111th Congress on December 22, 2010. On March 1, 2011, Farr introduced H.R.854, which never left committee. Senator Rob Portman introduced S.1421, which passed the Senate on December 30, 2012, but was not acted on by the House and died at the end of the 112th Congress on January 3, 2013. Under the Commemorative Works Act of 1986, new memorials on federal lands in the D.C. region required congressional authorization and a stringent approval process.

Successful legislative effort

In early 2013, Ohio Governor Bob Taft, a former Peace Corps volunteer, asked Portman to sponsor new legislation. S.230, co-sponsored by Senator Mark Udall, was introduced on February 7, 2013, favorably reported by the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources on April 22, 2013, and adopted by unanimous consent in the Senate on June 19, 2013. Companion legislation H.R.915 was introduced in the House on February 28, 2013, by Representative Joseph P. Kennedy III, a former Peace Corps volunteer and grand-nephew of President Kennedy.

It was favorably reported by the House Committee on Natural Resources and the House Committee on the Budget on January 23, 2014. To ensure swift passage, the House adopted the Senate bill S.230, which was approved 387-to-7 on January 13, 2014. President Barack Obama signed it into law on January 24, 2014 (Public Law 113-78).

Siting and design

Under the Commemorative Works Act, the site for any monument on federal land in the D.C. region must be approved by the National Capital Memorial Advisory Commission (NCMAC). On May 6, 2014, the Peace Corps Commemorative Foundation (PCCF) submitted a preliminary site report to the NCMAC, arguing the monument must be close to the monumental core. It evaluated 16 empty sites, rejecting 12 as too distant, and short-listed four: a trapezoidal site in eastern Georgetown bounded by Rock Creek Park, Pennsylvania Avenue NW, 26th Street NW, and M Street NW; two triangular sites north of the World Bank headquarters bounded by H Street NW, 18th Street NW, and 19th Street NW (one being Edward R. Murrow Park); and a triangular site bounded by Louisiana Avenue NW, 1st Street NW, and C Street NW, adjacent to Upper Senate Park and half a block southwest of the Memorial to Japanese-American Patriotism in World War II (currently Vincent R. Sombrotto Memorial Park).

The PCCF asked the NCMAC to approve the Louisiana Avenue site. In November 2014, the National Park Service recommended the National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC) approve that site; though the smallest (less than a quarter acre), it scored highest on a Park Service ranking. Advisory Neighborhood Commission 6C opposed it, citing loss of green space. Since 2015, the PCCF solicited and reviewed hundreds of design proposals.

A definitive design approach was developed for federal reviews in 2019–2020. On September 17, 2020, the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts unanimously approved the proposed design concept.