(Host) Senator Patrick Leahy and Congressman Peter Welch are in Haiti today as part of a trip to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Peace Corps.
Leahy and Welch traveled first to the neighboring Dominican Republic with the current director of the Peace Corps.
Speaking on a cell phone conference call, Leahy said the Dominican Republic has been important in the history of the Peace Corps.
(Leahy) "This is one of the very first places with the Peace Corps and it’s the longest history of it, both accomplishments and volunteers, and so that’s what I wanted to see."
(Host) Leahy and Welch visited a Peace Corps youth development project focused on preventing HIV and AIDS.
Today they’ll be visiting Peace Corps projects that are helping the people recover from last year’s earthquake.
There are 214 Americans currently serving in the Peace Corps in the Dominican Republic.
Since the Peace Corps was established in 1961, 1,400 Vermonters have served. Vermont currently has the most Peace Corps volunteers per capita of any state in the country.