Peace Corps News

RPCVs speak out on the issues

Shalala pledges to continue fight for wounded soldiers
Shalala said she and Dole have every intention of continuing to push the administration and Congress for changes, including amending the Family Medical Leave Act to allow for up to six months leave for a family member of a wounded service member. Most of the recommendations can be implemented by the administration, though some would require legislative approval. To that end, Dole and Shalala made the rounds on Capitol Hill the day after the report's release, meeting with House and Senate leaders to gain their support.  Shalala balanced the demands of the commission — visits to various veteran health care facilities around the country and seven public hearings — along with her duties at the university. She also taught a class on the politics of health care to 150 students. "She's type triple A," Dole said, laughing. "I'm a type A, but she's triple A. She's either got the cell phone going, or the Blackberry or she's in a conversation. She doesn't waste any time. She's all business, 'Let's get this done and get this done right."'  "I was at the White House when they asked me about the commission and we sort of kicked names around," Dole said. "Donna's name came up and that was the end of the conversation. "I knew it wasn't going to be partisan, but solution driven," Dole said. "We knew there were problems, otherwise there wouldn't be a commission, but we weren't there to review complaints, we were there to solve the problem."  University of Miami President and former Clinton Cabinet member Donna Shalala served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Iran in the 1960's. Read more.

Caption: President Bush, right, meets veteran Sgt. Major Mike Welsh who is using the 'Nu Step Machine' as he visits the rehabilitation room at the Washington Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Washington, Monday, Aug. 13, 2007. Former Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole, left, and former Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala, second from left, co-chairs of the President Commission on Care for America's Returning Wounded Warriors look on. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

Morocco RPCV Sue Hilderbrand brings energy, experience to Peace and Justice Center
Since April, Hilderbrand has been director of Chico Peace and Justice Center. A self-described political theorist, she speaks freely and articulately about what she thinks and believes, about what she has read and where she has been. Stopping funding of the war in Iraq is paramount to Hilderbrand. "Right now things like health care and the environment are taking a back seat."  Hilderbrand came to Chico two years ago when her partner, cartographer Seth Paine, got a job at the Nature Conservancy. Living in Phoenix and thinking about perhaps a trip to sub-Saharan Africa, the prospect of moving to a California valley town didn't thrill Hilderbrand at first. But she warmed to the idea when she found Chico's Peace and Justice Center online. Hilderbrand met Paine while they were serving in the Peace Corps in Morocco. "I was a rural-socio-economics planner. I worked on a national park, which was the largest cedar forest in Africa. I dealt with social, economic and political forces and saw that they all work together." Read more.

Caption: Sue Hilderbrand, director of Chico Peace and Justice Center, invited people to call Congressman.

Sarah Chayes writes: NATO didn't lose Afghanistan
"In 2003, NATO moved peacekeeping forces into Kabul and parts of northern Afghanistan. But not until 2005, when it was clear that the United States was bogged down in Iraq and lacked sufficient resources to fight on two fronts, did Washington belatedly turn to NATO to take the Afghan south off its hands. And then it misrepresented the situation its allies would find there. NATO was told, in effect, that it would simply need to maintain the order the United States had established and to help with reconstruction and security. In fact, as was clear from the ground, the situation had been deteriorating since late 2002. By 2004, resurgent Taliban were making a concerted push to enter the country from Pakistan, and intensive combat between American forces and Taliban fighters was taking place north of Kandahar." Morocco RPCV Sarah Chayes has made a home in Kandahar, Afghanistan, became fluent in Pashto, one of the main Afghan languages, and devoted her energies to rebuilding a country gutted by two decades of war. Read more.

Caption:   Sarah Chayes of NPR and Adam Brooks of the BBC, after the fall of Kabul, but before the Taliban fell, in a town just inside Afghanistan called Spin Boldak. People on the walls stare at the journalists while they apply sunscreen to their faces.

Uzbekistan RPCV John Smart writes: U.S. embassy or is it George W. Bush's palace?
It's not only the largest embassy in the world, it's the largest embassy ever constructed by any nation, anywhere, at any time in history! It's larger than Vatican City and much more secure — the outer walls are 15 feet thick. In a country that has only a couple of hours of electricity a day, the new embassy will have its own generators, and in a society where drinkable water is a scarce and precious commodity, it will have its own water filtration system. The people outside those 15-foot walls might get a bit testy about this display of wealth, don't you think? The Iraqis, accustomed as they were to Saddam's numerous marble extravaganzas are referring to this mega-complex as "George W's Palace." Again, I wonder why? It's costing us billions for sure, although that information is apparently classified. Don't you think we should know what it's for? Or maybe we do know what it's for. Maybe it's all of a piece with the expensive and evidently permanent military bases that the Bush administration is building in Iraq. Maybe the plan all along was to occupy this keystone country in the Middle East for the foreseeable future. Maybe that's why George W. Bush is so angered by the congress's repeated attempts to put timelines and deadlines on our occupation forces: He has no intention of us ever leaving. Read more.

Caption:  Blueprints for the new US Embassy in Iraq.

Chris Dodd says no easy election for Democrats in 2008
Democratic presidential hopeful Chris Dodd warned his fellow party members not to get lulled into believing the 2008 election will produce the same sweeping victories that Democrats enjoyed last November. "There’s an assumption that people are making that any Democrat can win in ’08," said Dodd, a U.S. senator from Connecticut who has won seven elections since arriving in Congress in 1974. "I don’t believe that." "This is about leadership, it’s about proven ability, it’s about the ability to go with bold ideas and not half measures that I think the country is desperate and hungry for," said Dodd, who attended a minor league baseball game, a farmers market and addressed Iowa’s largest state employees’ union during his latest campaign swing. Read more.

RPCVs speak out on the issues. Read more.

Why Chris Dodd joined the Peace Corps

Why Chris Dodd joined the Peace Corps
"Somebody asked me to. It was really no more complicated than that. I got excited about it. I think probably in the fall of 1965 when I was in my senior year and wondering "What am I going to do?" I thought what a great idea this was. So I went off, and I had friends who did other things, including go into the military. My closest boyhood friend was in the Marines and killed in Quan Tre in Vietnam in Februray 1968. When I came out, I thought I'd served my country. I hadn't been home in two years and, I thought, making a difference in my country, obviously things had gotten pretty rough, between the spring of 1966 and 1968 when I arrived home. But I felt that I'd contributed. But I realized there's possibly more, so I joined the National Guard and ended up being in the reserves over the next five or so years."  Read more.

Chris Dodd says the United States cannot afford to wait for President Bush's successor to end the war in Iraq
"We really can't wait another 18 months," the U.S. senator from Connecticut said while campaigning. "We have to have the convictions to stand up to this president." Dodd said the war has been waged "for all the wrong reasons" and that it is eroding both the nation's security and its moral leadership. For those reasons, he said, it was not difficult for him to vote in the Senate against continued funding for the Iraq war. "That wasn't a courageous vote. It was the right vote to cast," Dodd said.

"I don't know how you justify the status quo." Dodd, a vocal critic of the war in Iraq, said he won't stop suggesting ways to end the war. He was the only 2008 presidential candidate to co-sponsor the Democrats' most aggressive anti-war bill. "We're going to go back at it again. What bothers me is that we're not stepping up and doing what's right," he said. "Even the Republican leadership is now setting benchmarks, putting some parameters on the White House." Read more.

Paul Simon said he has known and respected Dodd for about 25 years and thinks Iowa provides a great venue to get his message to the people
Musical legend Paul Simon joined Democratic presidential candidate Chris Dodd on his stop in Fort Dodge. The Connecticut senator spoke to the crowd before introducing Simon, joking that he was “the warm-up act.” Dodd said that campaigning in Iowa can shift the focus on the presidential race to the issues and not the fund-raising race.

Dodd spoke about issues, including energy independence and his desire to end the war in Iraq, and he blasted the Bush administration. “I never imagined an administration could do as much damage as this crowd has,” he said. Dodd said that the U.S. has lost moral authority over the last six years. “We need to get back on track with moral authority abroad in the world,” he said, adding that withdrawing from Iraq will help the country regain lost prestige and make the country more secure. “I don’t mean just walking away. I want to see the United States use diplomacy,” he said. Read more.

Notes from All Over: Ethiopia, Dominica, Korea, Swaziland

Some 40 US Peace Corps volunteers are expected to arrive in Ethiopia soon to serve in the Amhara and Oromia regional states
Peter Parr, director of the Peace Corps office says that the volunteers will be working with the Ministry of Health, and will mainly be involved in efforts to combat HIV/AIDS. The Peace Corps volunteers will work with the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) through the Office of the U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator. Parr said that at present the Peace Corps office is being set up and Ethiopian staff are being recruited for administrative positions and to help volunteers in their training of local languages and customs. There director said, however, that he could not at present stage provide details of the 40 volunteers or the exact time of their arrival. Read more.

Ronald Reagan thought Chris Dodd was "far out liberal and left winger" who served as a volunteer in Dominica
If your name is Chris Dodd or Lowell Weicker, please, read no further. It seems our 40th president, Ronald Reagan, was no fan of either Connecticut senator during his eight-year tenure in the Oval Office. Weicker may have been a Republican, but he was no Reagan Republican. And Dodd? Well, he was a Democrat and therefore part of the evil empire. Reagan kept up a public persona as an affable, polite, regular guy. Even on the campaign trail, he would refrain from attacking his opponents. When Jimmy Carter took shots at him, Reagan famously responded: "There you go again." And, in Berlin he firmly — but politely — told "Mister Gorbachev" to tear down this wall.

But that doesn't mean Reagan was without his private opinions. Those he kept in a daily diary for himself — until now. Just out in hardcover is "The Reagan Diaries," which features 693 pages of his daily observations while in the White House. From the Reagan Diaries: "Today named Dick Stone, former Dem. Senator as personal envoy to Central America. Sen. Dodd & other far out liberals & left wingers are all over the tube screaming foul. Dodd calls me ignorant. His claim to expertise on Central Am. is 2 yrs. as a peace corps vol. many yrs. ago in Dominica."

PCOL Comment: "Mr. President, Senator Dodd served in the Dominican Republic not Dominica."  "You mean they're two different countries?" (Overheard in the Oval Office in 1984)  Read more.

Christopher R. Hill considering visit to Pyongyang soon after it shuts down its Yongbyon nuclear reactor
Senior negotiators in the six-party talks with North Korea -- including U.S. representative Christopher R. Hill -- are considering a visit to Pyongyang soon after it shuts down its Yongbyon nuclear reactor, diplomats said. Although no trip has been scheduled, they said, the visit would take place in conjunction with the next round of six-party talks in Beijing, probably next month. The North Koreans are delaying Yongbyon's closure until they receive $25 million that was frozen in a Macao bank in 2005. An American bank, Wachovia, said yesterday that it had agreed to consider accepting the transfer.

Mr. Hill, the U.S. negotiator, told The Washington Times last year that he would not rule out a visit to Pyongyang but said he would not go while the Yongbyon reactor was operating. "We would consider a trip if it would serve our interest to do so," he said. "But our concern is that North Korea is continuing to run a nuclear reactor whose purpose is to make bombs and to be talking to them while they are making bombs doesn't appear to be in our interest." Any visit to the North Korean capital by an American official is rare and could be used by officials there to further their pursuit of international legitimacy. Christopher R. Hill, assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific Affairs and former U.S. ambassador to South Korea, served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Cameroon. Read more.

Chris Matthews says: Anybody who‘s ever been in the Peace Corps knows people don‘t like being taken over
"I do not accept the idea that the American people were snookered into Iraq.  I know it‘s a comfortable argument to make that we were all tricked into it, but back when we went into the war in 2001, I came across—or 2002, it was in the summer of 2002, the year before we went to war, the American people were asked whether they supported the war, and they said by 55 percent of so they were for the—or 57 percent, they were for the war.  But then asked if there were significant casualties involved, Are you still for the war, and a majority came out against the war. Well, who the hell thought there wouldn‘t be casualties?"

"Well, the Iraqi people—look, anybody who‘s ever been in the Peace Corps knows this.  People don‘t like being taken over.  If you ask any African country, no matter how tough it‘s been since independence, Would you rather the white guys come back and run this place, they might run it a little bit better, maybe, maybe, maybe, they‘d say, To hell with that idea!  We want to run our own country.  Nobody likes to be invaded.  I think the president even said that a while back.  He must have known it intellectually, but he didn‘t act on it." Journalist Chris Matthews served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Swaziland in the 1960's. Read more.

Read more about Peace Corps Ethiopia.

Read more about RPCV Senator Chris Dodd.

Read more about RPCV Diplomat Christopher Hill.

Read more about RPCV Chris Matthews.

Senator Chris Dodd introduces Peace Corps Volunteer Empowerment Act

Senator Chris Dodd introduces Peace Corps Volunteer Empowerment Act
The bill will provide seed monies for active Peace Corps volunteers for demonstration projects at their specific in-country sites. It authorizes $10 million in additional annual appropriations to be distributed by the Peace Corps as grants to returned Peace Corps volunteers interested in undertaking "third goal'' projects in their communities. The bill will also authorize active Peace Corps volunteers to accept, under certain carefully defined circumstances, private donations to support their development projects.

For any organization to thrive, managers and leaders must have access to first-hand knowledge and perspectives of those working on the front lines. And so, this bill will establish mechanisms for more volunteer input into Peace Corps operations, including staffing decisions, site selection, language training and country programs. This bill will also explicitly protect certain rights of Peace Corps volunteers with respect to termination of service and whistleblower protection.

We must bring the Peace Corps into the digital age. To that end, this bill will provide volunteers with better means of communication by establishing websites and email links for use by volunteers in-country.

Inadequate funding and internal structural roadblocks have unfortunately resulted in an unfulfilled Presidential pledge to double the size of the Peace Corps by 2007. Despite a large increase in volunteers signing up for the Peace Corps immediately after September 11, the Congressional Research Service reports that the number of Peace Corps volunteers actually declined in 2006. It is crucial that we work to reverse this troubling trend. That is why this bill authorizes active recruitment from the 185,000 returned Peace Corps volunteer community for second tours as volunteers and as participants in third goal activities in the United States.

This bill will also remove certain medical, healthcare and other impediments that discourage older individuals from becoming Peace Corps volunteers. It will create more transparency in the medical screening and appeals process, and require reports on costs associated with extending post-service health coverage from 1 month to 6 months. 

Senator Chris Dodd of Connecticut served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Dominican Republic in the 1960's.  Read more.

RPCVs comment of President Bush's plan to send more troops to Iraq

Senator Dodd's Prepared Remarks at Senate Foreign Relations Committee Hearing on the President's plan for a Surge
The time for blunt force is long past.  Instead, we ought to withdraw our combat troops from urban centers of sectarian conflict, where they are simply cannon fodder. We ought to focus on training reliable Iraqi security forces whose allegiance is to the greater Iraqi people, not to any specific sect. We need to redouble counterterrorism efforts and border security to deny al-Qaeda a failed-state foothold. And, perhaps most importantly, we must engage Iraq’s leaders and its neighbors to promote political reconciliation.

If the only solution to Iraq a is political one, diplomacy is the only weapon we have left.  What has the administration been doing in the last four weeks? Since the time the Iraq Study Group’s report was released, almost 100 American soldiers have been killed and by many estimates, four to five thousand Iraqi civilians have been killed in the widening strife.And the President’s solution to all of this was to ignore the most important recommendations of the Iraq Study Group – namely “robust diplomacy,” and instead settle on an escalation of our current combat strategy. This is a tactic in search of a strategy, and it will not bring us a stable Iraq.

Senator Dodd served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Dominican Republic in the 1960's.  Read more stories about Senator Dodd.

Caption: Senate Dodd at the at Senate Foreign Relations Committee Hearing with Senators Kerry and Biden.

Michael O'Hanlon writes: A Skeptic's Case For the Surge
However mediocre its prospects, each main element of the president's plan has some logic behind it. On the military surge itself, critics of the administration's Iraq policy have consistently argued that the United States never deployed enough soldiers and Marines to Iraq. Now Bush has essentially conceded his critics' points. To be sure, adding 21,500 American troops (and having them conduct classic counterinsurgency operations) is not a huge change and may be too late.

But it would still be counterintuitive for the president's critics to prevent him from carrying out the very policy they have collectively recommended. Rather than deny funding for Bush's initiatives, Congress should provide it now -- but only for fiscal 2007 (meaning through September). By that point, or even the August congressional recess, we should know if the surge is showing promise. If it does, Congress could consider continuing its support. If not, the moment will be right to force the president's hand and move to a backup plan. If the surge fails, we will need a whole new paradigm for Iraq policy, and it is hardly too soon for Congress to start fleshing out our choices. But for now, Congress should also give the president the money and support that he requests.

Michael O'Hanlon, a Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institute and a Visiting Lecturer at Princeton University, served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Congo Kinshasa. Read more by Michael O'Hanlon.

Dodd declares candidacy in 2008 Presidential race

Dodd declares candidacy in 2008 Presidential race
Dodd scheduled an interview on the "Imus in the Morning" radio show to make the announcement. While the senator has indicated for months he was considering a White House bid, he had yet to formalize his intentions. Kathy Sullivan, the chairwoman of the Democratic Party in New Hampshire, said in an interview that she had spoken to Dodd and he said, "'I'm not going to do the exploratory thing. I'm going to plunge right in.'" "People really like him. He's very smart. He's also very articulate. And I think he might have the sharpest wit of anyone in the field," Sullivan said.

Dodd voted in 2002 to authorize military intervention in Iraq, but has become an outspoken critic of the war and now calls his vote a mistake. He has said he would oppose an escalation of U.S. forces in Iraq and has said Congress should consider withholding funding for such a troop increase. Dodd has been politically active on behalf of other Democrats, raising money and campaigning for candidates across the country and headed the Democratic National Committee from 1995-96. Senator Chris Dodd of Connecticut served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Dominican Republic in the 1960's. Read more and leave your comments.

Dodd announces candidacy on "Imus in the Morning"
The difficulty Dodd faces trying to breakthrough the public consciousness in a race that starts off dominated by political celebrities was underscored in a good-natured exchange with radio host Don Imus. "I'll tell you who I saw last night who was very impressive was Barack Obama," Imus told Dodd. "I'm not one of those Hollywood phonies jumping on the Barack Obama bandwagon — I'm going to vote for McCain at this point," Imus added, referring to Arizona Sen. John McCain, the front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination.

"Now wait a minute, wait a minute," Dodd interjected. "I come on the program, I blow everybody else off, I announce here — at least leave the door open a little bit for me here. ... And I'm your pal — 14 years — you can't just walk away from me. You leave that door open a little bit." Chuckling, Imus responded: "I'm not walking away ... I'm not closing the door, senator."

RPCV Chris Mathews interviews RPCV Chris Dodd on Hardball
"John Kennedy, when he sent off the first Peace Corps volunteers...said you know it’s going to be a great thing in 40 or 50 years from now there will have been a million young people in this country that will have served their nation in a foreign nation..That’s going to help us in the conduct of foreign policy with a better understanding of what’s going on. Well, there have only been 170,000 of us, Chris, that have come back as Peace Corps volunteers, but that experience was life altering and changing. You respected other people, you listened to them. It gives you a better perspective on your own country. I came back with a deeper appreciation of what the United States was and what it could do as a result of that experience."

Read Senator Dodd's recent speech about his vision for the Peace Corps.

Read about Senator Dodd's strong support for the Peace Corps over the years.

The Peace Corps and Globalization

Dominican Republic RPCV Mark Ridoff writes: Productivity doesn't aid middle class
"Forty years ago, I began two years of service as a Peace Corps volunteer in Latin America. That experience left me with a great appreciation of the opportunities and advantages that I was given as a member of what was then a vibrant and growing American middle class. I have watched with increasing dismay the accelerating erosion of the American middle class. Indeed, I began to think that there was much about America of the late 20th century and the early 21st century that reminded of the highly class-stratified Latin America countries I saw as a Peace Corps volunteer.  It is again time for broad debate on a fundamental question: Why should the workers whose productivity makes greater wealth possible not share in the benefits of that wealth? How can America be America without a strong and stable middle class?"  Read more.

Gabon RPCV Terez Rose writes: The Art of Being Globally Thrifty
Sometimes I feel as if I haven't been able to draw a deep breath since the day my husband, our chief breadwinner, came home eight months ago and told me he'd lost his job. "No one's fault, no reflection on your work," he was told. Reorganizations, cost-cutting, downsizing-that kind of thing.

We Americans will adapt-it's one of the things we do best. New jobs will be created and the economy will eventually recover. However, it won't happen tomorrow. But here's another thing I learned from the Africans: how to be patient and weather the storm of challenging times with dignity and grace. How to accept things the way they are, difficulties and all. When I remember this, I look around at what my family does have now: adequate savings to squeak by, a beautiful home and lots of quality time together. My husband and I have the opportunity to sit in the backyard every night and watch our son frolic around, as the sun sinks slowly into the trees. Like my days in Africa, I've ceased to expect or hunger for things that are no longer accessible. I'm simply enjoying the purity of the moment. I think of my African friends, still there, still struggling, but surely finding time to play music and celebrate life. If you ask me, they are the true Wise Men from the East. Read more.

Thomas Rooney writes: When President Kennedy met Prime Minister Nehru, he told him about the educational benefits the Peace Corps would have in India. Nehru replied; "Yes, I'm sure your young people will learn a lot." Those young people are now running the country. And it is time we started learning.
It is ironic that 25 years ago, the Indians put themselves on this course by discarding socialism, lowering taxes, and encouraging trade. They learned it from us, too. Now we must relearn it from them. And we have a lot to learn, considering that Republicans in Congress can barely get a majority of their own caucus to support free-trade agreements.

Not competing is not an option for our company--or for our country. In our case, we may be laying off nine employees, but we are hiring at least 30 more. In India, we are not just transferring work, but finding new customers. We spent time talking to the water authorities there about cleaning up the holiest and dirtiest river in the world, the Ganges. And we held similar talks with customers and suppliers in Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia, and other parts of Asia. As these countries grow, so does their demand for goods and services that we in America can provide better than anyone in the world. But only if we are willing to recognize what our value is, and, above all, if we are willing to be fiercely competitive to provide them. No one can make any guarantees to any American company, at home or abroad, other than this: If we do not compete and make our products and services better, faster, and less expensive, we can and will lose. Read more.

Burkina Faso RPCV John Uniack Davis speaks on impoverished African countries
John Uniack Davis, graduate with a political science degree, discussed the most complex of Africa's health and economic challenges after a unique welcome from political science professor, Charles Weed, who shared letters received by his former student 22 years prior, during the first of Davis's experiences in the Peace Corps in Africa. Davis spoke about Africa's extreme poverty and how it is responsible for Africa's challenges with education, social justice, international equality and most importantly, adequate healthcare. "At least 50 percent of Africans live on less than one dollar a day," he said. "That's one third lower than the world's next poorest country, South Asia." Davis explained the complexity of Africa's cyclical debt crisis and the role of The World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) in its continued economic devastation. Since its impoverishment had made it impossible to borrow elsewhere, Africa had nowhere else to turn to for financial assistance. Davis said for the past two decades World Bank and IMF have kept Africa reliant, bound with irreversible debts, and ultimately helpless in the fight against diseases and poverty. "Africa has found itself on the losing side of globalization," said Davis. Read more.

Read more about the Peace Corps and Globalization.

Chris Dodd writes: The time has come for the United States to begin the process of getting our troops out of Iraq

Chris Dodd writes: The time has come for the United States to begin the process of getting our troops out of Iraq
"After spending six days in the Middle East last week - which included visits with the top leaders in Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Israel - it's hard not to come to the same conclusion: Our strategy in Iraq makes no sense. It never really did. It is as bad in person as it appears on television. There are literally dozens of sects, militias, gangs, warlords, foreign terrorists and others killing one another for dozens of reasons in Iraq today, and American troops are caught in the crossfire. Our brave men and women have done everything asked of them with great courage and honor, but searching for military solutions in Iraq today is a fool's errand. True peace and security in Iraq will not come at the end of an American gun. It will only happen to the degree that Iraq's leaders are willing to take responsibility for governing their own country and securing their own future. America's position should be clear: Iraqis must show they want a country now, or American troops should begin to withdraw."

Senator Chris Dodd of Connecticut served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Dominican Republic in the 1960's. He is considering a run for Presidency in 2008.  This editorial first appeared in the Des Moines Register. Read more and leave your comments.

Dodd edges closer to declaring run for President

Sen. Christopher Dodd edges closer to officially declaring he is running for president at a Harvard University student-sponsored forum for potential candidates in 2008
Senator Chris Dodd, D-Conn., accused President Bush of not working with the rest of the world's nations when it comes to environmental policies and fighting terrorism. "This mentality of unilateralism is very, very dangerous. If I am nominated and elected, that will change dramatically," he said. During a brief interview session with reporters afterward, Dodd was asked why he thought voters might support him in a run for president. "I honestly believe we're in one of those moments where experience matters. I'm half-tempted to steal Kinky Friedman's slogan for his gubernatorial race in Texas. I'm saying this somewhat facetiously, but I love this slogan down there, and it was, 'How hard can this job be?' He was following George Bush as the governor in Texas." Senator Chris Dodd served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Dominican Republic in the 1960's.

Dodd Introduces Effective Terrorists Prosecution Act
“I take a backseat to no one when it comes to protecting this country from terrorists,” Sen. Dodd said. “But there is a right way to do this and a wrong way to do this. It’s clear the people who perpetrated these horrendous crimes against our country and our people have no moral compass and deserve to be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. But in taking away their legal rights, the rights first codified in our country’s Constitution, we’re taking away our own moral compass, as well.”

Dodd outlines priorities as new Chairman of Senate Banking Committee
Dodd says he will propose ways to keep people from losing their homes when mortgage costs rise and to end predatory lending practices "that strip equity out of consumers' homes and leave them on the verge of default." The senator wants to provide more scrutiny of how regulators, and those they regulate, deal with credit card consumers. He also plans hearings about how to combat terrorist financing, and he will consider whether to extend the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act. The law, which helps protect companies and consumers from economic fallout from terrorist attacks, is due to expire at the end of 2007.