The Peace Corps Act

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TITLE 22—FOREIGN RELATIONS AND INTERCOURSE

and the Peace Corps, and for advising the Director of
the Peace Corps to ensure that the functions delegated
under this Order to the Director of the Peace Corps are
carried out.
1–7. GENERAL PROVISIONS
1–701. Except to the extent that they may be inconsistent with this Order, all determinations, authorizations, regulations, rulings, certifications, orders, directives, contracts, agreements, and other actions made,
issued or entered into with respect to any function affected by this Order and not revoked, superseded, or
otherwise made inapplicable before the effective date of
this Order shall continue in full force and effect until
amended, modified, or terminated by appropriate authority.
1–702. Except as otherwise expressly provided herein,
nothing in this Order shall be construed as subjecting
any department, establishment, or other instrumentality of the Executive Branch of the Federal Government
or the head thereof, or any function vested by law in or
assigned pursuant to law to any such agency or head,
to the authority of any other agency or head or as abrogating, modifying, or restricting any such function in
any manner.
1–703. So much of the personnel, property, records,
and unexpended balances or appropriations, allocations, and other funds employed, used, held, available,
or to be made available in connection with the functions assigned to the Director of the Peace Corps or to
the Director of ACTION by this Order as the Director
of the Office of Management and Budget shall determine, shall be transferred to the Director of the Peace
Corps or the Director of ACTION at such time or times
as the Director of the Office of Management and Budget
shall direct.
1–704. To the extent permitted by law, such further
measures and dispositions as the Director of the Office
of Management and Budget shall deem to be necessary
in order to effectuate the provisions of this Order shall
be carried out by such agencies as the Director of the
Office of Management and Budget shall specify.
1–705. The authority conferred by Sections 1–703 and
1–704 of this Order shall supplement, not limit, the provisions of Section 1–108 of this Order.
1–706. Executive Order Nos. 11041, 11250, 11470 and 11603
are hereby superseded.
1–707. This Order shall become effective May 16, 1979.
EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 12468
Ex. Ord. No. 12468, Mar. 22, 1984, 49 F.R. 11139, which
established the Presidential Advisory Council on the
Peace Corps and provided for its membership, functions, etc., was revoked by Ex. Ord. No. 12534, Sept. 30,
1985, 50 F.R. 40319, formerly set out as a note under section 14 of the Federal Advisory Committee Act in the
Appendix to Title 5, Government Organization and Employees.

§ 2501–1. Independent agency status of Peace
Corps
Effective on December 29, 1981, the Peace
Corps shall be an independent agency within the
executive branch and shall not be an agency
within the ACTION Agency, the successor to the
ACTION Agency, or any other department or
agency of the United States.
(Pub. L. 87–293, title I, § 2A as added Pub. L.
97–113, title VI, § 601(a), Dec. 29, 1981, 95 Stat.
1540; amended Pub. L. 103–82, title IV, § 405(e),
Sept. 21, 1993, 107 Stat. 921.)
AMENDMENTS
1993—Pub. L. 103–82 inserted ‘‘, the successor to the
ACTION Agency,’’.
EFFECTIVE DATE OF 1993 AMENDMENT
Amendment by Pub. L. 103–82 effective Apr. 4, 1994,
see section 406(b) of Pub. L. 103–82, set out as a note

§ 2501–1

under section 8332 of Title 5, Government Organization
and Employees.
TRANSFER OF FUNCTIONS, PERSONNEL, ETC., TO PEACE
CORPS
Section 601(b), (c) of Pub. L. 97–113 provided that:
‘‘(b) There are transferred to the Director of the
Peace Corps all functions relating to the Peace Corps
which were vested in the Director of the ACTION Agency [now Corporation for National and Community Service] on the day before the date of the enactment of this
Act [Dec. 29, 1981].
‘‘(c)(1) All personnel, assets liabilities, contracts,
property, records, and unexpended balances of appropriations, authorizations, allocations, and other funds
are are determined by the Director of the Office of
Management and Budget, after consultation with the
Comptroller General of the United States, the Director
of the Peace Corps, and the Director of the ACTION
Agency, to be employed, held, used, or assumed primarily in connection with any function relating to the
Peace Corps before the date of the enactment of this
Act [Dec. 29, 1981] are transferred to the Peace Corps.
The transfer of unexpended balances pursuant to the
preceding sentence shall be subject to section 202 of the
Budget and Accounting Procedures Act of 1950 (31
U.S.C. 581c) [31 U.S.C. 1531].
‘‘(2)(A) The transfer pursuant to this subsection of
full-time personnel (except special Government employees) and part-time personnel holding permanent
positions shall not cause any employee to be separated
or reduced in rank, class, grade, or compensation, or
otherwise suffer a loss of employment benefits for one
year after—
‘‘(i) the date on which the director of the Office of
Management and Budget submits the report required
by subsection (f)(l) of this section, or
‘‘(ii) the effective date of the transfer of such employee,
whichever occurs later.
‘‘(B) The personnel transferred pursuant to this subsection shall, to the maximum extent feasible, be assigned to such related functions and organizational
units in the Peace Corps as such personnel were assigned to immediately before the date of the enactment
of this Act [Dec. 29, 1981].
‘‘(C) Collective-bargaining agreements in effect on
the date of the enactment of this Act [Dec. 29, 1981]
covering personnel transferred pursuant to this subsection or employed on such date of enactment [Dec. 29,
1981] by the Peace Corps shall continue to be recognized
by the Peace Corps until the termination date of such
agreements or until such agreements are modified in
accordance with applicable procedures.
‘‘(3) Under such regulations as the President may prescribe, each person who, immediately before the date of
the enactment of this Act [Dec. 29, 1981], does not hold
an appointment under section 7(a)(2) of the Peace Corps
Act [22 U.S.C. 2506(a)(2)] and who is determined under
paragraph (1) of this subsection to be employed primarily in connection with any function relating to the
Peace Corps shall, effective on the date of the enactment of this Act [Dec. 29, 1981], and notwithstanding
subparagraph (B) of section 7(a)(2) of the Peace Corps
Act, be appointed a member of the Foreign Service
under section 7(a)(2) of the Peace Corps Act [22 U.S.C.
2506(a)(2)], and be appointed or assigned to an appropriate class of the Foreign Service, except that—
‘‘(A) any person who, immediately before such date
of enactment [Dec. 29, 1981], holds a career or careerconditional appointment shall not, without the consent of such person, be so appointed until three years
after such date of enactment [Dec. 29, 1981], during
which period any such person not consenting to be so
appointed may continue to hold such career or career-conditional appointment; and
‘‘(B) each person so appointed who, immediately before such date of enactment [Dec. 29, 1981], held a career or career-conditional appointment at grade GS–8
or lower of the General Schedule established by sec-

§ 2501a

TITLE 22—FOREIGN RELATIONS AND INTERCOURSE

tion 5332 of title 5, United States Code, shall be appointed a member of the Foreign Service for the duration of operations under the Peace Corps Act [this
chapter].
Each person appointed under this paragraph shall receive basic compensation at the rate of such person’s
class determined by the President to be appropriate,
except that the rate of basic compensation received by
such person immediately before the effective date of
such person’s appointment under this paragraph shall
not be reduced as a result of the provisions of this paragraph.’’
REFERENCES TO ACTION AGENCY OR DIRECTOR OF
ACTION AGENCY WITH RESPECT TO PEACE CORPS OR
DIRECTOR FUNCTIONS OR ACTIVITIES
Section 601(g) of Pub. L. 97–113 provided that: ‘‘References in any statute, reorganization plan, Executive
order, regulation, or other official document or proceeding to the ACTION Agency [now Corporation for
National and Community Service] or the Director of
the ACTION Agency with respect to functions or activities relating to the Peace Corps shall be deemed to
refer to the Peace Corps or the Director of the Peace
Corps, respectively.’’

§ 2501a. Voluntary service programs
(a) Congressional declaration of policy of encouragement
The Congress declares that it is the policy of
the United States and a further purpose of this
chapter (1) to encourage countries and areas to
establish programs under which their citizens
and nationals would volunteer to serve in order
to help meet the needs of less developed countries or areas for trained manpower; (2) to encourage less developed countries or areas to establish programs under which their citizens and
nationals would volunteer to serve in order to
meet their needs for trained manpower; and (3)
to encourage the development of, and participation in, international voluntary service programs and activities.
(b) Limitations on executive activities and use of
funds
(1) Activities carried out by the President in
furtherance of the purposes of clauses (1) and (2)
of subsection (a) of this section shall be limited
to—
(A) furnishing technical assistance, materials, tools, supplies, and training appropriate
to the support of volunteer programs in such
countries or areas; and
(B) conducting demonstration projects in
such countries or areas.
None of the funds made available to carry out
the purposes of clauses (1) and (2) of subsection
(a) of this section may be used to pay the administrative costs of any program or project, other
than a demonstration project, or to assist any
program or project of a paramilitary or military
nature. Funds allocated for activities set forth
in this paragraph should be kept to a minimum
so that such allocation will not be detrimental
to other Peace Corps programs and activities.
(2) Not more than 2 per centum of the amount
appropriated to the Peace Corps for a fiscal year
may be used in such fiscal year to carry out the
provisions of clause (3) of subsection (a) of this
section. Such funds may be contributed to educational institutions, private voluntary organizations, international organizations, and foreign

Page 800

governments or agencies thereof, to pay a fair
and proportionate share of the costs of encouraging the development of, and participation in,
international voluntary programs and activities.
(c) Compromise of national character
Such activities shall not compromise the national character of the Peace Corps.
(Pub. L. 87–293, title III, § 301, as added Pub. L.
88–200, § 8, Dec. 13, 1963, 77 Stat. 360; amended
Pub. L. 91–99, § 3, Oct. 29, 1969, 83 Stat. 166; Pub.
L. 91–352, § 9, July 24, 1970, 84 Stat. 465; Pub. L.
92–352, title IV, § 402, July 13, 1972, 86 Stat. 495;
Pub. L. 95–331, §§ 7, 8(a), Aug. 2, 1978, 92 Stat. 415,
416.)
REFERENCES IN TEXT
This chapter, referred to in subsec. (a), was in the
original ‘‘this Act’’, meaning Pub. L. 87–293, Sept. 22,
1961, 75 Stat. 612, as amended, known as the Peace
Corps Act. For complete classification of this Act to
the Code, see Short Title note set out under section
2501 of this title and Tables.
AMENDMENTS
1978—Subsec. (b)(1). Pub. L. 95–331, § 7, substituted
provisions limiting activities to furnishing technical
assistance, etc., in support of volunteer programs, and
conducting demonstration projects and provisions relating to payment of costs of any program or project
for provisions limiting activities to furnishing of
knowledge and skills relating to the selection, training, and programming of voluntary manpower and provisions relating to use of available funds.
Subsec. (b)(2). Pub. L. 95–331, § 8(a), substituted provisions authorizing use of 2 per centum of amount appropriated in a fiscal year for provisions authorizing use of
$350,000 in a fiscal year.
1972—Subsec. (b)(2). Pub. L. 92–352 substituted
‘‘$350,000’’ for ‘‘$300,000’’ and ‘‘in any fiscal year to
carry’’ for ‘‘in fiscal year 1971 to carry’’.
1970—Subsec. (a)(3). Pub. L. 91–352, § 9(a), changed the
policy objective from encouragement of participation
in any international register which seeks to provide
volunteers to serve in less developed countries or areas,
training, or other assistance in order to help such countries or areas to meet their needs for trained manpower
to encouragement of participation in international voluntary service programs and activities.
Subsec. (b)(2). Pub. L. 91–352, § 9(b), substituted fiscal
year 1971 for fiscal year 1970 and changed the authorization of the contribution of funds from a fair and proportionate share of the costs of the international registers
to a fair and proportionate share of the costs of encouraging the development of and participation in international voluntary programs and activities.
1969—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 91–99, § 3(1), redesignated existing provisions as cls. (1) and (2), and added cl. (3).
Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 91–99, § 3(2), redesignated existing
provisions as cl. (1), struck out the provision which authorized the use of not more than $300,000 in carrying
out the purposes of this section in fiscal year 1964 and
inserted references to cls. (1) and (2) of subsec. (a) of
this section, and added cl. (2).
EFFECTIVE DATE OF 1978 AMENDMENT
Section 8(b) of Pub. L. 95–331 provided that: ‘‘The
amendment made by subsection (a) [amending this section] shall take effect on October 1, 1978.’’
DELEGATION OF FUNCTIONS
Functions of President under this section delegated
to Director of Peace Corps by section 1–103 of Ex. Ord.
No. 12137, May 16, 1979, 44 F.R. 29023, eff. May 16, 1979,
set out as a note under section 2501 of this title.