Remarks for the Peace Corps Swearing-in Ceremony
May 8, 2008

Good afternoon. It is an honor  having you here on the day that we will send a new class of Peace Corps Volunteers into the field to work with their Salvadoran communities. 

We are here, truthfully, to celebrate two things.  First, we are going to celebrate the swearing-in of a new class of Peace Corps Volunteers.  Upon swearing-in, these young Americans of all ages will be fully prepared to live and work with many of you assembled in this room for the next two years. 
Second, we are here to celebrate the strong relationship and shared values that the peoples of the United States and El Salvador continue enjoy.

I would like to begin there.  This relationship is centered on the belief that democratic institutions, founded on individual liberties and human rights, provide the best foundation for a society.  And now, these new Volunteers and the Salvadorans who are going to host them will soon have the opportunity to work together to advance these ideas even further. 

Today we will swear-in 17 Municipal Development Volunteers, who will work with their towns’ municipal governments, local development associations, and other community actors to build stronger democratic institutions through increased citizen participation, more effective municipal services, and better organized community groups. 

We will also swear-in 20 Rural Health & Sanitation Volunteers, who will work with local community development organizations, NGOs, and health promoters. With their counterparts, these volunteers will strengthen basic health prevention capacity.

Together, these new Volunteers, their counterpart Salvadoran institutions, and their communities will promote the values that we share and continue building upon the strong relationship that our two peoples’ enjoy.  In so doing, they will also be, in the words of President John F. Kennedy, “sharing in the great common task of bringing to man that decent way of life which is the foundation of freedom and a condition of peace.”

Thank you.