PEACE CORPS IN THE 21 ST CENTURY: A RHETORICAL ANALYSIS

133Not only did Bush’s address draw attention to the Peace Corps, it also establishedthe Freedom Corps, an umbrella agency that combined the Peace Corps, AmeriCorps,and Senior Corps.Freedom CorpsIn the post September 11 th moment, a terrorized public could be easily convincedthat foreign and domestic service is the way to make America secure again. Bushproposed the Freedom Corps program in his 2002 State of the Union address as a way toharness Americans’ patriotism and a renewed spirit of service after the Sept. 11 attacks.Bush states that, “[t]o sustain and extend the best that has emerged in America, I inviteyou to join the new USA Freedom Corps. The Freedom Corps will focus on three areasof need: responding in case of crisis at home; rebuilding our communities; and extendingAmerican compassion throughout the world.” 236The Freedom Corps was modeled afterPresident Kennedy's Peace Corps and President Clinton's AmeriCorps, and the CitizenCorps. 237The Peace Corps was promised more funding and a goal of 14,000 volunteerswas set. The Bush administration organized all of these preexisting organizations underthe Freedom Corps, had a website developed, and then left the website and the motivationof Americans to grow. In 2003, Congress approved only $25 million of the requested$200 million to begin the “Citizen Corps” program, and failed to grant the one billionrequested for the Freedom Corps’ support of Peace Corps, AmeriCorps, and SeniorCorps.Amitai Etizioni, 238 in an editorial published just before the 2003 State of theUnion address, wrote, “I hope President Bush, in Tuesday’s State of the Union address,