Peace Talk — Autumn 2005

You can participate in an historic citizen lobbying effort to create a U.S. Department of Peace (DOP). DOP activist groups currently exist in 45 states in 251 congressional districts and continue to expand.

The Department of Peace will facilitate the latest ways to wage peace. From nonviolent communication skills to conflict resolution techniques and cultural relationship building, the Department of Peace will employ proven and effective strategies for diminishing violence in our country and in our world. As a member of the President’s cabinet, the Secretary of Peace will provide the President, the State Department, the Departments of Defense, Education and Justice with greatly expanded problem-solving options. The Department of Peace will also provide support for state and local government to address issues of domestic violence.

TAKE ACTION NOW: There are currently 54 committed co-sponsors in the House of Representatives. Please ask Congressmen Tom Allen and Michael Michaud to sign on when this bill is re-introduced in September in the 109th Congress. Ask them to support their peers in 22 other states who have signed on to show support for this historic legislation. The old bill number is HR1673 and can be used as a reference. It is scheduled to be re-introduced September 14 and your call before that date will be most helpful. Proposed Federal Legislation to Establish a U.S. Department of Peace calls for the Department’s budget to be the equivalent of 2% of U.S. defense budget.

The International Benefits:

The Department of Peace will: Advise the President, the Secretaries of Defense and State, and others on root causes of violence, plus practical ways to dismantle violence while still in a formative phase; Support the military by: providing cultural, ethnic and psychologically insightful information, education and technology; Offer practical skills (conflict resolution techniques, and the like) for the alleviation of violence among adversarial factions; Administer the training and support of civilian peacekeepers to participate in multi-national nonviolent peace forces.

The Domestic Benefits:

The Department of Peace will: Develop field-tested educational programs promoting conflict resolution and peer mediation among school-age children; Provide violence-prevention programs addressing domestic violence, gang violence, drug and alcohol-related violence, and the like; Provide much-needed assistance for the efforts of city, county, and state governments in coordinating existing programs in their own communities, as well as programs newly developed and provided by the Dept. of Peace.

A U.S. Peace Academy

The Department of Peace will create and administer a U.S. Peace Academy, acting as a sister organization to the U.S. Military Academy. The Academy will research and teach the most cutting-edge techniques for the amelioration of violence among domestic and international populations. The Peace Academy will join the Military Academy in providing assistance to the military in international conflict resolution; The Peace Academy faculty will be derived from well-established practitioners known for best practices in the field of conflict reduction and resolution.

Organizational Endorsements of the Legislation:

Amnesty International; American Voices Abroad; Brahma Kumaris; Buddhist Peace Fellowship; Center for Nonviolent Communications, Communities of Peace Foundation; Democrats.com; Fellowship of Reconciliation; Global AIDS Alliance; Global Exchange; Global Youth Action Network; Humanity In Unity; Institute for Multi-Track Diplomacy; Musicians and Fine Artists for World Peace; National Organization for Women; Pace e Bene; Pathways to Peace; Pax Christi USA; Peace Action; Physicians for Social Responsibility; September Eleventh Families for Peaceful Tomorrows; School Mediation Center; Tikkun; Traprock Peace Center; United Religions Initiative; Veterans for Peace; Wholistic Peace Institute; Youth for Environmental Sanity.