U.S. Department of Peace Initiative

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF PEACE

 On February 2-5 in Washington , DC , 700 intelligent, serious peacemakers, including 70 young people, attended the Department of Peace Campaign National Conference.  It was organized by the Peace Alliance, which exists to create a culture of peace in the world by first promoting a U.S. Department of Peace.  There were workshops and world-renowned speakers, such as Deepak Chopra, Dr. Michael Beckwith, Denise Brown, Dennis Kucinich, and several members of Congress, including the new Muslim member. There were workshops in lobbying, raising money, etc.

 During the Conference, Rep. Kucinich put House Bill #808 into the House hopper.  It has 51 sponsors but must go through committees before it can get to the floor.  This cabinet level Dept. of Peace will have a budget of $4 billion, which is equivalent of one percent of the military budget, but will not come out of the military budget.   

The last day of the Conference, the Hill was alive with 700 people visiting Senators and Representatives to promote this bill.  The Ohio delegation visited with Sherrod Brown and in Sen. Voinovich’s office, in addition to 7 Ohio Reps.  Sherrod was a sponsor of the House bill last year but hasn’t decided as a new Senator whether to start the sponsoring in the Senate.  We encouraged Ohio ’s Senators to introduce a Senate bill as a bi-partisan effort.  Ted Kennedy is a possibility to sponsor a Senate bill—he hasn’t said no yet.  These men need to hear from us.  

The Dept. of Peace will research and select workable scientific methods and approaches to problem areas of policy and programs to effectively decrease violence at home and abroad.  The State Dept. is talking about some reforms, but it and the Pentagon still won’t shoulder the responsibility of comprehensive research and coordination of a nationwide laboratory to discover successful approaches to national and international conflict and crime.  The Dept. of Peace will work for all Americans who desire peaceful solutions.   

House Bill #808 addresses 4 areas.

1.  Reduce crime and violence locally.  The Dept. of Peace will research and select already working methods, such as Debbie Wolf’s PeaceAbilities, and institute them more widely in our country.

2.  It will study approaches to problem areas of policy and programs to effectively decrease violence internationally.  There are already signs, if you read correctly, that can predict future conflict and violence. 

3.  The bill calls for a Peace Academy , on the level of West Point , which will train professional peacemakers in effective conflict resolution, peace-promoting skills, and long-range prevention of violence. 

4.  Finally, the head of the Dept. of Peace will be a cabinet post Secretary of Peace, to be in a position to have the ear of the Administration, equally with other Cabinet members, such as Sec. of State, Sec. of Defense, Sec. of Education, Sec. of Health, etc.  A Secretary of Peace heading a Department of Peace is necessary to delve into areas unexplored by current cabinet level departments, all of which are established for the well-being of the U.S. , consequently for the ultimate benefit of other nations.  

Dozens of state Democratic parties, including Ohio , have passed resolutions in support of creating a National Dept. of Peace.  Perhaps the Dayton Peace Museum will some day be Ohio ’s Dept. of Peace.  Ohio now has a fine Coordinator and is looking for more people to join in this important work.  http://www.thepeacealliance.org/ or contact the Dulls at christine@dull.com.