Dept of Peace?

Act for a Department of Peace

Rep. Dennis Kucinich introduces bill to create Department of Peace

You may want to contact your people in Congress, urging them to co-sponsor this bill - a great opportunity at this critical time to build a legacy of peace.

[Taken from e-mail and other sources. 10-22-01]

The text of HR 2459 is posted here.

On July 11, Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich (D-Ohio) introduced legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives to create a Department of Peace - a cabinet-level agency dedicated to peacemaking and the study of conditions conducive to both domestic and international peace. The Department of Peace would focus on nonmilitary peaceful conflict resolutions, prevent violence, and promote justice and democratic principles to expand human rights. A Peace Academy, similar to the five military service academies, would be created, its graduates dispatched to troubled areas around the globe to promote nonviolent dispute resolutions.

Rep. Kucinich's bill (H.R. 2459), which already has 38 congressional cosponsors, opens the door for the realization of these long-standing goals. Rep. Kucinich has also sponsored two bills on genetically engineered foods, one for labeling and one for testing. As he introduced H.R. 2459, Rep. Kucinich commented, "The time for peace is now. Peace is not only the absence of violence, but the presence of a higher evolution of human awareness with respect, trust and integrity toward humankind."

PLEASE HELP ENSURE PASSAGE OF H.R. 2459 SO THAT PEACE CAN BECOME A REALITY IN OUR TIME. PLEASE ACT TODAY!

ACTION STEPS:

Please contact your Representative immediately and strongly encourage him or her to support H.R. 2459. Just call the national Capitol switchboard at 1-202-225-3121 and ask to speak to your Representative.

You can also email your Representative directly from http://www.house.gov/writerep.

If your Representative is a cosponsor of H.R. 2459 (see list below), please contact him or her to offer your thanks and support for this decision.

We also urge you to send your congratulations and support to Rep. Kucinich at http://www.house.gov/kucinich/action/peace.htm (just scroll to the bottom of the page).

You can also find out more about the Department of Peace at this site.

Although the Senate version of H.R. 2459 has not yet been introduced, you may also contact your Senators and urge them to become familiar with and support this legislation. To obtain email addresses, mailing addresses, and phone numbers for your Senators, just go to http://www.senate.gov/senators/senator_by_state.cfm to link to your Senators' websites.

For the full text of the bill, please visit http://thomas.loc.gov/home/c107query.html#billno and type in H.R. 2459 under Search Bill Text #2, Bill Number.

Here's a summary of H.R. 2459

	Establishes a Department of Peace, which shall be headed by a Secretary of Peace appointed by the President, with the advice and consent of the Senate.
	Sets forth the mission of the Department, including to: (1) hold peace as an organizing principle; (2) endeavor to promote justice and democratic principles to expand human rights; and (3) develop policies that promote national and international conflict prevention, nonviolent intervention, mediation, peaceful resolution of conflict, and structured mediation of conflict.
	Establishes in the Department the Intergovernmental Advisory Council on Peace, which shall provide assistance and make recommendations to the Secretary and the President concerning intergovernmental policies relating to peace and nonviolent conflict resolution.
	Transfers to the Department the functions, assets, and personnel of various Federal agencies.
	Establishes a Federal Interagency Committee on Peace.
	Establishes Peace Day. Urges all citizens to observe and celebrate the blessings of peace and endeavor to create peace on such day.

COSPONSORS OF H.R. 2459 (ALPHABETICALLY BY STATE)

Rep. Farr, Sam (D-CA)
Rep. Filner, Bob (D-CA)
Rep. Honda, Michael M. (D-CA)
Rep. Lee, Barbara (D-CA)
Rep. Solis, Hilda L. (D-CA)
Rep. Stark, Fortney Pete (D-CA)
Rep. Waters, Maxine (D-CA)
Rep. Watson, Diane E. (D-CA)
Rep. Woolsey, Lynn C. (D-CA)
Rep. Udall, Mark (D-CO)
Rep. Lewis, John (D-GA)
Rep. McKinney, Cynthia A. (D-GA)
Rep. Davis, Danny K. (D-IL)
Rep. Evans, Lane (D-IL)
Rep. Gutierrez, Luis V. (D-IL)
Rep. Jackson, Jesse L., Jr. (D-IL)
Rep. Schakowsky, Janice D. (D-IL)
Rep. Carson, Julia (D-IN)
Rep. McGovern, James P. (D-MA)
Rep. Conyers, John, Jr. (D-MI)
Rep. Clay, Wm. Lacy (D-MO)
Rep. Holt, Rush D. (D-NJ)
Rep. Payne, Donald M. (D-NJ)
Rep. Hinchey, Maurice D. (D-NY)
Rep. Maloney, Carolyn B. (D-NY)
Rep. Nadler, Jerrold (D-NY)
Rep. Owens, Major R. (D-NY)
Rep. Serrano, Jose E. (D-NY)
Rep. Towns, Edolphus (D-NY)
Rep. Velazquez, Nydia M. (D-NY)
Rep. Brown, Sherrod (D-OH)
Rep. Jones, Stephanie Tubbs (D-OH)
Rep. DeFazio, Peter A. (D-OR)
Rep. Jackson-Lee, Sheila (D-TX)
Rep. Scott, Robert C. (D-VA)
Rep. Sanders, Bernard (I-VT)
Rep. Baird, Brian (D-WA)
Rep. Rahall, Nick J., II (D-WV)