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Dr. Dorothy Maver, Executive Director of the Peace Alliance, our dear ally and friend who was with us at our launch in Roxbury in 2004, is inviting people from across the United States to a two-day conference in Washington D.C. , for educational workshops and then directly lobbying members of Congress to establish a Department of Peace. The days of education and activism will be Feb. 3 – 5, 2007. This is an excellent chance to interact with religious, political, educational and conflict resolution leaders including Rep. Kucinich, and authors Deepak Chopra and Marianne Williamson -- culminating in the reintroduction of the Dept. of Peace legislation on the House Floor.
A Dept. of Peace is not a new idea. It was discussed during debate on the original US Constitution and the concept of peaceful conflict resolution and arbitration has been a hallmark of recent human civilization, dating from at least 500 BCE in India. The Department of Peace would also include a Peace Academy and address domestic issues such as teaching nonviolent conflict resolution to our children and youth, and addressing such longstanding problems as domestic violence (particularly towards women and children), gang and drug violence, as well as international issues.
The Peace Alliance and its allies include a range of legislators such as Reps. Dennis Kucinich, Maxine Waters, Barbara Lee, Bernie Sanders, and organizations as diverse as the Catholic Pax Christi USA, Amnesty International, American Muslim Voices and the Jewish group Tikkun.
A Dept. of Peace would only be about 2% of the present US DOD budget...2% for peace and conflict resolution rather than wars of choice and further financial engorgement of the military-industrial complex President Eisenhower warned us of in 1961 as he was leaving office. Rep. Kucinich has introduced this legislation twice before, and it has never gotten out of committee, much less been debated on the floor of the US House of Representatives. Please contact your legislators in Congress and urge them to cosponsor or at least vote for a Dept. of Peace in this 110th Congress.
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