April 08, 2003
The mission of the Department would be to hold peace as an organizing principle; endeavor to promote justice and democratic principles to expand human rights; strengthen non-military means of peacemaking; promote the development of human potential; work to create peace, prevent violence, avoid armed conflict and develop new structures in nonviolent dispute resolution; and take a proactive, strategic approach in the development of policies that promote national and international conflict prevention, nonviolent intervention, mediation, peaceful resolution of conflict and structured mediation of conflict.
"This legislation places the Secretary of Peace at the table along with the Secretary of Defense and Secretary of State to develop solutions to the world’s conflicts," Lee said. "Can you imagine the Secretary of Peace discussing engagement, containment, and other peaceful approaches rather than the use of force as it relates to the reduction of tensions throughout the globe?"
Lee also said, "The Bay Area has historically been at the forefront of the peace and justice movement, and the creation of the U.S. Department of Peace will give our local peace organizations such as the MLK Freedom Center the support of a Cabinet-level Federal agency."
The Martin Luther King, Jr. Freedom Center in Oakland is dedicated to providing programs and employment opportunities in conflict resolution, environmental education, ecological restoration, and violence prevention with a specific focus on under-served youth and at-risk youth in the Bay Area.
The Department of Peace would also establish a Peace Academy, modeled after the military service academies, which will provide a four-year concentration in peace education. Graduates will be required to serve five years of public service in programs dedicated to domestic or international non-violent conflict resolution.
"We confront new challenges every day in the quest for peace, and this proposal places peace on an equal footing with war," said Lee. "Peace is not some elusive pipedream, but a matter of national and international security."
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Congresswoman Barbara Lee Co-Sponsors Legislation to Create U.S. Department of Peace
Washington, DC - Congresswoman Barbara Lee, Co-Chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, joined Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) and other members of Congress today to reintroduce legislation that would establish the United States Department of Peace, a Cabinet-level department in the executive branch of the Federal government dedicated to peacemaking and the study of conditions that are conducive to both domestic and international peace.The mission of the Department would be to hold peace as an organizing principle; endeavor to promote justice and democratic principles to expand human rights; strengthen non-military means of peacemaking; promote the development of human potential; work to create peace, prevent violence, avoid armed conflict and develop new structures in nonviolent dispute resolution; and take a proactive, strategic approach in the development of policies that promote national and international conflict prevention, nonviolent intervention, mediation, peaceful resolution of conflict and structured mediation of conflict.
"This legislation places the Secretary of Peace at the table along with the Secretary of Defense and Secretary of State to develop solutions to the world’s conflicts," Lee said. "Can you imagine the Secretary of Peace discussing engagement, containment, and other peaceful approaches rather than the use of force as it relates to the reduction of tensions throughout the globe?"
Lee also said, "The Bay Area has historically been at the forefront of the peace and justice movement, and the creation of the U.S. Department of Peace will give our local peace organizations such as the MLK Freedom Center the support of a Cabinet-level Federal agency."
The Martin Luther King, Jr. Freedom Center in Oakland is dedicated to providing programs and employment opportunities in conflict resolution, environmental education, ecological restoration, and violence prevention with a specific focus on under-served youth and at-risk youth in the Bay Area.
The Department of Peace would also establish a Peace Academy, modeled after the military service academies, which will provide a four-year concentration in peace education. Graduates will be required to serve five years of public service in programs dedicated to domestic or international non-violent conflict resolution.
"We confront new challenges every day in the quest for peace, and this proposal places peace on an equal footing with war," said Lee. "Peace is not some elusive pipedream, but a matter of national and international security."
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