Common Dreams
By Patty Kuderer and Matt Harris
August 18, 2006

WASHINGTON - Next month, people across the country will participate in a nationwide ‘Walk for Peace’ to raise awareness of legislation (HR 3760 and S. 1756) currently in the House and Senate to create a cabinet-level U.S. Department of Peace and Nonviolence. The walk is sponsored by The Peace Alliance, a nonprofit, non-partisan citizen action organization spearheading the national campaign for a US Department of Peace. Proponents of the legislation hope to build on rapidly growing grassroots support to persuade lawmakers that now is the time to create a U.S. Department of Peace.

“We want our elected representatives to understand how important the Department of Peace legislation is to their constituents and the world,” says Peace Alliance Executive Director Dot Maver. We want to help them understand that their constituents will actively work to ‘elect peace’ - that they’ll support with enthusiasm local, state and national politicians who endorse the Department of Peace and measures to counter the trends of increasing violence we’re seeing at home and abroad.”

Internationally, the Department of Peace and Nonviolence will advise the President and Congress on the most sophisticated techniques and innovative ideas regarding peace-creation among nations. It would also research and analyze the root causes of war and other forms of violence to help prevent conflicts from escalating out of control in the first place. A Peace Academy, on par with the Military Service Academies, would train civilian peacekeepers and the military in the latest nonviolent conflict resolution strategies and approaches.

Domestically, the Department will develop policies and allocate re sources to effectively reduce the levels of domestic and gang violence, child abuse and various other forms of societal discord. Statistics reveal that each year, medical expenses from domestic violence alone total at least to billion, and businesses forfeit another 0 million in lost wages, sick leave, absenteeism and non-productivity.

‘Walk for Peace’ is scheduled for September 16th and is a prelude to International Peace Day, September 21st, when peace groups from around the world, including The Peace Alliance, will call for a global cease-fire. Walks are organized in 32 states and the countries of Pakistan and Nigeria.

For more information on this legislation and our campaign, please visit The Peace Alliance website at: www.thepeacealliance.org.