Jean Hay Bright endorses Department of Peace bill
March 25, 2005
The Department of Peace bill, sponsored by Congressman Dennis Kucinich, will be re-introduced on Sept. 12, 2005. If this bill has not been passed into law by the time I am sworn in as a Senator in 2007, I will introduce it on the Senate side of Congress.

At a time when violence is the dominant feature of our society, when murder is the leading cause of death of pregnant women, when unprovoked wars and massacres are taking place in our schools and across the globe, we need to redirect our energies, and focus as a nation on developing and maintaining a more peaceful world.

The bill establishing this new Department of Peace spent the 108th Congress as HR1673. When it is re-introduced next September, it will have a new HR number.

Here is the mission statement for this new, cabinet-level department.
MISSION - The Department of Peace shall:
  1. Hold peace as an organizing principle, coordinating service to every level of American society;
  2. Endeavor to promote justice and democratic principles to expand human rights;
  3. Strengthen nonmilitary means of peacemaking;
  4. Promote the development of human potential;
  5. Work to create peace, prevent violence, divert from armed conflict, use field-tested programs, and develop new structures in nonviolent dispute resolution;
  6. 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;
  7. Address matters both domestic and international in scope; and
  8. Encourage the development of initiatives from local communities, religious groups, and nongovernmental organizations.