Department of Peace

Not to be confused with Ministry of Peace.

The Department of Peace is a proposed cabinet-level department of the executive branch of the U.S. government.

History

The peace movement in the United States has a proposed legislative history that dates to the first years of the republic:

1. Let a Secretary of Peace be appointed to preside in this office; . . . let him be a genuine republican and a sincere Christian. . . .

2. Let a power be given to the Secretary to establish and maintain free schools in every city, village and township in the United States; . . . Let the youth of our country be instructed in reading, writing, and arithmetic, and in the doctrines of a religion of some kind; the Christian religion should be preferred to all others; for it belongs to this religion exclusively to teach us not only to cultivate peace with all men, but to forgive—nay more, to love our very enemies. . . .

3. Let every family be furnished at public expense, by the Secretary of this office, with an American edition of the Bible. . . .

4. Let the following sentence be inscribed in letters of gold over the door of every home in the United States: The Son of Man Came into the World, Not To Destroy Men's Lives, But To Save Them.

5. To inspire a veneration for human life, and a horror at the shedding of human blood, let all those laws be repealed which authorize juries, judges, sheriffs, or hangmen to assume the resentments of individuals, and to commit murder in cold blood in any case whatever. . . .

6. To subdue that passion for war . . . militia laws should everywhere be repealed, and military dresses and military titles should be laid aside. . . .

Support

The Peace Alliance[9] and the Student Peace Alliance[10] organizations support the creation of a U.S. Department of Peace. Both are national nonprofit organizations and independent grassroots political movements that operate autonomously. The ongoing movement is supported by several members of Congress, the late former CBS Evening News anchor Walter Cronkite and author Marianne Williamson. Also joining the increasing list of national endorsements are Yoko Ono, Joaquin Phoenix, Frances Fisher and Willie Nelson. This movement actively lobbies for the endorsements of congressional leaders and is active in soliciting and receiving a growing list of bipartisan endorsements from city councils in California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Michigan, New Mexico and Ohio.[11] Local grassroots chapters have been formed in all 50 states.[12] A global movement for Ministries of Peace and Departments of Peace has also been launched by the Global Alliance for Ministries and Departments of Peace.[13]

On January 15, 2009 the idea to appoint a secretary of peace in a Department of Peace was voted as one of the top 10 Ideas for Change in America. This project was part of a nationwide competition following the election of Barack Obama to identify the best ideas for change in America. A total of 7,875 ideas were submitted and 675,943 votes were cast. On January 16, 2009 the idea to appoint a secretary of peace in a Department of Peace was one of 10 ideas delivered to President Obama's transition team. The online community and media network for social issues Change.org and the Case Foundation co-hosted this event at the National Press Club in Washington, DC to announce the top 10 rated ideas.

Provisions of the Kucinich Bill

Ohio Rep. Dennis Kucinich introduced U.S. Department of Peace legislation to Congress in July 2001, two months before the September 11 attacks. Kucinich has reintroduced the legislation every 2 years since. The bill currently has 52 cosponsors. Some of the numerous organizations endorsing the legislation include Amnesty International and the National Organization for Women.

This bill includes several additional proposed mandates that would work in partnership with the U.S. Department of State and go beyond the existing mandates of the United States Institute of Peace. Some highlights among the areas of proposed additional responsibility include:

  1. Drug rehabilitation,
  2. Policy reviews concerning crime prevention, punishment, and rehabilitation,
  3. Implementation of violence prevention counseling programs and peer mediation programs in schools,
  1. Battered women's rights,
  2. Animal rights,

Proposed funding for a U.S. Department of Peace would initially come from a budget that is defined by the prevention bill as, "at least 1 percent of the proposed federal discretionary budget, FY 2008 of which 53% is already allocated to the Department of Defense (budget)". Whether or not the U.S. Institute of Peace would be promoted to a cabinet-level position, is not addressed by this bill.

A growing, national movement of citizens continues to actively promote and lobby for this legislation.

The Peace Alliance is the National Organization spearheading the passage of the legislation.

Previous proposals

In 1969, Senator Vance Hartke (D-Indiana) introduced the Peace Act (S. 953), to establish a cabinet-level called for the new department to develop "plans, policies and programs designed to foster peace," coordinate all U.S. government activities affecting "the preservation or promotion of peace," to cooperate with other governments in planning for peaceful conflict resolution, and promote the exchange of ideas between private parties in the U.S. and other countries. The bill further provided for establishment of an International Peace Institute that would train citizens for service, a Peace by Investment Corporation, and the transfer of agencies such as the Peace Corps, Agency for International Development, and the International Agricultural Development Service, to the new Department. The bill received popular support from anti-war groups, Catholic and Baptist publications, author Norman Cousins, and others.[14]

Fiction

The novel 1988 (a fictional work about the upcoming 1988 presidential election published in 1985) by then-Governor of Colorado Richard Lamm, includes a very similar proposal where the third-party presidential candidate in the novel proposes a cabinet-level Agency for U.S. Peace and Conflict Resolution with a secretary of peace who could challenge the secretary of defense when necessary.

References

  1. ↑ Rush, Benjamin, M.D. (1806). "A plan of a Peace-Office for the United States". Essays, Literary, Moral and Philosophical. (2nd ed.). Thomas and William Bradford, Philadelphia. pp. 183–188. Retrieved 2010-06-03.
  2. ↑ Phillips, P. Lee (1917). "Records of the Columbia Historical Society". 20. Columbia Historical Society, Washington, D.C.: 114–120. Retrieved 2009-04-15. |chapter= ignored (help)
  3. ↑ Jacqueline Van Voris (1996). Carrie Chapman Catt - A Public Life. Feminist Press. ISBN 978-1-55861-139-9.
  4. ↑ Kirby Page. A National Peace Department.
  5. ↑ 91 Cong. Rec. 7274 (1945)
  6. ↑ Frederick L. Schuman. "Why a Department of Peace?".
  7. ↑ 115 Cong. Rec. 3154 (1969)
  8. ↑ 125 Cong. Rec. 35111 (1979)
  9. ↑ "The Peace Alliance".
  10. ↑ "Student Peace Alliance".
  11. ↑ "City, County and Governing Body Resolutions in support of a U.S. Department of Peace".
  12. ↑ "Get Active and Volunteer". The Peace Alliance. Retrieved 2007-10-24.
  13. ↑ "Global Alliance for Ministries and Departments of Peace".
  14. ↑ Frederick L. Schuman. "Why a Department of Peace?".

External links

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