Peace Release | Department of Peacebuilding | HR 1111
Peace Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
‘HISTORIC BILL PROPOSES ESTABLISHMENT OF THE ‘U.S. DEPARTMENT OF PEACEBUILDING’
May 7, 2023, North Las Vegas, Nevada – Earlier this year, Rep. Barbara Lee (CA-12), together with 27 original co-sponsors from 15 states, introduced HR 1111. The purpose of HR 1111 is to establish the U.S. Department of Peacebuilding (US DoP). Similar bills, each calling for a cabinet-level Secretary of Peace, have been introduced in every session of Congress for two decades.
HR 1111 recognizes that: Peace is both a human right and a security issue; and the antithesis of peace – violence – takes many forms in current society and world affairs, from international military incursions and imperialism to local police and gun violence, to bullying, domestic violence, racism and more. The physical, emotional, monetary, and other costs of violence are enormous, cut across all sectors of society in the US and are intrinsically interrelated.
The icon of peace and non-violence, Mahatma Gandhi, famously said: “If we are to teach real peace in this world, and if we are to carry on a real war against war, we shall have to begin with the children.” This is true, and with the mounting dangers of war in Ukraine, with the escalating gun violence in America, all humanity are God’s children of the world and it begins with each one of us.
The US DoP legislation calls for prioritizing peace in this nation, and the world, by transforming our culture of violence into a culture of peace. This underscores a need for education, research, community building, inclusion, and reform. It means supporting programs that work and creating new programs and policies that are founded in peace.
By establishing the US DoP, we, as a nation, decisively choose to learn and apply the skills of peacebuilding and nonviolence and to work for peace; and HR 1111 become law when enough of us inform our lawmakers that this is how we want our elected officials and governmental systems to represent our values and priorities going forward.
Call to Action –
Join The Peace Alliance
Review the Department of Peacebuilding Overview.
Ask your member of Congress to Co-sponsor the Department of Peacebuilding.
List of | Department of Peacebuilding | City | County | Tribe | Endorsers
Sign the Petition for a Department of Peacebuilding.
Endorse the Department of Peacebuilding.
Department of Peacebuilding Endorsements.
10 – 10 – 10
For more information contact Catalyst House:
Lynnea Bylund – [email protected]
