Every day in the news we're hearing how rampant violence is in our communities, both here in America and around the world. I believe that the establishement of a United States Department of Peace can greatly help alleviate the many problems that we hear about on a daily basis. Our children deserve so much better. It is our job right here and now to build a better world. By establishing a US Department of Peace we are doing just that. Please get involved ... It's up to us to be the change that we wish for and the time is now to co-create it.
-- Paula Abdul

* "It is clear that military force and our policy of preemption are alone insufficient to make us safe. But help is on the way. Legislation has been proposed to create a US Department of Peace. In the propsed Department of Peace it would organize our present system into one conscious effort to improve humanity in achieving peace, where true safety lies." -- Walter Cronkite

* Back in 1792, Dr. Benjamin Banneker, the famed African-American inventor and scientist in Washington, proposed a Department of Peace for the new Nation to his friends George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. His prophetic suggestion was not implemented; but now, more than 200 years later, the need for a Peace Department is too compelling to ignore. -- John Conyers

* Citizens across the United States are now uniting in a great cause to establish a Department of Peace, seeking nothing less than the transformation of our society, to make non-violence an organizing principle, to make war archaic through creating a paradigm shift in our culture for human development, for economic and political justice and for violence control. -- Dennis Kucinich

"A Department of Peace and National Peace Academy will provide training for our troops so that they will be prepared whether dealing with conflict in a war zone, the aftermath of a tsunami, or providing relief aid to hungry children overseas.” -- Dorothy Maver

"Needed: A Department of Peace."
-- Karl E. Mundt

"We have the opportunity to make violence prevention and peacemaking a central conversation in our culture right now. And there couldn't be a more urgent time to do so. We see daily the tragic impact violence is having on the planet. I feel heartened that so many practical solutions will be brought forth through a Department of Peace. This campaign is showing what can be done as we begin to invest more in the work of peacebuilding. There are many programs and practices that are already proving to be incredibly effective at reducing such cultural challenges as gang violence, violence in our schools, in our homes, as well as conflict around the world. So please join this movement by contacting your members of Congress and urge them to support this landmark legislation. And join others in your community working to make it happen. Together we can do this." -- Willie Nelson

* "Together, we can make a U.S. Department of Peace into a reality, and leave a gift of peace for generations to come." -- Joaquin Phoenix

"As a nation, this is the moment to start seriously investing our time, energy and resources into proven methods of reducing violence, both within our nation as well as internationally. The cost of violence to our culture and our children is simply not sustainable. I have learned that in the United States, youth homicide rates are more than 10 times that of other leading industrialized nations, this is just one example of the challenges we face. Is this really a legacy we want to leave our children? There is a better way. Please join me in getting involved in this landmark peace effort. We have a strong plan of action this year at The Peace Alliance for moving this initiative forward. Click on our "Act Now" link below to contact your member of congress, and the "Get Involved" link to find out how you can support your local campaign efforts. Together, we can make a U.S. Department of Peace into a reality, and leave a gift of peace for generations to come."
-- Joaquin Phoenix

* On the whole our armed services have been doing pretty well in the way of keeping us defended, but I hope our State Department will remember that it is really the department of achieving peace. -- Eleanor Roosevelt

* As the War-Office of the United States was established in the time of peace, it is equally reasonable that a Peace-Office should be established in the time of war. -- Benjamin Rush

In order more deeply to affect the minds of the citizens of the United States with the blessings of peace, by contrasting them with the evils of war, let the following inscriptions be painted upon the sign which is placed over the door of the War Office: 1. An office for butchering the human species. 2. A Widow and Orphan making office. 3. A broken bone making office. 4. A Wooden leg making office. 5. An office for the creating of public and private vices. 6. An office for creating a public debt. 7. An office for creating speculators, stock Jobbers, and Bankrupts. 8. An office for creating famine. 9. An office for creating pestilential diseases. 10. An office for creating poverty, and the destruction of liberty, and national happiness. -- Benjamin Rush

We have contingency plans for war, but none for peace.
--Theodore C. Sorensen

 

* The Department of Peace would take a more human approach to healing our society, looking not merely for ways we can destroy an enemy, but for more powerful ways to create new friends. While the State Department engages in international diplomacy, there is no domestic parallel. There is no department seeking to harness the power of a nonviolent heart. -- Marianne Williamson