PEACE

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PEACE DAY JANUARY 1  & PEACE DEPT. PETITION:

Reply-To: Holistic_Chamber_Of_Commerce@yahoogroups.com
From: Holistic Chamber Of Commerce
Subject:  REP. KUCINICH INTRODUCES BILL TO CREATE DEPARTMENT OF PEACE

Dear Friend,
    Today we have a remarkable opportunity to fulfill one of our most cherished goals: the creation of a more secure foundation for national and global peace. But we need you to act immediately. On July 11, 2001 Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich (D-Ohio) introduced legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives to create a Department of Peace--a cabinet-level agency dedicated to peacemaking and the study of conditions conducive to both domestic and international peace.
    The Department of Peace would focus on nonmilitary peaceful conflict resolutions, prevent violence, and promote justice and democratic principles to expand human rights. A Peace Academy, similar to the five military service academies, would be created, its graduates dispatched to troubled areas around the globe to promote nonviolent dispute resolutions.
    Rep. Kucinich's bill (H.R. 2459), which already has 38 congressional cosponsors, opens the door for the realization of these long-standing goals. Rep. Kucinich has also sponsored two bills on genetically engineered
foods, one for labeling and one for testing. As he introduced H.R. 2459, Rep. Kucinich commented, "The
time for peace is now. Peace is not only the absence of violence, but the presence of a higher evolution of human awareness with respect, trust and integrity toward humankind."

    PLEASE HELP ENSURE PASSAGE OF H.R. 2459 SO THAT PEACE CAN BECOME A REALITY IN OUR TIME. PLEASE ACT TODAY!
ACTION STEPS
Please contact your Representative immediately and strongly encourage him or her to support H.R. 2459.
Just call the national Capitol switchboard at 1-202-225-3121 and ask to speak to your Representative. You can also email your Representative directly from http://www.house.gov/writerep <http://www.house.gov/writerep> If your Representative is a cosponsor of H.R. 2459 (see list below), please contact him or her to offer your thanks and support for this decision. We also urge you to send your congratulations and support to Rep. Kucinich at
http://www.house.gov/kucinich/action/peace.htm <http://www.house.gov/kucinich/action/peace.htm> (just scroll to the bottom of the page). You can also find out more about the Department of Peace at this site.
    Although the Senate version of H.R. 2459 has not yet been introduced, you may also contact your Senators and urge them to become familiar with and support this legislation. To obtain email addresses, mailing addresses, and phone numbers for your Senators, just go to
http://www.senate.gov/senators/senator_by_state.cfm
<http://www.senate.gov/senators/senator_by_state.cfm> to link to your Senators' websites.
A summary of H.R. 2459 is given below. For the full text of the bill, please visit
http://thomas.loc.gov/home/c107query.html#billno
<http://thomas.loc.gov/home/c107query.html#billno> and type in H.R. 2459 under Search Bill Text #2, Bill Number.

SUMMARY of H.R. 2459
Establishes a Department of Peace, which shall be headed by a Secretary of Peace appointed by the President, with the advice and consent of the Senate. Sets forth the mission of the Department, including to: (1) hold peace as an organizing principle; (2) endeavor to promote justice and democratic principles to expand human rights; and (3) develop policies that promote national and international conflict prevention, nonviolent intervention, mediation, peaceful resolution of conflict, and structured mediation of conflict.
Establishes in the Department the Intergovernmental Advisory Council on Peace, which shall provide assistance and make recommendations to the Secretary and the President concerning intergovernmental policies relating to peace and nonviolent conflict resolution.
Transfers to the Department the functions, assets, and personnel of various Federal agencies.
Establishes a Federal Interagency Committee on Peace.
Establishes Peace Day. Urges all citizens to observe and celebrate the blessings of peace and endeavor to create peace on such day.

COSPONSORS OF H.R. 2459 (ALPHABETICALLY BY STATE)
Rep. Farr, Sam (D-CA)
Rep. Filner, Bob (D-CA)
Rep. Honda, Michael M. (D-CA)
Rep. Lee, Barbara (D-CA)
Rep. Solis, Hilda L. (D-CA)
Rep. Stark, Fortney Pete (D-CA)
Rep. Waters, Maxine (D-CA)
Rep. Watson, Diane E. (D-CA)
Rep. Woolsey, Lynn C. (D-CA)
Rep. Udall, Mark (D-CO)
Rep. Lewis, John (D-GA)
Rep. McKinney, Cynthia A. (D-GA)
Rep. Davis, Danny K. (D-IL)
Rep. Evans, Lane (D-IL)
Rep. Gutierrez, Luis V. (D-IL)
Rep. Jackson, Jesse L., Jr. (D-IL)
Rep. Schakowsky, Janice D. (D-IL)
Rep. Carson, Julia (D-IN)
Rep. McGovern, James P. (D-MA)
Rep. Conyers, John, Jr. (D-MI)
Rep. Clay, Wm. Lacy (D-MO)
Rep. Holt, Rush D. (D-NJ)
Rep. Payne, Donald M. (D-NJ)
Rep. Hinchey, Maurice D. (D-NY)
Rep. Maloney, Carolyn B. (D-NY)
Rep. Nadler, Jerrold (D-NY)
Rep. Owens, Major R. (D-NY)
Rep. Serrano, Jose E. (D-NY)
Rep. Towns, Edolphus (D-NY)
Rep. Velazquez, Nydia M. (D-NY)
Rep. Brown, Sherrod (D-OH)
Rep. Jones, Stephanie Tubbs (D-OH)
Rep. DeFazio, Peter A. (D-OR)
Rep. Jackson-Lee, Sheila (D-TX)
Rep. Scott, Robert C. (D-VA)
Rep. Sanders, Bernard (I-VT)
Rep. Baird, Brian (D-WA)
Rep. Rahall, Nick J., II (D-WV)

2002 UPDATE: Copy and paste (to avoid all the >>) this petition into an email to everyone you know.

Subject: Petition in support of a Dept. of Peace

This independent citizen's initiative to create a United States Cabinet-level Department of Peace was launched in the United States of America on September 18, 2002. It was initiated to help reduce ignorance and suffering and to expand knowledge and justice in our world. Please "sign" this petition below.

Rationale: We are familiar with war. We are not very knowledgeable about peace, which is defined as the cessation or absence of war. That indicates what peace is not but not what peace is. Peace is something more than the cessation of hostilities. If we exist in a state of repressed fear, we cannot call that peace. 

True peace, like war, is a symptom. While war is the culmination of our competitive excesses, peace is symptomatic of that which is constructive, cooperative, and nurturing. Whereas war is the most debilitating addiction by which we suffer, peace represents the most wholesome expression of the spirit by which we are sustained. 

As a species, we are beginning to realize that we are each a part of a system of relationships that embrace our families, friends, neighbors, business associates, groups and organizations, community, nation, and whole family of nations. No single object in nature exists independently. It is apparent that there is no constructive place for hostilities in this pattern. 

We simply do not have the time, resources, or energy to waste fighting with each other. We have serious problems on this planet. There are now 6.2 billion of us. We are increasing at a rate of 80 million a year. Each week we have approximately 1,538,000 more of us to feed, clothe, house, educate, employ, transport, government, protect, and keep healthy. It's time to get serious about peace. 

We have a Department of Defense (formerly Department of War). Why do we not have a Department of Peace? In fact, a bill was introduced on July 11, 2001 by U.S. Congressman Dennis Kucinich to create a Cabinet-level Department of Peace. This bill embodies a broad-based approach to peaceful, non-violent conflict resolution at both domestic and international levels. The Department of Peace would serve to promote non-violence as an organizing principle in our society, and help to create the conditions for a more peaceful and secure world. 

A brief summary of the Department of Peace legislation follows. To read the entire bill, go to Rep. Dennis Kucinich's web site,
http://www.house.gov/kucinich/index.htm, and click on "peace." 

A SUMMARY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF PEACE LEGISLATION:

1. Establish a cabinet-level department in the executive branch of the Federal Government dedicated to peacemaking and the study of conditions that are conducive to both domestic and international peace.

2. Headed by a Secretary of Peace, appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate.

3. The mission of the Department shall: hold peace as an organizing principle; endeavor to promote justice and democratic principles to expand human rights; strengthen nonmilitary means of peacemaking; promote the development of human potential; work to create peace, prevent violence, divert from armed conflict and develop new structures in nonviolent dispute resolution; and 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.

4. The Department will create and establish a Peace Academy, modeled after the military service academies, which will provide a 4 year concentration in peace education. Graduates will be required to serve 5 years in public service in programs dedicated to domestic or international nonviolent conflict resolution.

5. The principal officers of the Department, in addition to the Secretary of Peace will include; the Under Secretary of Peace; the Assistant Secretary for Peace Education and Training; the Assistant Secretary for Domestic Peace Activities, the Assistant Secretary for International Peace Activities; the Assistant Secretary for Technology for Peace; the Assistant Secretary for Arms Control and Disarmament; the Assistant Secretary for Peaceful Coexistence and Nonviolent Conflict Resolution; the Assistant Secretary for Human and Economic Rights; and a General Counsel.

6. The first day of each year, January 1st will be designated as Peace Day in the United States and all citizens should be encouraged to observe and celebrate the blessings of peace and endeavor to create peace in the coming year.

Contact Information: The coordinator for this project is Joseph (Joe) R. Simonetta, Senior Editor of the World Business Academy
(www.worldbusiness.org) and author of Seven Words That Can Change the World (Nov 2001, Hampton Roads Publishing). Mr. Simonetta's diverse background includes having been a U.S. military officer (Army artillery, 1996-68). His web site is www.joesimonetta.com. His email address is jrsimonetta@comcast.net.

DIRECTIONS:

1. Add your name, state, and country to the list below.
2. Forward (cut and paste is best) this petition to others.
3. If you are the 100th person on the list, do the following:
 a. Send a copy of the list to lisa.casini@mail.house.gov (Lisa is on Congressman Kucinich's staff) and to Joe Simonetta at
 jrsimonetta@comcast.net.
 b. Keep the petition going.
 c. Eliminate all the names that you have sent to Casini and Simonetta.
 d. Send out the petition with your name, state, and country first (it's okay that you've signed twice).

ADD YOUR NAME, STATE, AND COUNTRY TO THE PETITION FOR A U.S. DEPARTMENT OF PEACE:

1. Joseph R. Simonetta, Sarasota, Florida, USA
2. Cher Gilmore, Los Angeles, CA, USA
3.  Susannah Wolfe, Gloucester, MA. 01930 USA
4. Lysa Leland, Essex, MA 01929 USA
5. Devon Hildreth, Marblehead MA 01945 USA
6. Nancy Ramsden, Salem, MA 01970, USA
7. Roger W. Comstock, Yarmouth, ME, USA
8. Cynthia Poirier, Gorham ME, USA
9. Roland Rhoades, Gorham ME, USA

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