[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 120 (Thursday, September 22, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Pages S10381-S10382]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. DAYTON:
  S. 1756. A bill to establish a Department of Peace and Nonviolence; 
to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
  Mr. DAYTON. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce legislation to 
create a Department of Peace and Nonviolence, headed by a Cabinet-level 
Secretary of Peace and Nonviolence. While I am loath to add another 
agency to the already oversized Federal bureaucracy, it is imperative 
that we elevate peace to at least the same level as war within the 
Federal Government, inside the President's Cabinet Room, and in our 
national policymaking.
  The Department's mission is set forth in section 101 of the proposed 
legislation. It says:

       The Department shall--
       hold peace as an organizing principle, coordinating service 
     to every level of American society;
       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, use field-tested programs, and develop new 
     structures and nonviolent dispute resolution;
       take a proactive, strategic approach in the development of 
     policies that promote national and international conflict 
     prevention, nonviolent intervention, mediation, peaceful

[[Page S10382]]

     resolution of conflict, and structured mediation of conflict;
       address matters both domestic and international in scope, 
     and
       encourage the development of initiatives from local 
     communities, religious groups, and nongovernmental 
     organizations.

  The legislation mandates that an amount not less than 2 percent of 
the Department of Defense's annual appropriation be expended for those 
peacemaking and peace-advancing efforts, which does not affect the 
Department of Defense's level of funding.
  Now is clearly the time to create a Department of Peace and 
Nonviolence. The continuing war in Iraq, a war which I opposed, a war 
initiated before all attempts at peaceful resolution had been made, 
should teach us again that war is not the answer. Despite the 
incredible heroism of the men and women in our Armed Forces who have 
fought, patrolled, and helped so well and for so long in Iraq, 138,000 
of them are still there with no end in sight. More of them are wounded, 
maimed, and killed every day. Terrorism activities against our troops 
and against Iraqi citizens are continuing and even increasing in their 
lethality.
  Tragically, wrongly, but unavoidably, anti-American hatred also 
continues to grow throughout the Arab world. Who can doubt that some of 
the sons and daughters of Iraqis killed during the past 2\1/2\ years of 
war will grow up to become vicious terrorists, hell-bent on revenge 
against America. Our leaders did not intend to create this anti-
American backlash, what the CIA calls ``blowback.'' However, they are 
ignoring it at our peril.
  Our Nation possesses a military might that is unprecedented in the 
world's history and unparalleled in the world today. We must remain so.
  Yet, if we are to remain the world's leader and if we are to lead the 
world into a more secure and a more prosperous future, we must become 
better known and more respected for our peacemaking successes than for 
our military forces. Peace is far more than the absence of war, 
although that is the starting point. Peace, to have any lasting value, 
must be advanced, expanded, and strengthened continuously. Doing so 
requires skill, dedication, persistence, resources and, most 
importantly, people. We need thousands of American emissaries of peace 
at home and abroad. We need our embassies to become centers for 
peaceful initiatives worldwide, and we need advocates for peace-
promoting policies here in Washington.
  This country was founded by a Revolutionary War, a necessary war for 
independence. But our Nation's Founders wanted this to be a nation of 
peace. President Thomas Jefferson said, in 1801:

       That peace, safety, and concord may be the portion of our 
     native land, and be long-enjoyed by our fellow-citizens, is 
     the most ardent wish of my heart, and if I can be 
     instrumental in procuring or preserving them, I shall think I 
     have not lived in vain.

  Mr. President, 158 years later President Dwight Eisenhower, himself 
no stranger to war, said:

       I think people want peace so much that one of these days 
     governments had better get out of the way and let them have 
     it.

  To further that goal, in 1984, Congress passed legislation and 
President Ronald Reagan signed it into law, creating the U.S. Institute 
of Peace. Today, the Institute of Peace is an independent, nonpartisan 
organization funded by Congress to promote peace and curb violent 
international conflict. The last 20 years have shown that the 
Institute, and all of us, have much more to do to create and to sustain 
a peaceful world.
  Similar to Thomas Jefferson, peace, safety and concord for our fellow 
citizens is the most ardent wish of my heart. If I can be instrumental 
in procuring or preserving them, I think that I shall not have lived in 
vain.
  A peaceful world, inhabited by people throughout the world who have 
learned how to keep peace better than how to make war, who want peace, 
who know its benefits and who insist that their governments let them 
have it--that would be the best world and the greatest inheritance we 
could give to our children and our grandchildren and generations that 
will follow them. Without it, nothing else is reliable. With it, 
everything else is possible.
                                 ______