[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 162 (Monday, December 17, 2012)]
[House]
[Page H6810]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                  LET US ESTABLISH A CULTURE OF PEACE

  (Mr. KUCINICH asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. KUCINICH. We are locked into a cultural matrix of thinking which 
produces violence, and we are shocked when its heartbreaking effects 
emerge. It's ``us versus them'' thinking, this evocation of enemies, 
whoever they are.
  On a global level, this type of thinking justifies war and brings the 
slaughter of innocence. Nationally, it sows seeds for murder. Yet war 
abroad and violence at home are not inevitable. We have it within our 
power to re-create America today. Are we not the land of the free, the 
home of the brave? Is there not something uniquely American which gives 
us the ability to transcend our woes and to seek a more perfect Union?
  Even at the darkest moments, we Americans can stand bravely for our 
freedom. Mindful of our inherent unity, we must break the ``us versus 
them'' mindset and move beyond survival mode to security through 
cooperation.
  Let us create an organized, structured approach to become architects 
of a new culture of peace in our homes, our schools, and our 
workplaces. This is what the Department of Peace is about. Let us 
establish an America where national security and peace at home includes 
jobs, housing, physical and mental health care, education, retirement 
security for all.
  We're the land of the free, the home of the brave. Freedom and 
bravery, courage and democracy, they are our birthright, our 
inheritance, our destiny.

                          ____________________