Group photo (and this wasn't even everyone!)

We had an amazing conference in D.C. on the weekend of February 3 - 5th, 2007, it was a huge success. There were over 1000 people who joined us at one point or another. In attendance were Department of Peace activists representing 45 states -- a leap in representation over our September 2005 conference. Our presence was most certainly felt in D.C., and in particular on Capitol Hill.

The conference started Friday night with a phenomenal performance of the Gift of Peace play, and ended Monday night at the George Washington University Lisner Auditorium with heartfelt words from seven members of Congress, followed by Congressman Kucinich leading us in a chant of "808, 808, 808" (the new bill number) and then finished with a crowd stirring performance by Steven Tyler, which had all of us buzzing with an excitement that most of us are probably still experiencing. In between were powerful speakers, training on lobbying and speaking powerfully for the legislation, time for practice and coaching for our Hill visits, more inspiring music, and of course, lots of celebration.

One of our volunteers, Chelsea, gets photo with
Steven Tyler and Joaquin Phoenix.

On Monday and Tuesday, we had over 220 congressional meetings and many more drop-in office visits! On Tuesday, The Peace Alliance participated in a press conference and a congressional briefing in support of the legislation. Our panel of peacebuilding experts -- along with Marianne Williamson and members of Congress -- shared eloquently and powerfully why we must make the work of peacebuilding a core national focus and investment.

Aaron Voldman, Student Peace Alliance coordinator. We had over 70 students join us in D.C. to organize and work for a Department of Peace. We will be working with students and Universities in the coming year to increase our Student Peace Alliance presence.

We have heard from so many of our fellow activists, sharing how powerful it was to be in our nation's capitol working for this historic initiative. The thrill that comes from visiting a congressional office with fellow citizens, urging their support for the Department of Peace, is hard to put into words but incredible to behold. Each of us brought our faith in what is possible to bear upon our elected officials, and it certainly had its impact.

BLOG, PHOTOS and VIDEO
You can go now to read our blog from the conference with first hand reports from attendees. You can also see many more photos posted on our forum. 

We are so grateful for all of you who joined us in Washington. We are also grateful to all of you who have supported this campaign. This is more than just a political movement, together we are creating a new way of being in politics and in the world. By putting our efforts and attention on what is possible in the realm of peacebuilding, we can help shape the world we dream of.

To purchase CDs and DVD's of the conference, visit Conference recording services website (this is an independent organization).

Congressman Albert Wynn stops by for a
surprise visit, giving a rousing speech!

Jimmy Demers captivated the crowd at the Washington Conference with his powerful rendition of "America the Beautiful" and other inspiring musical numbers. All a capella.
 
For those of you who would like to hear again (or for the first time) "America the Beautiful" as sung by Jimmy Demers (this time with music!), you may visit www.jimmydemers.com and click on "America".