Remarks by Representative John Lewis (GA-5)
The Peace Acts Forum, at the Carter Presidential Center
May 3, 2008

Thank you Charles Black for that warm and kind introduction. I am pleased, happy, and delighted to be here to join the members of Peace Acts to discuss something that means so much to me and to the future of humanity—the idea of peace. We are here to talk about legislation, yes, but more than that, we are here to talk about how we can move the idea of a Department of Peace forward.

Let me start with the facts. A bill has been introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives sponsored by Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio. It is H.R. 808 called the Department of Peace and Non-violence Bill. Right now it has 68 co-sponsors in the House, and it has been referred to several committees for action. Those committees are the committees on House Oversight and Government Reform, Foreign Affairs, the Judiciary Committee, and the Education and Labor Committee. The bill was first introduced in the House in 2001, and first introduced in the Senate in 2005 by former Sen. Mark Dayton of Minnesota.

H.R. 808 would establish a cabinet level department of the executive branch that would advise the president on policies and conditions that would lead to peace. This member of the cabinet would be called the Secretary of Peace and Non-violence. And he or she would be responsible to lead research and develop effective methods for the peaceful resolution of domestic and international conflict. The bill would establish a Peace Academy, similar to the present military academies, to train professionals in the development of peace policy, and it would establish January 1st as Peace Day in the United States.

Right now, this very important idea is stuck on the committee level. Very little action has been taken to move it forward. Why? I think because the Members of Congress do not feel certain that this is an idea whose time has come. They are not convinced that the American people are willing and ready to put down the tools and instruments of war as a means of national defense.

It will take time and persistence to create a widespread movement for this kind of change in this country. So you must be committed to the long haul. You can lobby members of Congress, but as representatives of the people, they may not be willing to take the steps necessary to create this department without assurance that the will of the people is behind them. So you have to keep this idea before the members of Congress, but more importantly you have to build a movement. And if you believe in this department, and you stay committed to your goal, you can move this agenda forward.

The war in Iraq is probably one of the greatest blunders this nation has ever made, and I think we will come to deeply regret this action for generations to come. However, there is one silver lining in this darkest of clouds.  It is possible that we as members of the human family can learn from our mistakes, and I think this war offers a real opportunity for Americans to discover why war is not the answer.

If they are listening, and you must make sure they are listening, then this war can teach them about the methods and the means of the military industrial complex. If they are watching, and you must make sure they are watching, they will see the human cost of war.

Medical science has enabled us to save hundreds of thousands of lives on the battle field. We are bringing home many more soldiers than ever before. This is a victory. But we will also be facing the broken, shattered lives of thousands of Americans who have been changed forever by this conflict.

These may be hard lessons. These may be bitter lessons, but within the pieces of this war, we can find our salvation. This time, maybe just maybe, there will be many more Americans who will say it is time to lay down the tools and instruments of war.

This time, maybe just maybe, they will begin to say that war is obsolete as a tool of our foreign policy. Maybe just maybe they will join your crusade.

War is messy. War is bloody. It tends not only to hide the truth, but to sacrifice the truth. Today, we have buried over four thousand of our nation’s children.

As a member of Congress, as a citizen of America, as one human being on this little piece of real estate we call planet Earth, I wonder what will it take for us as a world community to finally say enough is enough? When will they say it is time for us to lay down the tools and instruments of war? Can we, the most powerful nation in the world, use our influence, to raise these questions and give peace a chance?

Just like Martin Luther King Jr., I too have a dream. I have a dream that one day, we as heads of state, as politicians, as religious leaders, as members of the academic community, and as ordinary citizens of this great nation—one day we will come to the place where we will finally say that violence is obsolete. I believe we can come to a place where we will say that war is no longer a necessary tool of our foreign policy.

We will come to a place where we cannot hurt each other any more. We will come to a place where we cannot kill each other any more. But until that day, there must be people like you to bear witness to this truth, to light the pathway to peace, to progress and to change, to keep pushing this nation—the Congress, the President, the courts, and the people—down the road toward peace.

And as you build a groundswell of support, members of Congress will have greater courage and determination to take action, to pass this bill in both Houses of Congress, and get it signed by the President. You are looking at a long hard road. A road that will take you up against some of the most powerful, gripping forces in our nation. But in the Civil Rights Movement, we didn’t have a cell phone. We didn’t have a website. We didn’t have even have a fax machine. But we used what we had, and we had ourselves. We put our bodies on the line for the cause of peace, non-violence and simple justice.

You must not give up. You must not give in. You must not give out. You must use every means at your disposal to make your voices heard. Now is the time. Thank you for your vision and all the work you do for the cause of peace.