Congratulations to CA Dept. of Peace Activists for making this happen!

Support Establishing a United States Department of Peace

WHEREAS, during the 108th Congress, Rep. Dennis Kucinich, Democrat of Ohio, introduced in the United States House of Representatives proposed federal legislation to create a United States Department of Peace, which garnered the sponsorship of fifty-two (52) members of the United States House of Representatives; and

WHEREAS, during the 109th Congress, which began its session on January 1, 2005, the proposed federal legislation to create a United States Department of Peace will be reintroduced; and

WHEREAS, the proposed federal legislation to create a United States Department of Peace will establish a cabinet-level Department of Peace, which will be headed by a Secretary of Peace who will advise the President on issues that are both domestic and international in scope; and

WHEREAS, the Department of Peace will consist of seven (7) offices including:

• An Office of Peace Education and Training whose responsibility, in cooperation with the Secretary of Education is to develop a peace curriculum and supporting materials for distribution to the department of education in each state and territory for the building of communicative peace skills, nonviolent conflict resolution skills, and other objectives to increase knowledge of peace processes, including the development of a Peace Academy;

• An Office of Domestic Peace Activities whose responsibilities are 1) to develop policies that increase awareness about intervention and counseling on domestic violence and conflict, 2) to develop policy alternatives for the treatment of drug and alcohol abuse, 3) to develop new policies and build on existing programs responsive to the prevention of crime, including the development of community policing strategies and peaceful settlement skills among police and other public safety officers, and 4) to develop community-based strategies for celebrating diversity and promoting tolerance;

• An Office of International Peace Activities whose responsibilities are 1) to provide for the training and deployment of all Peace Academy graduates and other nonmilitary conflict prevention and peacemaking personnel, 2) to sponsor country and regional conflict prevention and dispute resolution initiatives in countries experiencing social, political, and economic strife, 3) to advocate the creation of a multinational nonviolent peace force, 4) to provide training for the administration of post-conflict reconstruction and demobilization in war-torn societies, and 5) to provide for the exchange between individuals of the U.S. and other nations who are endeavoring to develop domestic and international peace-based initiatives;

• An Office of Technology for Peace whose responsibilities are 1) to carry out the functions in the department affecting the awareness, study, and impact of developing new technologies on the creation and maintenance of domestic and international peace, 2) to provide grants for the research and development of technologies in transportation, communications, and energy that are nonviolent in their application and encourage the conservation and sustainability of natural resources in order to prevent future conflicts regarding scare resources;

• An Office of Arms Control and Disarmament whose responsibilities are 1) to advise the Secretary of Peace on all interagency discussions and all international negotiations regarding the reduction and elimination of weapons of mass destruction throughout the world including the dismantling of such weapons and the safe and secure storage of related materials, 2) to assist nations, international agencies and non-governmental organizations in assessing the locations of the buildup of nuclear arms, 3) to develop nonviolent strategies to deter the testing or use of offensive or defensive nuclear weapons, whether based on land, air, sea, or in outer space, 4) to serve as a depository for copies of all contracts, agreements, and treaties that deal with the reduction and elimination of nuclear weapons or the protection of outer space for militarization, and 5) to provide technical support and legal assistance for the implementation of such agreements;

• An Office of Peaceful Coexistence and Nonviolent Conflict Resolution whose responsibilities are 1) to carry out those functions in the department affecting research and analysis relating to creating, initiating, and modeling approaches to peaceful coexistence and nonviolent conflict resolution, 2) to study the impact of war, especially on the physical and mental condition of children which shall include the effect of war on the environment and public health, 3) to publish a monthly journal of the activities of the department and encourage scholarly participation, 4) to gather information on effective community peace-building activities and disseminate such information to local governments and non-governmental organizations in the U.S. and abroad, 5) to research the effect of violence in the media and make such reports available to the Congress annually, and 6) to sponsor conferences throughout the U.S. to create awareness of the work of the department; and

• An Office of Human Rights and Economic Rights whose responsibilities are 1) to carry out those functions of the department supporting the principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights passed by the General Assembly of the United Nations on December 10, 1948, 2) to assist the Secretary of Peace, in cooperation with the Secretary of State, in furthering the incorporation of principles of human rights, as enunciated in the United Nations General Assembly Resolution of December 10, 1948, into all agreements between the U.S. and other nations to help reduce the causes of violence, 3) to gather information on and document human rights abuses, both domestically and internationally, and recommend to the Secretary of Peace nonviolent responses to correct abuses, 4) to make such findings available to other agencies in order to facilitate nonviolent conflict resolution, 5) to conduct economic analyses of the scarcity of human and natural resources as a source of conflict and to make recommendations to the Secretary of Peace for nonviolent prevention of such scarcity, nonviolent intervention in case of scarcity, and the development of programs of assistance for people experiencing such scarcity, whether due to armed conflict, maldistribution of resources, or natural causes, and 6) to assist the Secretary of Peace, in cooperation with the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Treasury, in developing strategies regarding the sustainability and the management of the distribution of funds from international agencies, the conditions regarding the receipt of such funds, and the impact of those conditions on the peace and stability of the recipient nations;

WHEREAS, the proposed federal legislation to create a United States Department of Peace will benefit the City of Oakland by holding peace as an organizing principle for the American Society, which will change the tone of the society; and

WHEREAS, the proposed federal legislation to create a United States Department of Peace will benefit the City of Oakland by developing new programs that relate to the societal challenges of domestic violence, school violence, guns, racial or ethnic violence, violence against gays and lesbians, and police-community relations disputes, which will assist members of our Police Department in experiencing fewer dangerous encounters especially while making routine runs; and

WHEREAS, the proposed federal legislation to create a United States Department of Peace will benefit the City of Oakland by encouraging the development of initiatives from the community, its religious groups and its non-governmental organizations, which will cause greater community involvement thereby creating a stronger City; and

WHEREAS, the proposed federal legislation to create a United States Department of Peace will benefit the City of Oakland by eventually reducing federal spending on the military budget, which is 399 billion for fiscal year 2004-2005, thereby redirecting funds to the states and cities and assisting in the balancing of our City budget;

WHEREAS, the proposed federal legislation to create a United States Department of Peace has fifty-two (52) sponsors of the members of the United States House of Representatives including Representative Barbara Lee, who represents Oakland; now therefore be it

RESOLVED that the Oakland City Council adopts this resolution in favor of the proposed federal legislation to create a United States Department of Peace; and be it

FURTHER RESOLVED that the Oakland City Council adopts this resolution in support of Rep. John Conyers, Jr. and of Rep. Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick’s sponsorship of the proposed federal legislation to create a United States Department of Peace; and be it

FURTHER RESOLVED that the Oakland City Council acknowledges Rep. Barbara Lee and the other 11 members of the California delegation for their sponsorship of the proposed federal legislation to create a United States Department of Peace; and be it

FURTHER RESOLVED that Rep. Lee is encouraged to use the powers of her office to urge other members of the United States House of Representatives, including the remaining forty (40) members of the California Delegation who have not yet become sponsors of the proposed federal legislation to create a United States Department of Peace, to sign on as sponsors of the bill; and be it

FURTHER RESOLVED that, when the United States Senate introduces the same bill to create a United States Department of Peace, Rep. Lee is encouraged to use the powers of their office to urge U.S. Senators Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein to sign on as sponsors of the Senate bill.