FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:    John Parker, Media Coordinator
                 The Peace Alliance
                 231-313-1612, This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Washington, DC - 500-plus activists will mark the start of "Peace Within Reach: People and Politics Partnering for our Common Security," with the ringing of the World Harmony Bell at 6:30 p.m. Friday night at the Hyatt Regency Crystal City.

The national conference, organized by The Peace Alliance in conjunction with the Student Peace Alliance, will convene and train youth and adult activists in civics and peacebuilding. Monday, citizens will go to Capitol Hill and meet with their members of Congress to discuss H.R. 808, the bill that establishes a US Department of Peace.

• H.R. 808 currently has 66 co-sponsors, including chair of the House Judiciary Committee John Conyers (D-MI).
  
  
• The Department of Peace beat out 7,874 ideas to win second place in Change.org's "Ideas for Change in America," this past January.
  
  
• H.R. 808 unites practical solutions including (but not limited to): restorative justice, nonviolent conflict management and education, sustainable economics, and national/international security policy.

The World Harmony Bell was specially designed from ammunition casings donated by the Chinese military and combined with recycled scrap metal collected and donated by Students.

The bell is inscribed with the word "Harmony" in the six official languages of the United Nations and was first rung in October 2005 at the United Nations in New York for the UN 60th General Assembly. The Harmony Bell is being made available through the generosity of Mr. Frank Liu, Founder and President of the World Harmony Foundation .

About The Peace Alliance:

The Peace Alliance is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization supporting a growing grassroots movement active in all 50 states to pass legislation to reduce and prevent violence, and to create a U.S. Department of Peace. The bill, HR 808, is currently cosponsored by 66 members of the U.S. House of Representatives, including the original sponsor.

For more information on The Peace Alliance, HR 808, and the campaign to establish a U.S. Department of Peace, please visit www.thepeacealliance.org .