October 1, 2007
by Robert Weir

Mayor, Vice Mayor, Commissioners of the City of Kalamazoo,

Our request by members of the Department of Peace campaign that you adopt a resolution to support the Department of Peace and Nonviolence legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives is a serious request.

The campaign to establish a Department of Peace is a nationwide effort. Citizen lobbyists are active in every state in the nation and in two-thirds of the U.S. Congressional districts.

To date, 22 city commissions, two county councils and one tribe have adopted similar resolutions.

People are engaged in similar campaigns to establish a high level peace department within the governments of 30 other nations.

We want peace and nonviolence to become the paradigm of thought and action within our communities, our nation and the world.

We are not against any particular war. We are for peace.

We are not against the military. The Department of Peace will complement the Department of State and the Department of Defense in an attempt to make warfare the action of last resort.

We are not against the troops. We are pro nonviolent resolution to conflict so that placing our soldiers in danger would also be an action of last resort.

We are not isolationists. Far from it. We favor discussion, détente and diplomacy to reach understanding.

We are not making a statement about the current administration in Washington. We are saying that we want a Secretary of Peace, sitting on the President's Cabinet – whoever that President might be – proactively seeking nonviolent resolution to conflict, both internationally and within our country and our communities.

We are not making a partisan statement. The Department of Peace campaign invites all persons, regardless of party affiliation, to participate in this growing peace process.

We are reaching across all borders, boundaries and barriers and sayiing, "Let's talk rather than fight."

Once the Department of Peace is established, we envision news reports in which words such as "Today, the Department of Peace announced …" to show that peace is the primary paradigm in this country.

We envision a Peace Academy, patterned after our four military academies, that will teach college-age people nonviolent conflict resolution skills that they can use within communities and around the world.

We envision the Department of Peace being the high-level government entity under which the Peace Corps, the U.S. Institute of Peace, and similar existing agencies will function more efficiently, effectively and with greater continuity.

We envision the Department of Peace working with the courts and the Department of Education to reduce violence on the streets and in our schools.

We envision the Department of Peace being a clearinghouse of information so that people and agencies with successful community programs can better share those programs with other communities.

A prime example of this is the youth and family program in Harlem, New York, that some of you experienced this past week.

By sharing such programs, we can help our troubled youth, our homeless, our displaced families, our young pregnant unwed mothers, the poor – and all of us – have a better and more prosperous quality of life.

Some people might think that the Department of Peace and Nonviolence is a national issue and shouldn't be addressed at the community level. I don't think that is true. Decisions made in Washington impact the people and communities. Therefore, we at the community level have a responsibility to send our messages back to Washington.

Here in Michigan's 6th Congressional District, the Department of Peace campaign has over 500 active or interested members. About half of our membership lives in the greater Kalamazoo area.

We are citizen lobbyists. Our purpose is to ask our U.S. Congressman to vote for the Department of Peace and Nonviolence legislation.

Every month, we send Fred Upton a letter, signed by the 12 to 20 plus people at our monthly meetings. In the just the last four months, we have sent him petitions from nearly 700 persons.

We are asking you, the City Commission of Kalamazoo, to join the voices of constituents who are asking for a paradigm of peace through understanding within our nation – and for the Department of Peace and Nonviolence to be the major governmental platform for that paradigm.

This is a serious request. I sincerely ask that you consider our request carefully and that you formally adopt the resolution before you.

Thank you.