![\"Field](\"http:\/\/org.salsalabs.com\/o\/696\/images\/field%20photos\/images_8919_b3a1eb42b30_original.jpg\")
<\/span>Peacebuilding is analyzing the root causes of violence \u2013 both internationally and domestically \u2013 and supporting proven, cost-effective policies and programs that prevent and alleviate violence. \u00a0Peacebuilders widely acknowledge that peace begins by listening to each other, fostering relationships, and building upon commonalities.<\/p>\nWith that in mind, the National Committee for a Department of Peacebuilding and supporters went to Capitol Hill for an extended International Day(s) of Peace to mainstream peacebuilding into the national conversation as we walked the halls of Congress.<\/p>\n
Together we attended scheduled and impromptu meetings, and encountered many members of Congress. Among others,<\/b> we met with the staffs of Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX-30), DoP Sponsor Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA-13), House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI-1), and Senator Bernie Sanders (D-VT). We encountered many members of Congress, including Rep. John Conyers (D-MI-13), Rep. Janice Hahn (D-CA-44), Rep. Hank Johnson (D-GA-4), Rep. John Lewis (D-GA-5), and Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA-43).<\/p>\n
Jason Merritt and Myriah Pahl \u2013 who were new to lobbying \u2013 succeeded in getting their member of Congress, Rep. Nydia Velazquez (D-NY-7), to sign back on as a DoP cosponsor. \u00a0This increases the number of DoP cosponsors to 40.<\/b> Others may sign on in 2016. Some committed to cosponsor the DoP 2017 legislation which will be introduced in early 2017 \u2013 and even to be original cosponsors.<\/p>\n
While we were in Washington, gun violence and police violence permeated the atmosphere. \u00a0We \u2013 legislators, their staffers and Peace Alliance advocates \u2013 dialogued about violence prevention, divisiveness and gridlock. We asked about the thoughts of legislators on building a more peaceful society.<\/p>\n
We talked about creating a U.S. Department of Peacebuilding to make peace a national priority by giving peacebuilding a prominent and ongoing voice in our government. We talked about other governance and peacebuilding initiatives and legislation supported by legislators we visited. We talked about poverty and its relationship to violence. We talked about the role of women in building peace.<\/p>\n
We also presented \u201cPeace Pioneer\u201d pins to current DoP cosponsors and others for their courage in standing for a DoP and other peacebuilding initiatives.<\/p>\n
We were joined in our advocacy by those who signed letters and petitions \u2013 particularly folks from CA, MA and NY \u2013 and by supporters who called from their home districts to AMPLIFIED our DC visits.<\/p>\n
For more details about our September 2016 peacebuilding advocacy in Washington, DC, see the full article \u201cReaching Across the Aisle on Peace Day: Building Peace into the National Conversation<\/a><\/b>.\u201d See also \u201cWonky Stuff: Peace-related Initiatives in the Works<\/a>\u201d and \u201cDennis Kucinich Speaks on Peace at the World Beyond War Conference in Washington, DC in September.<\/a>\u201d All three articles are posted at www.peacealliance.org in the Movers and Shakers\u2019 section.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In our national dialogue, peacebuilding often gets lost in the cacophony of divisiveness and diversion. During the week of International Day of Peace (IDoP) (September 21st), supporters of legislation to create a cabinet-level Department of Peacebuilding (DoP or HR 1111), commemorated IDoP by building peace into our conversations at the offices of nearly 90 members of Congress, including at least 73 Democrats and 15 Republicans.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":5681,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5678","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-homepage"],"yoast_head":"\n