Action: Mother’s Day Piece of the Pie

Mother’s Day was originally a call for a day of peace by Julia Ward Howe after she experienced the horrors of war while tending the wounded during the American civil war. 

Make this Mother’s Day a call for our nation to prioritize peacebuilding by establishing a U.S. Department of Peacebuilding, by seeking solutions to prevent gun violence and by practicing peace in our personal lives, the community, schools, a more humane justice system and internationally. 

You can do this by completing one or both of these actions.

1) Scheduling a “Mother’s Day Pie” meeting with your member of Congress and your Senators (and/or their staff members) to tell them peace wants a piece of our federal budget pie and urging them to cosponsor Congresswoman Barbara Lee’s Department of Peacebuilding Act of 2017 (HR 1111) (Congressperson’s office can contact [email protected] to sign on).

2) Signing this petition to your member of Congress and Senators.

Violence manifests in many ways.  It endangers, impacts or takes the lives of those who are shot or violated in our homes, our neighborhoods, our churches, our schools, our theaters and clubs, our work places.  It is inequality, militarism, racism and poverty.  It is preventable.  Peacebuilding includes violence-prevention policies and programs that work.  Peacebuilding saves lives and money. For every dollar invested now, the cost of conflict could be reduced by $16 over the long run.  We cannot afford to neglect peacebuilding.  Even dedicating as little as 1% of the federal discretionary budget to peacebuilding will make a huge difference.

A DEPARTMENT OF PEACEBUILDING MATTERS

Peacebuilding is multi-faceted. Legislation calling for a cabinet-level Department of Peacebuilding (HR 1111) includes the following offices: 1) Peace & Education Training; 2) Domestic Peacebuilding Activities; 3) International Peacebuilding Activities; 4) Technology for Peace; 5) Arms Control & Disarmament; 6) Information & Research; 7) Human Rights & Economic Rights; 8) Intergovernmental Advisory Council on Peace; and 9)  Federal Interagency Committee on Peace.

Ask your member of Congress to co-sponsor
The Act to Establish a U.S. Department of Peacebuilding