WASHINGTON - April 26 - Around the country on Friday May 12th, women bearing "Peace Pies" as gifts will celebrate Mother's Day by visiting their U.S. Senators and Representatives and urging them to support landmark legislation that would create a U.S. Department of Peace.

The pies (representing the federal budget) will be sliced to show how little money - the equivalent of just two percent of the more than $400 billion the U.S. currently allocates for defense spending - would be required to establish the agency.

Mothers around the world have long championed peace. In fact, the desire for world peace was what inspired Julia Ward Howe to establish a special peace day in Boston honoring mothers in 1872. Howe, who wrote the words to The Battle Hymn of the Republic, dedicated Mother's Day to peace after living through the horrors of the U.S. Civil War. She asked: "Why do not the mothers of mankind interfere in these matters to prevent the waste of that human life of which they alone bear and know the cost?"

The Mother's Day events are sponsored by The Peace Alliance, a non-partisan, non-profit organization devoted to building support for passage of The Department of Peace and Nonviolence Act (Senate Bill S1756, and House Bill 3760), currently co-sponsored by sixty-three representatives and two senators. The Peace Alliance has inspired a growing grassroots movement in all 50 states for creation of the Department of Peace.

The Department of Peace would research and analyze foreign policy and recommend to the President ways to address the root causes of war. A Peace Academy, on par with the Military Academies, would train civilian peacekeepers and the military in the latest nonviolent conflict resolution techniques and approaches. The De-partment would also provide expert advice to the President when diffusing or dealing with international crises. Domestically, the Department would be responsible for developing new policies that address issues such as child abuse, domestic violence, gang violence, and cultural and racial violence. Statistics reveal that each year, medi-cal expenses from domestic violence alone total at least $3 to $5 billion. Businesses forfeit another $100 million in lost wages, sick leave, absenteeism and non-productivity due to domestic violence. Teaching violence preven-tion and mediation to America's school children is just one of the many ways a U.S. Department of Peace would reduce violence in our homes and schools.

The drive to establish governmental bodies dedicated to peace is global in scope, with grassroots organizations in Great Britain, Israel, Palestine, Japan, Canada, Costa Rica and elsewhere urging their governments to establish their own Departments, or Ministries, of Peace. Representatives from these countries and many others are calling on their governments to declare Sept 21st a global ceasefire day, in honor of the United Nations' International Day of Peace.

"The concept of peace is a universal ethic and we are all challenged to govern ourselves in a culture of peace," said Peace Alliance Executive Director Dot Maver, who recently addressed the Values Caucus at the United Nations. "It is time to create an infrastructure for peace that will focus on the principles of nonviolence and coop-eration. I'd love to see the U.S. lead the global community in this endeavor. A Department of Peace would send a powerful proclamation to Americans and the world that the United States intends to use its great strength to participate in peace."

"The International Day of Peace calls for a day of global ceasefire and nonviolence. We want nonviolent conflict resolution to become part of our everyday lives."

For more information on the Department of Peace and our campaign, please visit The Peace Alliance website at: www.thepeacealliance.org. For more information about the International Day of Peace, please visit their website at: www.InternationalDayofPeace.org.

###