(8) Such conflict is often taken as a reflection 
of the human condition without questioning whether 
the structures of thought, word, and deed which the 
people of the United States have inherited are any 
longer sufficient for the maintenance, growth, and 
survival of the United States and the world. 
(9) Promoting a culture of peace has been rec-
ognized by the United Nations Educational, Sci-
entific 
and 
Cultural 
Organization 
(UNESCO) 
through passage of a resolution declaring an Inter-
national Decade for a Culture of Peace and Non-Vi-
olence for the Children 2001–2010. The objective is 
to further strengthen the global movement for a cul-
ture of peace following the observance of the Inter-
national Year for the Culture of Peace in 2000. 
(10) We are in a new millennium, and the time 
has come to review age-old challenges with new 
thinking wherein we can conceive of peace as not 
simply being the absence of violence, but the active 
presence of the capacity for a higher evolution of the 
human awareness, of respect, trust, and integrity; 
wherein we all may tap the infinite capabilities of 
humanity to transform consciousness and conditions 
which impel or compel violence at a personal, group, 
or national level toward developing a new under-
standing of, and a commitment to, compassion and 
love, in order to create a ‘‘shining city on a hill’’, the 
light of which is the light of nations. 
TITLE 
I—ESTABLISHMENT 
OF 
DEPARTMENT OF PEACE AND 
NONVIOLENCE 
SEC. 101. ESTABLISHMENT OF DEPARTMENT OF PEACE 
AND NONVIOLENCE. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is hereby established a 
Department of Peace and Nonviolence (hereinafter in this 
Act referred to as the ‘‘Department’’), which shall— 
(1) be a cabinet-level department in the execu-
tive branch of the Federal Government; and 
(2) be dedicated to peacemaking and the study 
of conditions that are conducive to both domestic 
and international peace. 
(b) SECRETARY OF PEACE AND NONVIOLENCE.— 
There shall be at the head of the Department a Secretary 
of Peace and Nonviolence (hereinafter in this Act referred 
to as the ‘‘Secretary’’), who shall be appointed by the 
President, with the advice and consent of the Senate. 
(c) MISSION.—The Department shall— 
(1) hold peace as an organizing principle, co-
ordinating service to every level of American society;
(2) endeavor to promote justice and democratic 
principles to expand human rights; 
(3) strengthen nonmilitary means of peace-
making; 
(4) promote the development of human poten-
tial; 
(5) work to create peace, prevent violence, di-
vert from armed conflict, use field-tested programs, 
and develop new structures in nonviolent dispute 
resolution; 
(6) take a proactive, strategic approach in the 
development of policies that promote national and 
international conflict prevention, nonviolent interven-
tion, mediation, peaceful resolution of conflict, and 
structured mediation of conflict; 
(7) address matters both domestic and inter-
national in scope; and 
(8) encourage the development of initiatives 
from local communities, religious groups, and non-
governmental organizations. 
SEC. 102. RESPONSIBILITIES AND POWERS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall— 
(1) work proactively and interactively with each 
branch of the Federal Government on all policy mat-
ters relating to conditions of peace;
(2) serve as a delegate to the National Security 
Council; 
(3) call on the intellectual and spiritual wealth 
of the people of the United States and seek partici-
pation in its administration and in its development 
of policy from private, public, and nongovernmental 
organizations; and 
(4) monitor and analyze causative principles of 
conflict and make policy recommendations for devel-
oping and maintaining peaceful conduct. 
(b) DOMESTIC RESPONSIBILITIES.—The Secretary 
shall— 
(1) develop policies that address domestic vio-
lence, including spousal abuse, child abuse, and mis-
treatment of the elderly; 
(2) create new policies and incorporate existing 
programs that reduce drug and alcohol abuse; 
(3) develop new policies and incorporate exist-
ing policies regarding crime, punishment, and reha-
bilitation; 
(4) develop policies to address violence against 
animals; 
(5) analyze existing policies, employ successful, 
field-tested programs, and develop new approaches 
for dealing with the implements of violence, includ-