I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1111 
To establish a Department of Peacebuilding, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 18, 2021 
Ms. LEE of California introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Oversight and Reform 
A BILL 
To establish a Department of Peacebuilding, and for other 
purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘Department of Peacebuilding Act of 2021’’. 
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 
this Act is as follows: 
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 
Sec. 2. Findings. 
TITLE I—ESTABLISHMENT OF DEPARTMENT OF PEACEBUILDING 
Sec. 101. Establishment of Department of Peacebuilding. 
Sec. 102. Responsibilities and powers. 
Sec. 103. Principal officers. 
Sec. 104. Office of Peace Education and Training. 
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Sec. 105. Office of Domestic Peacebuilding Activities. 
Sec. 106. Office of International Peacebuilding Activities. 
Sec. 107. Office of Technology for Peace. 
Sec. 108. Office of Arms Control and Disarmament. 
Sec. 109. Office of Peacebuilding Information and Research. 
Sec. 110. Office of Human Rights and Economic Rights. 
Sec. 111. Intergovernmental Advisory Council on Peace. 
Sec. 112. Federal Interagency Committee on Peace. 
Sec. 113. Staff. 
Sec. 114. Consultation required. 
Sec. 115. Collaboration. 
TITLE II—OTHER MATTERS 
Sec. 201. Legislative recommendations of the Secretary. 
Sec. 202. Peace Days. 
Sec. 203. Definitions. 
Sec. 204. Authorization of appropriations. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) On July 4, 1776, the Second Continental 
Congress unanimously declared the independence of 
the 13 colonies, and the achievement of peace was 
recognized as one of the highest duties of the new 
organization of free and independent States by de-
claring, ‘‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, 
that all men are created equal, that they are en-
dowed by their Creator with certain unalienable 
Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the 
pursuit of Happiness.’’. 
(2) The Constitution of the United States, in 
its preamble, further sets forth the insurance of the 
cause of peace in stating, ‘‘We the People of the 
United States, in Order to form a more perfect 
Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tran-
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quility, provide for the common defence, promote the 
general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty 
to ourselves and our Posterity’’. 
(3) The United States has been at peace for 
only 21 entire years since its birth during the Revo-
lutionary War. During the course of the 20th cen-
tury, more than 100,000,000 people perished in 
wars. Many of our citizens today have never known 
a peaceful year in their lifetimes. 
(4) Thus far in the 21st century, nearly 
1,000,000 people have died in conflict and war. The 
United Nations reports that as of 2019 over 79.6 
million people have fled their homes due to war, per-
secution and conflict. Since late 2001, the United 
States appropriated and was obligated to spend an 
estimated $6.4 trillion through Fiscal Year 2020 in 
budgetary costs related to and caused by post 9/11 
wars and an additional minimum of $1 trillion to 
care for veterans of these wars for several decades. 
(5) The physical, emotional, monetary, and 
other costs of violence are enormous, cut across all 
sectors of society in the United States, dispropor-
tionately impact people of color, and are inter-
related. A World Health Organization report esti-
mates that interpersonal violence within the United 
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States costs approximately $300 billion annually, not 
including war-related costs. The Centers for Disease 
Control and Prevention reports one in four children 
experience some form of child abuse or neglect in 
their lifetimes; nearly one in four women report hav-
ing experienced severe physical violence from an inti-
mate partner; Native American women are sexually 
assaulted, murdered and disappeared at higher rates 
than other American women. There are 3.3 million 
reports of violence against children that result in 
foster care placements every year; 25 percent of kids 
in foster care experience PTSD, fewer than 3 per-
cent earn a college degree; 20 percent become home-
less after the age of 18; and only 50 percent will be 
employed by the age of 24. One in five high school 
students reported being bullied at school during 
2017 and cyberbullying impacts many young people. 
Criminalization disproportionately impacts African 
Americans and other people of color, including high 
rates of school suspensions and expulsions and in-
carceration. African Americans are incarcerated at 
more than five times the rate of Whites. Suicide im-
pacts young people in both affluent and non-affluent 
communities. In 2015, 17 percent of students con-
sidered attempting suicide. Suicide is the second 
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leading cause of death among American Indian and 
Alaska Natives aged 10 to 34. Approximately 20 
veterans a day commit suicide nationwide. About 14 
young people die from homicides each day. Research 
shows victims of one form of violence are more likely 
to experience other forms of violence. A past history 
of violence, including domestic violence; use of alco-
hol or illegal drugs; being young and male; or a per-
sonal history of physical or sexual abuse or trauma, 
increases the risk of more violence, obesity, high-risk 
sexual behavior, depression, academic difficulties, 
school dropout and suicide. 
(6) More people have died from guns in the 
United States since 1968 than on battlefields of all 
the wars in United States history. Every year 
250,000 people are killed by gun violence around the 
world, a third of those in Brazil and the United 
States. Firearms are the second leading cause of 
death for American children and teens and the first 
leading cause of death for Black children and teens. 
Every day 47 children and teens in the United 
States are shot and 96 Americans are killed by gun 
violence. During 2017 and 2018, there was one mass 
shooting almost every day in the United States. 
Young people go to school wondering where to hide 
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when a shooter enters their classroom. Each gun in-
jury and fatality results in trauma to family mem-
bers and loved ones. 
(7) According to a report by the Institute of 
Economics and Peace, which measures the economic 
impact of violence and conflict to the global econ-
omy, the economic impact of violence to the global 
economy was $14.76 trillion in 2017. The report 
also found that the regional impact of violence in 
North America, 99 percent of which can be attrib-
uted to the United States, amounted to $2.73 tril-
lion in 2017. If violence containment spending was 
reduced by 15 percent, the world would save $1.4 
trillion, which would be the funding required to 
achieve the United Nations Millennium Development 
Goals of halving extreme poverty rates, ensuring 
healthy lives for all, halting the spread of HIV and 
AIDS, providing universal primary education, decent 
jobs, gender equality, promoting peaceful, inclusive 
and just societies, and more. Three percent of 
United States military spending could end starvation 
on earth. 
(8) Peace is the essential prerequisite for the 
survival of humanity as we know it in the 21st cen-
tury. Preventing violence and redirecting funds spent 
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on the costs of violence free monies and resources to 
create conditions that are conducive to a culture of 
peace. 
(9) Violence prevention is cost effective. For 
every dollar spent on violence prevention and 
peacebuilding, thousands of lives and dollars are 
saved. Research indicates that investing early to pre-
vent conflicts from escalating into violent crises is, 
on average, 60 times more cost effective than inter-
vening after violence erupts. The philosophy and 
techniques of nonviolence and the science of 
peacebuilding provide tools and techniques that can 
be applied not only at the levels of individual and 
community growth, but also within the Federal Gov-
ernment and at national and international levels. 
(10) The United Nations recognizes that pro-
motion of peace is vital for the full enjoyment of all 
human rights and the United Nations Declaration 
on the Right of Peoples to Peace mandates that 
preservation of the right to peace is a fundamental 
obligation of each country. In 1999, the United Na-
tions adopted a Programme of Action on a Culture 
of Peace, stating that a culture of peace is an inte-
gral approach to preventing violence and violent con-
flicts, an alternative to the culture of war and vio-
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lence, and is based on education for peace, the pro-
motion of sustainable economic and social develop-
ment, respect for human rights, equality between 
women and men, democratic participation, tolerance, 
the free flow of information, and disarmament. The 
United Nations declared the years 2001 through 
2010 an International Decade for a Culture of Peace 
and Non-Violence for the Children of the World, and 
the United Nations supports a culture of peace. In 
2015, the United Nations adopted 17 sustainable 
development goals, including promotion of peaceful 
and inclusive societies which recognize the link be-
tween justice, human rights, and government based 
on the rule of law and peace. 
(11) Peacebuilding is defined by the United Na-
tions as a range of measures targeted to reduce the 
risk of lapsing or relapsing into conflict by strength-
ening national capacities at all levels for conflict 
management and to lay the foundations for sustain-
able peace and development. Peacebuilding is built 
upon research into the root causes of violence in the 
United States and the world, through promotion and 
promulgation of effective policies and programs that 
ameliorate those root causes of violence, and through 
providing all citizens, organizations, and govern-
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mental bodies with opportunities to learn about and 
practice the essential tools of nonviolent conflict res-
olution and peacebuilding. 
(12) In 2000, the Earth Charter Commission 
released the Earth Charter, an international declara-
tion of fundamental values and principles created to 
build a just, sustainable, and peaceful global society. 
The preamble of the Earth Charter provides, ‘‘To 
move forward we must recognize that in the midst 
of a magnificent diversity of cultures and life forms 
we are one human family and one Earth community 
with a common destiny. We must join together to 
bring forth a sustainable global society founded on 
respect for nature, universal human rights, economic 
justice, and a culture of peace.’’. Peacebuilding is 
working together with all countries to protect both 
life and land and hold the Earth in balance. 
(13) Systemic racism is a significant driver of 
violence and key obstacle to peace in the United 
States. Confronting and uprooting systemic racism 
in America will require efforts by the Federal Gov-
ernment both to properly acknowledge, memorialize, 
and be a catalyst for progress toward permanently 
eliminating persistent racial inequities, including 
through a United States Commission on Truth, Ra-
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cial Healing, and Transformation, and to develop 
material remedies for the institution of slavery, in-
cluding through a United States Commission to 
Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for Afri-
can-Americans. 
TITLE 
I—ESTABLISHMENT 
OF 
DEPARTMENT 
OF 
PEACEBUILDING 
SEC. 
101. 
ESTABLISHMENT 
OF 
DEPARTMENT 
OF 
PEACEBUILDING. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is hereby established a 
Department of Peacebuilding, which shall— 
(1) be within the executive branch of the Fed-
eral Government; and 
(2) be dedicated to peacebuilding, peacemaking, 
and the study and promotion of conditions conducive 
to both domestic and international peace and a cul-
ture of peace. 
(b) SECRETARY OF PEACEBUILDING.—There shall be 
at the head of the Department a Secretary of 
Peacebuilding, who shall be appointed by the President, 
by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. 
(c) MISSION.—The Department shall— 
(1) cultivate peace and peacebuilding as a stra-
tegic national policy objective; 
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(2) reduce and prevent violence in the United 
States and internationally through peacebuilding and 
effective nonviolent conflict resolution; 
(3) strengthen nonmilitary means of peace-
making; 
(4) take a proactive, strategic approach in the 
development of field-tested best practices and poli-
cies that promote national and international conflict 
prevention, 
nonviolent 
intervention, 
mediation, 
peaceful resolution of conflict, and structured medi-
ation of conflict; 
(5) address matters both domestic and inter-
national in scope; 
(6) address the interconnection of all life and 
the intersectionality of peace and justice, equality, 
health, healing, national security, education, the 
economy, rule of law, democracy, planetary survival, 
and other aspects of civil rights, civil liberties, and 
human rights; 
(7) provide an institutional platform for the 
growing wealth of expertise in peacebuilding to dra-
matically reduce the national and global epidemic of 
violence; 
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(8) support local communities in finding, fund-
ing, replicating, and expanding programs to reduce 
and prevent violence; 
(9) invest in nongovernmental organizations 
that have implemented successful initiatives to re-
duce and prevent violence, both internationally and 
domestically; and 
(10) consult with other Federal agencies to 
apply and practice the science of peacebuilding in 
their respective fields of responsibility. 
SEC. 102. RESPONSIBILITIES AND POWERS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall, on an ongo-
ing basis— 
(1) work proactively and interactively with each 
branch of the Federal Government on all policy mat-
ters relating to conditions of peace; 
(2) call on the experience and expertise of indi-
viduals and seek participation in the development of 
policy from private, public, and nongovernmental or-
ganizations; 
(3) monitor and analyze causative principles of 
conflict and make policy recommendations for devel-
oping conditions of peace and maintaining peaceful 
conduct; 
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(4) research effective violence reduction pro-
grams and promote and promulgate such programs 
within the Federal Government and society; and 
(5) consult with private, public, and nongovern-
mental organizations to develop a metric model that 
provides the means to measure and report progress 
toward peace in the United States to the President, 
Congress, and the public, and issue reports on such 
progress annually with those reports to be available 
to the public on the website of the Department. 
(b) DOMESTIC RESPONSIBILITIES.—The Secretary 
shall collaborate with governmental and nongovernmental 
organizations and individuals to promote personal and 
community security and peace by— 
(1) developing new policies and supporting ex-
isting policies that effectively address personal and 
family violence, including suicide, domestic violence, 
spousal abuse, child abuse, and mistreatment of the 
elderly and others; 
(2) creating new policies and programs and ex-
panding existing policies and programs that effec-
tively reduce drug and alcohol abuse; 
(3) analyzing existing policies, employing suc-
cessful, field-tested programs, and developing new 
approaches for dealing with the tools of violence, in-
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cluding handguns and assault weapons, especially 
among youth; 
(4) developing new and expanding effective pro-
grams that address and ameliorate societal chal-
lenges such as school violence, gangs, police violence, 
hate crimes, economic injustice, human trafficking, 
racial or ethnic violence, violence against LGBTQ+ 
individuals, and police-community relations disputes; 
(5) making policy recommendations to the At-
torney General of the United States regarding civil 
rights and labor law; 
(6) assisting in the establishment and funding 
of community-based violence prevention programs, 
including virtual violence prevention programs for 
at-home participation, violence prevention counseling 
and peer mediation in schools and via video con-
ferences, and unarmed civilian peacekeeping and cri-
sis mitigation at a local level; 
(7) providing counseling and advocacy on behalf 
of individuals victimized by violence, including those 
with mental health; 
(8) providing for public education programs and 
counseling strategies that promote acceptance and 
respect for the diversity of all individuals in the 
United States without regard to race, religion, creed, 
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gender and gender identification, sexual orientation, 
age, ethnicity, national origin, class and economic 
status, and other perceived differences; and 
(9) supporting local community initiatives that 
draw on neighborhood resources to create peace 
projects that facilitate the development of conflict 
resolution and healing of societal wounds such as pa-
triarchy, racism, war, manifest destiny, and eco-
nomic injustice to thereby inform and inspire na-
tional policy. 
(c) INTERNATIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES.—The Sec-
retary shall— 
(1) advise the Secretary of Defense and the 
Secretary of State on matters relating to national 
security, including the protection of human rights 
and the prevention of, amelioration of, and de-esca-
lation of unarmed and armed international conflict; 
(2) contribute to and participate in the develop-
ment of training of all United States personnel who 
administer post-conflict reconstruction and demobili-
zation in war-torn societies; 
(3) sponsor national and regional conflict-pre-
vention and dispute-resolution initiatives, create spe-
cial task forces, and draw on local, regional, and na-
tional expertise to develop plans and programs for 
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