On Friday, September 9, 2005, from 1-2pm on the steps of City Hall, a group of New Yorkers will gather to speak about the Department of Peace (DoP) legislation being reintroduced to the 109th Congress on Wednesday, September 14, 2005; and to thank the 9 New York and 2 New Jersey Congress members who are among the bill’s 53 co-sponsors. Each local co-sponsor has been invited to attend the press conference, along with NYC Council member Bill Perkins, who helped sponsor the press conference and supports the creation of a Department of Peace.
Four years have passed since the worst terrorist attack to happen in New
York City occurred, and many steps have been taken to ensure it does not
happen again. Every necessary precaution to protect this great city should
be enacted, and many New Yorkers are getting behind a proactive solution:
the creation of a United States Department of Peace.
The Department of Peace would work collaboratively with other federal agencies to research, facilitate, and articulate nonviolent solutions to conflict at home and abroad. The DoP New York chapter is sending a delegation to Washington, DC over the anniversary weekend of September 11th, to attend the National Department of Peace Conference where Walter Cronkite is a scheduled guest speaker. Then they will march, but not in the streets of our Nation’s Capitol. Instead they will march through the halls of Congress meeting with lawmakers to win support for this bill.
They have also organized a one-day phone-a-thon, complete with pledge packets that are available on their website (www.nyc-dop.com). There is a twist however, the “pledges” aren’t asking for money, they ask for a promise to call Congress on September 14, to support the bill.
Please join us on Friday, September 9, 2005 from 1-2pm on the steps of City Hall to learn more about this historic legislation and the elected officials working for its passage.
