Released on: September 8, 2007, 10:03 am

Press Release Author: The Peace Alliance

Industry: Non Profit

Press Release Summary: [ Washington, DC] On September 15th, citizens across the
country will participate in a nationwide "Walk for Peace" to be in over 23 states.
The walks are intended to raise public awareness of the deep need for increased
efforts in violence reduction and prevention, and specifically to educate people on
HR 808, current legislation in the House of Representatives to create a
cabinet-level U.S. Department of Peace and Nonviolence. This is the second annual
walkathon sponsored by The Peace Alliance, the nonprofit, non-partisan citizen
action organization leading the rapidly growing national grassroots campaign to
create a U.S. Department of Peace.

Press Release Body: [ Washington, DC] On September 15th, citizens across the
country will participate in a nationwide "Walk for Peace" to be in over 23 states.
The walks are intended to raise public awareness of the deep need for increased
efforts in violence reduction and prevention, and specifically to educate people on
HR 808, current legislation in the House of Representatives to create a
cabinet-level U.S. Department of Peace and Nonviolence. This is the second annual
walkathon sponsored by The Peace Alliance, the nonprofit, non-partisan citizen
action organization leading the rapidly growing national grassroots campaign to
create a U.S. Department of Peace.

"Millions of lives are lost or permanently affected by violence in this country
alone," said Peace Alliance Executive Director Dot Maver, noting that, according to
the FBI Crime Statistics Report, there were nearly 1.4 million violent crimes
reported in the United States in 2005. "This number doesn't include unreported
crimes," Maver continued. "It's a sobering reminder that violence has become a
leading public health issue that costs us billions of dollars every year." Maver
added that a 2004 World Health Organization report found that the United States
spends between $300 billion and $500 billion per year on the after-effects of
violence, not including war-related costs. "We have to get serious about reducing
and preventing violence," Maver said. "We can't afford not to."

Domestically, the Department of Peace will research, propose and facilitate
practical, field-tested solutions to reduce and prevent violence. It will provide
additional and much-needed financial and institutional heft to strengthen and
complement our current approach to violence, adding a much-needed focus on
prevention through increased education funding for local programs that are proven
effective at reducing and preventing violence.

Internationally, the Department will advise the President and Congress on the most
innovative techniques to establish and promote peace among nations, and will
research and analyze the root causes of war to help prevent conflicts from
escalating to the point of violence. It will create a Peace Academy, on par with the
Military Service Academies, to build a world-class faculty of peacebuilding experts,
many of whom currently live in the United States. They will analyze peacebuilding at
the highest level, advise other branches of government, and expand the training of
civilian and military peacekeepers.

Please visit www.thepeacealliance.org for more information on Walks for Peace events
in your area, the legislation and the grassroots campaign.


Web Site: http://www.thepeacealliance.org/

Contact Details: Patty Kuderer,
Director of Communications
The Peace Alliance
206-910-2422
press@thepeacealliance.org