http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0504/14/lol.02.htmlFrom avoiding war to curbing gang violence to promoting civil rights, this bill would create a new cabinet-level position, a secretary of peace appointed by the president of the United States.
Congressman Dennis Kucinich of Ohio created that legislation. Best-selling author and co-founder of the Peace Alliance, Marianne Williamson is helping him with this grassroots effort. They both join me live. Great to have you both.
REP. DENNIS KUCINICH (D), OHIO: Thank you very much, Kyra.
MARIANNE WILLIAMSON, AUTHOR, "THE GIFT OF CHANGE": Thank you. PHILLIPS: Congressman, let's start with you. And tell our views, how is this different from other departments, say the State Department?
KUCINICH: Well, the State Department's job is to advance U.S. interests. The Department of Peace would embrace the concerns of people all over the world, but specifically would work to avert from war, would give the president a whole range of options other than having to go to war and, quite possibly, help avoid unnecessary wars.
PHILLIPS: We'll get into more detail about that in a minute. And Marianne you said that, quote, "What marching through the streets was to the '60s, walking through the halls of Congress is now." What to you mean why that?
WILLIAMSON: Well, this legislation is an example of the kind of thing that can happen in Washington that can have a fundamental effect on the way our nation does business, not only domestically, but internationally. And so I think that that statement speaks to a general uprising of civic concern and political activism among people today. And the Department of Peace represents the kind of new thinking that can infuse governmental action that a lot of people wish to see occur.
PHILLIPS: Now, Congressman, I'll tell you, I read that legislation. And I'm going to ask you specifically about Section 12, and that's the consultation part. Let's say before OIF, before the war in Iraq, a secretary of peace would have been an adviser to the president, along with other secretaries.
It says here the secretary of defense and the secretary of state shall consult with the secretary of peace concerning non-violent means of conflict resolution. So give me a little more detail on the role of this secretary of peace and if, indeed, you had to go to war, there would be options there, too, on how this position would be utilized.
KUCINICH: Well, first of all, in the case of Iraq, secretary of peace could have advised the president that there didn't appear to be enough proof to warrant the United States taking the action and that, furthermore, the work of the United Nations and U.N. inspectors appeared to have been sufficient enough to guarantee that there were no weapons of mass destruction. Now, that's with respect to international matters.
On a domestic level, Kyra, this department can help to address the issues in our society of domestic violence, spousal abuse, child abuse, violence in the schools. Look at how many school stories you cover about violence in the schools. This department will create programs practically -- practical application of principles of non- violence to help lift this scourge of violence from our schools.
PHILLIPS: We talk about international and domesitc missions within this department. Marianne, and you told me the Peace Academy is a part of this legislation. Explain what that is and how that would help in both of these missions. WILLIAMSON: Just as we have a military academy where we study, of course, the most cutting-edge ways to effectively wage war, the Peace Academy would be a sister organization institution in which we will study and teach the most cutting-edge ways to wage peace. The Congressman was just talking about specific strategies for conflict resolution. You will have programs at the Peace Academy. It will be a kind of best practices model. What are the best practices for teaching non-violence, conflict resolution, for instance, among school-age children, domestic abuse.
You know, the city of Detroit, officially -- the city council of Detroit officially endorsed this resolution, and one of the reasons was because 80 percent of all police runs in the city of Detroit deal with domestic abuse. Look how that sucks from the financial and personal resources of the city.
So this, the Peace Academy would be able to help cities throughout the country identify, articulate and facilitate non-violent solutions, programs, specific strategies, whether you're dealing with gang members in East L.A. and of course from an international perspective, it could be dealing with teenagers, Palestinian and Israeli teenagers. Because the kind of psychological and emotional processes apply the same way.
PHILLIPS: And you brought up the financial aspects and I want to ask you, Congressman, about that. You say it would take $8 billion to build this U.S. Department of Peace. Critics might say, Congressman, the last thing we need is another governmental entity where our taxpayers are going toward and we really don't know what's happening within that department. Tell me how you justify that number to the critics?
KUCINICH: Kyra, we're spending every year over $400 billion for the military. We're spending close to $270 billion total, once the Senate approves the bill, for the war in Iraq. How much better it would be to dedicate a small percentage of the kind of money we spent preparing for war, to spend money preparing for peace? There's a whole philosophy behind this, and if your viewers go to the Web site at kuncinich.us., they will see the philosophy, that war is not inevitable, peace is inevitable if we're willing to work for it and if we're committed to principles of non-violence in our life of -- in the life of our nation and in discourse between nations.
PHILLIPS: Congressman, in addition to that Web site, Marianne, you also told me about the peacealliance.org. You can log on to that, read about the legislation, read about the efforts from the political side of things. Marianne, to your site also, with the Peace Alliance. We're going to follow this. Congressman, you're introducing this in September, correct?
KUCINICH: Yes, because -- I'm introducing it in September and I want to thank Marianne and all the members of the Peace Alliance for their support, because it is so imperative that we start to change the memory of September 11th to being one of deep grief, which we all share, to a new beginning for peace, so that, from the ashes of the World Trade Center, will rise a new hope for America, a hope that we can create a world of peace and a nation of peace.
PHILLIPS: And a shift of consciousness that both of you talk about. You can read Marianne's column on her Web site and read this legislation on Dennis Kucinich's Web site. Both of you, thank you so much. We'll follow up.
WILLIAMSON: Thank you.
KUCINICH: Thank you.
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