who put forth the original idea of a Peace Department in the US?

[G_j]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Department_of_Peace

United States Department of Peace
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Logo of U.S. Department of Peace MovementThe United States Department of Peace (or DoP) is a proposed cabinet-level department of the executive branch of the U.S. government. The original idea of a Peace Department in the United States dates back to the administration of George Washington, but has been most recently proposed by Rep. Dennis Kucinich in 2001 and formed a part of Kucinich's presidential campaign platform in 2004. A bill for this purpose, HR 3760, was introduced in the House of Representatives, with more than 60 co-sponsoring members of Congress, on September 14, 2005.

On September 22, 2005 Minnesota Senator Mark Dayton introduced a senate version of the Department of Peace legislation, bill number S.1756. This bill has one co-sponsor, Senator Jim Jeffords of Vermont. Both Dayton and Jeffords have retired and will not return to the Senate for the 110th Congress.

The US Department of Peace is also an independent grassroots political movement that operates autonomously and that has continued to gain momentum after Kucinich's bid in the 2004 presidential election. The ongoing movement is co-led by Kucinich and the author and popular motivational speaker Marianne Williamson. This movement actively lobbies for the endorsements of congressional leaders. It has local grassroot chapters in over 200 congressional districts, and to date over 60 members of Congress have co-sponsored Kucinich's bill.

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[DianeG5385]

1. I think it was Dennis Kucinich

As I recall he thought we needed one to keep us from going to war as a first resort.