Senator Mark Dayton Backs Peace Campaign [View All]

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Last update: September 22, 2005
Dayton backs peace campaign
Kevin Diaz, Star Tribune Washington Bureau Correspondent
September 23, 2005 PEACE0923


WASHINGTON, D.C. -- In what peace activists call a milestone, Sen. Mark Dayton, D-Minn., introduced legislation Thursday backing a long-shot citizen lobbying effort to create a U.S. Department of Peace and Nonviolence.

He is the first and, so far, only member of the U.S. Senate to publicly endorse the plan.

A remnant of the quixotic 2004 presidential candidacy of Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, the idea of a "Peace Department" has been derided by critics as utopian and naïve, while supporters say it is an idea whose time has come.

Almost half of Minnesota's congressional delegation -- all the Democrats but one -- have lined up in support of the campaign, which calls for a cabinet-level secretary to develop an array of policies from international conflict-resolution to reducing domestic abuse and violence against animals.

Nobody gives the plan much of a chance in a Republican Congress. But backers in Minnesota -- where Kucinich turned in one of his best performances -- say their support is intended as a political statement.

"It sends the right message," said Rep. Betty McCollum, D-Minn. "It's about promoting justice, expanding human rights and preventing conflict."

Besides McCollum, Minnesota Democrats Martin Sabo and Jim Oberstar are cosponsoring Dayton's bill.

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