Mrs. Strong goes to Washington

By MIKE RICHESON

Bigfork Eagle

Local artist and peace activist Debi Strong recently returned from a trip to Washington, D.C., where she and hundreds of others involved in the Peace Alliance lobbied more than 250 members of Congress to support House Bill 808, which would create a U.S. Department of Peace.

Strong, the state coordinator for Montana, and other representatives from Montana, met with Sen. Jon Tester and with members of Max Baucus’ and Denny Rehberg’s staff.

“The goal was to introduce them to the basic guts of what the Department of Peace is,” Strong said. “There are a lot of misconceptions.”

With increasing rhetoric over the Iraq war and extremists on both sides, The Peace Alliance goes out of its way to make sure that the public realizes its supporters are not anti-military or just left-wing pacifists.

HB 808 currently has 65 co-sponsors made up of both republicans and democrats. The fact that the push for a DoP isn’t a fringe effort is what attracted Strong to the idea in the first place. She wears a Peace Alliance button that says “Peace is patriotic.”

“Everyone wants to be safe,” Strong said. “That’s where we need to start.”

The Department of Peace was initially proposed by Rep. Dennis Kucinich in 2001. Since then, the movement has steadily grown. The DoP would work on both domestic and international issues. Domestically, the focus would be on reversing trends of school violence, domestic abuse, prison reform, etc.

Strong said that one of the major strengths of the DoP would be its ability to take programs that are working in certain communities and taking them to the national level. A lot of the programs would be grassroots campaigns that are already working.

Internationally, the DoP would research and analyze foreign policy and recommend to the President ways to address the root causes of war. The DoP would also work to solve international conflicts peacefully.

The estimated cost for the DoP is about $8 billion per year, which is the equivalent of one month in Iraq.

Along with lobbying the nation’s leaders, Strong and 780 other attendees spent three days in intensive workshops and presentations from leading peace-building and conflict resolution experts.

Strong is a reluctant leader and lobbyist, but she is certainly a true believer in the message of peace. Her trip to the nation’s capital obviously left an indelible mark on her. During a tour of the capital, she said that she was struck by the fact that each state is allowed to display two statues of notable citizens. Montana has Charles M. Russell and Jeanette Rankin - an artist and a peace activist.

Montana has been a tougher sell on the Department of Peace than other states. Strong said her meetings with Tester and policy leaders for Baucus and Rehberg went well, but the politicians want to see more grassroots support within the state before making any commitments.

“Numerous states had more positive response, but there was overall a huge amount of enthusiasm,” Strong said.

Strong will now begin trying to raise support from all of Montana’s 56 counties. She will also begin coordinating events for Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, the Fourth of July and the September Peace Walk. Anyone interested in helping or joining Strong’s efforts may contact her at bfbear@aboutmontana.net.