Department of Peacebuilding Act of 2025

Short title— This Act may be cited as the “Department of Peacebuilding Act of 2025”.

Table of contents— The table of contents for this Act is as follows:

On July 4, 1776, the Second Continental Congress unanimously declared the independence of the 13 colonies, and the achievement of peace was recognized as one of the highest duties of the new organization of free and independent States.

The Constitution of the United States, in its preamble, further sets forth the insurance of the cause of peace in stating, “We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity”.

According to the Centre for Global Research, the United States has been at war for more than 90 percent of its existence. Many of our citizens today have never known a peaceful year in their lifetimes.

Throughout the globe, starvation, rape, denial of media access to conflict zones, and dismantling of civic and societal infrastructures, including housing and healthcare, are utilized as weapons of war. In 2024, UNICEF warned that rape and gender-based violence are often used as weapons of war and that 1 out of every 8 girls alive today—some 370 million people—will experience rape or sexual assault before they turn 18. More than 120 million individuals have been forcibly displaced worldwide as a result of persecution, conflict, violence, and human rights violations.

In the 21st century, the United States has spent almost $8 trillion on foreign wars, with nearly 5 million lives lost.

The physical, emotional, monetary, and other costs of violence are enormous, cut across all sectors of society in the United States, disproportionately impact people of color, and are interrelated.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Institutes of Health report 1 in 7 children experience some form of child abuse or neglect in their lifetimes, nearly 1 in 4 women report having experienced severe physical violence from an intimate partner, nearly 1 in 3 women and 1 in 7 men experience some form of sexual violence during their lifetimes, and Native American women are sexually assaulted, murdered, and disappeared at higher rates than other American women. Additionally, the lifetime economic cost associated with medical services for Intimate Partner Violence-related injuries, lost productivity from paid work, criminal justice and other costs, is $3.6 trillion according to the CDC.

There are 3.3 million reports of violence against children that result in foster care placements every year; 25 percent of kids in foster care experience PTSD, fewer than 3 percent earn a college degree; 20 percent become homeless after the age of 18; and only 50 percent will be employed by the age of 24. One in five high school students reported being bullied at school during 2017 and cyberbullying impacts many young people. Criminalization disproportionately impacts African Americans and other people of color, including high rates of school suspensions and expulsions and incarceration. African Americans are incarcerated at more than five times the rate of Whites.

In 2015, 17 percent of students considered attempting suicide. Suicide is the second leading cause of death among Native Americans aged 10 to 34. Approximately 17 veterans a day commit suicide nationwide. About 12 young people in the United States die from homicides each day.

Restorative justice and practices have been proven to significantly improve outcomes. In Sonoma County, California, schools that introduced restorative practices saw their suspension rates drop by nearly 30 percent.

More Americans have died from gunshots in the last 50 years than in all of the wars in American history.

Since 1968, more than 1.5 million Americans have died in gun-related incidents, according to data from the CDC. Firearms are the leading cause of death for American children and teens, disproportionally affecting people of color, and cause more deaths in young people than cancer and car crashes. The Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Prevention reports that in 2022, 48,204 people died due to gun violence in the United States, the second highest total ever recorded. Each day, an average of 132 people died from gun violence—one death every 11 minutes. In 2024, there were more than 500 mass shootings, defined as incidents in which 4 or more people are injured or killed. From 2020–2023, the number exceeded 600 annually. Young people go to school wondering where to hide when a shooter enters their classroom. Each gun injury and fatality results in trauma to family members, loved ones, and the community.

According to reports by the Institute of Economics and Peace, which measures the economic impact of violence and conflict to the global economy, the economic impact of violence to the global economy was $16.5 trillion in 2021. One IEP report found that the regional impact of violence in North America, 99 percent of which can be attributed to the United States, amounted to $2.73 trillion in 2017.

Violence prevention is cost effective. For every dollar spent on violence prevention and peacebuilding, thousands of lives and dollars are saved. The philosophy and techniques of nonviolence and peacebuilding provide tools and techniques that can be applied not only at the levels of individual and community growth, but also within the Federal Government and at national and international levels.

Peacebuilding is defined by the United Nations as a range of measures targeted to reduce the risk of lapsing or relapsing into conflict by strengthening national capacities at all levels for conflict management and to lay the foundations for sustainable peace and development. Peacebuilding is predicated on research into the root causes of violence in the United States and the world, through promotion and promulgation of effective policies and programs that ameliorate those root causes of violence, and through providing all citizens, organizations, and governmental bodies with opportunities to learn about and practice the essential tools of nonviolent conflict resolution and peacebuilding.

Peace is a human right and a security issue. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights recognizes that “recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world”, and General Assembly resolution 39/11 “solemnly proclaims that the peoples of our planet have a sacred right to peace” and “emphasizes that ensuring the exercise of the right of peoples to peace demands that the policies of States be directed towards the elimination of the threat of war, particularly nuclear war, the renunciation of the use of force in international relations and the settlement of international disputes by peaceful means on the basis of the Charter of the United Nations”.

In 2000, the Earth Charter Commission released the Earth Charter, an international declaration of fundamental values and principles created to build a just, sustainable, and peaceful global society. The preamble of the Earth Charter provides, “To move forward we must recognize that in the midst of a magnificent diversity of cultures and life forms we are one human family and one Earth community with a common destiny. We must join together to bring forth a sustainable global society founded on respect for nature, universal human rights, economic justice, and a culture of peace.”.

Climate change is becoming a critical multiplier of global conflict. Without immediate action, water scarcity, food insecurity, and other impacts of climate change threaten to ignite new conflicts, particularly in already fragile regions. A 2021 Lancet global health study of 10,000 youth found 59 percent are “very” or “extremely concerned” about climate change and its impact on their mental health.

Nuclear weapons expose the world to harm on a vast, extinction-level scale. It has long been held that a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought. Yet, the United States continues expanding and modernizing its nuclear arsenal, spending trillions of dollars that could instead be redirected to the needs of American communities.

Systemic racism is a significant driver of violence and key obstacle to peace in the United States. Confronting and uprooting systemic racism in America will require efforts by the Federal Government both to properly acknowledge, memorialize, and provide reparations for historical injustices, including the institutions of slavery and Jim Crow.

Economic insecurity and poverty are forms of violence. Low wages and poverty contribute to homelessness, health issues, lower life expectancy, worse school attendance and many other outcomes. According to the Poor People’s Campaign, poverty is the fourth leading cause of death in the United States, claiming 295,000 lives every year.