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D. Burton: Address to Rally of Hope II
Written by Dan Burton, Congressman (1983-2013), United States
Sunday, September 27, 2020
Address to Rally of Hope II
September 27, 2020
Excellencies, distinguished leaders, guests and delegates from 162 countries:
Today, I have the great honor and pleasure to address this Rally of Hope, a global summit for peace that is being broadcast to millions. I want to sincerely thank Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon for her leadership and sacrifice in bringing the whole world together for peace. Though we are challenged by the pandemic, technology allows us to join this program as if we are all together in one large stadium, like we see exhibited here tonight. It is truly a blessing.
I would now like to ask all of you in each of your nations to please join me in honoring Mother Moon for her tireless work and for the profound love she gives to all mankind.
I also have the deepest respect for her late husband, Rev. Sun Myung Moon, whom I met many years ago. He always stood strong for God, freedom and family and was strongly against Communism. He stood strong for all nations to come together in peace. Now, Mother Moon, who was with him every step of the way, has rapidly expanded the Universal Peace Federation and the work of the Washington Times. This has resulted in the greatest effort for peace and family values that I have ever seen.
Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon—Mother Moon as she is known—founded an organization called the International Association of Parliamentarians for Peace in 2016. (“IAPP” for short.) I am honored to serve along with Speaker Jose de Venecia from the Philippines as the international co-chairmen. It is rapidly becoming a very powerful association of parliamentarians and former members of parliament from around the world. I can never forget when we founded the IAPP International in Korea in 2016 with members of the U.S. Congress and parliamentarians from over forty-two countries. At that time, we were hosted by a great friend and leader, Senator Orrin Hatch, who welcomed and introduced Mother Moon at the Kennedy Caucus Room in the Senate Office Building in which three hundred members of Congress from the U.S. and around the world joined us to call for all parliamentarians to stand for peace.
Where we are today
This has grown today to nearly five thousand members of parliaments from 120 countries, who affiliate with the IAPP. Parliamentarians are elected by the people and they represent the hearts of the people of their nations. We are now building a rapid communication network among parliamentarians so we can quickly alert the other parts of the world to challenges to peace, security, and health. If we had a pandemic early-warning communication system in place, so many lives could have been saved. Now my colleagues in the IAPP are bringing forth resolutions of support to the IAPP and an international communication system is being developd right now. If affirmative steps had been taken earlier, the loss of life could have been reduced dramatically.
IAPP members working together from around the world could be in a position to see trends and situations more clearly and faster than other organizations. For example, Covid-19 was first reported to the World Health Organization on December 31, 2019. It took the World Health Organization until January 30 to declare the outbreak of a public health emergency of international concern. And then it took them more than a month after that to declare it a pandemic on March 11, 2020. Action is happening at the grassroots level right now.
Mother Moon is very focused on other issues that have global impact, including peaceful reunification of the Korean Peninsula. She brings together faith leaders, media, business leaders and parliamentarians with the heads of state and first ladies of the world. She has a gift that makes us all feel the blessings of God are with us and that we are one family. There is nobody anywhere in the world who is doing as much as Mother Moon, to find solutions to some of the most difficult problems the world has ever faced.
The lofty ideals of the Nobel Peace Prize Committee are actually embodied in Dr. Moon’s quiet, and lifelong dedication to solving human conflict. Participating in this Rally of Hope means that you also seek peace for this world. So, I want to thank you and may God bless every one of you.
Hon. Dan Burton was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives representing Indiana’s sixth district (1983–2003) and fifth district (2003–2013). He serves as an International Co-chairman of the International Association of Parliamentarians for Peace (IAPP).
To go to the Dialogue and Alliance: Toward a Unified World of Peace, click here.