A congressman vying for the Democratic presidential nomination in the 2004 election spoke to a full house about establishing peace through diplomacy Tuesday night.

Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, announced on Monday in Altoona that he was going to form a presidential exploratory committee.

Kucinich focused on resolving the situation in Iraq peacefully as he spoke to a packed Sun Room at the Memorial Union.

He began his speech by asking the audience, “How many people here believe we can change the world?”

Most of the people in the room raised their hand.

“We need to stop the U.S. from becoming a nation at war,” he said. “This administration will turn to college students to supply their war machine.”

Kucinich said his election as president would bring about “transformational change”.

Karla Hardy, junior in history and sociology, said change is necessary.

“What he’s saying is what needs to be said,” she said.

Kucinich said the worldwide anti-war demonstrations over the weekend proved parts of the world are against the Bush administration’s plan.

“What we saw this past Saturday was a world that is all ready to be at peace and we need leadership in this country that is prepared to be at peace with the world,” he said.

Kucinich said the current administration needs to focus on countries that have already proven to have nuclear, chemical and/or biological weapons. He said proof of the existence of such weapons in Iraq is not available.

“We do not know, even with the U.N. inspectors, if Iraq has usable nuclear weapons,” he said.

Kucinich frequently spoke about how the nation could avoid war, but the Bush administration is pursuing a path that is the opposite of peace.

“This administration has had a deliberate march to war,” he said.

Kucinich outlined a plan for a Department of Peace during his speech. It would look at ways of intervention and early detection of violence in the United States as well as international goals.

“The goal of the Department of Peace, with respect to international policy, is to make war archaic,” he said.