Winter_2013_Congress_Packet

#1: A Resolution to Ease Relations With Iran
//Submitted by Council Rock North HS//
 * 1 || **Whereas**, current policy is only promoting animosity between the US and Iran. ||
 * 2 || **Whereas**, a policy of detente will benefit both nations. ||
 * 3 || **Whereas**, trade embargoes are harming the innocent citizens of Iran, not the corrupt ||
 * 4 || Iranian government regime. ||
 * 5 || **Whereas**, increased trade relations with Iran can help strengthen Iran's relationship with ||
 * 6 || the West. ||
 * 7 || **Whereas**, Iran will have no desire for a nuclear weapons program once relationships are ||
 * 8 || strengthened between Iran, the West, and therefore Israel. ||
 * 9 || **Whereas**, economic prosperity in Iran will help to remove the appeal of radical groups to ||
 * 10 || the Iranian people. ||
 * 11 || **Whereas**, alternative measures of war with Iran would cost countless innocent lives and ||
 * 12 || also cost billions of dollars which the United States cannot afford. ||
 * 13 || **Therefore**, be it resolved that the United States begin a policy of detente with Iran. ||

#2: A Resolution to incorporate Puerto Rico as a state

 * 1 || **Whereas:** Puerto Rico has been considered a commonwealth since the Foraker Act of ||
 * 2 || 1900; ||
 * 3 || **Whereas:** Puerto Ricans have been citizens of the United States since the Jones Act of ||
 * 4 || 1917; ||
 * 5 || **Whereas:** The previous decisions to become a state were left up to Puerto Rico and ||
 * 6 || have been denied ||
 * 7 || **Whereas:** 61% of the 1.3 million voters favored statehood in the most recent election ||
 * 8 || **Whereas:** 8 Whereas: the Puerto Rican government will be in the position to solicit taxes from ||
 * 9 || citizens in order to develop the country’s infrastructure ||
 * 10 || **Whereas:** Puerto Rico will be able to engage in an open market trade with all allies of the ||
 * 11 || United States, thus improving the economic stature ||
 * 12 || **Be it resolved that:** Puerto Rico will be removed from the Territorial Clause of the ||
 * 13 || United State’s Constitution giving them the same political status as the other ||
 * 14 || fifty states. ||

#3: A Resolution To Abolish Free Health-Care for Inmates

 * 1 || **Whereas:** Convicted felons in United States Prisons have rights to free health care ||
 * 2 || **Whereas:** Many law-abiding citizens do not have health care of any sort ||
 * 3 || **Whereas:** Most law-abiding citizens who do have health care must pay for it out of ||
 * 4 || their own pocket ||
 * 5 || **Whereas:** The courts have overstepped their bounds in determining that the Eighth ||
 * 6 || amendment to the Constitution ensures that prisoners get full and free ||
 * 7 || coverage ||
 * 8 || **Whereas:** This has resulted in prisoners receiving better health care than the ||
 * 9 || average law abiding citizen ||
 * 10 || **Whereas:** There are now cases of the legal system being abused to gain free health ||
 * 11 || care ||
 * 12 || **Therefore be it resolved that:** Inmates no longer receive full, free health care. ||

#4: A Resolution To Abolish Affirmative Action:

 * 1 || **Whereas:** Affirmative Action violates the American ideal of equality by promoting ||
 * 2 || selection based on race and gender ||
 * 3 || **Whereas:** Affirmative Action promotes reverse discrimination ||
 * 4 || **Whereas:** College acceptance or job opportunities should be awarded on personal ||
 * 5 || merit rather than genetic background ||
 * 6 || **Whereas:** Affirmative Action may decrease a qualified individual's chance of being ||
 * 7 || selected based solely on race or gender ||
 * 8 || **Therefore be it resolved that:** Affirmative Action be abolished and enforcement in ||
 * 9 || universities and companies shall cease. ||

#5: A Resolution to Encourage Oil Drilling and Fracking in The United States

 * 1 || **Whereas:** it would result in less dependence on foreign oil. ||
 * 2 || **Whereas:** it would increase the amount of jobs in the U.S. and ||
 * 3 || **Whereas:** federal and state tax revenue would increase as a result of oil and gas ||
 * 4 || production. ||
 * 5 || **Whereas:** these tax revenues would reduce the deficit and ||
 * 6 || **Whereas:** the potential exists for enough extra output for the U.S. to become ||
 * 7 || self-sufficient in energy. ||
 * 8 || **Whereas:** lower gas prices would serve as the economic stimulus we cannot ||
 * 9 || otherwise afford to provide and ||
 * 10 || **Whereas:** domestic production of energy is of vital national security importance and ||
 * 11 || **Whereas:** the threat of war greatly diminishes when the Persian Gulf is eliminated as ||
 * 12 || a source region of conflict; ||
 * 13 || **Therefore be it resolved that:** that environmental and corporate regulations should be ||
 * 14 || altered to encourage, rather than discourage, drilling for oil wherever ||
 * 15 || possible, and that fracking should be established as a standard method of ||
 * 16 || energy extraction, not subject to special, arbitrary, or punitive regulations. ||

#6: A Bill to Eliminate the Practice of “Sexual Reorientation Therapy”

 * 1 || **BE IT ENACTED BY THE CONGRESS HERE ASSEMBLED THAT:** ||
 * 2 ||  ||
 * 3 || **SECTION 1.** The Federal Government shall cut all funding for mental health ||
 * 4 || therapy to states that license any practitioner who offers or practices Sexual ||
 * 5 || Reorientation Therapy (SRT). ||
 * 6 ||  ||
 * 7 || **SECTION 2.** SRT is defined as any intervention by a person to alter another ||
 * 8 || person’s sexual orientation. Sexual orientation is defined as the gender to which ||
 * 9 || one claims to be romantically or sexually attracted. ||
 * 10 ||  ||
 * 11 || **SECTION 3.** The Department of Health and Human Services will be responsible ||
 * 12 || for overseeing the enforcement of this law. ||
 * 13 ||  ||
 * 14 || **SECTION 4.** Implementation of this bill will be take place six (6) months following passage. ||
 * 15 ||  ||
 * 16 || **SECTION 5.** All laws in conflict with this legislation are hereby declared null and void. ||

#7: A Resolution to Increase funding to NASA

 * 1 || **Whereas:** In 2011, spending on NASA only accounted for .53% of total ||
 * 2 || government spending, and ||
 * 3 || **Whereas:** The Mars Landing Project created 7,000 jobs over eight years, and ||
 * 4 || **Whereas:** NASA creates more economic output than it takes in through its ||
 * 5 || budget, as seen in 2005 when it contributed $180 billion to the U.S. ||
 * 6 || GDP, an amount greater than its budget at that time, and ||
 * 7 || **Whereas:** The United States space program is crucial to U.S. hegemony and the ||
 * 8 || creation of new technology, ||
 * 9 || **Therefore be it resolved that:** The Federal Government increase spending ||
 * 10 || on NASA as it is crucial in creating economic stimulus, and ||
 * 11 || maintaining the United States’ leadership in the world. ||

#8: A Resolution to Continue Construction on the Keystone XL Pipeline

 * 1 || **Whereas:** The Keystone XL Pipeline Project has been in the works since 2005 and ||
 * 2 || still hasn’t been passed, and ||
 * 3 || **Whereas:** Continued postponement of the project delays immediate employment ||
 * 4 || opportunities of 20,000 jobs in the United States, and ||
 * 5 || **Whereas:** If the pipeline were completed by the year 2013 as proposed, $521 ||
 * 6 || billion in United States government revenues would be generated by ||
 * 7 || 2035, ||
 * 8 || **Therefore be it resolved that:** The Federal Government stop delaying the construction ||
 * 9 || of this pipeline and work towards completing the project as planned for ||
 * 10 || maximum economic benefits. ||

#9: A Bill to Reform US Expatriate Finances

 * 1 || **Be it enacted that:** ||
 * 2 || **Article I:** Foreign banks will not be required to report accounts owned by ||
 * 3 || expatriates to the IRS under FATCA. ||
 * 4 || **Article II:** The United States federal government will exempt expatriated ||
 * 5 || citizens from penalties associated with the Report of Foreign Bank and ||
 * 6 || Financial Accounts (FBAR) ||
 * 7 || **Article III:** PATRIOT ACT shall be amended to remove the US mailing address ||
 * 8 || requirement on domestic bank accounts. ||
 * 9 || **Article IV:** If no domestic United States income or account activity exists, ||
 * 10 || expatriates who have not maintained residency as defined by the Schengen ||
 * 11 || Treaty for more than two years will be exempt from filing federal or state tax ||
 * 12 || returns for the fiscal year. ||
 * 13 || **Article V:** Expatriates will be defined for tax purposes and congressional ||
 * 14 || representation as citizens spending no more than 90 out of every 180 days in ||
 * 15 || the United States, the point at which one is considered a resident within ||
 * 16 || countries that ratified the Schengen Treaty. ||