FIX FUNCTIONING OF RAILWAYS, AIRWAYS AND OTHER MEANS OF TRANSPORT AND

COMMUNICATION     #1

BE IT ENACTED BY THE STUDENT CONGRESS HERE ASSEMBLED THAT:

SECTION 1.  The United States will change to a single standard time zone system.

SECTION 2. Standard time is the local time in a country or region when Daylight Saving Time (DST) is not in use. Time zones are regions where the same standard time is used.

SECTION 3. US Department of Transportation will oversee the enforcement of this bill.

A. The entire United States will follow Eastern Standard Time in order to better coordinate means of transportation and eliminate error due to time differences.

SECTION 4. This bill will be enacted one year after it passes.

SECTION 5. All laws in conflict with this legislation are hereby declared null and void.

Respectfully submitted, Shady Side Academy

The Peace in Our Time Act #2

Introduced for Congressional Debate by Rep. Caleb Buzard, McDowell High School.

A Bill to Adopt Laws of Gift Acceptance In the PA House  #3

BE IT ENACTED BY THE CONGRESS HERE ASSEMBLED THAT:

Section 1.   No public official, candidate for public office, or any of their employees or volunteers may receive, accept, take, seek or solicit any money, any gifts valued at more than $50, or any transportation, lodging, or lodging (or combination in any single trip) having a normal value of more than $500.

Section 2.   Informational material such as books, periodicals, videos, et al, may be more than $50, but must be claimed.

Section 3.   All gifts that meet the acceptable qualifications must be claimed and filed for public viewing with the name, address, title, and employer of the gift giver

Section 4.   Gifts from immediate family members and friends for major holidays and life events that are less than $250 do not need to be filed. Close personal friends cannot include lobbyists or anyone employed by a lobbyist. 

Section 5.   Gifts to and from public officials and their immediate staff may be as much as $100 without claiming them.

Section 6.   This bill will go into effect immediately on passage.

Section 7.   All laws in conflict with this legislation are hereby declared null and void.

Respectfully submitted,

North Allegheny

Resolution To Give Voting Rights and Representation To All US Citizens #4

Whereas       There are many territories of the United States – five of them are permanently inhabited – American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the United States Virgin Islands, and

Whereas        Washington, DC has more people than many states,

Whereas       All five of the territories and DC have representation in the US House, but they cannot vote on legislation, and

Whereas       American citizens in the aforementioned five American territories are allowed to vote in primaries but they are not allowed to vote for president,

Whereas        Almost a quarter of a million Puerto Ricans have fought for the United States in our many branches of military and in every major war, American Samoa has the highest rate of military service in the United States, with a casualty rate in Iraq and Afghanistan more than 7 times the national average.  One in eight adults on Guam have been in the US military, and people on both the other two islands have fought for the US, therefore be it

Resolved by the Congress here assembled that the five largest territories of the United States as well as Washington DC each have one representative in both the US House and Senate (bringing the House to 441 and the Senate to 106) that has full voting rights on legislation.

Be it further resolved that all residents of all US properties can vote for President of the United States.

Respectfully submitted,

North Allegheny

A Bill to Join the Belt and Road Initiative #5

1            BE IT ENACTED BY THE CONGRESS HERE ASSEMBLED THAT:

2            SECTION 1.      In order to circumvent Chinese domination in global affairs, the United

3                                                            States shall hereby join the Belt and Road Initiative.

4            SECTION 2.      The Belt and Road Initiative shall be defined as a transcontinental long-

5                                                            term policy and investment program which aims at infrastructure

6                                                            development and acceleration of the economic integration of countries

7                                                            along the route of the historic Silk Road.

8            SECTION 3.      The Bureau of International Organization Affairs and the Department of

9                                                            State, in conjunction, will oversee the implementation of this bill.

10            SECTION 4.      This legislation will go into effect on October 1^st, 2021.

11            SECTION 5.      All laws in conflict with this legislation are hereby declared null and void.

Introduced for Congressional Debate by Cristian Carrillo, Western High School

A Bill to Strengthen Executive Branch Enforcement to Decrease Lobbying within Congress #6

BE IT ENACTED BY THE CONGRESS HERE ASSEMBLED THAT:

SECTION 1.      With the passing of this legislation, a single, new, and independent agency (U.S. Office of Public Integrity) will be created.

SECTION 2.      The focus of the U.S. Office of Public Integrity (OPI) is to enforce federal ethics and anti-corruption laws.

SECTION 3.      The agency shall do the following:

A.                  Strengthen federal ethics enforcement with new investigative and disciplinary powers.

B.                  Investigate potential violations by any individual or entity, including individuals and companies with new subpoena authority.

C.                  Enforce the nation’s ethics laws by ordering corrective action, levying civil and administrative penalties, and referring egregious violations to the Justice Department for criminal enforcement.

D.                 Receive and investigate ethics complaints from members of the public.

E.                  Absorb the U.S. Office of Government Ethics (OGE) as a new Government Ethics Division tasked with providing confidential advice to federal employees seeking ethics guidance.

F.                   Consolidate anti-corruption and public integrity oversight over federal officials, including oversight of all agency Inspectors General, all ethics matters for White House staff and agency heads, and all waivers and recusals by senior government officials.

G.                 Remain independent and protected from partisan politics through a single Director operating under strict selection, appointment, and removal criteria [the first Director shall be the current director of the OGE].

H.                 Provide easy online access to key government ethics and transparency documents, including financial disclosures; lobbyist registrations; lobbyist disclosures of meetings and materials; and all ethics records, recusals, and waivers.

I.                    Enforce federal open records and FOIA requirements by maintaining the central FOIA website and working with the National Archives to require agencies to comply with FOIA.

SECTION 4.      Due to the assumption of the OGE by this new agency, the funding from the previous OGE shall be reallocated to this new agency.

SECTION 5.      This legislation will take effect on FY 2021. All laws in conflict with this legislation are hereby declared null and void.

Introduced for Congressional Debate by Galilee Best.

A Bill to Require Companies to Disclose Supply Chains #7

BE IT ENACTED BY THE CONGRESS HERE ASSEMBLED THAT:

SECTION 1.          Any product sold in the United States, that may come from a potential source of child labor, must be clearly labeled as such in every applicable format of the product.

SECTION 2.          A product coming from a “potential source of child labor” shall be defined as any good that is included on the list of goods the Bureau of International Labor Affairs has reason to believe are produced by child labor or forced labor in violation of international standards.

“Every applicable format” shall be defined as in all ways the product is labeled or advertised, this includes commercials, online descriptions, advertisements, and any sort of packaging, boxing, or covering.

SECTION 3.          The Department of Commerce (USDOC), the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), and the Bureau of International Labor Affairs (ILAB) shall be responsible for the implementation of this legislation.

A.      Any small business as established under the Small Business Administration (SBA) shall be fined up to $5000 for every year in noncompliance. Any large business as established under the Small Business Administration (SBA) shall be fined $1000 per violation.

SECTION 4.          This legislation shall come into effect 6 months upon passage.

SECTION 5.          All laws in conflict with this legislation are hereby declared null and void.

Introduced for Congressional Debate by Emily Lawrence

A Resolution to Recommend the Senate to Ratify UNCLOS to Validate Claims to Economic Exclusion Zones #8

1            WHEREAS,      The United States has not ratified the United Nations Convention on the

2                                                            Law of the Seas (UNCLOS) and as such, does not have any internationally

3                                                            recognized Economic Exclusion Zones; and

4            WHEREAS,      Due to this fact Foreign Nations do not respect American claims to

5                                                            Economic Exclusion Zones, threatening American Sovereignty; and

6            WHEREAS,      Domestic Sailors could compete with Foreign Sailors in what should be

7                                                            American waters; now, therefore, be it

8            RESOLVED,     That Congress here assembled to recommend the Senate should ratify the

9                                                            United Nations Convention on the Law of the Seas; and, be it

10            FURTHER RESOLVED, That the United States Government should, upon ratification,

11                                                            oversee diplomatic and military efforts to enforce these economic claims

Introduced for Congressional Debate by Rep. Nishad Manohar

A Bill to End the Opioid Epidemic #9

1            BE IT ENACTED BY THE CONGRESS HERE ASSEMBLED THAT:

2            SECTION 1.      The United States shall decriminalize the use and possession of small

3                                                            quantities of opioids. In addition, the United States shall provide

4                                                            categorical grants to states who also decriminalize the use and

5                                                            possession of small quantities of opioids for the purpose of developing

6                                                            and maintaining treatment programs.

7            SECTION 2.      “Small quantities” shall refer to the quantity of opioids that could be

8                                                            consumed in 5-10 days of personal use. “Treatment programs” refers to

9                                                            state level programs which aim to rehabilitate opioid abusers/addicts.

10            SECTION 3.      The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the Internal Revenue

11                                                            Service (IRS) shall be charged with the implementation of this legislation.

12                                                            A. The DEA will oversee matters regarding decriminalization.

13                                                            B. To raise money for the categorical grants, the IRS shall levy a 30% tax

14                                                                        on all sales by pharmaceutical companies which marketed

15                                                                        prescription opioids in the past decade.

16            SECTION 4.      This legislation shall go into effect immediately upon passage

17            SECTION 5.      All laws in conflict with this legislation are hereby declared null and void.

Introduced for Congressional Debate by Jonathan Bogen.