Congress Bills

(Any of the 6 bills may be chosen by the tab staff for students to debate. 1 bill will be chosen by the tab staff for each 90 minute congress round, including finals)

A Bill to Establish Mandatory Public Service

1 BE IT ENACTED BY THE CONGRESS HERE ASSEMBLED:

2 SECTION 1. Each U.S. Citizen born after January 1, 2006, must complete at least two years of public

3 service by the time of their 30th birthday.

4 SECTION 2. This requirement may be satisfied through two full years of service in one of the following:

5 the Armed Forces (including the National Guard), the Peace Corps, AmeriCorps, or the

6 National Health Service Corps.

7 SECTION 3. The penalties for failing to meet this requirement shall be identical to those that

8 accompany failure to register for the Selective Service when required to do so.

9 SECTION 4. This legislation shall be overseen by the Selective Service System.

10 SECTION 5. This legislation shall take effect on January 1, 2024.

11 SECTION 6. All laws in conflict with this legislation are hereby declared null and void.

A Resolution to Amend the Constitution to Revoke the Presidential Veto Power

1 RESOLVED, That the following article is proposed as an amendment to the Constitution of the United

2 States, which shall be valid to all intents and purposes as part of the Constitution when

3 ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several states within seven years from

4 the date of its submission by the Congress:

5 ARTICLE —

6 SECTION 1. The President shall no longer have the right to veto bills sent to them by Congress.

7 SECTION 2. As the Constitution stipulates, a bill that the President does not sign within ten days

8 (Sundays excepted) will become law anyway.

9 SECTION 3. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

A Bill to Subsidize Flood Insurance

1 BE IT ENACTED BY THE CONGRESS HERE ASSEMBLED:

2 SECTION 1. Congress shall direct $1 billion annually to the Federal Emergency Management Agency

3 (FEMA) to pay the premiums of any homeowners whom FEMA requires to purchase flood

4 insurance and whose household income is less than 400% of the federal poverty level as

5 determined by the Department of Health and Human Services.

6 SECTION 2. Congress shall work with FEMA on a year-to-year basis to determine and implement any

7 necessary adjustments to the amount of this funding to more appropriately meet the need

8 outlined by this legislation.

9 SECTION 3. Funding for this legislation shall be sourced from a 1% tax increase on annual fossil fuel

10 industry revenue.

11 SECTION 4. This legislation shall be overseen by FEMA, with the exception of Section 3, which shall be

12 overseen by the Internal Revenue Service.

13 SECTION 5. This legislation shall take effect on January 1, 2024.

14 SECTION 6. All laws in conflict with this legislation are hereby declared null and void.

A Bill to Require DNA Evidence for Death Penalty Sentencing

1 BE IT ENACTED BY THE CONGRESS HERE ASSEMBLED:

2 SECTION 1. No convicted criminal shall be sentenced to death unless DNA evidence linking the criminal

3 to the crime comprises a central element of that conviction, as determined by the judge

4 overseeing the case.

5 SECTION 2. Any inmate currently sentenced to death and awaiting the completion of that sentence

6 whose conviction was not significantly predicated on DNA evidence shall have their

7 sentence commuted to life in prison. District attorneys with jurisdiction in the court where

8 the crime was originally tried shall be responsible for making these determinations and

9 shall have one year from the passage of this legislation to do so.

10 SECTION 3. If a judge is found to have violated this legislation, this shall serve as compelling grounds for

11 that judge’s impeachment.

12 SECTION 4. This legislation shall be overseen by the Department of Justice.

13 SECTION 5. This legislation shall take effect on January 1, 2024.

14 SECTION 6. All laws in conflict with this legislation are hereby declared null and void.

A Bill to Close All Foreign Military Bases

1 BE IT ENACTED BY THE CONGRESS HERE ASSEMBLED:

2 SECTION 1. Within ten years of the passage of this legislation, all U.S. military bases situated within

3 foreign countries shall be closed, their troops and personnel returned to the U.S., and their

4 land and facilities returned unconditionally to each respective nation.

5 SECTION 2. This legislation shall be overseen by the Department of Defense.

6 SECTION 3. This legislation shall take effect immediately upon passage.

7 SECTION 4. All laws in conflict with this legislation are hereby declared null and void.

A Bill to Ban Styrofoam Food Containers

1 BE IT ENACTED BY THE CONGRESS HERE ASSEMBLED:

2 SECTION 1. Restaurants and other providers of prepared meals are henceforth banned from using

3 styrofoam for packaging and/or serving food and/or beverages.

4 SECTION 2. Any establishment found to be in violation of this legislation shall be fined $100 for each

5 violation. Should the total amount fined to a single establishment ever exceed $10,000,

6 that establishment shall lose its license(s) to sell food and/or beverages.

7 SECTION 3. This legislation shall be overseen by the Food and Drug Administration.

8 SECTION 4. This legislation shall take effect on January 1, 2024.

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