East Los Angeles District Qualifier

for the 2023 National Tournament

Congress Bills

A BILL TO BAN THE USE OF PRIVATE MILITARY CONTRACTORS

BE IT ENACTED BY THE STUDENT CONGRESS HERE ASSEMBLED THAT:

SECTION 1. Private military contractors (PMCs) may no longer be utilized by the US Department of Defense.

SECTION 2. Private military contractors (PMCs) will be defined as companies that engage in armed security services. These armed security services include but are not limited to combat missions, provision of protective services, security advice and planning, prison administration, interrogation, and intelligence gathering.

SECTION 3. The congressional Armed Services committee shall oversee the implementation of this bill. The Congressional Armed Services Committee will make cuts to the Department of Defense budget by the specific amount spent on missions that continue to utilize private military contractors (PMCs)

SECTION 4. This law will take effect within one year of passage.

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

A BILL TO INVEST IN THE TRANS-AFRICAN HIGHWAY

BE IT ENACTED BY THE CONGRESS HERE ASSEMBLED:

SECTION 1. Congress shall deliver $10 billion to the African Development Bank (AfDB), the African Union (AU), and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) to support the completion of the Trans-African Highway network.

SECTION 2. Congress directs the Department of State to work actively and aggressively to facilitate cooperation among the nations involved in the construction of these highways so that they may be completed as quickly and efficiently as possible.

SECTION 3. Funding for this legislation shall be diverted from the Department of Defense budget.

SECTION 4. This legislation shall be overseen by the US Agency for International Development (USAID).

SECTION 5. This legislation shall take effect at the start of the next fiscal year.

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

A BILL TO COMPENSATE PRISONERS FAIRLY

BE IT ENACTED BY THE CONGRESS HERE ASSEMBLED THAT:

SECTION 1. All federal and state inmates shall be paid at least the federal minimum wage for any work that they perform while incarcerated. Money earned through prison labor will be deposited into an account that can be accessed by inmates and their designated family members.

SECTION 2. The minimum wage is the lowest wage permitted by law. The current federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour.

SECTION 3. The Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) will oversee the implementation of this legislation.

A. The BOP will ensure that money earned by inmates is secured properly in a bank contracted with the federal government. The contracted bank will be prohibited from charging exorbitant fees for accessing or transferring funds from accounts.

B. Jails or prisons that fail to implement this legislation will be fined $1000 per inmate, per day until they are in full compliance.

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

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

A BILL TO REVITALIZE SPACE EXPLORATION

BE IT ENACTED BY THE CONGRESS HERE ASSEMBLED THAT:

SECTION 1. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) shall reallocate all money designated for federal subsidies to private space companies towards public research and development programs for space exploration.

SECTION 2.

A. Private space companies is defined as privately owned partnerships or corporations that participate in space exploration, such as Blue Origin or SpaceX.

B. Space exploration is defined as the physical exploration of outer space, both by human spaceflights and robotic spacecraft.

SECTION 3. NASA shall be responsible for implementation of this legislation.

A. Annual audits will be carried out to ensure that research and development is making significant progress.

B. If it is determined that significant progress has not been made within 10 years of this legislation’s implementation, this legislation will be declared null and void.

SECTION 4. This bill will be implemented at the start of FY 2023.

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

A RESOLUTION TO CONDEMN RECENT EXCESSIVE MILITARIZATION OF U.S. AIRSPACE

WHEREAS The recent balloons that have been shot down for passing through or near U.S. airspace have been unarmed and have posed no real threat to U.S. safety and security; and WHEREAS The destruction of these balloons has itself presented something of a real threat to U.S. safety and security as a result of falling debris; and

WHEREAS These excessive retaliations are unnecessarily unnerving U.S. citizens and, most dangerously of all, heightening tensions with the People’s Republic of China; now, therefore be it RESOLVED by the Congress here assembled that this body roundly condemns these recent actions of the Department of Defense, namely the destruction of multiple balloons starting on February 4, 2023; and

FURTHER RESOLVED that Congress insists that the Department of Defense pursue purely diplomatic avenues for dealing with these issues in the future.

A BILL TO REQUIRE TRANSPARENCY IN FORCED ARBITRATION CLAIMS OF SEXUAL HARASSMENT AND RETALIATION

BE IT ENACTED BY THE CONGRESS HERE ASSEMBLED THAT:

SECTION 1. Employers are prohibited from requiring confidentiality clauses in forced arbitration pertaining to sexual harassment, sexual assault, or retaliation due to the reporting thereof.

SECTION 2. Forced arbitration is an agreement to forgo the rights to settle disputes through civil or class action as a condition of employment.

Sexual harassment is written, verbal, or physical requests for sexual favors whose rejection would adversely affect a person’s standing.

Sexual assault is physical contact against a person’s will with the intent to coerce a person into a sexual act.

Retaliation is punitive action by an employer against an employee for reporting or filing a claim pertaining to a protected activity.

SECTION 3. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission will oversee the enforcement of this bill.

A. Results of these forced arbitration claims must be reported to the EEOC within 30 days of completion.

B. Companies must make public the results of previously settled forced arbitration pertaining to sexual harassment, sexual assault, or retaliation due to the reporting of sexual harassment from 2018 forward.

SECTION 4. This shall take effect on March 31, 2023

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