J1

http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/05/08/18131900-a-census-first-black-voter-turnout-passes-whites
The census has shown that black people have increased in their voting turnout while white people have been declining greatly.

What are three reasons why people choose not to vote?
-One reason is that the people are physically not able to arrive at the voting areas due to illness, disability, or voting area location inconvenience.
-Another reason is that people are "too busy" to vote
-The last, and usually most popular reason to not vote, is that people simply don't care about the elections or disliked the candidates.

What demographics are most likely to vote Democrat? Republican?
It is very typical for women, people of racial minorities(such as african americans), and people with lower income to vote for a democrat while it is more likely for a white, rich, male to vote for a republican.

H7

1. Civil Liberties v. Civil Rights: What's the difference?
1. Civil Liberties cover a more vast amount stuff like freedom of speech but civil rights are more specific like the basic equality of humans regardless of race sex, or gender.
2. Bill of Rights: Why have them? We have a Bill of Rights so that the members of government don't have total control. If there was no Bill of Rights, Congress could create laws that violate our basic liberties and rights.
3. First Amendment: What are the five freedoms? The five freedoms are freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of press, freedom of assembly, and freedom of petition.
4. Lemon v. Kurtzman (1971): What's the point of the Lemon test? The point of the Lemon test is to determine when a law has the effect of establishing religion.
5. Engel v. Vitale (1962): What did the Court say? The court said in this case that there is no school-led prayer allowed during school.
6. What is due process? Due process is the fundamental, constitutional guarantee that all legal proceedings will be fair to everyone.
7. What is selective incorporation? Selective incorporation is the legal code that protects the rights of citizens from state laws.
8. Establishment clause v. free exercise clause: What's the difference? The difference is that establishment clause prohibits the government from imposing a religion that all citizens must follow and the free exercise clause says you can practice any religion you want without the government stopping you.

H11

1. Discuss and evaluate the difference between equal opportunity and equal results.
1. Equal opportunity is the chance to have an opportunity that everybody else also has but depending on what you do you might not get the same results as everybody else.
2. What did the 13th amendment say?
1. The 13th amendment abolished slavery.
3. What did the 15th amendment say?
1.  It said that no U.S citizen can be denied the right to vote.
4. What was the purpose of Jim Crow laws? 
1. The purpose of Jim Crow laws was to deprive African-Americans from receiving the same rights as white people like voting rights, due process, and equal protection under the law.
5. What's the difference between de jure and de facto segregation
1. De jure segregation is segregation that is approved by the government while de facto segregation is segregation that is not officially legal but is practiced nonetheless.
6. Identify major provisions of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
1. Some provisions of this act are that it banned any segregation in a public area, and allowed the Attorney General to sue any school systems that had segregated schools.
7. Identify major provisions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
1. Some provisions of the Voting RIghts Act of 1965 were that it allowed for any citizen to vote without having to take a literacy test like in the past. Also, if there were major minorities, a ballot had to be bilingual and there could be no change to the voting unless it's approved by the Attorney General.
8. Explain how states used white primaries to enforce discrimination.
1. White primaries allowed for southerners to declare that the Democratic party was a private group that could exclude anybody it wanted.
9. Explain how states used grandfather clauses to enforce discrimination.
1. the grandfather clauses said that anybody who had the right to vote between 1866 and 1867 could vote without being taxed but slaves weren't allowed the right to vote until 1870.
10. Explain how states used poll taxes to enforce discrimination.
1. Most freed blacks couldn't afford the poll tax that was around $200 so this discriminated against them.
11. Explain how states used literacy tests to enforce discrimination.
1. Most of the questions on the literacy tests were questions too hard even for a white person to answer. Somebody could say that the answers are wrong and not let you vote if you're black and somebody could say the white person was right and could vote even if the answers were actually wrong.
12. What does the 24th Amendment say?
1. This amendment ended all of the poll taxes.

H6

(a) Define judicial review.

Judicial review is the act in which the Supreme Court looks over legislative acts to check if they are constitutional or not.
(b) Explain how judicial review empowers the Supreme Court within the system of checks and balances.

 Judicial review empowers the Supreme Court by allowing them to bring down a law proposed by Congress if it goes against the Constitution. This gives them power because, although Congress creates the laws, if a majority of the justices say a bill is unconstitutional, it will not be able to become law. The same goes for an executive act, the Supreme Court can stop any of the president's acts from occurring.
(c) Describe the process through which the Court grants a writ of certiorari.

Writ of certiori is when the Supreme Court decides to receive information on a case from a lower court. These cases come through a petition filed with the Supreme court, it comes with an explanation of why the case should be heard by the Supreme Court. If five out of the nine justices agree to hear the case, the Supreme Court will hear the case.

(d) Explain how each of the following influences decisions made by individual justices when deciding casesheard by the Court.

Stare decisis: Stare decisis is the policy that courts abide by in which they must follow all the priniciples established by precedents (earlier rulings). So if there was a case about a child being allowed to wear a shirt with obscenities on it and a judge said that he can't do that, another judge with a similar case would probably rule the same.

Judicial activism: Judicial activism is when a judge makes a ruling due to personal or political consideration rather than on existing laws. A more liberal justice could make a ruling about a case saying that all gay people have rights because all men are created equal. By making this ruling, the justice has practiced judicial activism because he/she probably did it because he/she thought it would be best for the country.

H4

(a) Identify three characteristics of Supreme Court nominees.

Three characteristics are ideology, age, and sex.

(b) Discuss how each characteristic has been politically relevant during the appointment process. 

When a president nominates a justice, he typically chooses one with the same ideology as him. If the president is conservative, he will most likely pick a conservative justice.

Age is an important factor in nominating a justice because the older a nominee is, the more experience he/she has and the more rulings that can be seen from their history.

Sex is another important characteristic. The sex of the justice can give new perspective on a case. If there are already 8 men on the court, it's best to include a woman for a different perspective.

(c) USE real facts from the confirmation of Elena Kagan to illustrate at least ONE of these characteristics.

Obama chose Kagan because he "wanted someone who could counter the court's conservative leaders." So he chose her because she was liberal, like him.

2.

(a) Identify two methods that have been used by interest groups to influence the appointment process. 

Interest groups use donations and smear campaigns to influence the appointment process.

(b) Explain how each of these methods has been used to influence that process.

By donating money, interest groups are endorsing a candidate, and more money means  a bigger chance of winning an election. Smear campaign are campaigns that ruin the reputation of a candidate or make them look bad to the people, this lessens their chance of winning.

(c) USE real facts from the confirmation of Elena Kagan to illustrate at least ONE of these methods.

H1

Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor:
1.) Sotomayor is an advocate for minority rights
2.) Sonia Sotomayor is the first Latina on the Supreme Court
3.)Sotomayor rejected a claim by a New Yorker who said his 2nd amendment right was being violated.

G15

Many people are concerned about large deficits in the federal budget. Rarely does the government balance its budget.

(a) Define balanced budget.

Balanced budget means that the amount of expenditure is the same as the amount of revenue, that there is no deficit or surplus.

(b) Define federal entitlements.

Federal entitlements are federal payments to a specific group of people that is mandatory and or legally obligated to be dispersed to these people under certain criteria.

(c) Identify an entitlement and explain how entitlements are a barrier to the federal government achieving a balanced budget.

An entitlement would be receiving social security checks. Entitlements are a barrier to the federal government achieving a balanced budget in that they are money promised by the government, money that must be given to the people or else the government would be breaking its own laws by not giving it out because it's permanent.

(d) Describe a consequence of large budget deficits.

A budget deficit is when the amount of expenditures exceeds the amount of revenue. A consequence of large budget deficits is that it makes it hard for the government to create new policies because it is too busy trying to fix or compensate for the policies it already created.

(e) Find the most recent budget numbers. What was our projected revenue for 2012? What were our expenditures? What was the budget deficit? Cite your source.

Our revenue was 5.4 trillion dollars and the expenditures was 6.1 trillion, so the deficit was  0.7 trillion dollars.

http://www.usgovernmentrevenue.com/total_revenue_2013USrn
http://www.usgovernmentspending.com/.

(f) What is the total national debt? Cite your source.

The total national debt is $17,467,228,205,267

http://www.concordcoalition.org/issues/indicators/us-total-national-debt

G12

1. What priorities seem to be most important to the President? Give evidence from your readings -- and explain why these programs might be important priorities to him.
1. He seems to prioritize programs such as Social Security and Health programs. But, these are mandatory I think I read. So other than those he prioritizes defense spending, pell grants, and lunch for schools.
2. What are some especially notable changes that the President proposes, compared to the previous year's budget? Why might he want to make those changes?
1. He is decreasing the amount of money to medicare and also decreasing the amount of money to natural resources. He cut a lot of the money for defense and basically for everything except for some miscellaneous things not mentioned. 
3. What elements of his plan will his opponents in Congress be most likely to strongly oppose? Why?
1. Honestly, I'm not sure but I am gonna guess that it could be the cut on defense spending because they probably want to protect the U.S?

G10

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/17/us/florida-self-defense-law-hung-over-jury-in-michael-dunn-trial.html?smid=tw-share

This story involved Michael Dunn who is being accused of murdering Jordan Davis after a dispute over loud music. Dunn claims he was defending himself through the Stand Your Ground laws in Florida, but much evidence shows otherwise.

From what the article is saying, I don't think Dunn had any right to shoot at the group of teens that were bothering him. They had no weapons on them and Dunn should not have assumed that these kids would have weapons on them. To me, he seems a little racist especially after the description of the teens that he gave. Although I do believe that people have the right to kill somebody if the menace is truly threatening your life, in the case of Dunn, he did not have that right and should be sent to prison.

G9

1. Would you focus more on cutting spending? Raising taxes? Both? Identify some specific actions you might take. (What would you consider cutting? What kinds of taxes might you raise?)
1. `I would focus more on both. There are some programs that spend too much money, such as homeland security and the military. There are also taxes that should be implemented such as taxes on the rich...
2. After I did both of the activities I noticed that I didn't do as  much cutting on the military as I thought, a lot of it actually seemed necessary. But an area that I really focused on was with medicare and social security. I raised the age requirement for medicare and also chose to revamp medicare. These actions would really affect the elderly in the country, but I put myself in their position and decided it wouldn't really be that bad.

G7

 1 (a): EXPLAIN, in your own words, two reasons Congress gives agencies policy-making discretion in executing federal laws. 

Congress gives agencies policy-making discretion because the members of agencies have specialized jobs that they are very knowledgeable in. Members of the USDA know more about the agriculture and how to deal with it than most members of Congress. Another reason is that agencies do not hire amateurs, they only have professionals.

> 1 (b): Provide a direct quotation (and a page number in your book) to back up one of your claims from above.

"It uses task specialization so that experts instead of amateurs perform technical jobs." Page 472

> 2: DESCRIBE two ways in which Congress ensures that federal agencies follow legislative intent.

Congress uses its power of oversight to check that what the agencies are doing is following the law, and they have the power to allocate their funds. This means that they decide how much money the agencies can spend and when.

> 3 (a): For each bureaucratic agency listed below, IDENTIFY the policy area over which it exercises    policy-making discretion.

• Environmental Protection Agency (EPA): www.epa.gov
• The EPA exercises its policy-making discretion over laws and policies that affect the environment of the U.S
• Federal Communications Commission (FCC): www.fcc.gov
• The FCC exercises its policy-making discretion over laws and policies that affect interstate and international communications through multiple media sources.
• Federal Reserve Board: www.federalreserve.gov
• The FRB exercises its policy-making discretion over the regulation of money

> 3 (b): For each agency above, IDENTIFY a specific action it takes to exercise its duties. 

-The EPA can investigate cases that involve a vast number of environmental things so that they can improve it.

-The FCC can censor certain words and other things that they might not find suitable for the public to see.

- The Federal Reserve Board supplies money and credit to the economy.

G4

(a) For each of the presidential powers below, explain one way that congressional decision making is affected by that power.

• Executive privilege

Executive privilege is the power for the president to withhold information from the public or congress and the courts. This affects the congressional decision making by not allowing Congress to make decisions because the information they get from the president is limited.

• Power to issue executive orders

Executive orders are orders given by the president that can be executed without the approval of Congress. This affects Congress because they have no say in what the President says so they can't decide what the president does.

• Power as commander in chief

As commander in chief, the president can send troops to seas without approval from Congress for a limit of 60 days. Congress can decide how much money is spent, if any, so the President can send troops but he could be not funded because of Congress.

(b) For each of the congressional powers below, explain one way that presidential decision making is affected by that power.

• Legislative oversight power

Legislative oversight is the power congress has to watch over or review other parts of government. The president can still stop some congressional power or lessen the extent of it.

• Senate advice and consent power

With this, the president chooses not to make controversial nominations for different positions because he knows that Congress has to agree with the nomination. Also, this makes him think about when to send out troops because he knows that Congress has the money power.

• Budgetary power

When the president wants to do something, he needs money, and since the budget comes from Congress, he has to consider Congress and the needs of Congress when planning what he wants. He can also postpone things in his agenda because he might not get budget approval from Congress.

G2

Link: http://www.politico.com/story/2014/02/obama-deportation-immigration-executive-power-103096.html
Unique Summary:
Lately, Obama has been pressured to stop deportations for all illegal immigrants, not just the "dreamers." He can't exactly do this even though there is a 41 page petition for it.
Formal Powers:
-One of the president's formal powers is Executive clemency, the power to pardon people for crimes.
- I couldn't really find a way how any of his formal powers would fit in with this but maybe by not deporting the immigrants he is allowing this clemency?
Informal Powers:
-He has the informal power of executive power, he can do things without having approvement by Congress but only if it's for the benefit of the people. Here, the people want Obama to use his executive power by not deporting immigrants, but he can't do this.

F12

(a) Identify two formal constitutional powers of the President in making foreign policy.
One constitutional power the president has is that he is commander-in-chief  so he can send troops of soldiers to another country whenever he wants and another is that he can create treaties with other countries.

(c) Identify two informal powers of the President that contribute to the President's advantage over Congress in making foreign policy.

Two informal powers the president has that contribute to his advantage over congress are that he can meet with world leaders and he also has better communication with the media.

(d) Explain how each of the informal powers described in (c)contributes to the President's advantage over Congress in making foreign policy.
By meeting with world leaders, the president has an advantage over Congress because he can speak directly with people from other countries which makes it easier for members of another country's government to agree with policies via the president than by members of Congress. The president is easiest to talk to when talking about policies because he is one person and is more recognized as the leader as opposed to the 535 members of Congress.

(e) Explain two provisions of the War Powers Act that Congress wrote to limit the president's power.

The War Powers Act that Congress wrote was created to limit the presidential power. Two provisions of the act are that he must notify Congress at least 48 hours prior to sending troops which limits the power of the president by not allowing him to have full control over when he sends the troops. Another provision is that the troops are limited to only 60 days unless Congress decides to extend the time. This limits the powers of the president because it doesn't give him full control over how long the troops may stay in an area.

F11

Substance:
-Immigration reform
-Create a new way for working Americans to start their own retirement savings.
-Troops out of Iraq

Style:
-It made me feel happy and a little anxious to see if any of his promises will come true
-He names a lot of "real" people and the problems or successes they have. I do think it works because it makes it seem relatable like I already said.

Audience:
- The audience is Congress, soldiers, Supreme Court Justices, and some other people
-Most of the audience had little expression and others were making awkward faces (Joe Biden and John Boehner)
-

F9

In the United States Congress, the majority party exerts a substantial influence over lawmaking. However, even when one party has a numerical majority in each chamber of the United States Congress, there is no guarantee that legislation supported by that majority party will be passed by both chambers. Rules of each chamber independently influence the likelihood that legislation will pass in each chamber; legislation passed by one chamber is not always passed by the other.

(a) Describe one advantage that the majority party in the House and/or Senate has in lawmaking, above and beyond the numerical advantage that the majority party enjoys in floor voting. 

One advantage that the majority party in the House has in lawmaking is that it has control of the Rules Committee. Whoever is in charge of the Rules Committee is in charge of when bills can be voted on or if they should be delayed. With that power, the majority party can make sure that a bill that they like will pass to the whole house or if a bill should be delayed until the majority will vote for it so it won't be defeated. 

(b) Describe one difference between House and Senate rules that may make it likely that legislation may pass in one chamber but not the other.

One difference between House and Senate rules is that the House does not allow filibustering while the Senate does. Filibustering is when a senator, who is opposed to new legislation, purposely talks for as long as he wishes on a certain topic to delay the passage of a bill. This is not possible in the House because there is a specific amount of time that the representatives have on the floor.

(c) Explain how the difference identified in (b) can lead to the passage of a bill in one chamber but not the other.

With the rule of filibustering, it makes it quite easy for the House to pass a bill but it makes it harder for a bill to pass through the Senate. In order for a filibuster to stop, there must be 60 votes out of 100 to make it stop. This makes it difficult to pass because many senators choose not to vote as it can affect them if they want to filibuster in the future. 

F8

A. HOUSE & SENATE DIFFERENCES

1. Number of seats (total) in EACH chamber of Congress.
1. Senate: 100
2. House of Representatives: 435
2. Number of seats held by Virginia in EACH chamber.
1. Senate: 2
2. House of Representatives: 11
3. Length of a term in EACH chamber.
1. Senate: 6 years
2. House of Representatives: 2 years
4. Two Constitutionally given powers unique to the U.S. Senate.
1. Has sole power to try all impeachments
2. Power to ratify all treaties
5. Two Constitutionally given powers unique to the U.S. House.
1. House votes on the president in event of a tie
2. Only House can impeach the president
6. One difference between rules in the House and Senate
1. The Senate can engage in filibustering to prevent a law from passing to the House.

B. IMPORTANT COMMITTEES: Look up standing committees and conference committees. Then find out about a few specific committee names.

1. Which kind of committee is responsible (among other things) for considering most bills and deciding whether to let them move to a vote?
1. Standing Committee
2. Give one example of the kind of committee above.
1. Education Committee
3. What kind of committee works out differences between the House and Senate before they send a bill to the President?
1. Conference Committee
4. Which specific committee in the House decides when (and for how long) bills will be discussed?
1. House Rules Committee
5. Which specific House committee makes tax laws?
1. Ways and Means Committee
6. Which specific committee (same name in House and Senate) authorizes overall levels of spending that may get changed later?
1. Budget Committee
7. Which specific committee (same name in House and Senate) makes laws that set exact funding levels for each agency and department?
1. 
   

C. MORE FROM THE CONSTITUTION

1. A pocket veto is when the President lets a bill sit for 10 days without acting. But it only succeeds in killing a bill if Congress does what?
1. If Congress is on break or not in session
2. For what reasons does the Constitution specifically say that the president may be impeached and removed?
1.  "for conviction of, treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors."
3. Describe two powers Congress has that check or balance the President.
1. Can override  veto with 2/3 majority vote.
2. Can remove president from office.
4. Describe two powers Congress has that check or balance the Supreme Court.
1. Confirm appointments to the Supreme Court
2. Can impeach justices
5. Which amendment allows U.S. Senators to be elected by the people -- and not by state legislatures, as they once were?
1. 17th amendment

D. OTHER VOCABULARY

1. What does Congress do when it exercises oversight?
1. It's the review, monitoring, and supervision of federal agencies.
2. What does it mean if a member of Congress acts as a trustee when he votes?
1. He is voting without influence from other members
3. What's one important thing that the War Powers Act said?
1. It limits the powers possessed by the president of the United States
4. What does the C.B.O. do, generally speaking?
1. It provides economic data to Congress.
5. What is the franking privilege?
1. It allows members of Congress to send mail to constituents without paying for postage.

E. IMPORTANT JOBS

1. What does a whip do for his party?
1. Ensures party discipline in legislature so that official party members vote according to official party policy.
2. How does the Senate President Pro Tempore get his job, traditionally?


1. He must be senator of the majority party with longest record of continuous service.


3. What OTHER job title does the President of the Senate hold?
1. Vice President

EXTRA CREDIT: WHO HOLDS THE JOBS? (This can earn you extra points on the quiz).

1. Speaker of the House of Representatives
1. John Boehner
2. House Majority Leader & House Majority Whip
1. Eric Cantor and Kevin McCarthy
3. House Minority Leader & House Minority Whip
1. Nancy Pelosi and Steny Hoyer
4. Senate Majority Leader & Senate Majority Whip
1. Harry Reid and Richard Durbin
5. Senate Minority Leader & Senate Minority Whip
1. Mitch McConnel and John Cornyn
6. Senate President Pro Tempore
1. Patrick Leahy
7. President of the Senate
1. Joe Biden

F7

Rep. Chad Swisher's Bill:

Amendment: In section 4(a) replace the words "expertise in medical conflict" with "expertise in painful medical conditions." or something similar so that  it's as specific as possible and not open to interpretation.

Rep. Taylor Wright's Bill: 

Question: Your whole act is on creating a universal background check. What would be some things that would be assessed in this background check to ensure that a buyer is able to purchase a gun?
Amendment: Define the word firearm by adding it to your definitions. Add something like " Firearm: a rifle, gun, or pistol that can do a substantial amount of damage to people and property." This way, the word is unambiguous and definite to what your bill is adressing.

Rep. Randy Whiting's Bill:

Amendment: The millions of Americans who don't like the amount of money already being spent on space exploration usually oppose it because they are unaware of what the benefits are, so it would be helpful if you stated some specifics in your findings such as "Space exploration has contributed to revolutionary advances such as global positioning, weather prediction, data storage improvements, and improvements in optics."

Rep. Lashay Davenport's Bill:

Question: In sections 4(b) and 4(d) of your bill you state that no homeless person will be turned away from a shelter and that the states will implement ways to help the homeless find jobs. How would you verify that somebody is indeed homeless and not trying to abuse the system? What if a homeless person is not mentally stable and can cause harm to other homeless people? 
Amendment: I suggest you add to section 3 what a homeless person is as this word can be opened up to many possible definitions. Adding this: "An individual who resided in a shelter or place not meant for human habitation and who is exiting an institution where he or she temporarily resided" in the definitions sections will make homelessness clear.

Rep. Scott Christman's Bill:

Question: By not allowing abortions by doctors, don't you think that could be potentially dangerous to women who want an abortion and don't wan't to carry a baby to term? They would seek to have "black market abortions" that are significantly less safe, and many times result in death.
Amendment: Replace "ban all physicians to abort a woman's baby unless due to the safety of the mother." with "ban all physicians from performing abortions on women unless the safety of the mother is at risk." By doing this, the message being conveyed is more clear, the previous wording was a little confusing to understand.

Rep. Natalia Olszewska's Bill:
Question: In your bill you say: "The U.S. Department of Education shall distribute the grants equally amongst all fifty (50) states" What do you mean by equally? Some states have less money than others and would require more grants to fund such a program, would you give more money to these states?
Rep. Madeline Bryant's Bill:
Amendment: In section 2.a.3 of your bill you state that the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for African Americans was created but it "created little to no buzz," that phrase should be replaced with "garnered little attention" because the original wording is inappropriate for use in a government document.
Rep. Veronica Lam's Bill:
Question: The title of the bill is the "Better Use of Nitrogen Sources Act" but nowhere in the bill does it state where nitrogen comes into play. Where is the nitrogen? It may be confusing to those who are not familiar with fertilizers, so it would be best if an explanation or example were in the bill.
Rep. Rico Vigliotti's Bill:
Question: In section 5.a of your bill you state that it will be legal to grow marijuana, will there be a limit to how much people can grow? Will people be only allowed to grow it in their backyards?
Rep. Mo Brown's Bill:
Amendment: In section 2, under purposes it states that a purpose of this bill will be to "lessen the ruckus within jails" what is ruckus? Do you mean sounds or fighting? A definitions section should be added to the bill adding this word. The definition should read "Ruckus: a commotion or cause of grief and anxiety" By having this definition, it won't confuse readers with the definition meaning loud sounds.

F5

113th Congress

1st Session

H.R. 857

To increase the ease in which a foreigner may receive a United States Visa to enter the country.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

January 7, 2014

Ms. Lopez introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee of Foreign Relations

---

A BILL

To increase the ease in which a foreigner may receive a United States Visa to enter the country.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE

This act may be cited as the “International Visa Act” or “I.V.A.”

SECTION 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE

(a.) Findings- Congress finds that--

1. The current visa system is unfair to those attempting to many people who apply for a visa.
2. Waiting periods for people in line for a visa are too long, especially for foreigners who are from Mexico and the Philippines where waiting periods could take up to 30 years.
3. Some foreigners have waited so long that they decide to enter the country illegally.
4. Many foreigners who apply for visas apply to work a low-skill job, but there is a limit of 5,000 visas for these jobs even though the United States needs these workers.

(b.) Purposes- the purposes of this Act are to--

1. Facilitate the approvement of a work and/or tourist visa for foreigners.
2. Eliminate bias when deciding whether a person will be staying or leaving in the United States.
3. Make sure no criminals can receive a visa into the country unless absolutely necessary.
4. Allow those who receive a visa to start the naturalization process if they wish to become a citizen.

SECTION 3. DEFINITIONS

In this act

1. VISA- an endorsement on a passport indicating that the holder is allowed to enter, leave, or stay for a specific period of time in a country.
2. FOREIGNER- a person born in or coming from a country other than one’s own.

SECTION 4. ACTIONS

1. The United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement shall work with the Department for Homeland Security to lessen the intensity of background checks for people who have inquired for a visa.
2. The BCA will increase the number of visas for low-skill workers from 5,000 to 150,000
3. The members of the Bureaus of Consular Affairs will not take majorly into consideration the nationality of a foreigner when approving visas.

SECTION 5. APPROPRIATIONS CLAUSE

1. The amount of money that shall be used to accomplish the actions of this act shall not exceed $50,000,000 a year.
1. The money will be raised through the numerous immigration-related interest groups that will be obliged to contribute money.
2. No tax shall be imposed upon United States citizens to fund the actions of this act.

SECTION 6. TERMINATION

This bill will last for as long as funds permit or if an improved bill takes its place.

SECTION 7. ENACTMENT CLAUSE

“This bill will become effective 30 days after the signature of the president.”

F4

The Problem: Every year, hundreds of thousands of people from all over the world apply for US visas that allow them to enter the country legally. While there are many who do get a visa, there are also many who have applied time and time again to no avail. Depending on which country a person is coming from, the waiting period could take up to thirty years. People applying from countries such as The Philippines and Mexico are usually the ones taking decades to arrange visas because they have the most people wanting to get into the United States. People who get the most visas and in a faster time are professionals who at least have a bachelors degree. This is unfair to those who have not had the same educational opportunities.When people apply, it's usually to see family members or to work, but the waiting period is so long that sometimes they never get their chance or they decide to get in illegally.
Existing Laws: Currently, people apply for visas and go through extensive background checks to make sure they won't stay in the United States past the allowed time. People apply in their countries and  wait to be verified to see if they get accepted to receive a visa. ( Couldn't find a specific law...)
Proposal: I propose that, when being considered for a visa, there should be less extensive background checks, except for criminal checks. It's not fair to assume whether somebody will remain in the United States or not, so the visas shouldn't be majorly based off of that. To accomplish this, the Bureau of Consular Affairs would have to follow my act and change it. Also, I.C.E would need to work with the Department of Homeland Security to lessen the background checks.
Committee: The Committee of Foreign Relations
Sources: 
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/long-waits-immigrants-21416745.
http://www.immigrationpolicy.org/just-facts/why-don%E2%80%99t-they-just-get-line

F3

I believe that a major issue in the United States that needs to be reformed is the immigration process. Every year, millions of immigrants manage to sneak into the country to find jobs and are deported. Families are separated and the illegal immigrants go back to a life where there are few opportunities. Those who sign up legally to become citizens of the United States are on a waiting list for a few years, even decades. This current system needs to be changed so that the process is not as arduous and more open for people. Not everybody can get in, obviously, there need to be limits, such as no criminals. Although I may have expressed sympathy for those who get into the US illegally, I don't think they should have much of a chance to get in legally since they had committed a crime, that doesn't mean they won't have any chance at all though. The new process should involve temporary visas that last no more than ten years, they should be issued out to some thousands of people every year. If after ten years these immigrants have had no criminal record or interference with law enforcement (small crimes such as speeding etc. not included), they should be allowed to apply for citizenship, otherwise they must go back to their countries. Those who comply with these conditions show that they truly want to be citizens and should get that chance. (I need to add more conditions obviously but it's all I got so far.)