Committees_HomelandSecurity

Section 01 (9:30): Ferrante, Panagiotidis, Santic
Mission Statement: To protect the United States home soil and all its territories and possessions. It includes all actions to safeguard the populace and its property,critical infrastructure, the government and the military, its installations and deploying forces.

2/12 Is a strengthened border policy with Mexico needed? How shall we handle illegal immigration? The pupose of this committee is to over see the security of our homes and securing the border to keep out spies, communists and other undesirables should be one of our prime concerns.
 * Formed in 2002, made a permanent committee in 2005.
 * Hold a seat in the House and Senate.

What is the role of African-American civil rights in stability of American society? The question of African-American civil rights is complicated and we of this committe feel that in the short-term the question of African-American civil rights might lead to some civil unrest. However in the long-term answering these questions will serve to add to the stability of the country, as a large segment of our population should be granted all of teh rights of the rest of us.

The role of African American civil rights in comparison to the stability of the U.S is huge. If civil rights are violated then riots/crime/sit-ins/camp outs/marches and protests will storm all over America as seen in our past history for example the Watts riots, Mississippi school sit in and so on. It is very important that everyone has their civil rights in order for the U.S to remain stable. -Dimitrios

Shall Congress pass an Internal Security Act to require all Communist and Communist-front organizations to register with the Attorney General? In the opinion of this committte we feel that all organizations should register with a letter of intent as any group does have an agenda and subversive groups especially those with communist associations should be kept track of. The question of how to accomplish this without impinging on the rights of loyal Americans requires further thought.

Shall Congress pass the National Interstate and Defense Highways Act to provide federal subsidies for interstate highway construction? What is the role of good highways in civil defense? This committe endorses the National Interstate and Defense Highways act, for multiple reasons. The first is that an extensive federal highway system will help with the movement of troops in times of emergency. Second is that a roadway of this type will aid in interstate commerce and allow greater freedom in moving goods. Third, with the advent of the automobile and it's current widespread use, with no end of this trend in sight, safe and well constructed roads will allow our citizens a sense of freedom.

How shall the American people be trained or prepared for possible nuclear attack?

Answer- I do not think there is any type of preparation that can be done to stop a human from being killed or severely injured from a nuclear blast. But if there must be something done i would say to make a pre-blast drill. For example getting everyone out that area as fast as possible or have the federal government help Americans get bomb shelters.

3/3

We the committee on homeland security feel that the race riots that are sweeping the country are a major concern. We propose a gathering of civil rights leaders to try and resolve this. If this fails we would like to consider the placement of troops in cities most at risk for these riots,at the least we would propose the formation of rapid response units that will try and contain the violence.

3/24

Today in our congress we looked at the Watergate proceedings, we had two votes. The first vote was whether or not we should form a committee to investigate the improper and unethical behaviors of anyone involved in the Watergate affair. The second vote was whether or not we should form a Congressional committee to look into if we should impeach President Nixon. the results of the voting within our committee follow:

William Santic: 1) I voted against the formation of the first committee because, I felt that at this point the formation of a committee to look into this was premature and we might interfere with the criminal investigation 2) I voted for the formation of impeachment committee because at this point it is obvious there are irregularities within the office of the Presidency.

3/31

Today in congress we started to work on our bills our committee sponsored 2 bills the first was a bill that reorganizes the prison system to reduce the cost of prisons to the taxpayer and a bill to remove daylight savings time.

4/14 Today in congress we started to debate and vote on the bills that were submitted to the hopper the First bill that was debated was 113.3 a bill on curbing childhood obesity. This bill was defeated. We also looked at bill 113.19 that was designed to change the way that the DEA was going about fighting the war on drugs, this bill was defeated. Another bill that was debated was bill 113.7 this bill wanted to name English as teh official language of the United States this bill was passed

4/23

This day in congress we continued to debate our bills the first was 113.9 a bill requiring that all citizens be fingerprinted, this bill passed. Bill 113.25 was postponed as it needed clarification and the writer of the bill was not present. And one of our bills 113.18 the prison reform bill came before the congress and voting was postponed because we needed more debate.

5/3

After class we took a little time to continue debate on our bills. Bill 113.18 the prison bill was passed. Bill 113.25 the day of remembrance for victims of 9/11 was passed after some inconsistencies in the bill were clarified. The prison bill was debated and passed with some opposition in regards to the families of prisoners. Stating that men who are locked up should have a way to help their family with money from jail.

5/5

For this Congress day we finished looking at our last three bills. Bill 113.10 calling for the legalization of marijuana passed. we also looked at bills 113.16 the elderly driving bill and bill 113.16 the DC voting act, The legalization of marijuana bill did pass in an outstanding voting turnout. I voted against it debating that the legalization of marijuana would cause further health problems. The elderly driving bill was also passed but was amended. The amendment was that the age of the starting of the testing be moved to 65 ( being the age of retirement) and the years between retesting be longer. The DV voting bill did not pass after debating that having representation in that part of the country would be unfair

Section 06 (10:30): Mahoney, McDonald, Ramsey
Mission Statement: To provide defense for the United States against terrorists and outside threats. The protection will be provided by the subcommittees; Border and Transportation Security, Emergency Preparedness and Response, Information Analysis and Infrastructure Protection, Management, and Science and Technology.

2/12/10 __**Truman Era Issues:**

What are the roles of good highways in civil defense?__ Highways make it possible for people to evacuate the cities in times of crisis. They also enable military mobility that might be a matter of national security. They will also be important in creating new ways of transporting goods to and from major cities.

__How shall the American people be trained or prepared for possible nuclear attack?__ The American people should be given instructions on building safe fallout shelters that would aid them in surviving the possible attack. It might also be beneficial to make instructional videos that would ensure the public of their safety and create some sense of preparedness.

__Shall Congress pass the McCarran-Walter Act, making it illegal for Communists and other “undesirables” to enter the USA?__ It is hard to say. It might create some resentment against the United States. Yet, it might be a good idea to keep the U.S. labor force open to just the American people and keep it from becoming too competitive.

__**Eisenhower Issue:**__ (presented in class) Did the public policies of this time accurately represent the idea of the American dream of the time? Yes, for the suburban Caucasian households. The idea of segregation was still firmly embedded in the minds of the people that lived in the Levittown's.

3/3 As a committee we believe that the roadways of the country could be regulated to make them safer for individuals. We propose the enforcement of lap belts in cars and guard rails on the nations highways. The high fatalities on the nations roads makes this imperative We as a committee want to propose the control of riots for the benefit of the common good and the safety of its participants. Peaceful protests should be protected and police will only interfere when necessary to control violence from erupting.
 * Transportation:**
 * Civil Rights Movement:**

Sarah Ramsey I believe that some of the factors against indictment are a little too "soft". Even though Nixon did resign I feel that he should have been held accountable for what he did to show the other government officials that even the president will be charged for the crimes that he committed. The first bullet is the one that irks me the most. He resigned, but was that really sufficient punishment? Yes he was left with the legacy of what he did, but I think that he should have been held responsible.
 * Articles of Impeachment:** I would have voted yes to all of the articles of impeachment, because a president can't hide things from not only the government, but the people. In all of these articles there are clear cut signs that Nixon not only duped the government, but also the people.
 * Memorandum:**

Lauren McDonald
 * __Articles __**: If I was part of congress, voting on this issue, I would vote yes to all of the articles. I would vote yes because we voted him in to be our president; this meaning that he should not lie to us and be 100% faithful and truthful to us, as Americans, in all aspects on his presidency.
 * __Memorandum __**: This document, to me, is disturbing. The writers are basically covering for Nixon and I believe the numbered factors are a complete joke. He LIED to Americans and just giving him the act of resigning is totally not enough punishment to a man who American’s put their lives/country in his hands.

Melissa Mahoney
 * Articles:** I would have voted yes to all of the articles because the president is someone we Americans should trust. We elect presidents for a reason; because we think he is responsible, truthful, and trustworthy. The people of America should not be lied to, and should not be unaware of what the President is doing while in office.
 * Memorandum:** Although Nixon resigned, I believe he should have been punished more for what he did. Just because he is the President, it doesn't give him the right to have special treatment. He is human, he makes mistakes, and he should be punished for the mistakes he made.

BILLS:

LAUREN MCDONALD:

** Hi 113 Congress Simulation 2010 **


 * **Committee:** Homeland Security || **Principal Author:** Lauren McDonald ||
 * ** Bill No: ** || ** Section: ** ||

Be It Enacted By The Congress
 * **Title of Bill:** Highway Safety ||

 SECTION 1: Highways should, in Northern states or states that get snow, be plowed numerous times throughout the day and salt/sand should be laid out in order to help aid the icy conditions.
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 * 15 ** || Be it enacted by the House of Congress of the United States of America in Congress assembled, that the Committee of Homeland Security is asking for stricter polices regarding highway safety. Every year, accidents and deaths occur because of the conditions of highways. All highways should follow the guidelines listed below to ensure safety throughout:

SECTION 2: Only in extreme cases should SECTION 1 not work, the highway must be shut down to help alleviate the snow/ice.

SECTION 3: Speed limits should be enforced to ensure that people are traveling at the appropriate speed limit. For this, a state trooper must routinely have speed checks on the side of the highway; once a person drives by the cop at a number over the limit, there should be severe consequences with tickets.

SECTION 4: If by any chance a person gets pulled over, without a seatbelt on, there should be an automatic fine for all involved. Failure to accept punishment will result in a court hearing.

SECTION 5: This bill shall go into effect 90 days after passage. ||


 * For 2/10 - even though your committee didn't really exist then, consider the following Truman-era issues:**

Is a strengthened border policy with Mexico needed? How shall we handle illegal immigration? What is the role of African-American civil rights in stability of American society? Shall Congress pass an Internal Security Act to require all Communist and Communist-front organizations to register with the Attorney General? Shall Congress pass the McCarren-Walter Act, making it illegal for Communists and other “undesirables” to enter the USA? Shall Congress pass the National Interstate and Defense Highways Act to provide federal subsidies for interstate highway construction? What is the role of good highways in civil defense? How shall the American people be trained or prepared for possible nuclear attack?

Shall Congress pass the National Interstate and Defense Highways Act to provide federal subsidies for interstate highway construction? What is the role of good highways in civil defense?

Here are instructions on what to do with those questions and how to prepare for Wed 2/10.