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Congressional Debate Rules & Legislation

2011 California Invitational Tournament

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Table of Contents

Rules of Order.................................................................................................................................................................3
Judging & Results Tabulation.........................................................................................................................................5
Schedule..........................................................................................................................................................................6

Session 1
A Bill to Better Regulate Private Military Defense Contractors.....................................................................................7
A Resolution to Support Brazil as a Permanent Member of the UN Security Council..................................................8
A Bill to Lengthen the Public School Year.....................................................................................................................9

Session 2
A Resolution to Secure American Interests in Pakistan................................................................................................10
A Resolution Urging the ICC to Bring Kenyan Criminals to Justice...........................................................................11
A Bill to Amend the War Powers Act to Reduce Presidential Power..........................................................................12

Session 3
A Resolution to Amend the Constitution to Abolish Labor Unions.............................................................................13
A Bill to Protect Felons Right to Vote Upon Release from Prison...............................................................................14
A Bill to Increase Mainstreaming Programs for Special Education.............................................................................15

Session 4
A Resolution to Promote Sugarcane-based Ethanol.....................................................................................................16
A Resolution to Urge Creation of an Independent Chechneya.....................................................................................17
A Bill to Repeal all Federal Hate Crimes Enhancements.............................................................................................18

Semi-Finals
A Bill to Substantially Increase Estate Taxes on the Wealthy......................................................................................19
A Resolution to Enhance the International Monetary Fund..........................................................................................20
A Resolution to Reduce the Length of Drug Patents....................................................................................................21

Finals
A Resolution to Further a Two-State Solution in the Israeli Palestinian Conflict........................................................22
A Resolution to Amend the Constitution to Mandate a Balanced Budget....................................................................23
A Bill to Create Federal Grants for Improving Public Defender Quality.....................................................................24

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Rules of Order

Thank you for choosing to attend the 2011 University of California-Berkeley Invitational Tournament. We are
pleased that you are taking part in this, the largest high school invitational tournament in the nation. The following
rules are designed to promote procedural unity among the chambers. These regulations cannot be altered or ignored
by a chamber through the use of a motion to suspend the rules.

1. Recency and Priority: Modern high school Congressional Debate has long since institutionalized the practice of
recency (as opposed to standing time) as the secondary principle of priority. The National Forensic League has now
officially written into its rules this standard for Districts and Nationals. Priority for speaker recognition will then be
governed by the below principles.
• Primary Principle: Number of speeches
• Secondary Principle: Recency (who spoke longest ago)
• Tertiary Principles: Standing time, participation, or other systems as selected by the Presiding
Officer (tertiary principles applicable only when selecting between contestants
who have not yet spoken once)

2. Debate at the Will of the Chamber (the “Open Podium” Rule): The California Invitational will allow for
“open podiums” (skipping a speech slot when no one wishes to speak, thus creating two or more affirmative or
negative speeches in a row) to maximize our use of time. Students are also reminded that “dividing the house” as a
survey of who wishes to speak affirmative and negatively is a misuse of the motion, and that there are no minimum
“cycles” of debate (all motions are welcome between all speeches). In the unlikely absence of a first affirmative
speech, debate may also begin on a new piece of legislation with a negative speech.

3. Clarification of Voting Standards: “[Fractional] motions such as previous question, seconding an amendment,
or suspending the rules reflect the will of the entire body. Presiding Officers should calculate these numbers upon
first taking the Chair. For these votes, ‘No’ votes are not even required because the number needed is either reached
or it’s not. However, in all votes requiring a majority, the Presiding Officer needs to take ‘Yes’ votes, ‘No’ votes,
and ‘Abstentions.’ Abstentions do not count as a ‘No.’ In order for such a motion to pass (including the main bill or
resolution), the ‘Yes’ votes must simply outnumber the ‘No’ votes. Abstentions are not counted, except as a
courtesy to those members who wish to register their desire to avoid voting or those who are undecided on the issue.
In theory, all majority votes could be decided by 3 people (2-1) with everyone else abstaining.” 1

Therefore, the Presiding Officer determines the method of voting on each question that comes before the chamber.
All simple majority votes are based upon the number of legislators present and voting in the chamber; consequently,
the PO does not need to call for or count abstentions. For all votes requiring a fraction of the chamber to agree to a
motion or question (2/3, 1/3, or 1/5), the chair determines whether the chamber agrees with the motion/question
using the number of legislators present in the chamber at the time of the vote. Because of this system, the PO must
track the number of legislators in the chamber at all times. By custom, the PO is not included in the count of
legislators present and does not vote. Notes on voting:
• Final votes on legislation, amendments, and motions to appeal the chair require a counted vote.
• Voice voting is acceptable for all other votes, but a counted vote must be taken if any one legislator calls
for a division of the chamber.

1
Peters, Tammy. Most Commonly Misunderstood Points of Parliamentary Procedure. The Rostrum. February 1997.

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4. Voting By Unanimous Consent: When a motion is unlikely to be contested, it is appropriate for the Chair to call
for unanimous consent by asking “are there any objections” before executing the motion. Members may
then respond by announcing “objection” to the chamber. This is not an automatic recognition to explain
the substance of that objection. Proper expression of your objection is to then vote “Nay” in the subsequent
division of the chamber (this prohibition includes explaining that you have a speech you still wish to
deliver; the chamber is aware that you’ve been standing thus far and is not obliged to allow every member
to deliver every speech he/she may desire). It is imperative that Presiding Officers cease the inefficient
practice of allowing objections to be explained ad nauseam.

5. Personal Privileges: It has become common practice in recent years to suspend the rules and allow for an “open”
chamber where members may freely enter and exit between speeches. While this does relieve the Chair of
traffic directing duties, it has led to some degree of abuse by members. Therefore, for the California
Invitational, suspension of the rules for the purposes of an open chamber is not permitted. Members are
reminded that the proper exchange to ask for permission to leave or enter the chamber and return occurs as
follows:
• Member: “Mr./Mme. President/Speaker, I rise to a point of personal privilege.”
• Chair: “State that privilege.”
• Member: “Enter/Exit chambers.”
• Chair: “Granted.” or “Denied (with brief explanation).”

6. Permission to Preface in Cross-Examination: Please remember to keep all questions concise. That being said,
some Presiding Officers have required use of the prohibitive request for “permission to preface” is to
prevent lengthy questions from being asked when time is short. Simply put, unless Presiding Officers have
achieved clairvoyance, they have no way to discern whether the preface material is truly too long. Often
times the material is central to understanding the question being asked. Moreover, questions without
prefaces often surpass prefaced ones in their length and complexity. Therefore at the California
Invitational no member of the Congress shall have to request permission to preface and no Presiding
Officer may force/request that members do so. However, Presiding Officers are also urged that if a
legislator repeatedly devours cross-examination time, he/she should not be recognized in future cross-
examination periods.

7. Proper Phrasing of Motions: Members of Congress are reminded to avoid the amateurish practice of “making a
motion.” Instead, please consider employing the lovely verb our language offers us for occasions when we make
motions in the present tense: I move. This of course should not result in the phrase “I move to make a motion” but
rather should lead to statements such as “I move to the previous question” or “I move to amend.”

8. Decorum: Each chamber is designated as either a Senate or a House of Representatives. A member of a Senate is
always referred to as Senator, while a member of a House of Representatives is always referred to as Representative.
The Presiding Officer of a Senate is addressed as Mister/Madam President, while the Presiding Officer of a House of
Representatives is addressed as Mister/Madam Speaker. The Presiding Officer is responsible for enforcing proper
decorum.

9. Legislative Day and Speaker Recognition: All preliminary sessions constitute a single legislative day. Speaking
priority does not reset at the end of each session. Semifinals and finals shall each constitute a new legislative day
respectively. The priority system outlined in Rule 1 is the required method for recognizing speakers at the
California Invitational.

10. Questioning: A mandatory two-minute questioning period follows all first affirmative and first negative
speeches. A mandatory one-minute questioning period follows all other speeches. The Presiding Officer recognizes
legislators who wish to ask a question of a speaker; the speaker may not perform this function him/herself.
Suspensions of the rules to abolish questioning periods are not permitted. Repeated use of the motion to suspend the
rules for the purpose of extending the cross-examination periods is prohibited. The PO has an obligation to rule that
two-part, misleading, or irrelevant questions are out-of-order.

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11. Agenda Order: Each chamber sets its own agenda order for the each session from the designated legislation for
that session and that session only. The proposed agenda order must receive approval by a simple majority vote of
the chamber before the beginning of each session. No chamber may debate legislation at any time other than during
its designated session.

12. Amendments: In the interest of time, for all preliminary sessions the introduction of amendments is prohibited.
For semifinals and finals, legislators may submit amendments to the PO in writing. A motion to amend is necessary
to consider the written amendment; such a motion is in order anytime after the first affirmative speech. Once the
motion is made, the PO decides if the amendment is germane. The PO may consult with the judges to make this
decision. If the amendment is deemed not to be germane, the chair rules it out-of-order and the amendment process
stops. If the chair rules the amendment germane, he/she should read the contents of the amendment to the chamber.
A 1/3 second of the members present in the chamber is required to debate the amendment. If the chamber votes a
second, debate on the amendment commences immediately. Legislators may make a motion to table or call the
previous question on the amendment at any time. The first speech on the amendment is a sponsorship speech. The
chair determines speaker recognition for the sponsorship speech on the basis of priority; the author of the
amendment is not guaranteed the sponsorship speech. The sponsor accepts responsibility for the mechanics of the
amendment and yields to two minutes of questioning. All amendment speeches receive a score and count towards
priority. A majority vote is necessary for the chamber to adopt the amendment (this of course after a 2/3 vote has
been achieved to call previous question on the amendment).

13. Overtime Speeches: Any regular floor speech that extends more than ten (10) seconds beyond the maximum
speaking time of three minutes shall be penalized one full point on the speech score by the judge evaluating the
session. The Presiding Officer is required to keep accurate time of each speech and report it to the judges when the
speaker has finished. The judges shall heavily penalize a Presiding Officer for inaccurate timing and/or reporting.

14. Laptop Use: The use of laptops in chambers is permitted, though it is strongly recommended that students avoid
reading notes from laptops when delivering speeches in front of the chamber. Please be advised that limited power
supplies will exist in the classrooms at UC-Berkeley and the tournament accepts no responsibility for providing
Congressional debaters with a power source at any tournament site.

15. Selection of Presiding Officers: A single presiding officer will serve for each session. A legislator is allowed
to serve as Presiding Officer for more than one session, though he or she must be re-elected for each session served.
Members of each chamber are encouraged to hold brief “business meeting” near their chamber before the beginning
of Session 1 to discuss the agenda order and to elect a Presiding Officer for the session. Unfortunately, due to room
availability, legislators will not be able to enter their competition room until the scheduled start time for each
session. For other preliminary sessions, the Presiding Officer will be elected at the conclusion of the preceding
session (thus, at the conclusion of Session 1 the Presiding Officer for Session 2 will be elected, and so forth).

Attention to parliamentary detail gives judges one more clue as to who among you really is the best at this most
polite contest we all love: Congressional Debate. The Congress Tournament Directors reserve the right to issue
additional special rules for the California Invitational as warranted. Points of parliamentary procedure not
specifically enumerated in this document are otherwise governed by the latest version of Robert’s Rules of Order.

Judging & Results Tabulation

1. Scoring: In the preliminary session, each judge will score every speech on a scale of 1-6 points (6 is best). In
addition, at the end of each session, the judge will rank the top nine students who advanced the debate most
effectively (1st is best). All unranked students will receive a rank of 10th. The Presiding Officer may be ranked in the
top nine, and judges will be instructed that they must consider the Presiding

2. Advancing to Semifinals: Based on chamber size, the top 5-8 legislators from each Preliminary chamber will
advance to Semifinals as follows:
• Sum of all judge ranks in Preliminary sessions. (Low totals are best.)
• Sum of reciprocals of all judge ranks in the Preliminary sessions.

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• NFL points earned in Preliminary sessions, adjusted via the base system. (See NFL Congress manual for
explanation of the Base system.)

3. Advancing to Finals: The top 4-6 legislators in each Semifinal chamber will advance to Finals as follows:
• Sum of all judge ranks in Semifinals.
• Sum of reciprocals of all judge ranks in the Semifinals.
• NFL points earned in Semifinals, adjusted via the base system.
• Repetition of the above steps 1-2, but inclusive of Preliminary ranks.

4. Finals Awards: The top 6 legislators in Finals will receive awards based on their placement as follows:
• Sum of all judge ranks in Finals.
• Sum of reciprocals of all judge ranks in the Finals.
• NFL points earned in Finals, adjusted via the base system.
• Repetition of the above steps one and two, but inclusive of Semifinal ranks.
• Repetition of the above steps one and two, but inclusive of the Semifinal and Preliminary ranks.

Schedule
Friday, February 18, 2011
7:00 PM – 9:00 PM Tournament Registration – Marriott Courtyard Emeryville

Saturday, February 19, 2011

8:30 AM Opening Meeting for Congressional Debaters & Judges – Dwinelle 155
9:30 AM – 11:00 AM Congressional Debate Session 1
4:45 PM – 6:30 PM Congressional Debate Session 2

Sunday, February 20, 2011

3:15 PM – 4:45 PM Congressional Debate Session 3
8:15 PM – 10:00 PM Congressional Debate Session 4
ASAP Posting of Semifinalists

Monday, February 21, 2011

8:00 AM – 10:00 AM Congressional Debate Semifinals
ASAP Posting of Finalists
12:00 PM – 2:00 PM Congressional Debate Finals
4:30 PM – 5:30 PM Awards

All motions to change in any way this published schedule are out of order. Adhere to the published schedule and be
on time, please.

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A Bill to Better Regulate Private Military Defense Contractors

1BE IT ENACTED BY THE CONGRESS HERE ASSEMBLED THAT:

2SECTION 1. The United States State Department and Department of Defense shall follow the following

3 regulations when making contracts with Private Military Defense Contractors.

4SECTION 2. The following bidding procedures shall be enacted:

5 A. No contract can be accepted if there is only one bidder for that contract.

6 B. No company can cumulatively hold contracts that amount to more than 10% of the

7 military’s total expenditure on private contractors.

8 C. The United States State Department and Department of Defense should choose the most

9 cost effective contractors that meet the criteria stated in subsections A and B.

10SECTION 3. The following monitoring procedures shall be enacted:

11 A. The Department of Defense and the State Department will only pay for the cost of the

12 military contractors’ equipment that is made disabled or dysfunctional during military

13 action.

14 B. Central Command shall have ultimate command authority over Private Military Defense

15 Contractors.

16 C. If the contractors kills or harms civilians afore mentioned Departments shall fine the

17 contractors. The present laws concerning civilian killings will still be in effect.

18 D. If the contract is made and does not meet the procedures above, afore mentioned

19 departments shall break the contract.

20SECTION 4. This bill shall take effect within 5 years upon the passage of this bill. Current contracts will be

21 renegotiated with the new regulations in a manner that conforms to this legislation.

22SECTION 5. All laws in conflict with this legislation are hereby declared null and void.

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A Resolution to Support Brazil as a Permanent Member of the UN Security Council

1WHEREAS, Brazil is rising economic power; and

2WHEREAS, Brazil is a strong regional power; and

3WHEREAS, South America is unrepresented in the UN Security Council; and

4WHEREAS, Brazil’s current position as a non-permanent member does not allow the country enough stability

5 or potency in the council; now, therefore, be it

6RESOLVED, By the Congress here assembled that the United States Congress strongly encourages the United

7 Nations to invite Brazil to be a permanent member of its Security Council.

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A Bill to Lengthen the Public School Year

1BE IT ENACTED BY THE CONGRESS HERE ASSEMBLED THAT:

2SECTION 1. The public school year will be lengthened. States who will not comply will be penalized.

3SECTION 2. By “lengthened” the school year will be extended from 180 days to 200 days. By “penalized”

4 states will receive neither No Child Left Behind funding nor Title I funding.

5SECTION 3. The Department of Education shall oversee the implementation of this bill in public schools.

6SECTION 4. The terms of this legislation shall take effect August 1, 2013.

7SECTION 5. All laws in conflict with this legislation are hereby declared null and void.

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A Resolution to Secure American Interests in Pakistan

1WHEREAS, Areas of Pakistan’s Waziristan province and the NWFP have become havens for terrorists; and

2WHEREAS, Unarmed aerial drone strikes have caused much more detriment than help; and

3WHEREAS, The Pakistani government has inadequately utilized American military aid; and

4WHEREAS, The effectiveness of Pakistani security is reflected by an insufficient government response and

5 endemic chaos; and

6WHEREAS, Security in Pakistan has become integral to success in the War on Terror; and

7WHEREAS, Civilian aid is necessary to reach gains in the war on terror; now, therefore, be it

8RESOLVED, By the Congress here assembled that the United States reduce military aid given to Pakistan

9 heavily and augment levels of civilian aid to ameliorate the plight of Pakistani citizens in order to

10 decrease the influence of radical Islam and to give the Pakistani government an impetus for

11 reform.

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A Resolution Urging the ICC to Bring Kenyan Criminals to Justice

1WHEREAS, The violence that ensued after Kenya’s elections in December 2007 claimed over 1,000 lives; and

2WHEREAS, The Kenyan government has sought to delay the investigation and prosecution of six key suspects;

3 and

4WHEREAS, in the past, Kenya has seemed reluctant to meet its responsibilities as a member of the

5 International Criminal Court; therefore, be it

6RESOLVED, By the Congress here assembled that the International Criminal Court should issue arrest warrants

7 for the six Kenyan officials suspected of perpetrating the post-election violence.

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A Bill to Amend the War Powers Act to Reduce Presidential Power

1BE IT ENACTED BY THE CONGRESS HERE ASSEMBLED THAT:

2SECTION 1. Section 2, subsection (c) (2) of the War Powers Act shall hereby be stricken.

3SECTION 2. All provisions of the War Powers Act allowing the President to use American soldiers in active

4 combat for purposes other than a national emergency or under the provisions of a declaration of

5 war shall be stricken. Congress shall not fund the use of troops for active combat in a situation

6 lasting more than 30 days without a declaration of war.

7SECTION 3. This bill shall be enforced by the Department of Defense.

8SECTION 4. This bill shall take effect January 1, 2012.

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

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A Resolution to Amend the Constitution to Abolish Labor Unions

1WHEREAS, Labor unions served an important purpose when few laws were in place to regulate scale and

2 scope of working conditions; and

3WHEREAS, Today, labor unions have grown into monolithic, bureaucratic organizations whose chiefs are

4 often paid more than the executives of companies whose employees they represent; and

5WHEREAS, Labor unions benefit seniority over fresh, innovative work forces, and promote stagnant attitudes

6 in workplaces, counter to the 21st century, knowledge and cognitive economy; and

7WHEREAS, In a competitive global economy, abolishing unions will allow employees to keep more of their

8 wages, and keep production costs lower; now, therefore be it

9RESOLVED, By the Congress here assembled that upon approval of two-thirds of this chamber, the following

10 Constitutional amendment be sent to the state legislatures for approval:

11 SECTION 1: After one year from the ratification of this article, all existing labor unions in the

12 United States shall cease the ability to represent workers, deduct pay from their

13 salaries, and negotiate with business entities.

14 SECTION 2: The Congress and the several States shall have power to enforce this article by

15 appropriate legislation.

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A Bill to Protect Felons Right to Vote Upon Release from Prison

1BE IT ENACTED BY THE CONGRESS HERE ASSEMBLED THAT:

2SECTION 1. The right of an individual who is a citizen of the United States to vote in any election for Federal

3 office shall not be denied or abridged because that individual has been convicted of a criminal

4 offense unless such individual is serving a felony sentence in a correctional institution or facility at

5 the time of the election.

6SECTION 2. The Attorney General may, in a civil action, obtain such declaratory or injunctive relief as is

7 necessary to remedy a violation of this Act. A person who is aggrieved by a violation of this Act

8 may provide written notice of the violation to the chief election official of the State involved.

9SECTION 3. Nothing in this Act shall be construed to prohibit the States from enacting any State law that

10 affords the right to vote in any election for Federal office on terms less restrictive than those

11 established by this Act.

12SECTION 4. No State, unit of local government, or other person may receive or use, to construct or otherwise

13 improve a prison, jail, or other place of incarceration, any Federal grant amounts unless that

14 person has in effect a program under which each individual incarcerated in that person’s

15 jurisdiction who is a citizen of the United States is notified, upon release from such incarceration,

16 of that individual’s rights under §1.

17SECTION 5. This Act shall apply to citizens of the United States voting in any election for Federal office held

18 after the date of the enactment of this Act.

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A Bill to Increase Mainstreaming Programs for Special Education

1BE IT ENACTED BY THE CONGRESS HERE ASSEMBLED THAT:

2SECTION 1. 5 billion dollars from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 allocated to the

3 Department of Education (DOE) will be used to hire trained staff to facilitate additional

4 mainstreaming programs in schools

5SECTION 2. Special education is the system for teaching students with learning, emotional, physical, and

6 developmental disorders. Mainstreaming is the process of taking students in special education

7 programs, and for certain periods of the day, having them placed in regular classrooms. The

8 mainstreamed classes will have a teaching aid that will tutor the special education students and

9 assist the classroom teacher.

10 A) The DOE will assess the Schools need for funding based on the relative population of

11 special education students versus the general population, the school’s desire for funding,

12 and the availability of alternative community programs.

13 B) The DOE will dispense funds to be used for hiring or training teachers with special

14 education certifications issued by the state.

15 C) The DOE will conduct an audit after two years to ensure that the school is using the funds

16 for hiring or training teachers.

17SECTION 3. Funding will be taken from portions allocated from the State Fiscal Stabilization Fund and the

18 Special Education portions of the Stimulus funds. The DOE will directly monitor schools for five

19 years that violate this legislation by use of the funds for purposes other than hiring or training

20 teachers for the mainstreaming program. Upon a second offense, funding from the DOE will be

21 cut.

22SECTION 5. This legislation will take effect January 1, 2013.

23SECTION 6. All laws in conflict with this legislation are hereby declared null and void.

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A Resolution to Promote Sugarcane-based Ethanol

1WHEREAS, The current trend towards greater use of corn-based Ethanol is inefficient and has significant

2 negative effects upon the world; and

3WHEREAS, Corn based Ethanol is 25% less efficient than gasoline, which is an increase of approximately 70

4 cents (for E85), taking into account the decreased efficiency; and

5WHEREAS, Cellulosic and Sugarcane based Ethanol are both more efficient and have less of an environmental

6 impact than corn-based ethanol; and

7WHEREAS, The United States Current Ethanol policy is counterproductive for lower prices at the pump and a

8 cleaner world; now, therefore, be it

9RESOLVED, By the Congress here assembled that all subsidies on Corn-based Ethanol Produced in the United

10 States be removed and that all tariffs on foreign Sugarcane-Based Ethanol Products be removed.

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A Resolution to Urge Creation of an Independent Chechneya

1WHEREAS, The recent attack on the Domodedovo airport illustrates the dangerous tensions between

2 Chechneya and Russia; and

3WHEREAS, In recent years, Russia’s policies have enabled Chechneya to mature economically; and

4WHEREAS, The internal divide within Chechneya’s populace would best be resolved by a representative

5 government created and supported by the populace itself; now, therefore, be it

6RESOLVED, That the Congress here assembled encourages the secession of Chechneya from Russia and the

7 creation of an independent Checneyan state.

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A Bill to Repeal all Federal Hate Crimes Enhancements

1BE IT ENACTED BY THE CONGRESS HERE ASSEMBLED THAT:

2SECTION 1. Throughout the jurisdiction of the Federal Courts of the United States of America, no person shall

3 be charged with a “hate crime” in a court of law nor faced an enhanced penalty for other charges

4 deemed to have been motivated by hate.

5SECTION 2. Hate crimes are those defined as allegedly having a motive of inciting fear and feelings of

6 intimidation in a group based upon shared characteristics such as race, national origin, gender, sex,

7 religion, or sexual orientation.

8 SECTION 3. The Judiciary Branch shall oversee the enforcement of this bill.

9SECTION 4. This bill will be implemented immediately, and all of those charged with this crime before the

10 passage of this bill shall have their time reduced or be released within three months, depending on

11 the case.

12SECTION 5. All other laws that are in conflict with this bill shall hereby be declared null and void.

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A Bill to Substantially Increase Estate Taxes on the Wealthy

1BE IT ENACTED BY THE CONGRESS HERE ASSEMBLED THAT:

2SECTION 1. All financial assets valued at greater than forty times the individual poverty threshold as

3 determined by the Department of Health and Human Services shall be taxed at a rate of sixty

4 percent upon the death of the holder of those assets.

5SECTION 2. Financial assets worth up to forty times the poverty threshold as determined by the Department of

6 Health and Human Services may be given to direct dependents or other individuals or corporations

7 specified in the individual’s legal will.

8SECTION 3. The Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service shall oversee the terms of this

9 legislation.

10SECTION 4. This legislation will take effect immediately upon passage and will expire one hundred years after

11 passage.

12SECTION 5. All laws in conflict with this legislation are hereby declared null and void.

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A Resolution To Enhance the International Monetary Fund

1WHEREAS, The volatility of the commodities market contributed to the global economic downturn in 2008;

2 and

3WHEREAS, The International Monetary Fund has accurately predicted instances of significant financial

4 instability, such as the recent crisis in Greece; and

5WHEREAS, Imbalances between currencies further threaten the health of the global economy; now, therefore,

6 be it

7RESOLVED, By the Congress here assembled that the International Monetary Fund should be empowered with

8 the tasks of publicly tracking commodities production across all nations and tightly monitoring

9 currency values to guard against imbalances.

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A Resolution to Reduce the Length of Drug Patents

1WHEREAS, People are currently dying from the ravages of AIDS and other illnesses because they lack access

2 to affordable drugs; and

3WHEREAS, These drugs are often cheap to produce but are marked up in price by drug companies looking for

4 a profit; and

5WHEREAS, Price markup is allowed and even condoned by the US patent system, which allows

6 pharmaceutical corporations to hold monopolies on drug production; and

7WHEREAS, While patents are necessary to give incentive for research and development, the current

8 established patent time of over 11 years is far too long, and serves to disproportionately harm the

9 poor; now, therefore, be it

10RESOLVED, By the Congress here assembled that the drug patent time limits be reduced in order to provide

11 more affordable drugs to patients while still promoting research and development of newer drugs.

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A Resolution To Further a Two-State Solution in the Israeli Palestinian Conflict

1WHEREAS, Several American administrations have expressed their support for a two-state solution to the

2 conflict in Israel; and

3WHEREAS, A two-state solution would consist of the creation of a viable Palestinian State to coexist

4 peacefully with the State of Israel; and

5WHEREAS, Peace talks are severely hindered by the threat of continued expansion of Israeli settlements in the

6 West Bank; now, therefore, be it

7RESOLVED, By the Congress here assembled that the United States will withhold all aid and support from

8 Israel until all settlement expansion on the West Bank is permanently halted.

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A Resolution to Amend the Constitution to Mandate a Balanced Budget

1RESOLVED, By the Congress here assembled that, upon a two-thirds vote of this Congress, the following

2 Constitutional Amendment shall be sent to he state legislatures for approval:

3 SECTION 1. The United States Congress shall not approve any federal budge containing

4 appropriations and expenses exceeding the revenue generated by Congress in the

5 previous fiscal year.

6 SECTION 2. Congress shall be allowed to override the restrictions on spending placed in

7 Section 1 upon a three-fourths vote of both chambers, in order to pass

8 emergency appropriations for national security threats, natural disasters, and any

9 other scenario determined by Congress to be necessary for the stability and

10 prosperity of the United States.

11 SECTION 3. The Federal Government shall have five fiscal years beginning upon ratification

12 of this Amendment to bring expenses under control without legal repercussions,

13 however that deadline may be extended to ten fiscal years upon a three-fourths

14 vote of both chambers.

15 SECTION 4. Congress shall have the power to enforce this article with appropriate

16 legislation.

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A Bill to Create Federal Grants for Improving Public Defender Quality

1BE IT ENACTED BY THE CONGRESS HERE ASSEMBLED THAT:

2SECTION 1. $10 billion worth of funding shall be allocated for block grants to public defenders’ offices.

3SECTION 2. To receive funds, which will be dispersed over a period of five years, states must request funds

4 and have these requests reviewed by a panel of members appointed by the Department of Justice.

5 This panel will have the responsibility of carrying out annual reviews to ensure that all funds are

6 for the explicit purposes of increasing the availability and quality of public defenders.

7SECTION 3. All funding shall come from the general appropriations budget.

8SECTION 4. The Department of Justice will be responsible for the enforcement of this legislation.

9SECTION 5. This law will take effect at the start of fiscal year 2012.

10SECTION 6. All laws and portions thereof in conflict with the provisions of this legislation are hereby declared

11 null and void.

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