CAP Congress 2021 - DAY 1

OBJECTIVE: SWBAT create legislation that reflects the

needs of their constituents and is supported by interest
groups.

Today you will begin CAP Congress 2021! You will be divided into
groups using your state and district assignments from the Crystal
Ball project that we did in November. As Senators and
Representatives, you will have a specific constituency that you
represent. While you have already done the research on your
state/district, you will need to reacquaint yourself with the
characteristics and demographics and then use this information to
create legislation that you can introduce in the House/Senate.

STEP 1: FIND YOUR STATE/DISTRICT! Click here to go to our CAP

Congress Docket. Locate your name on the list House Representatives or Senators
(tabs 1 and 2).
Joey Evan Josh

State/ District: VA(5)

Political Party: Republican

STEP 2: MEET WITH YOUR SENATE/REPRESENTATIVE GROUP! You

will need to locate your District profile (for House Reps) or your State profile (for
Senators) from the Crystal Ball Project that we did in November. Use the profile to
complete the notes below.

Constituent Demographics: Choose at least 3 Demographics or characteristics in your

State/District and note the significance of those demographics.
Implications of this demographic for
Demographics
Representative/Senator
White population 78% Thats the majority of the people in District 5.

The most common income in A general understanding

distinct 5 is 75,000-149,000

Voted republican for Bob This is important because it shows the the district
Good and a republican votes.
before that.

STEP 3: COMMITTEE ASSIGNMENT AND RESEARCH! With your

Representative/Senator group, take a look at the Committee Lists for the House/Senate
on our CAP Congress Docket (Tab 3 or 4). Find your state/ district in the list (you
should see it listed three times). Decide amongst your group which you each will join
and write a bill for. Sign up for your standing committee by putting your name next to
ONE of the state/district listings.

Then, use your committee assignment to answer the questions below. Click on the
Committee name to explore the website.

Committee Assignment: Homeland Security

What is this committee’s Cyber security, election security, border security,

jurisdiction (issues counterterrorism, health, budget and appropriations,
chemical facility security, DHS management,
assigned)?
emergency preparedness, information sharing and
intelligence, infrastructure protection.

Choose 3 current event issues that fall to your committee’s jurisdiction. Explain the
issue and how your state/district feels about the issue.

My Constituency’s Stance (How do you think

Issue
your state/district would feel about this issue?)
Border Security Bob good has made statements on this issue saying
“Improve and increase border enforcement and
funding” he wants to build the wall and eliminate
illegal immigration. But he wants to let people in on a
“merit based system where immigtation is granted
based on our economic needs”. “Especially
agriculture” Bob Good said because the 5th district
has lots of it.

Election Security The republican party has blocked a couple bills that
have now been trying to secure USA elections. Trump
and the majority of republicans have been ok with it
so far according to the Washington Post.

Counterterrorism Trump’s National Strategy for Counterterrorism

focuses on:
o Pursuing terrorists to their source;
o Isolating terrorists from their sources of support;
o Modernizing and integrating the United States’
counterterrorism tools;
o Protecting American infrastructure and enhancing
resilience;
o Countering terrorist radicalization and recruitment;
and
o Strengthening the counterterrorism abilities of our
international partners.

What current federal Biden just got into office and immediately halted wall
legislation do you see going construction. And is working on more things for
 through/has previously gone immigration.
through your committee that
is related to any of the issues
you cited above?

What relevant Executive
actions or Judicial decisions
have there been regarding
any of the issues cited
above?
The wall for Trump was being built and had been
reviewed by the supreme court. Democrats agreed to
Trump building the wall but it wasn't as much as he
wanted. It's no where near finished.

What issues/bills might be

supported or condemned by
various interest groups? You
can use the LIST OF
INTEREST GROUPS that we
developed as a class to start,
but you may want to look at
other groups that are not on
our list.

STEP 4: BILL DRAFTING! Using the issues you cited above, decide what topic
you will center your legislation on and what this bill will seek to do. Outline your bill by
answering the questions below, then create a draft of your bill using the provided
template.

Bill Topic: Border Security

Stance: Repulican stance strengthening it

Bill Provision
(what are at least three
things this bill will seek
to do)
Enlarge the quantity of
legal immigrants that can
come through at a time
National
Benefits/Justifications
Change the amounts of
illegal immigrants coming
in.
State/District
Benefits/Justifications
Allowing more immigrants
in could help the
agricultural scene in
District 5 by offering jobs to
immigrants.

Increase security through Not allowing as many Bob good wanted increase
having more screenings illegal immigrants in and funding and security on
and having body cameras seeing how border patrol border control.
on border patrol. handles illegal immigration

Change the way visas Estimated 44% of illegal It wont really do that much
work by making them more immigrants in 2015 were for district 5 in Virgina.
available and only having overstayed visas so this
 two visa expiration dates will make it a lot easier to
one for short term and one focus on visa stays.
for long.

● Use your notes above to create a draft of your bill. Create your own copy of the
bill template: House Bill Template, Senate Bill Template.

● Make sure that your bill is Constitutional and realistic. Follow these examples
(Example #1, Example #2) to write your bill draft.

● Remember to use in text citations for your Works Cited

● When done, add information and a link to your bill draft to the CAP Congress
Docket (Tab 5 or 6)

STEP 5: WORKS CITED! Make sure to collect any sources that you have used in
your research or in your bill drafting in a formal works cited. You will pull together your
sources with your whole group to turn in.

Alvarez, P. (2021, January 20). Biden to start fast on immigration with DACA, border wall
and travel ban. Retrieved January 21, 2021, from
https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/20/politics/immigration-daca-border-wall-biden-
agenda/index.html

Good for Congress. Better for Us. (n.d.). Retrieved January 21, 2021, from
https://www.bobgoodforcongress.com/

How the United States Immigration System Works. (2020, March 05). Retrieved January
21, 2021, from https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/research/how-united-
states-immigration-system-works

Ilona Bray, J. (2018, August 06). How Long Will Your U.S. Visa Allow You to Stay?
Retrieved January 21, 2021, from https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/how-
long-will-your-us-visa-allow-you-stay.html

Temporary U.S. Visas, Explained. (n.d.). Retrieved January 21, 2021, from
https://www.boundless.com/immigration-resources/temporary-u-s-visas-
explained/#:~:text=Depending%20on%20your%20nationality%2C%20the,States
%20during%20that%20time%20period.

Williams, P. (2020, October 19). Supreme Court to take up Trump border wall spending,
asylum enforcement. Retrieved January 21, 2021, from
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/supreme-court/supreme-court-take-trump-
border-wall-spending-asylum-enforcement-n1243870

Wola. (2018, January 05). Eight Reasonable Border Security Proposals (That Are Not a
Wall). Retrieved January 21, 2021, from https://www.wola.org/analysis/eight-
border-security-proposals/
Congress

Criteria Ratings Pts

Notes
3 / 3 pts
view longer description

Citations
4 / 4 pts
view longer description

Comments, Great job

with your bill! It was
nicely related to your
state and something that
your constituents would
want/need, but also also
something that was
needed by constituents
Bill
of other states. The 5 / 5 pts
view longer description
statements you put
forward showing why
the bill is needed are
factual and well-written.
Finally, you provide
some good broad strokes
for how the bill could be
carried out. Good!

Comments
Great job here! I love
that you used Prezi
video-it's such a great
Lobbying Materials tool to highlight
5 / 5 pts
view longer description information! You did a
great job explaining with
little to no "ums" and
filler words--well done!
Nice layout of your
 information.
I also appreciated the
blazer to make you look
more like a
congressperson. Great
information your co-
sponsors can take right
into debate.

Comments
Committee and Would have liked to see
Congress Participation a little more participation 6 / 8 pts
view longer description during the congress
session.

Total Points: 23

Assignment/Activity Title — CAP Congress

Year — Sophomore

Portfolio Competency — Media and Communications

Skill(s) — Research,Group Dynamics, Critical Thinking

CAP Congress assigned everyone to a district in a certain state and asked for us to create
a bill that would make its way through the process in order to become a law. I was assigned to
the fifth district of Virginia and was to make a bill on homeland security. I focused on the aspect
of immigration and it was extremely difficult to come up with a bill because I was supposed to
be a hardline Republican based on my district, but I'm truly a democrat. So with conflicting
viewpoints, I crafted a bill that would change the way visas work and make them less confusing.
From there added security would be placed at the border allowing for more immigrants to come
through legally. After this I partnered with Rep. Holmquist to write a bill together and merge her
ideas with mine. It passed unanimously in the first hearing, but there wasn't enough time to
review it on the floor.

Research was one of the main aspects of this project because since I had to act a different
way I had to view all the viewpoints of representatives in my district and how my district was
made up. A problem needed to be found as well and then a solution needed to be made to fix it.
Since I partnered up with someone to create a bill group dynamics was definitely needed in order
to figure out the best of both our individual bills and craft one great one. Critical thinking was
displayed in the content of the bills and the solutions that were found to the problems in
immigration.
 Ingrid and I tried to convey our bill to both Republicans and Democrats in our bill. It
became a bipartisan bill because I was a Republican and and she was a Democrat. This made it
easy to implement aspects of both our party's ideals and the only thing to do was find common
ground. This was our strategy and what we knew would interest everyone because it has aspects
that both parties can like. Ingrid's side focused on protecting the immigrants and making sure
they weren't treated unfairly. My part focused on legal immigration, increased border security
and we both wanted to change the way visas work.