Be sure to include ALL pages of this project (including the directions and the assignment) when you send the project to your teacher for grading. Don’t forget to put your name and I.D. number at the top of this page!

This project is worth 100 points. It will count for 11% of your overall grade for this course. Be sure to read all the instructions and assemble all the necessary materials before you begin.

Part A: Drafting a Bill

In this project, you will write your own congressional bill. Choose an issue that seems important to you and write a bill to deal with the matter. To get an idea of what issue to write about, review current events. These sites may be helpful, but you can use other news sources as well.

• http://www.pbs.org/newshour/
• http://www.foxnews.com/
• http://www.cnn.com/

Keep in mind that your bill will be a federal bill, and that it will deal with a national issue. State and local concerns should be left to state legislatures and city councils. The measure your bill proposes may be liberal or conservative. It may call for increased government activity or reduce the power of the government.

For more information about bills, you may refer to these sources:

Library of Congress: http://thomas.loc.gov/home/thomas.php

United States Senate: http://www.senate.gov/

United States House of Representatives: http://www.house.gov/

An example bill is provided for you to follow. A grading rubric is also provided.

Part B: Presenting your Bill

Write a 600-word (two double-spaced pages) essay in which you explain your bill. In your essay, you should:

• Explain why the bill is important.

• Discuss how the bill relates to something in the news today.

• Use at least two sources other than your course materials.

• Explain why the bill is constitutional.

• Assign your bill to a committee (in either the House or the Senate) and explain why that committee is best qualified to consider your bill. (You may refer to the websites of the House and the Senate for lists of committees.)

Because you will be using sources other than your textbook, you will need to include a list of references with your essay. Refer to the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, which may be accessed online or in many libraries. Your paper should be free of spelling, punctuation, and typing errors.

A grading rubric is provided.

Complete your project in the space provided at the end of this project assignment document (scroll down).

To submit the project, save this project assignment document. Use the course number, your name, and the project number in your file’s title:

SSTH038059_ABStudent_Project1.doc

Go to your course management system to upload your project file.

Example House Bill

113^th Congress

HR-1234

SPONSOR: Representative Chris Katz, Rep-NE (I)

PURPOSE: To encourage environmentally friendly practices in corporate business.

In the House of Representatives of the United States

January 10, 2014

A Bill to Encourage Environmentally Friendly Practices in Corporate Business

Section 1. In order to promote a clean and healthy environment, the federal government will give tax deductions to American corporations that make their operations more environmentally friendly.

Section 2. Any American corporation that spends $10,000.00 or more to reduce pollution this year may deduct the amount spent from its taxable income for this year. Such a corporation may also figure the percent of its income spent on reducing pollution and deduct that percentage of its taxable income. To be eligible for these deductions NEXT year, corporations must file projected deductions with THIS year’s tax returns. Such a corporation must file a 1026 EZ-EPA form and accompanying documentation.

Section 3. The United States government may borrow money to cover any losses of revenue resulting from this act for the first year in which the act is in effect. All later budgets must reflect corporations’ projected environmental deductions, and any losses of revenue will be divided equally among all parts of the budget.

Section 4. This act shall become effective on April 16, 2014.

GRADING RUBRIC FOR PART A

GRADING RUBRIC FOR PART B