Outreach to Congress: Overreaching Opioids. History Term Paper

Outreach to Congress  Unit 4: The Legislative Process | 50pt Summative Assessment 
      Directions​: You will individually write a letter to a member of Congress with the following parts:    1. Background on Issue/Problem​ (maximum 2 paragraphs)  ○ Conduct research and identify ​at least 2​ credible sources related to an  issue/problem that you care about.  ○ Provide details and statistics from your research to explain how your  issue/problem is impacting the American people.  2. Justification for Congressional Action​ (maximum 1 paragraph)  ○ Identify which committee(s) should address your issue/problem.  ○ Explain why your issue/problem is one that is best addressed by Congress.  ○ Remember that Congress does not create laws for specific states.  3. Proposed Bill​ (3-sentence summary; see page 3 for bill template)  ○ Briefly summarize the purpose of your proposed bill.   ○ Use the template on page 3 to draft the language of your proposed bill, which  should be included as an attachment to this letter (you may add to an existing  bill that failed to pass).  ○ Browse ​govtrack.us​ for models of current congressional bills.  4. Description of Political Obstacles​ (maximum 2 paragraphs)  ○ Explain what political obstacles your proposed legislation may face in Congress  (e.g., partisanship, interest groups, public opinion).  ○ Describe a specific action plan to address these political obstacles.   

  Honors Civics 500 | D. Silkman  Your letter and draft bill will be graded as a ​50pt Summative Assessment​ according to the  rubric below.  Rubric  Summative Assessment (50 points)    Criteria  Possible Points 
Background on Issue/Problem  Includes specific, research-based information on the issue/problem  and context about how this issue/problem impacts Americans.     
References at least 2 credible sources. 
10 
Justification for Congressional Action  Includes correct committee identification and a compelling  justification for congressional action. 
5 
Proposed Bill  Includes all requirements of a proposed piece of legislation and  thoroughly addresses the identified issue/problem. 
15 
Description of Political Obstacles  Includes detailed explanation of potential political obstacles and a  thoughtful, specific action plan to address these obstacles. 
10 
Conventions  Presents a tone that is suited to the audience and the text  is fluid  with no errors in conventions. Successfully uses citations (where  appropriate) and contains a Works Cited.  
5 
Total   50 
                           
  Honors Civics 500 | D. Silkman 
116th Congress  First Session   H. R. 1001 
 To… [write a brief statement of the bill’s purpose here] 
       IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES  DECEMBER 5, 2019 
    Mr. _____________ of Connecticut, Ms. _____________ of _____________ [write the name and  state of any additional Congresspeople] introduced the following bill; which was referred to the  _____________ Committee [select the appropriate committee].     
    A BILL 
  To… [repeat the brief statement of the bill’s purpose that your wrote at the top]     Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in Congress assembled,    SECTION 1: SHORT TITLE  This act may be cited as “[YOUR TITLE HERE]”.    SECTION 2: TABLE OF CONTENTS  Sec. 1. Short Title  Sec. 2. Table of Contents  Sec. 3. Intent  Sec. 4. Letter     

  Honors Civics 500 | D. Silkman 
SECTION 3: INTENT  [This section contains the intent (or the goals) of the new law. The intent should answer the  question: “What do we want this bill to accomplish?” Your statements of intent should focus  on the effects the bill will have on the problem and/or its causes.]    1.      2.      3.     4.     SECTION 4: LETTER  [This section details exactly how the new law will accomplish the goals you described above.  These specific details should give directions about:  ● What citizens must or must not do in order to comply with the new law. In other words,  define compliance or what constitutes a violation.  ● State the penalty for violating the new law.  ● State who will be in charge of enforcing the new law.  ● Specify from where the money needed to implement and enforce the new law will  come.  ● State where the money from fines will go.  ● State the date the new bill is to go into effect.]    (a)    (b)    (c)     (d)