Legislation Introduction Thread

[True Democrat]

The Free Palestine Act

1. The Republic of Atlasia condemns the use of terrorism by groups such as Hezbollah and Hamas in trying to destroy the nation of Israel and to kill innocent Israeli people.

2. The Republic of Atlasia deplores the nation of Israel for using curfews, walls, and other freedom restricting measures on the Palestinian people.

3. The Republic of Atlasia hereby recognizes the nation of Palestine as being made up by Gaza Strip and West Bank upon the condemnation of terrorism by top Palestinian officials.

4. The Republic of Atlasia hereby calls upon the United Nations, and more specifically Israel to recognize Palestine after the said conditions are met.

5. If the said conditions are met and Israel still does not recognize Palestine, the Republic of Atlasia will hereby withhold 40% of military aid to Israel and 5% more aid will be witheld for every month Israel does not recognize Palestine.

I know, MUN style (without the heading The Republic of Atlasia:) but so what. 

[True Democrat]

Would anyone like to join me in introducing a free trade bill for all of the Americas (nations in CAFTA, NAFTA, plus Brazil, Argentina and a couple of other South American countries)?  The only problem is writing it.  I mean, CAFTA was hundreds of pages long.  Anyone know how this could be done?

[Jake]

Please withdraw the Palestine crap.

[True Democrat]

Please withdraw the Palestine crap.

Why?

[MasterJedi]

Please withdraw the Palestine crap.

Why?

Well I don't think it should be withdrawn but I will vote against it. Palestine shouldn't have their own countries until the leaders condemn terrorism and it stops, or at least is barely noticable.

[Jake]

1. The Republic of Atlasia condemns the use of terrorism by groups such as Hezbollah and Hamas in trying to destroy the nation of Israel and to kill innocent Israeli people.

Okay

2. The Republic of Atlasia deplores the nation of Israel for using curfews, walls, and other freedom restricting measures on the Palestinian people.

"Walls" are the only real thing keeping the suicide attacks down to a bare minimum lately. To denounce a nation's steps to protect itself is absurd.

3. The Republic of Atlasia hereby recognizes the nation of Palestine as being made up by Gaza Strip and West Bank upon the condemnation of terrorism by top Palestinian officials.

Or maybe when the hostilities end. Not when the PA makes a half assed declaration.

4. The Republic of Atlasia hereby calls upon the United Nations, and more specifically Israel to recognize Palestine after the said conditions are met.

As above

5. If the said conditions are met and Israel still does not recognize Palestine, the Republic of Atlasia will hereby withhold 40% of military aid to Israel and 5% more aid will be witheld for every month Israel does not recognize Palestine.

Great, so if Israel doesn't do what we want, even though it's not in their best interest, we cut off an arbitrary amount of military aid.

[Sam Spade]

Would anyone like to join me in introducing a free trade bill for all of the Americas (nations in CAFTA, NAFTA, plus Brazil, Argentina and a couple of other South American countries)?  The only problem is writing it.  I mean, CAFTA was hundreds of pages long.  Anyone know how this could be done?

Honestly, I have no idea.  Bills like that tend to be incredibly complicated and I'd probably have to read through the whole damn thing in order to make any sense of it.

If I have any real free time soon, I'll do so.

[True Democrat]

1. The Republic of Atlasia condemns the use of terrorism by groups such as Hezbollah and Hamas in trying to destroy the nation of Israel and to kill innocent Israeli people.

Okay

2. The Republic of Atlasia deplores the nation of Israel for using curfews, walls, and other freedom restricting measures on the Palestinian people.

"Walls" are the only real thing keeping the suicide attacks down to a bare minimum lately. To denounce a nation's steps to protect itself is absurd.

3. The Republic of Atlasia hereby recognizes the nation of Palestine as being made up by Gaza Strip and West Bank upon the condemnation of terrorism by top Palestinian officials.

Or maybe when the hostilities end. Not when the PA makes a half assed declaration.

4. The Republic of Atlasia hereby calls upon the United Nations, and more specifically Israel to recognize Palestine after the said conditions are met.

As above

5. If the said conditions are met and Israel still does not recognize Palestine, the Republic of Atlasia will hereby withhold 40% of military aid to Israel and 5% more aid will be witheld for every month Israel does not recognize Palestine.

Great, so if Israel doesn't do what we want, even though it's not in their best interest, we cut off an arbitrary amount of military aid.

I can understand some of your comments.  I believe the part about declaring against terrorism should be changed to making an effort to stop terrorism, as determined by the Senate or UNSC or something.  The fact is, what the Palestinians are doing is horrible, and that should be stopped.  But the everyday Palestinian person does not do this stuff, and they deserve their own nation.

[Jake]

The average Palestinian may not do it, but they elect members of Hamas to represent them as their leaders, so I wouldn't put them wholly outside the blame.

[True Democrat]

The average Palestinian may not do it, but they elect members of Hamas to represent them as their leaders, so I wouldn't put them wholly outside the blame.

Also, notice I used the word "condemn" for suicide bombers and "deplore" for Israel's antics.

[Colin]

On behalf of Vice President Emsworth:

Second Miscellany Act

Section 1
Whenever an Act which repealed a former Act is repealed, said
former Act shall not thereby be revived, unless expressly so provided.

Section 2
The following Acts or sections are hereby repealed:

Anti-Drug Testing Act
Stickies, Posts, and Polls Reduction Act
PPT Election Act
Boss Abortion Act
Federal Activity Act
Section 3 of the Miscellany Act
Constitutional Amendment Act
Unwed and Teenage Mothers Protection Act

[Emsworth]

Thank you, Sen. Wixted.

Section 1
Whenever an Act which repealed a former Act is repealed, said
former Act shall not thereby be revived, unless expressly so provided.

This is basically copied from the U.S. Code. It's a general principle of law to avoid confusion and controversy.

[Colin]

Thank you, Sen. Wixted.

No problem Mr. Vice President.

[King]

A member of my district has a piece of legislation, and therefore I must sponsor it:

The Sealand Recognition Act

Written by Governor MAS117 (CUP-NJ)
Sponsored by Senator A.J. King IV (CUP-VT)

§ I. The Principality of Sealand hereby is recongized by the Republic of Atlasia as an independent sovereign nation apart from that of the United Kingdom.

§ II. The Government of the Republic of Atlasia hereby recongizes His Royal Highness Prince Roy, The Prince of Sealand as the Head of State for the Principality of Sealand.

§ III. Persuiant to the passage of this Act, the State Department of the Republic of Atlasia hereby lifts all economic and military restrictions put upon the Principality of Sealand.

[Jake]

mASShole can leave again

[MAS117]

mASShole can leave again

The Secretary of State put restrictions on a country, this bill seeks to lift said restrictions .

[True Democrat]

Unified Electoral Code

Written by: Peter Bell
Sponsors: True Independent, Sam Spade

Section 1: Votes

1. In their vote in the Elections to the Senate and the Presidency, each voter shall list some, none, or all of the candidates in the voter's order of preference for them.
2. If no numbering of the preferences is stated, then the candidate at the top of the list shall be presumed to be the first preference, the candidate on the second line of the list shall be presumed to be the second preference, and so on.
3. A voter may cast a write-in vote in any election, except a runoff election.
4. In order to write-in a candidate, the voter shall not be required to explicitly specify that his or her vote is for a write-in candidate.
5. In order for write-in votes for a candidate to qualify as countable votes, the person written-in must formally accept the write-in candidacy before the end of voting in the given election.
6. A voter may vote for "None of the Above" in any election, except a runoff election. Any voter who votes for "None of the Above" may do so only as a first preference; any and all lower preferences of the voter shall be ignored.


Section 2: Determination of the Winner

1. If any candidate shall gain a majority of highest preference votes, then that candidate shall be declared the winner of the election.
2. If no candidate has a majority of highest preference votes, the candidate with the fewest first preferences shall be eliminated, and his or her votes redistributed according to the next-highest preferences of the voters.
3. If, after the implementation of Clause 2 of this Section, any candidate shall have a majority of the highest preference votes, then that candidate shall be declared the winner of the election. If no such candidate shall exist, then Clause 2 of this Section shall be implemented again until such a candidate does exist, or until all candidates have the same number of highest preference votes.
4. If two or more candidates are tied for the least number of highest preference votes, but none of those candidates are tied for the greatest number of highest preference votes, then the following procedure shall be used to determine which candidate is eliminated:
    i. The candidate with the least total number of preferences expressed by voters shall be eliminated.
    ii. The Senate shall vote on which candidate to eliminate, with the Vice President being able to cast a tie-breaking vote if necessary.


Section 3: Run-off Elections

If all remaining candidates shall have the same number of highest preference votes, then the following procedure shall be used to break the tie:

1. A runoff shall be held beginning at midnight Eastern Standard Time on the first Friday after the election, and ending 72 hours thereafter.
2. Those candidates who have tied shall be automatically entered onto the ballot. No other candidacies shall be allowed.
3. Voters shall only be able to cast a vote for one candidate.
4. If any candidate shall gain a majority of the votes cast, then he shall be declared winner.


Section 4: Sudden Death Tie Breaking

If Section 3 fails to yield a winner then candidates shall have the option of using one of the following methods to break the tie:

1. Number Guessing

    i. The President shall choose an integer between one and ten and shall secretly communicate this number to the Secretary of Forum Affairs and to the Chief Justice. Once receipt of this number by both parties is confirmed, the candidates in the tie shall then guess the original number and communicate this guess to the three officials without revealing their guess to others.
 
    ii. Whichever candidate guesses closest to the number shall be declared the winner of the tie. In the event that two or more guesses are equidistant from the original number, this shall result in a tie, and the process shall be repeated until this event does not occur.

    iii. In the event that any of the office holders listed either are themselves candidates present in the tie or are not present to fulfill their duty, those in the aforementioned situation shall be replaced by the highest office holder in the following list who is not a candidate present in the tie and who is present to fulfill the duty:

Vice President
Deputy Secretary of Forum Affairs
President Pro Tempore
Secretary of State
Attorney General
Secretary of Defense
Secretary of the Treasury
Senior Associate Justice
Junior Associate Justice
District 1 Senator
District 2 Senator
District 3 Senator
District 4 Senator
District 5 Senator
Mideast Senator
Midwest Senator
Northeast Senator
Pacific Senator
Southeast Senator

    iv. In the event that all office holders listed in Clause iii either are candidates in the tie or are not present to fulfill the duty, the President shall appoint one to three citizens able to fulfill the duty, depending on how many are needed to fill the vacant positions, and the citizen(s) shall then be required to be approved by the Senate by a majority vote before the number shall be selected.

2. Term Splitting

The candidates in the tie shall agree upon a schedule according to which the candidates shall divide the term among themselves. The schedule shall be allowed to be whatever the candidates agree upon, provided that its total length does not exceed the term to which a candidate would have been elected to had he won in his own right.

3. Governor's Vote

The Governors of the several Regions shall each vote for one of the candidates in the tie; If one candidate achieves an absolute majority, then he shall be declared victor. If no candidate obtains such a majority, then the Governors shall have continuous re-votes until such a candidate exists.

4. Failure to Agree

If within one week of the necessity of Sudden Death Tie Breaking being known, the candidates have not agreed on a method to break the tie, then the method described in Clause 3 shall be used to break the tie.


Section 5: None of the Above

If, in an election, the None of the Above option shall have gained more votes than each candidate, then a new election shall be held under the following procedure

1. The new election shall be held beginning at midnight Eastern Standard Time on the second Friday after the election, and ending 72 hours thereafter.
2. None of the candidates defeated by the None of the Above option in the original may be declared candidates in the new election. However, a voter may still write-in any such candidate.
3. The candidacy declaration deadline for the new election shall be the same as for special elections.
4. Except as regards Clause 2 of this Section, all provisions of Section 1 of this Act shall apply to the new election.


Section 6: Applicability

Any instance of the word "candidate" in Sections 1 through 5 shall be read as "ticket" in the case of Presidential elections.

(continued below)

[True Democrat]

 Section 7: Administration of Voting Booths

1. Whenever possible, the Secretary of Forum Affairs, or the Deputy Secretary of Forum Affairs, shall be the administrator of the voting booth. If both shall be absent or unable to administer the voting booth, then the President shall designate an executive officer to do so instead.
2. The administrator of a voting booth shall be free to design the ballot as he or she sees fit, as long as the content of the ballot is clear and unambiguous.
3. The administrator of a voting booth shall post links to all relevant statute regarding electoral law on the ballot.


Section 8: Certification of Election Results

1. When the voting period has expired, the administrator of the voting booth or a moderator of the Forum shall lock the thread containing the voting booth. The thread shall not be unlocked except to enter the certification of the election result onto the thread.
2. Certification of the election result shall be conducted as soon as humanly possible after the voting booth shall have closed by the administrator of the voting booth. If the administrator of the voting booth shall not be available to conduct such certification, then he or she shall designate another executive officer of the federal government to carry out such certification in his stead.
3. In certifying the result the administrator shall list all those votes which he or she has discounted, and the reasons for these votes being discounted. The voting booth administrator shall discount all votes that are invalid under the law, and shall only count those remaining votes for which he or she is able to make a reasonable determination as to the intent of the voter.
4. Once certification of an election result has occurred it may not be amended or rescinded except on the basis of a Court order.


Section 9: Concession of Victory

1. If a candidate shall concede his or her victory of a Senate election after the certification of the election result, then the candidate with the next greatest number of highest preference votes in that election shall then be declared victor.
2. If both members of a Presidential ticket shall concede their victory in the Presidential election after the certification of the election result, then the members of the ticket with the next greatest number of highest preference votes in that election shall then be declared victors.
3. If a victor who has conceded shall wish to retract his or her concession, then he or she shall only be able to do so with the permission of the newly declared victor.
4. Concessions made before the certification of election results, or on or after the date on which the newly elected official is due to be sworn in, are of no legal effect whatsoever.


Section 10: Statute of Limitation

1. Lawsuits challenging the validity of certified election results shall only be valid if filed with the Supreme Court within one week of the certification of such results.
2. Lawsuits challenging the validity of election results certified on or before 4 July, 2005 shall not be valid.


Section 11: Electoral Crimes

1. The act of in some way interfering or tampering with the Number Guessing option of Sudden Death Tie Breaking to grant an unfair advantage to one of the tied candidates or tickets is hereby declared a crime against the Republic of Atlasia. Any person found guilty of such a charge shall have their voting rights removed for up to 8 months. Trials will be conducted according to the provisions set in place by the Omnibus Criminal Law Act.


Section 12: Federal Activity Requirements

1. All those persons who have posted at least 25 times in the 8 weeks (56 days) prior to the commencement of an election shall be defined as active for the purposes of that election.
2. Those persons considered inactive (defined as not active) shall not be qualified to vote in a particular election.
3.  Anyone who has cast an absentee ballot shall be regarded as an active voter, provided he or she fulfills the definition by the time the election commences for which the ballot was cast, of an "active voter"; However, the post containing the ballot shall not count towards the total number of required posts.


Section 13: Repealed Legislation

The following Acts are repealed:
1. Preferential Voting Act
2. None of the Above Act
3. Election Procedures, Certification, and Challenges Act
4  The Amendment to the Election Procedures, Certification, and Challenges Act
5. Omnibus Election System, Procedure and Certification Act
6. Federal Activity Requirements Act

[Emsworth]

I request the President pro tempore's consent to bring the Unified Electoral Code Bill to the floor of the Senate ahead of schedule. Otherwise, it would not be passed by the time elections are held. And, as this merely consolidates and corrects existing law, we need not wait until the Commission on Voting System Reform reports; that, I imagine, will take quite some time.

[Colin]

As per the President's request:

Foreign Relations Review Act

Preamble

Purpose of this legislation is to clarify the authority of the Secretary of State.

Section 1 - Creation of the Foreign Relations Review

I - It is the responsibility to maintain, and draft the relations between Atlasia and all other recognized states of the world.

II - The Foreign Relations Review will specifically examine the military and economic relations between the Republic of Atlasia, and the states in question.

III - The creation of the Foreign Relations Review will be completed entirely by the Secretary of State and posted in the State Department thread.

Section 2 - State Department Thread

I - Citizens, and elected officials of all branches of the government are invited to give commentary and opinions on the foreign policy at hand.

II - The Secretary of State is under no directive to obey the desires expressed in the State Department Thread.

III - In instances where the Secretary of State is unsure of what course of action to take he or she may call on the Senate, or Executive for direct input.

Section 3 - Authority of the Foreign Relations Review

I - As drafted, the Foreign Relations Review becomes law, and the official policy of the Republic of Atlasia.

Section 4 - Amending the Foreign Relations Review

I - The Secretary of State can freely change the Foreign Relations Review of the past office holders.

II - The Senate has the authority to draft amendments to the Foreign Relations Review. After passing the Senate with a majority it will become official Atlasian foreign policy, and the Secretary of State will not have the authority to change it. The President is free to veto the amendment, like any form of legislation.

[DanielX]

My slightly refined tax bill:

Thin Tax Act:

1. All Acts, bills, and provisions related to taxes on Income, Estates, and Capital Gains are hereby repealed, save
for articles related to enforcement.

2. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) shall hereby be renamed the Tax Collection and Enforcement Agency (TCEA).
   - Employment eliminations and reforms shall be in the purview of the Department of the Treasury.

3. in all future government legislation, "Income" shall be defined as the sum total of the following an individual,
family, or corporation can make in a single fiscal year:
  - Salary paid by an employer, public or private;
  - Profits made from selling goods and/or services to consumers, businesses, or government agencies;
  - Gains in capital from investments, as long as there is a net positive income;
  - Gifts and Prize Money, if said amount is more then $1,000.

4. A household minimum income unit (HMIU) shall be defined as the total of the following:
      - $15,000 for each income-earning member of the household over the age of 18 years, as well as non-income earning

spouses of income-earning members;
        - $7,500 for dependents (to be defined as children under the age of 18, as well as inviduals who are legally disabled

and are unable to work), and all other household members.

5. The corporate minimum income unit (CMIu) shall be defined as $25,000.

6. Provisions 4 and 5 shall be adjusted every three years, tied to the Consumer Price Index.

7. All income above the HMIU (for households) or CMIU (for businesses and corporations) shall be taxed at a rate of
20%.

8. The TCEA shall issue a tax form on a double-sided, 8 1/2 x 11 inch piece of paper on which the Thin Tax Act and
all related tax regulations are printed on one side in 10 point font or greater, and a tax form on the other in 12
point font or greater.

9. The Department of the Treasury and the TCEA shall be responsible for producing a reasonable tax collection
schedule, and shall issue accurate and up-to-date tax forms at least 2 months before any tax on income is due.

[True Democrat]

Emergency Niger Relief Act

Whereas, the people of Niger are suffereing from extreme poverty, famine, and lack of aid;

The Republic of Atlasia:

1. Approves an emergency budget of $25,000,000 to be given to the United Nations relief fund for direct aid for the people of Niger.

Again, in MUN format. 

I would also like to ask the PPT to move this to the front of the line.  It is really necessary.

[7,052,770]

The Joint Space Mission Bill

§ 1.  The Republic of Atlasia authorizes the president to appoint dipolmats to the European Union, the Russian Federation, and the People's Republic of China to discuss the possibility of a new joint space program for the purpose of returning to the moon and building a lunar base.

§ 2.  The President is authorized to appoint and send ambassadors to other countries interested in being a part of the space program of §1 at his discretion.

[7,052,770]

The Space Elevator Research Bill

§ 1.  The Republic of Atlasia authorizes $40,000,000 to be put into research of the necessary technology of the space elevator.

§ 2.  One year from the passage of this bill, a representative of the research team will report back to the Senate with recommendations of funding for the construction of the structure.

[True Democrat]

Reducing Oil Dependency Bill of 2005

Author: Secretary Supersoulty

1) The United States will purchase crude oil extracted from the Athabasca Oil Sands region of Canada at 85% of the market price for the next 7 years.

2) The purchase of this crude oil shall not be limited to less than 50 million barrels per year for the first two years.  In the following years, it shall not be limited to less than 100 million barrels.

3) The United States government shall grant $90 million to the Oil Companies opperating in the Athabasca Oil Sands region.  This money will go towards the building of new facilities and also to partially offset the loss of selling the oil below market value.

4) A renegotiation of terms will take place once the affore mentioned 7 year have passed.