mdurkin


 * Name:** Michael Durkin
 * Political Party:** Moderate
 * State**: Illinois
 * Representative I Most Agree With:** The representative from Illinois that I agree most with, is Dan Lipinski. The link to his website is [|http://www.lipinski.house.gov] . Mr. Lipinski is a memeber of the democratic party and represents the third district in Illinois. We share many similar views in a lot of areas, including improving schools, protecting the safety of all Americans, and improving the infastructure of our country. I believe that education is one of the most important things to our society because it enables our country to keep expanding and innovating. Safety is another big issue to me, because that is one of the things we based our country around. The fourth amendment protects the safety and privacy of all Americans and it is a duty of the government to protect the safety of the people. Dan and I also share views on the infastructure of our country. We both think the infastrucutre is vital to the country, and believe that the U.S. can't be expanded if we are always trying to fix the old buildings and bridges.
 * Bill: http://mockcongress2011.wikispaces.com/HB50**


 * Interesting Facts About Illinois:**
 * The home of Superman is a real place in southern Illinois
 * Illinois used to have two state capitals before Springfield became its present day official capital
 * Illinois had the first ever McDonalds
 * It was the 21st state to join the Union in 1818
 * The term " ice cream sundae" was coined in Evanston, Illinois
 * The Chicago Public Library is the largest public library in the world
 * The world's first skyscraper was built in Illinois
 * Illinois comes from a Native American word meaning "superior men"
 * The western border of the state is formed by the Mississippi River
 * Illinois has the fifth highest population out of all the states


 * Facts Related To My Topics:**
 * Illinois taxpayers pay an estimated 3.5 billion dollars in taxes each year that end up going to illegal immigrants
 * An estimated 400,000 illegal immigrants were living in Illinois as of 2005
 * There were 1,032 gun deaths in Illinois in 2007, including 575 homicides
 * 4.6 million people die each year of air pollution related causes
 * In the 1990s, after a book written by Jose Canseco was published, one expert estimated that about 85% of professional baseball players were using some form of steroids or performance enhancing durgs (PEDs)


 * Topics:**
 * Climate Change
 * Gun Control
 * Immigration in America


 * Topic #1: Climate Change**. Climate change is an incredibly serious issue in today's society. This is mainly because the people in the world right now, are the ones who are making the environments worse. Although scientists haven't been able to completely say for certain that climate change and global warming is caused only by humans, I think it is still a very important issue for us to look into. Climate change not only effects the people that live on this planet, but also every other living organism. I think that cutbacks in pollution output by major companies and other restrictions on how much pollution can be given off in certain areas would definetly help our problems. I also think that we should invest more of our national budget in looking for ways to use fuel that doesn't burn harmful emissions.


 * Topic #2: Gun Control**. Gun control is another big issue in our world, and one I think we should pay closer attention to. Guns have always been a controversial topic in our nation, and people have always argued the true meaning of the second amendment. Some say that everybody should be permitted to have guns for protection, while others say that guns shouldn't be allowed most everywhere to reduce the number of gun related deaths. In both situations there are advantages and disadvantages, but I personally think that guns should only be allowed in very special cases, and the number of guns in the United States should be greatly decreased. Decreasing the number of guns would result in less shootings and homicides, and would provide comfort to many Americans. I also think that if the numbers of guns were decreased, there would be a lot less misunderstandings about gun laws and a lot less accidental shootings.


 * Topic #3: Immigration in America**. I think immigration and especially illegal immigration in America are some of the most important issues to everybody in our country today. I say this because immigration effects everyone. In a recent study there were an estimated 11 million illegals living in the United States. This proves that illegal immigration security isn't as strong as it needs to be, because every citizen in the U.S. is paying taxes that can go to help non tax-paying illegal immigrants. In my opinion security on the border and our citizenship laws should be enforced more strictly, because it is unfair to all the tax-paying citizens in the country. Immigration has been an issue ever since the Declaration of Independence was signed, and now more than ever it needs to be carefully monitered by the government.


 * Inform****ation About The Bill We Are Doing:** Our bill on gun control is directed to create a system for catching criminals and to create gun control laws. Our bill will make a central database for every single gun in the U.S. which will include the owner's name, fingerprint, and the unique ballistics match to the gun. The bill will also outlaw all assault weapons in the U. S., as these weapons are meant to kill, and to kill fast. This bill will be a very good addition to our national security, because all guns can be tracked back to their owners, and the overall safety of Americans will greatly increase. This bill will work under a simple three step plan. First, the law of no assault weapons will be passed (but not yet come into effect) and the construction on gun registration buildings across the country will begin. This phase of construction will take 2-3 years and will require about 300 buildings. After this step, workers for each building will be hired and the proper equipment will be supplied to each building. The equipment will include ballistics ranges, fingerprint scanners, and computers for analysis. Lastly, if every thing goes as planned, the law of no assault weapons will come into effect on May 21, 2014, and the registration buildings will open. Anybody that had previously purchased an assault weapon would be paid a fair market value for it, and it would be taken away by the government. People should vote for this bill, because it would improve their safety and lessen the risks of everyday crime.

"The Facts About Firearm Violence – Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence." //Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence//. Web. 03 Apr. 2011.
 * 10 Sources:**
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//FAIR: Federation for American Immigration Reform//. Web. 03 Apr. 2011.
 * [|http://www.fairus.org]

Carter, Gregg Lee. "Gun Control: Overview." //Issues: Understanding Controversy and Society//. ABC-CLIO, 2011. Web. 3 Apr. 2011.
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"Illinois: History, Geography, Population, and State Facts — Infoplease.com." //Infoplease: Encyclopedia, Almanac, Atlas, Biographies, Dictionary, Thesaurus. Free Online Reference, Research & Homework Help. — Infoplease.com//. Web. 03 Apr. 2011
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"Firearms." //ATF Online - Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives//. U.S. Department of Justice. Web. 20 May 2011.
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"Illegal Immigration Facts." //Citizensforlaws.org//. Web. 3 Apr. 2011.
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"Facts about Illinois." //ThingsToDo.com - Things to Do and Places to Go in Each State//. Web. 03 Apr. 2011.
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FindLaw. "Gun Laws - Accidents and Injuries." //Accident and Injury Center - Accidents and Injuries//. Thomas Reuters Buisness, 2011. Web. 20 May 2011. "Steroid Abuse in Sports - Steroid Abuse.com." //Steroid Abuse - Steroidabuse.com//. Web. 03 Apr. 2011.
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"Firearms." //ATF Online - Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives//. U.S. Department of Justice. Web. 20 May 2011.
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