LAWMAKERS TO HONOR GENOCIDE VICTIMS, WEIGH IMMIGRATION REGULATIONS
By Candice Hall
NorthJersey.com, NJ
April 5 2006
ROSA PARKS HIGH SCHOOL
WAYNE – On Tuesday, the House Committee on the Judiciary met during
the second preliminary session of the 2006 Model Congress.
The committee, brought to order by Chairman Thomas Agresta, passed
two bills: one to reform current immigration regulations and one
commemorating the sacrifices of victims of the Armenian Genocide.
The House Judiciary Committee passed a bill that commemorates the
Armenian Genocide on April 24.
“Foreign countries tend to look down on us Americans,” said Agresta.
When asked of the reasoning behind the bill, Agresta responded,
“It’s a compassionate reach-out.”
Later in the session, the committee passed another bill which combined
previous measures to substantially reform current U.S.
immigration regulations by eliminating physical barriers.
This bill placed a small tax on each dollar spent on tanning services,
tobacco and alcoholic beverages.
CAPITOL REPORT
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Legislators wage battle of the presidential sexes Finance committees
pass slate of bills Republican leadership caught in power struggle
Bills on health concerns, living wills weighed ‘Superbill’ takes
aim at putting FEMA house in order Committee weighs in on Iraqi
sovereignty, pulling troops Lawmakers to honor genocide victims,
weigh immigration regulations Lawmakers act on incentives to protect
environment Committee seeks to leave no child behind Immigration,
teenager emancipation bills proposed
“There was a surplus of funds and too great of an increase,” said
Rep. Ben Kochman.
The House Committee on the Judiciary is one of 11 congressional
committees that met prior to the first joint session of the 2006
Congress scheduled for May 22 at the Business School of William
Paterson University.
There are 67 Democrats and 71 Republicans serving in the 2006 Herald
News Model Congress. This is the third year the Congress has been
held. During the school year, bills are drafted by more than 145
student legislators at 14 participating high schools from Passaic
and southwest Bergen counties.
Student legislators were assigned to parties and committees by their
faculty advisors. As in the U.S. Congress, Republicans hold slight
majorities in both houses.
The Congress is a legislature with two houses – the House and the
Senate – designed to teach students how government works by playing
the roles of legislators. Each house has six committees, ranging from
finance to judiciary.
Congress sponsors include William Paterson University, the Nicholas
Martini Foundation, Verizon, Public Service Electric and Gas Co., the
Office of the Passaic County Superintendent of Schools and the North
Jersey Media Group Foundation, which serves as the group’s charitable
arm. The group is the publisher of the Herald News and The Record,
as well as more than 30 weeklies in northeast New Jersey.