Proposed Legislations

Almost every time I turn on the news I hear about a new bill of some sort or another that is attempting to get traction in government. The media likes to highlight the ones that fit a certain narrative or ones that would cause a great amount of public outcry. On congress.gov there are thousands upon thousands of bills proposed, waiting to be reviewed. I found a lot of interesting bills but a few stood out to me. One bill (HR 1358) aimed to "protect the scientific integrity in federal research and policy making." This bill was backed by over 70 democrats. I was unable to find who was funding it but I imagine industries that are focused on scientific research would benefit from the passing of this bill. Another bill that was proposed by a representative in California, HR 1322 sought to limit restrictions on abortion and a woman's right to reproductive choice. There were 101 cosponsors. Both bills were submitted just a few days ago and there was little information on either one of them, but it will be interesting to see if they get any traction in congress. One particular bill, proposed about a month ago, would limit the amount of legal immigrants entering the United States. This is obviously a very hot topic right now under our current administration. The bill, backed by republicans, would do away with the green card lottery, and severely restrict foreign nationals from obtaining residency through family members. It would also cut the amount of refugees permitted to this country in half. No big deal, people fleeing violence can probably just go somewhere else right? Lamar Smith, a representative from Texas who is backing this bill said the following: "When you have so many immigrants being admitted, they tend to cluster together, they tend to maybe be a bit more slow in learning the English language, to becoming acculturated, to becoming patriotic Americans," Smith says. I tried finding the number attached to this bill but could not. My son's father is an immigrant, and served in Afghanistan with the Marine Corps. His cousin was able to come here because of the green card lottery.The passing of this sort of bill would have an enormous impact on American families, and I doubt it would be for the better. 




Sources:
https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/1322?r=40
http://www.npr.org/2017/02/07/513957928/republican-lawmakers-propose-new-law-to-reduce-legal-immigration
https://www.congress.gov/search?q={%22source%22:%22legislation%22}