United States Senate

Regional

Topic A

Affirmative Action Policies in Post-Secondary Education

In the general term of the phrase “affirmative action policies”, it tends to mean “those in which and institution or organization actively engages in efforts to improve opportunities for historically excluded groups” (NCSL). The phrase was first coined by President John F. Kennedy in an executive order for employment purposes in regards to race, creed, color, or national origin.

Policies were initially focused on improving opportunities for African-Americans in employment and education. For example, the Supreme Court’s Brown v. Board of Education decision in 1954 outlawed school segregation.

Backgrounder
—>

Topic B

Reformation of Gun Laws

The reformation of gun laws within the United States has become an increasingly relevant issue in recent times. The second amendment of the constitution of the United States that “the right of people to keep and bear arms” (Legal Information Institute, Cornell). This allows all people within the United States to legally keep and bear arms, however, in recent times the interconnected violence throughout the United States has had many citizens calling for gun reformation laws.

It is pertinent for the United States Senate to find a solution to an issue that continues to tear the nation apart - one that is also sustainable and long-term.

Backgrounder
—>

ussenate@pacificmun.org

Dais team

Siddharth Shende

Director

Irene Zhang

Chair

Hariette Zhang

Chair

About

US Senate

The United States Senate is one of the two houses of the legislature in the United States. Alongside the House of Representatives, the US Senate is responsible for all the lawmaking in the United States. The US Senate was founded on July 16, 1787, by the framers of the constitution – to represent all the states equally by the senators (unlike the House of Representatives). The Senate can propose legislation and even debate and propose bills.

Each senator represents the people living in his/her state of the United States. The Senate can also give opinions on the current president, and if need be, vote on the impeachment of the said president. Most importantly, the role of the Senate is to make sure that each person’s views are being heard through the type of legislative bills that are being passed – albeit for security, the economy, healthcare etc. In addition, the US Senate can review, approve, and even reject presidential appointees to executive and judicial branches. The US Senate and all of its proceedings and bills passed are crucial to upholding the very constitutional framework that the United States was built on.

Director

Siddharth Shende

Siddharth Shende is a current junior at Tesla STEM High School in Redmond, Washington, USA. Outside of this conference, he has been to 18 conferences as a staff, delegate, and secretariat - and has won numerous awards, over his 3 years of MUN. Outside of MUN, he is very interested in Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA), and numerous entrepreneurship startup programs. He is very involved in service projects and caring for the environment, he is part of the Schools Under 2 C foundation at his school and is involved in his local cities youth council. For fun, he loves to watch movies and listen to music, and explore Netflix's catalog. Interested in the application of his leadership and team-working skills, Siddharth Shende is super excited to be a part of the 2019 PacificMUN Staff.

Chair

Irene Zhang

Currently a senior at Fraser Heights Secondary School, Irene is excited to serve as the chair for the US Senate at PacificMUN 2019. Ever since she attended her first Model UN conference in Grade 8, she has never been able to escape the intriguing world of Model UN. In her spare time, Irene enjoys drawing in the early hours of the morning, finding new bubble tea places to raid, and contemplating post-secondary decisions. She is also an avid fan of anime, often suffering heated internal debates over a bit more sleep or another episode. Regardless of whether you are a beginner or a veteran, Irene hopes that PacificMUN 2019 will foster important skills and create new friendships for all the delegates in the US Senate!

Chair

Hariette Zhang

Hattie is a senior at Southridge School and she is delighted to be Chairing at PACMUN 2019. Ever since commencing her Model UN career in Grade 10, she has been captivated by the thrill of researching, public speaking, debating, and collaborating with other passionate young people. At school, Hattie usually cries over APs, stresses over uni applications, and casually pretends that her sanity hasn’t evacuated from her body in fear of the next existential crisis. Outside of school, she enjoys reading, coding, competitive martial arts, and old Hollywood movies. This Chair is more than excited to meet all the delegates of the US Senate committee, seeing everyone do their research thoroughly and submitting their position papers on time!