HP 609 Week 8 Assignment 2: Written Testimony
HP 609 Week 8 Assignment 2: Written Testimony
My name is, I am here both a student at Regis College pursuing my master’s in nursing degree expecting to graduate in 2023, and an immigrant from Uganda, East Africa. I wish to express my support of H.R.6 “An Act Relative to providing certain aliens with a path to receive permanent resident status and contains other immigration-related provisions. Immigrants are part of American history because of their contribution in building this country. And not only that, but immigrants have also continued to work effortlessly at jobs that no average American is willing to try, jobs such as farm work.12 percent of undocumented immigrants work in construction, 8 percent in leisure and hospitality, 7 percent in other areas (Krogstad, 2020). This goes to show that immigrants are not here just to reap the benefits of the country, but also to contribute to the attainment of those benefits. Furthermore, immigrants have gone on to be educated and prospered in various careers. Personally, my family is one of those many families that came to this country with young children years ago, my siblings and I came here at a very young age and today, we are among those children that have grown up to be responsible, well-educated and respectable and respectful citizens in our community.
The Dream Act (Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM is a bill that was first introduced in 2001 (American Immigration Council, n.d) to help pave a way for the child immigrants to become permanent residents and eventually citizens of the United States (US). This would be a great opportunity for the immigrants to finally live, study and work in this country without fear of deportation and/or being arrested. Am here to support of this bill because passing this bill would give immigrants a fresh start in this country. Immigrants leave their countries for various reasons, some due to political unrest, persecution, others to search for better ways of living, and having this chance to settle here legally is important to immigrants.
The H.R.6 American Dream and Promise Act of 2021 was later introduced by Representative Lucille Roybal Allard in support of immigration reform. Just like all the previous bills before, The American Dream and Promise Act of 2021 would authorize the cancellation of removal and adjustment of status of certain aliens (H.R.6-American Dream and Promise Act of 2021, Congress, 2021). There are many undocumented families living here in the U.S that are looking for a fresh start to better their lives. Passing this bill into law will become a reality for many families that have lived on edge for so long.
When discussing and deciding on this bill, the legislator should think of the reasons as to why the immigrants are here. Let the contributions they have made to this country count in their decision making. Contributions such as working hard at odd jobs that no one else will do, paying their taxes regardless of their status, law abiding people. Sometimes, the immigrants have committed unforgiveable crimes in the past, it is not all immigrants. However, the fact that these criminals fall in the immigrant category makes all immigrants look bad. In a study conducted on immigration and crime, it was revealed that the illegal immigrant criminal conviction rate was 782 per 100,000 illegal immigrants (Nowrasteh, Forrester & Landgrave, 2020). It is evident that it is a small percentage of people that are making a bad reputation for the rest of the group.
As the legislators discuss how to vote on this bill, please investigate and look at the statistics of those immigrants that have prospered
and living as good citizens in the country. Let their achievements be put into consideration. Immigrants have started various businesses, they have received an education and educated their children as well, they have built the country economically, socially, and culturally (Immigrant Contributions to American Success, Citizenpath, n.d). Regardless of the status, immigrants have managed to make their lives successful in this land. It is therefore a humble request that their reasons for coming here, their accomplishments and future endeavors be considered when deciding on this bill.
Thank you so much for allowing me this opportunity to voice my support on the passing of this bill, how importance it is and how it will change lives. In case of any questions or comments, I can be reached at (781) 526-6815. Thank you.
Important information for writing discussion questions and participation
Welcome to class
Hello class and welcome to the class and I will be your instructor for this course. This is a -week course and requires a lot of time commitment, organization, and a high level of dedication. Please use the class syllabus to guide you through all the assignments required for the course. I have also attached the classroom policies to this announcement to know your expectations for this course. Please review this document carefully and ask me any questions if you do. You could email me at any time or send me a message via the “message” icon in halo if you need to contact me. I check my email regularly, so you should get a response within 24 hours. If you have not heard from me within 24 hours and need to contact me urgently, please send a follow up text to
I strongly encourage that you do not wait until the very last minute to complete your assignments. Your assignments in weeks 4 and 5 require early planning as you would need to present a teaching plan and interview a community health provider. I advise you look at the requirements for these assignments at the beginning of the course and plan accordingly. I have posted the YouTube link that explains all the class assignments in detail. It is required that you watch this 32-minute video as the assignments from week 3 through 5 require that you follow the instructions to the letter to succeed. Failure to complete these assignments according to instructions might lead to a zero. After watching the video, please schedule a one-on-one with me to discuss your topic for your project by the second week of class. Use this link to schedule a 15-minute session. Please, call me at the time of your appointment on my number. Please note that I will NOT call you.
Please, be advised I do NOT accept any assignments by email. If you are having technical issues with uploading an assignment, contact the technical department and inform me of the issue. If you have any issues that would prevent you from getting your assignments to me by the deadline, please inform me to request a possible extension. Note that working fulltime or overtime is no excuse for late assignments. There is a 5%-point deduction for every day your assignment is late. This only applies to approved extensions. Late assignments will not be accepted.
If you think you would be needing accommodations due to any reasons, please contact the appropriate department to request accommodations.
Plagiarism is highly prohibited. Please ensure you are citing your sources correctly using APA 7th edition. All assignments including discussion posts should be formatted in APA with the appropriate spacing, font, margin, and indents. Any papers not well formatted would be returned back to you, hence, I advise you review APA formatting style. I have attached a sample paper in APA format and will also post sample discussion responses in subsequent announcements.
Your initial discussion post should be a minimum of 200 words and response posts should be a minimum of 150 words. Be advised that I grade based on quality and not necessarily the number of words you post. A minimum of TWO references should be used for your initial post. For your response post, you do not need references as personal experiences would count as response posts. If you however cite anything from the literature for your response post, it is required that you cite your reference. You should include a minimum of THREE references for papers in this course. Please note that references should be no more than 5 years old except recommended as a resource for the class. Furthermore, for each discussion board question, you need ONE initial substantive response and TWO substantive responses to either your classmates or your instructor for a total of THREE responses. There are TWO discussion questions each week, hence, you need a total minimum of SIX discussion posts for each week. I usually post a discussion question each week. You could also respond to these as it would count towards your required SIX discussion posts for the week.
I understand this is a lot of information to cover in 5 weeks, however, the Bible says in Philippians 4:13 that we can do all things through Christ that strengthens us. Even in times like this, we are encouraged by God’s word that we have that ability in us to succeed with His strength. I pray that each and every one of you receives strength for this course and life generally as we navigate through this pandemic that is shaking our world today. Relax and enjoy the course!
Hi Class,
Please read through the following information on writing a Discussion question response and participation posts.
Contact me if you have any questions.
Important information on Writing a Discussion Question
- Your response needs to be a minimum of 150 words (not including your list of references)
- There needs to be at least TWO references with ONE being a peer reviewed professional journal article.
- Include in-text citations in your response
- Do not include quotes—instead summarize and paraphrase the information
- Follow APA-7th edition
- Points will be deducted if the above is not followed
Participation –replies to your classmates or instructor
- A minimum of 6 responses per week, on at least 3 days of the week.
- Each response needs at least ONE reference with citations—best if it is a peer reviewed journal article
- Each response needs to be at least 75 words in length (does not include your list of references)
- Responses need to be substantive by bringing information to the discussion or further enhance the discussion. Responses of “I agree” or “great post” does not count for the word count.
- Follow APA 7th edition
- Points will be deducted if the above is not followed
- Remember to use and follow APA-7th edition for all weekly assignments, discussion questions, and participation points.
- Here are some helpful links
- The is a great resource
References
American Immigration Council. (2021, March). The Dream Act: An Overview. americanimmigrationcouncil.org. https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/sites/default/files/research/the_dream_act_an_overview.pdf.
Allard, L. R. (2021, June 15). Text – H.R.6 – 117th Congress (2021-2022): American Dream and Promise Act of 2021. Congress.gov. https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/6/text.
Immigrant Contributions to American Success. CitizenPath. (2021, May 27). https://citizenpath.com/immigrant-contributions/.
Krogstad, J. M., Lopez, M. H., & Passel, J. S. (2020, August 26). Most Americans say immigrants mainly fill jobs US citizens don’t want. Pew Research Center. https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/06/10/a-majority-of-americans-say-immigrants-mostly-fill-jobs-u-s-citizens-do-not-want/.
Nowrasteh, A., Forrester, A., & Landgrave, M. (2020, October 13). cato.org. https://www.cato.org/blog/new-research-illegal-immigration-crime-0.
Week 8 Assignment 2: Written Testimony
Value: 100 points
Due: Day 4
Instructions
Refer to the for information about how to complete this assignment.
Please refer to the for details on how this activity will be graded.
To Submit Your Assignment:
- Select the Add Submissions button.
- Drag or upload your file to the File Picker.
- Select Save Changes.
Submission status
Written and Oral Testimony Guide
How to Find Legislation to Write About
You can choose a bill (legislation) that is before Congress in Washington DC, or that is before the Massachusetts state legislature or if you live in another state, before your state legislature. The bill you choose should have implications for cost, quality, and/or access to health care.
For example, you may want to testify on a health reform bill that is before Congress, like a Medicare for All proposal. You can be for or against or recommend some modifications to the legislation. You can see examples of actual testimony at the links on the Moodle page.
Or you may want to choose a bill before a state legislature. In Massachusetts, go to the state legislature’s website and look for legislation listed under one of the Joint Committees like Public Health, Health Care Financing, Children and Families, Elder Affairs
Mental Health and Substance Use. The Mass. Legislature’s website is at .
Another way to identify legislation is to go to the website of an advocacy organization/special interest group and select a bill on the legislative agenda of that group. It can be a national organization (like the American Public Health Association) or one that is state-specific (like the Mass. Public Health Association). Many interest groups have both a national organization (that lobbies for federal legislation) and a state affiliate (that lobbies for state legislation). There are many nursing interest groups on the federal level, such as the American Nurses Association, and Nurses United, and they usually have state affiliates.
Guidelines for Written Testimony
(3-5 pages long, double spaced, 12 font Times Roman)
Introduce yourself!
Include your full name, and the name of the organization you are representing. Assuming you are testifying on a health care issue, say you are an RN, or a student nurse, a health administration student, and/or state what you do professionally, if applicable. You may have some other expertise worth sharing personal or professional. – if you are the parent of a disabled child testifying on disability legislation, say so.
What does the legislation do, what is your opinion and why, and what are you recommending legislators do?
At the beginning of your testimony, state clearly what the legislation does and your position on it. Are you there to speak for it, or against it, or recommend some changes? Do not assume the committee members are familiar with the legislation, so a brief explanation of what the legislation does is needed.
What is the rationale for your position? For example, why the legislation is needed, or not needed, or why it should be changed and how? In this section, you should provide supporting information for your position, including evidence, statistics, and make other cogent arguments. This should not be just about your opinion or your emotional reaction to a policy issue. You need to back up your position with facts and supporting evidence. What are its implications for improving health care? Use APA citations and references. Watch the sources you are citing – use credible sources!
Make recommendations to legislators on how you want legislators to act in relation to the legislation – oppose or support it; make changes in it or proceed with caution because of certain concerns with it that you have raised with them.
Thank you!
Thank members of the legislative committee for listening to you and let them know that you can be contacted for more information (your contact information should be at the end of your written testimony).
Guidelines for Oral Testimony
- Introduce yourself and the organization you are representing.
- Do NOT read your written testimony – make a few notes to refer to, if needed.
- Summarize your testimony in 2 – 3 minutes.
- Look at the committee members and speak loudly and clearly.
- Thank the committee members and ask if they have any questions.
Please refer to the for details on how this activity will be graded.
Oral and Written Testimony Rubric
| Criteria | Exceeds Expectations | Meets Expectations | Needs Improvement | Inadequate | Total Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Length of Oral Testimony | Length of testimony is 2–3 minutes.
10 points |
Length of testimony is 3–4 minutes.
8 points |
Length of testimony is 4–5 minutes.
7 points |
Length of testimony was either less than 2 minutes or longer than 5 minutes.
6 points |
10 |
| Written and Oral Testimony Introduction, Content and Focus | Testimony is well-introduced, statements are intentional and clearly defined, focus is precise.
All expectations of the testimony are met per the Guidelines for Written and Oral Testimony. 40 points |
Testimony is introduced, statements are mostly intentional and clearly defined, focus is mostly precise.
Expectations are mostly met per the Guidelines for Written and Oral Testimony. 35 points |
Testimony is somewhat introduced, statements are present and somewhat clearly defined, focus is somewhat vague. Overall needs improvement.
Expectations are somewhat met per the Guidelines for Written and Oral Testimony. 31 points |
Testimony is not introduced, statements are not clear, focus is vague and/or not present.
Expectations are not met per the Guidelines for Written and Oral Testimony. 27 points |
40 |
| Oral Testimony Video, Flow, and Organization | Video testimony is well-organized and a seamless flow of testimony is provided.
The presenter does not read the written testimony and looks directly at the audience (camera) when speaking. The voice and intonation of the presenter is clear, its pace is appropriate, and its inflection grabs the viewer’s attention. 30 points |
Video testimony is organized and mostly seamless flow of the testimony is provided.
The presenter mostly does not read the written testimony and looks directly at the audience (camera) when speaking. The voice and intonation of the presenter is mostly clear, its pace is appropriate, and its inflection grabs the viewer’s attention. 26 points |
Video testimony is somewhat organized and contains awkward flow of the testimony at times.
The presenter frequently reads the written testimony and does not looks directly at the audience (camera) when speaking. The voice and intonation of the presenter is not clear, its pace is not always appropriate, and its inflection is frequently in monotone. 23 points |
Testimony is not organized and flow is awkward.
The presenter reads the written testimony and does not look directly at the audience (camera) when speaking. The voice and intonation of the presenter is not clear, its pace is not appropriate, and its inflection is in monotone. 20 points |
30 |
| Written Version of Testimony; Grammar and Spelling | Writing is concise.
No writing mechanic errors (spelling, punctuation, or word-usage errors). Correct APA citations and references. 20 points |
Writing is mostly concise.
1–2 writing mechanic errors (spelling, punctuation, or word-usage errors). There are minimal or no grammar, punctuation, or word-usage errors. Correct APA citations and references. 17 points |
Writing is somewhat concise.
3–4 writing mechanic errors (spelling, punctuation, or word-usage errors). Several APA citation and/or references errors. 15 points |
Writing is not concise.
5 or more writing mechanic errors (spelling, punctuation, or word-usage errors). Many APA citation and/or references errors. 13 points |
20 |
| Total points | 100 | ||||
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