Reference no: EM133671917

Assignment:

My senator is John Cornyn

Go to Who Are My Texas State Legislators to input your address and determine who your elected Texas legislative representatives are. You must choose to write on either your member of the Texas State House of Representatives or your member of the Texas State Senate.

Step 2: After selecting one of those state-level legislators, you will follow the link to his/her personal website. On that page, you will find varied information about your legislator, including links to that legislator's most recently authored legislation.

Step 3: Go to VoteSmart Link of Texas Interest Groups to locate an interest group that lobbies on behalf of an issue you care about. This can be any issue, from abortion to tax relief, as long as it is an issue that interests you. Navigate on the page to find an issue category (like "Campaign Finance and Elections" or "Foreign Aid") that you are interested in. Then, under that category heading, select one of the particular groups in that category to research. {Those particular groups are located on the far right under the "SIG Name" heading.}

Step 4: Respond to the following list of questions in sequential order. Each question should be answered completely and numbered accordingly in separate paragraphs.

Question 1: What is the name of your chosen state-level legislator for this paper and what is his/her office/position? What is his/her race/ethnicity, gender, and religious affiliation? What political party does s/he belong to? Does s/he share your preferred party preference? How long has s/he been in office?

Question 2: Each legislator's website should feature a link to his/her authored legislation. Select and describe two pieces of legislation authored by your representative during the current regular legislative session. (If not currently in a regular session, you should select two sponsored bills from your legislator from the most immediately recent regular legislative session. If your legislator has not authored legislation before, you should describe his/her two most recent sponsored bills).

Question 3: Compare and contrast the mission and goals of your chosen interest group with the political beliefs and legislative priorities of your chosen legislator, providing AT LEAST two specific examples of either agreement or disagreement between them. Has your chosen interest group endorsed your elected legislator? What, if any, role do you think this interest group had in getting your legislator elected?

Question 4: Reflection - Which of the listed marketable skills at the beginning of this assignment did you develop in completing this project? Which were the most challenging? What parts of the project present your best work in demonstrating marketable skills? What would you think you need to continue developing?

Marketable Skills:

• Personal Responsibility
• Social Responsibility
• Critical Thinking
• Communication