Topic:
The withdrawl from Iraq may seem to be the best solution to ending the war and bringing our soldiers home but many people such as my father who is currently serving in iraq and myself believe that withdrawing would only destroy all the hard work that we have put in to changing Iraq. It would be a huge mistake for Amercia and we would be seen as weak and as unable to successfully completing what we started such as in the Vietname War. it would make the terrorists feel like they could push us around without any consequences becuase they would have made us quit already. This would send a message to the rest of the world making us seem weak and unable to stick it out and complete what we started

Why is it urgent for America now:
The Iraq War has been taking place for several years and many people are calling for an end to it while others say we need to continue what we started and wait it out until we achieve victory in Iraq. This is causing turmoil in our country and will eventaully cause a split in the country which is the last thing a country needs. The last time this happened during the Vietname War it put a blemish on the American Bravado and reputation of completing our missions and finishing wars with certain victory.

Topic:
In my community, turning 18 means a later curfew and buying cigarettes, not registering to vote and exercising your civic duty. Teenagers repeat the mantra "My one vote won't count," so they don't even bother trying. Today's teens will be the future voters.

Why is it urgent for America now:
The point of a democracy is moot if there is no one to stand up and vote. If teens now are not pushed to exercise their voting rights, than in the future, when they are the lead voters, we will see even further decreasing percentages of Americans voting. When people don't vote, they also feel less attached to the politicians voted in. This makes it easier for them to complain when policies are enacted that they don't like because they have no personal interest in the candidate. However, since they are doing nothing to make their opinion known in politics [as voting does], there can be no solutions gleaned. It is just a mass country of whiners who refuse to stand up and be the change they are demanding.

Topic:
Americans tend to fancy their country as a first-world nation: a place of safety, of individual freedom, and of justice. Between their suburban homes and manicured lawns lurks a severe problem of sex trafficking - young children throughout America are moved throughout the country to be sold into captivity. Raped daily, filmed to make pornography, and terrorized, these children and young adults are in our own country, yet we are blind to their plight. Sex trafficking is not only a foreign horror, it exists here. Petula Dvorak of the Washington Post published an article this past May citing that approximately 100 juveniles are saved a year in Washington D.C. alone. This abomination must end.

Why is it urgent for America now:
The United States are advertised as a place of security and liberty. The American Dream is supposed to be justice and righteousness for all, an opportunity for a happy and free life. Newspapers bicker about Wallstreet, compare the iPad and the Kindle, and whine about obesity. However, the trafficking and abusing of young adults occurs right beneath our noses. The issue of domestic sex trafficking is urgent to Americans now because its very existence undermines our own sense of freedom. The unspeakable cruelty and sexual exploitation of these young girls and boys cannot be ignored. People tend to imagine sex trafficking as a fantastical phenomenon that is foreign and exotic, not a problem that we deal with in the safe haven of America. We may have abolished slavery in 1865, but more than 150 years later, we still struggle with the same issue. The most prominent topic of concern in our very conscience is the freedom and security of the individual. If identifying and incarcerating the perpetrators that currently deny thousands of young adult that right of life is not currently our prime topic of concern, I do not know what else could be.

Topic:
Why is it that even in the 21st century, women still make less money that men do at the same jobs? Despite the Equal Pay Act of 1963, women over the age of 25 are still making only roughly 80% of what men make. Even in these supposedly modern times, there is still a surprising discrepancy in wages between the two. How long will it take for true equality between the sexes to take place? When did it become acceptable to not reward hard work based on gender? That is not the freedom that the United States of America stands for today.

Why is it urgent for America now:
We must take action now to correct this problem because this injustice is leftover sexism that we can correct. Women deserve the same salaries as men with the same job title. It is not fair to allow some people to receive more money because of their gender. By allowing this injustice to continue, we are giving future generations the idea that it is perfectly all right to discriminate against other people based on physical characteristics. Many of us look at our current society with pride, pointing out all of the accomplishments we have made. However, we often leave out all of the set backs and problems. Women could not even vote until 1920 with the 19th Amendment. They were paid less then men working during the war effort of World War II. It is true that today's society embraces the many achievements of women more that those of the past, but there is still plenty of room for improvement. During the past year, President Obama signed the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Restoration Act through which people can make claims when they are being paid less than their fellow workers at the same job. This act should help with this inequality, but it cannot end it without our help. Women need to be secure in the fact that the amount of work they do is equal in value to that of a man in the work force. Everyone is created equal and it is about time that everyone recognized that fact.

Topic:
Teachers should be held to higher standards, there should be less control by unions, and there should be more charter schools in the country.

Why is it urgent for America now:
As of right now, the United States has been falling in international rankings in math and reading. More and more students are not graduating college and with the help of the new government and President Obama, now is the perfect time to reform.