Social Issues

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Members of Pragaash perform at a "Battle of the Bands" in Srinagar, India, where they finished third. The band disbanded after only one concert because of an edict from a top Muslim cleric. They were also called "sluts" and "prostitutes" who should be expelled from the region. (Associated Press)

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From left: Members of various law enforcement agencies surround Reps. Elijah Cummings, Maryland Democrat, Patrick Meehan, Pennsylvania Republican, Scott Rigell, Virginia Republican, and Carolyn Maloney, New York Democrat, as they hold a press conference Feb. 5, 2013, in Washington to introduce the first bipartisan bill in the House of Representatives during the 113th Congress, which would make firearms trafficking a federal crime and impose stronger penalties for straw purchasers who buy guns for convicted felons and others who are prohibited from buying guns on their own. (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)

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Congressional Budget Office Director Douglas Elmendorf speaks about the office's annual Budget and Economic Outlook during a news conference at the Ford House Office Building in Washington on Feb. 5, 2013. (Associated Press)

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**FILE** President Obama discusses the continuing budget talks in the briefing room of the White House on July 19, 2011. (Associated Press)

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Reps. Lamar Smith (from left), Sheila Jackson Lee and Luis V. Gutierrez greet Rep. Joaquin Castro (second from right) and his twin brother, San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro, who arrives to testify at a hearing on immigration before the House Judiciary Committee in the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington on Tuesday, Feb. 5, 2013. The hearing is the first on immigration for either chamber in the 113th Congress. (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)

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Ohio Gov. John Kasich presents the fiscal year 2014-15 executive budget proposal during a news conference Monday, Feb. 4, 2013, in Columbus, Ohio. (AP Photo/Jay LaPrete)

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"My challenge to all of you today, and actually my plea to all of you … is help us speed up the rate of change," said Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. (Associated Press)

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**FILE** Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley delivers his speech before the state's general assembly during his State of the State address in Annapolis on Jan. 30, 2013. (Associated Press)

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**FILE** Opponents of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, demonstrate Jan. 30, 2013, in Albany, N.Y., as they sit in the audience as Dr. Nirav Shah, commissioner of the New York State Department of Health, testifies before a joint budget hearing on health and Medicaid. (Associated Press)

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Young people participate in an anti-gay-bullying candlelight vigil at the Center Project in Columbia, Mo., on Oct. 20, 2010, to commemorate the recent deaths of gay teens. (AP Photo/The Columbia Daily Tribune, Joshua A. Bickel, File)