Speaking of which, another attempt at the second paragraph of the TFA crawl:

While the New Republic debates
on the gravity of this new threat,
General Leia Organa mobilizes a
covert Resistance to prove to the
Senate that the First Order is
secretly preparing for war.

A little longer, 33 words, but the same count as the theatrical second paragraph.

This version of the crawl shows that the New Republic at least acknowledges the First Order, and some senators may even feel it is dangerous, but the democratic process is slowing them down from taking any action. It also shows that the Senate is unaware of the First Order’s military build up, and proving that to the Republic is the Leia’s primary goal. “Preparing for war” also foreshadows the military build-up we later see, with the new Star Destroyers, stormroopers, Starkiller Base and the mega star destroyer. It also lines up well with the deleted Leia scene where she sends Kor Sella to urge the New Republic to take action against them, and some senators thinking she is insane due to her beliefs (in this case, that the First Order is preparing for war).

I remember when I first heard about the new faction names, “First Order” and “Resistance”, I had assumed the First Order would be an Imperial remnant with territory the outskirts of the galaxy, and the “Resistance” was a rebel movement within First Order territory, like the French resistance in WWII. It would be interesting if that idea was established in the crawl, maybe with a phrase like, “within the First Order space”. But there isn’t much in the movie that supports that set up. And I guess the idea is that the are resisting First Order expansion.