The Midwest, Southeast, and the Ohio River Valley States came together in Washington D.C. from February 17th to February 19th for an incredible learning experience about the legislative process. Students explored the city, heard speeches from some of Washington’s power-brokers, and dabbled in parliamentary procedure as they fought to keep the bills that they wrote passed. For some JSA-ers, it was their first Winter Congress, or even their first convention. For others, it might have been the culmination of their Winter Congress experience, in their fourth year of being a part of the Junior State of America.
Former Attorney General Edwin Meese III
One of the greatest attributes of Congress is the location which, allowed for an excellent speaker’s program on Capitol Hill. Student heard from Edwin Meese III, former Attorney General and Heritage Foundation Fellow; James Woolsey, former CIA Director and delegate to the START negotiations; and Raf Sanchez, journalist for The Telegraph. Ed Meese worked for President Reagan and talked about the Reagan legacy. He is also a JSA Alumni and has served on the Junior Statesmen Foundation Board for 50 years. James Woolsey talked about the importance of alternative energy and how America’s reliance on oil effects national security. Raf Sanchez, who has been covering the 2012 elections for his London newspaper, spoke about the way American politics is viewed abroad.
Students took advantage of the historic city by visiting famous museums, national monuments, and walking around the capital of our nation. Many chapters arrived one or two days early to have more time to explore the city. Fifty JSA students and advisors visited the Federal Reserve to hear how the Fed’s policies effect the economy.
Former CIA Director James Woolsey
However, after most of the sightseeing, students were ready to come together for the opening session on Friday evening. In addition to comments from the governors, program directors, political party chairs, and other convention planners, we were lucky to have Mr. Peter Loge, a political advisor, as our keynote speaker for the evening. Giving an interesting speech about power and it’s intricacies, Mr. Loge offered a completely different perspective from most of the politicians that JSA welcomes as guest speakers. Also, Senator Dick Durbin, of Illinois recorded a video message for the occasion. Watch Sen. Durbin’s video message here
Following the remarks, various night activities followed, including caucuses for the Democratic, Libertarian, Republican, and Socialist parties—which is unique to this convention– a Mr. JSA competition, and the ever-popular dance.
On Saturday, the heart of Winter Congress began. Delegates had submitted bills and resolutions beforehand. Split into various House and Senate committees, every JSA-er debated the legislation that they themselves had proposed and sponsored. Unlike Fall and Spring State, students had the ability to change the debate by proposing an amendment. If the amendment passed, then it would get handed over to its corresponding House or Senate committee. The bills, resolutions, and amendments that passed in both the House and Senate were then brought into the full House and Senate committees on Sunday. If the legislation passed again in full committee, then it was declared law.
Political Party Chairs
New this year was the political party point system. In previous years, party chairs and their whips go around to different committees debating issues that their political party supported or opposed. This year, a point system was introduced to add a little bit more competition between the political parties. Points were awarded when a bill passed that a party supported and spoke on, and when a bill failed that a party opposed and spoke on; extra points were awarded if another member of a political party spoke as well. The winners were the Democrats, with the Libertarians coming in a close second.
Other parts of Winter Congress included the Political Fair, featuring a number of different organizations; the Saturday moonlight monument tour, giving students a chance to see the national monuments in a night setting; and the annual candidate declarations for elections at Spring State.
As the convention came to a close, delegates seemed tired but happy. Not only was everyone pleased with how the convention was run, but with the people that they had the chance to meet. Rare are the chances where students can have an intelligent, reasonable debate with students just as passionate about politics. Rarer are the chances that the people that you debate with are people that you can be friends with afterwards. Winter Congress is one of those rare chances. JSA students from different areas of the country managed to come together and culminate in one of the most unique experiences that JSA has to offer: Congress 2012.
WWII Monument
