Winter Congress 2012: What You’ll Need to Know

Southern California Winter Congress

Winter Congress gives JSA-ers the exciting chance to debate mock legislation in house and senate committees during our convention. During each day of Congress, this mock legislation, referred to as “bills”, is debated and put to a vote. If the “bill” passes, it is sent to Washington D.C. along with other proposed JSA legislation. This is your opportunity to make a difference in politics and in our nation! It is also an exciting chance to see what it’s like on Capitol Hill every day! Each bill is student-written and can be submitted by any attendee of Winter Congress! Below is all of the information that you MUST know if you’re interested in attending:

Location:

Irvine Hilton

18800 MacArthur Boulevard

Irvine, CA 92612

Date and Cost:

February 18-19, 2012

Cost: $105

Registration Deadline: January 17^th, 2011

Additional Information

• Bills MUST be submitted by January 15^th, 2012 to the email address socalbills@jsa.org (UPDATE: if you sent your bill to congressbills2012@gmail.com, please immediately resend to socalbills@jsa.org to ensure that we have your bill!)
• While you can contact your Chapter Coordinator about Congress, you can also direct their specific questions to the debate department and senate (contact information available on socal.jsa.org), which handle Winter Congress bills.
• JSA-ers can be involved in Winter Congress as “party leaders”, who essentially support bills that favor the interests of their party. This is a great way to get really involved at congress! If you are interested in obtaining one of these positions, please view the leadership packet. Please contact Congress Coordinator Adriana Zuabi if you have any questions.
• Please refer to the national JSA website (www.jsa.org), where you can find a bill writing guide as well as an introduction to Winter Congress!
• On the national JSA website, under “events” and “congress”, you can find everything you need to know about Congress.

Candidate Declarations

Any JSA-ers interested in running for an elected position should declare their candidacy at Winter Congress. It is suggested that a platform be written and a speech be prepared at the time of the declaration. Please contact Steve Kearns for more information regarding this (stevekearns3@gmail.com).