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e-Congress 2005: e-Legislators Pass 902 Bills of 5,317 Submitted | May 17, 2005
The results are in for the 2005 session of YLI's e-Congress! With nearly 800 teachers from 47 states and an American school abroad, this year's participation reached an all time high for the four year old simulation. With enough student e-legislators to form 23 concurrently running House Floors, YLI was able to ensure that each of the 5,317 bills submitted was reviewed by a student committee. These committees passed over 1,400 bills (26.4%) for a full vote by members of their respective House Floors. Working within the $150 billion e-Congress budget, 7,682 student legislators logged more than 324,000 votes en route to passing 16.7% (902) of the original bills.
The issues of greatest concern to students participating in the 2005 session of e-Congress were education, criminal justice, and the environment. While criminal justice was the most popular topic for bills submitted, students voted to pass more bills on education (159) than any other topic. Of the bills with the top ten highest passing percentage, three bills provide an affordable college education and two require a senior citizen driving test.
By proposing innovative solutions, authoring well-crafted legislation, and offering insightful comments to their peers around the country, this year's e-legislators proved that students are ready and willing to learn about and participate in government when they see how it can impact their own lives. YLI e-Congress helps remind young people that democracy isn't something that only happens in Washington, D.C. – it's something we all do.
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