​Joseph Daly

During my spring 2015 semester I had the privilege or representing Santa Fe College at the 44th annual model U.S senate at Stetson University. While at the model senate I was assigned to portray senator Gary Peters, a democrat from the state of Michigan.

 

In order to accurately impersonate my senator I had to learn everything that I could about their voting record and which way they leaned on certainty political issues. For me, this was a little more difficult because my senator is a freshman senator and doesn’t have a coating record as long as some of the more senior members of the senate.

 

While at the model senate I was assigned to the Armed Services committee where me and about 15 other people debated and edited bills pertaining to the military. The bill that I introduced was related to the small business act and would allow veterans who owned small businesses to have access to military surplus property that is stored overseas. My bill passed through committee with bipartisan support but, due to the time limitations of the event, never made it to the senate floor.

 

I learned a lot from attending the model U.S Senate and I feel like I have more of an understanding of how the senate functions. Reading about the senate in a textbook or learning about it in class doesn’t compare to learning from actually experiencing it. This was a great learning opportunity and I would like to attend model senate again next year.