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JACKSON, Tenn. — March 17, 2016 — Seven 51���� students participated in the second year of National Model Congress February 24-28 in Washington, D.C., where they proposed, debated and voted on mock legislation under assumed names of real U.S. Congress members.

The Union delegation won “Outstanding Delegation” for the second consecutive year for its work in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. It is the primary honor awarded at the conference to only one of the 13 schools in attendance.

Garrett Wilson, a junior economics major, received “Outstanding House Representative” as the first of three people in the entire conference to have a bill passed in the House, the Senate and then signed by the acting president.

“It was kind of a landmark for Union,” Wilson said. “One of Union’s pieces of legislation will always be the first to ever do that.”

Seth Reid, a sophomore political science and history major, earned “Outstanding Senator” after involvement in nearly every piece of legislation, acting as Senator John McCain.

Eddie Echevarria, a junior political science major, served as Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, one of the highest positions available at the conference.

Wilson and Reid also served as debate floor managers, otherwise called committee chairs, because of their experience and involvement with last year’s conference.

“Before the conference started, the leader of it contacted us,” Wilson said. “It was a great way to be involved and lead. It was also fun going back this year to see all the changes they made to continue to make the conference better.”

All the students who attended had the chance to introduce, debate and vote on bills through an accelerated model of the actual proceedings of the U.S. Congress.

The positions given to the Union delegation provided them a platform to show their experience and a “lot of sway and influence throughout the conference,” Wilson said. “It really got Union’s name out there to other schools that didn’t know who we were.”

Also in attendance from 51���� were Hayden Hughes, Lacie Fink, Anna Goodman and Danielle Lisk.