[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 48 (Tuesday, April 16, 1996)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E534]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         RIVER RIDGE (FL) HIGH SCHOOL'S MOCK STATE LEGISLATURE

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                           HON. PETER T. KING

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, April 15, 1996

  Mr. KING. Mr. Speaker, I would like to include in the Record an 
article from the Tampa Tribune which describes River Ridge (FL) High 
School's mock State legislature and what its student participants 
learned about the legislative process. Of special interest are the 
reflections of Kevin Miller, ``Speaker of the House.''

              Students Find Legislator Seat No Easy Chair

                         (By Tiffany Anderson)

       New Port Richey.--For at least a few hours, seniors became 
     senators.
       The 12th-grade class at River Ridge High School got a 
     chance to play politics by participating Friday in the 
     school's mock state legislative session.
       To earn class credit in American government, more than 328 
     students served as state representatives and senators and sat 
     on committees.
       The bills they wrote won't ever make it outside the 
     school's auditorium. But that didn't keep most seniors from 
     taking the event any less seriously.
       ``People told me that I would run everything,'' said Kevin 
     Miller, 18-year-old speaker of the ``House.'' ``In a way, 
     that's true. I just didn't realize how much power Newt 
     Gingrich has. If he doesn't like someone he can make it 
     really hard for people.''
       State Rep. Mike Fasano spoke to the seniors on the first 
     day of the two-day event. Later, students spent hours 
     heatedly debating dozens of issues from abortion education to 
     education reform.
       By Friday, the make-believe legislators had learned that 
     life in the Capitol isn't easy and that getting a law passed 
     is even harder.
       More than 275 bills were discussed in committee. Only 40 
     were heard on the House and Senate floor.
       Students proposed such legislation as:
       The Dumb Teachers Act, requiring instructors to be 
     recertified every year.
       Mandating that school administrators keep toilet paper and 
     soap in the bathroom or be subject to fines plus tar and 
     feathering.
       Increasing the speed limit on state highways to 85 miles 
     per hour.
       Ultimately, only five bills became ``law,'' making it more 
     difficult to use lottery money to supplement school funding; 
     allowing a vehicle's tinted windows to be as dark as the 
     driver wanted; permitting students to work as many hours a 
     week as they wanted as long as they maintained a ``C'' 
     average; requiring boating licenses for those 14 and older; 
     and making it easier to get an ``A'' at River Ridge, but 
     abolishing extra points for attendance.
       The mock legislative session has been staged for the past 
     four years, said teacher Tom Fleming.
       ``It's better if they live the legislative process,'' he 
     said.
       Students agreed.
       ``Even though they're not real laws, you still learn a 
     lot,'' said Gena Deluigi, 18. ``It's just good to see how a 
     bill gets passed. Now, I can look at a bill and even though 
     it may already exist, I can see why this or that wasn't 
     included in it . . . because it could have come up in our 
     session, too.''

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