My bill is the next on the docket. It’s the middle of the day at the JSA convention in Washington D.C.. It’s my turn to say what I think should be done. You’ve done this over and over. You’ve got this. I walk up to the podium and give the speech I have repeated over and over in my head for days.
It goes well. I sit down and talk to my friends, one of whom I’ve known for a while and the other I have just met. We hear the con speech next and subsequent speeches by either side. I appear to have support and it should be close. Finally, we take a vote. Apparently the speech didn’t go well. My bill didn’t pass. I ask my partner, who is doing his speech in the House of Representatives section, if it passed in his room. It didn’t pass there, either.
I don’t get to take my bill before the full congress, but that doesn’t mean I’m done with the convention. I still have two days left to listen to the other 800 people talk about what they think is right. I still get to voice my opinion on these issues. I still get the chance to decide whose bills pass and whose don’t. My bill didn’t pass this year, but next year I will be back to try again.