A.J. Garcia, a sophomore at Godley High School, will debate in the UIL Congress Contest state competition on January 10-11, 2024, in Austin.

The 11th Annual State Congress will be held on the campus of the University of Texas at Austin and the Texas State Capitol.

Garcia advanced from the regional contest held Nov. 13 at the Region 11 Education Service Center.

Sponsored by the University Interscholastic League, Congress is an individual contest in a large group setting. It models the legislative process of democracy, specifically, the United States Congress. Within this mock legislative assembly competition, contestants draft legislation (proposed laws and position statements) submitted to the tournament, and they research the docket of bills and resolutions dealing with real-world social and political policies prior to the contest to prepare their speeches. At the tournament, students caucus in committees, deliver formal discourse on the merits and disadvantages of each piece of legislation, and vote to pass or defeat the measures they have examined. Parliamentary procedure forms structure for the discourse, and students extemporaneously respond to others’ arguments over the course of a session.