A very productive and emotional Senate floor session kicked off last Tuesday with the “prom-posal” by Eric Xu. The timeless, romantic gesture of chocolates and flowers, coupled with pristine execution produced “Aww’s” from the crowd, Republican and Democrats alike.

The sweetness of the proposal was not the only thing the Senate agreed on, passing a majority of the bills presented on unanimous votes. But bills like the Minimum Wage Fairness Act, Lesemann Bill (preventing the militarization of law enforcement), Equal Rights Amendment, High Fructose Corn Syrup Act, and the Environmental Education Act of 2015 were all hotly contested.

During the discussion of the Environmental Education Act of 2015, senators took shots at each other. Emma Gore attacked Tim Dodson’s scientific background, or rather, lack thereof. Dodson, on the defense, retaliated by stating that he did have an extensive scientific background, channeling his inner Ph.D.-holding, Duke graduate Rand Paul.

When Harris Kindrick moved to defend the bill and claimed that global warming wasn’t real, a member of the Democratic Party promptly retaliated with a reply along the lines of “You don’t believe in it? You are the reason we need the class.” Kindrick commented on these remarks after by saying “Yes, there have been a lot of hostilities between me and the Democratic party so far, but that’s more of a personal thing, just old rivalries firing up.”

This heated discussion was just one of many debates that took place at Model Congress this year. After floor sessions that ended in bruised egos, ripped up bills, distraught Democrats and raging Republicans, thirteen bills were presented before President Carroll Bickers.  Bickers proceeded to sign off on all but three bills. These three bills were the Lesemman Bill, Adoption Equality Bill, and Minimum Wage Fairness Act. Certainly a dramatic Model Congress session, Bickers was reported saying, “This is one of the best batch of bills I’ve ever signed!”