Students will launch the project by evaluating bold policy proposals, tracing how a federal bill moves through key stages, and beginning to analyze how laws can help or harm different Oregon communities.

Students will examine competing policy perspectives, test a preliminary federal bill idea against likely public benefits and harms in Oregon, and draft an initial evidence-based position statement that includes stakeholder impacts, a counterargument, and next-step revision notes for later phases.

Students will gather and test evidence for and against their proposed bill, evaluate source credibility, sort stakeholder impacts across Oregon communities, and identify the strongest counterevidence that could challenge their current position before moving into formal argument building.

Students will strengthen their hearing arguments by tightening claims, warrants, and rebuttals; test their reasoning through structured peer critique and live questioning; and complete a scored mock congressional hearing that demonstrates accurate lawmaking process knowledge, civic vocabulary, stakeholder analysis, and civil rights reasoning.

Students will present their final mock congressional hearing stations to an authentic audience at the Bill to Law Expo, defend their bill positions with evidence and civic vocabulary, respond to live questions about process and community impact, and close by reflecting on how their work answers the essential questions and deepens their thinking about civic responsibility and inclusion.