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In the past, Congress has been notorious – just as it is in real life – for not getting much done. Indeed, in June Congress hit a low point with a measly quorum of 14. (Then-Speaker of the House Necrosis shut down Congressional activities for a week because of the incident.) But an influx of hyperactive young visionaries has reformed Congress. For a couple months now, Congress has been a bright point in the government. The 35th Congress, in particular, was very active and creatively successful in their efforts.

• Elected rainy sunday Speaker of the House. She did not appear much, if it all, in Congress this month; Haliman and SGGHays served quite admirably in her stead.

• Authorized a complete audit of the federal government. The recently established Comptroller General is currently in the process of reviewing each organization owned by the government, to determine its intentions and its ability to generate revenue and/or correctly expend money. This is a sign of great fiscal responsibility by Congress – the government needs as much money as it can wring out of its coffers.

• Re-established the Congressional mentoring program. A long-embattled idea that, for the most part, has seen half-assed implementation in the past, the mentoring program is a way for experienced Congressmen to teach their freshman colleagues about how to be a contributing member of the legislature. Even since it was re-created, there have been complaints from those both in and out of Congress that there aren’t enough people volunteering to be a mentor. It remains to be seen if anyone in the next term will make this a pet project, because it has always had potential to do great things.

• Banned Pizza the Hut from re-gaining American citizenship. Pizza is well-known by those who have been around for several months or even years as one of the greatest, most annoying trolls in eRepublik history. He lingered in the eUnited States for a good chunk of this calendar year; he ran for president several times, took over the Republican Party (a disgraced sixth party that merged with the now-Libertarian Party), and caused an after-reset Congressional election freeze in August that was eventually backtracked by the admins. He made life very hard for America. So he ain’t comin’ back.

• Established November 5 as Scrab Admin Day. In honor of the military strength migration made earlier this month, Jacksondr5, with the support of sixty-five percent of Congress, proposed naming an official holiday which would also recognize notable admin screw-ups in the past. Scrab Admin Day joins GF Day (June 30) as the only federal holidays in the eUnited States.

• Merged the Citizenship Task Force and the Immigration Enforcement Service. In a show of bureaucratic shrinking, the IES is now the sole program to determine citizenship approvals. The approved proposal gave Congress more power to control the IES.

• Re-established the Arm America program. For many months this year, Arm America was one of the most successful federal programs. It gave low-quality weapons to young players that could not afford the weaponry to fight daily. From April to June, when the war in Asia heated up, Arm America was very useful in getting all citizens to take part in daily battles. I’m not totally sure why and how the program dissolved, but all I know is, it was, and now it’s back.

• Discussed bringing back the Economic Council. In 2009, the EC was popular within the executive branch; similar to the real life Federal Reserve, it highlights the nation’s most creative economic minds collaborating to find the best possible solutions for things like the economy, trading policies, and federal spending policies.

• Discussed the return of Congressional committees. In the past, every Congressman would be delegated to one committee, which would draft proposal to submit to the full Congress. While this is a good idea in theory (because it would allow for the specialized improvement of certain areas), committees ended up doing the reverse of its intention: complicating things and hurting activity levels. Thus, they were abolished in early 2010. By a narrow 59%-41% vote, committees were not re-created last term. I am sure that they will be discussed again in the future, though how far in the future is unclear.

It’s to the benefit of the entire nation that people are beginning to realize that Congress can actually wield a lot of power. Whereas in the past Congress has been perceived as merely the place to donate money to the Congressional Budget Office and sign mutual protection packs, there are a slew of young, imaginative people who think that Congress can be much more than that. And it can be. Congress usually includes many of the greatest and most successful eAmericans; the notion that such a group should be relegated to boring mechanical duties is, frankly, preposterous. Thanks to the efforts of these fresh talents, we are finally realizing that Congress has a purpose, and it can do great things.

Call me Jeff Zeleny,