Student Congress Debate: A Comprehensive Guide

Congressional Debate, a simulation of the United States legislature, offers students a dynamic platform to engage with real-world social and political policies. This guide provides a detailed overview of the process, rules, and strategies involved in Student Congress.

Introduction to Congressional Debate

In Congressional Debate, students, acting as Senators and Representatives, engage in a mock legislative assembly. They draft legislation in the form of bills and resolutions, research the docket of proposed legislation, and prepare speeches to advocate for or against these measures. A group of 10-25 students, known as a Chamber, participates in a legislative session, guided by a presiding officer elected from among the students.

The Legislative Process

The legislative process mirrors that of the Senate and the House. Students generate a series of bills and resolutions for debate. Debaters alternate delivering speeches for and against the topic in a group setting. An elected student serves as a presiding officer to ensure debate flows smoothly.

Bills vs. Resolutions

Understanding the difference between bills and resolutions is crucial:

Bill: An enumeration of specific provisions which if enacted will have the force of law. It must be definite, stating exactly what is to be done or not to be done. A penalty must be stipulated or the law will not have force. The first words of a bill are "Be it enacted." The language of a bill must always be in the imperative mood. That is, it must state exactly what is to be done and by whom.
Resolution: A generalized statement expressing a conviction or sentiment. A resolution will generally center debate on the broad principles of the concept; a bill is more apt to delve into the merits of the specific provisions it contains. Although they are not necessary, a resolution may have whereas clauses, but a bill never has them. Simple resolutions are usually generalized statements expressing the belief of the group adopting them, and they do not have the force of law. The first words of a resolution are "Be it resolved."

Legislation Submission

For regional, super-regional and state tournaments, the bottom of the each tournament page, linked above, will contain drop down boxes that list the high schools in each region. To submit your legislation, select your high school name and you will be automatically redirected to the proper submission form for your region. All legislation must be typed, double-spaced, and no longer than one page. As you begin to enter your legislation on the web submission form, a drop-down box on the form will let you select “Be it enacted” or “Be it resolved” so there is no need to type it separately. All tournament submission deadlines posted on the Regional, Super-Regional, and State legislation pages are strict deadlines. All submissions are automatically timestamped at the time the Submit button is pressed. No legislation with a timestamp after 11:59:59 PM on the deadline date will be accepted for consideration for any reason. This will allow the student a chance to re-submit the legislation before the deadline. NOT YET OPEN FOR SUBMISSIONS - Submission form has not yet opened for this this season’s tournament.

Debate Structure and Procedure

The debate unfolds through a series of speeches, cross-examinations, and amendments.

Speeches

During that time, students typically give speeches 3 minutes in length. The first two speeches on a piece of legislation are known as the first advocacy, or first pro, and the first rejection, or first con. These speeches are followed by 2 minutes of cross examination. An authorship speech shall be a maximum of 3 minutes in length, but this authorship speech will have an additional 2 minutes of cross-examination to follow the speech. This two minute addition does not apply to speeches on amendments.

Amendments

Amendments may be brought from the floor.

Presiding Officer asks for a 1/3 second of the members present.
If the amendment does not receive the 1/3 second, debate continues with the next appropriate speech.
Presiding Officer asks for an authorship speech on the amendment.
Preference for the amendment's authorship speech shall be based upon the number of speeches given (regular speaking precedence).
Once the first proponency speech is given, no automatic questioning period follows.

Order of Consideration

Bills and resolutions shall be considered in the order in which they appear on the docket, unless the rules are suspended. (A motion to consider a bill out of sequence or not on the calendar at all is a suspension of the rules and requires a two-thirds vote.)

Parliamentary Procedure

The President of the Senate shall follow Parliamentary Procedure according to VHSL rules and according to Robert's Rules of Order in the event VHSL rules do not cover a question of procedure.

Read also: Guide to UC Davis Student Housing

Judging and Evaluation

Congress is an individual contest in a large group setting.

Judge Responsibilities

All Congress Judges (Scorers + Parliamentarians)Responsibilities each round:

Scorers each award 1-6 points (where 1=poor; 6=excellent) for each speech and hour of presiding as well as rank-order their choices of top eight (8) performing delegates -- including the student presiding officer if they're worthy -- (where 1=top choice, 2=next choice… 8=eighth choice). A parliamentarian provides holistic feedback without awarding points, rank-orders all delegates in the room, in order of preference. The parliamentarian remains in the same chamber for preliminary rounds.

All judges will be expected to type comments in electronic ballots while students are speaking. Judges may NOT write comments by hand and transcribe them later.

Resources for Judges

The National Speech & Debate Association (NSDA) offers these free courses with accreditation you can add to your Tabroom.com judge profile. Each course listed below takes about 15 minutes to complete.The Harvard Debate Council has created an additional free course in serving as a parliamentarian; it takes about a half hour to complete.

Read also: Investigating the Death at Purdue

tags: #student #congress #debate #guide