Congressional Debate

Congressional Debate (also known as Student Congress, Legislative Debate) is a form of high school debate in the United States and Pakistan. The National Forensic League (NFL), National Catholic Forensic League (NCFL), many national debate tournaments, State Forensic Associations, and the IEEE Pakistan Student Congress (PSC) all offer Congressional Debate as an event. Though it is officially sponsored and governed by the NFL, different regions often have different styles.

In Congressional Debate, high school students emulate United States Congresspeople by debating bills and resolutions. Before the event, each school submits mock legislation to each tournament. After the legislation has been compiled, it is distributed to each participating team. Each team attempts to research as many topics as possible, with the goal of being able to speak on both sides of every legislation.

At the beginning of each session, groups of students play the roles of Congressional committees, deciding which legislation is to be debated and in what order. Legislation is debated through a series of three-minute speeches, alternating between affirmation and opposition to a given bill or resolution. The speeches are designed to capture the attention of the audience and convince them to vote a certain way on each bill. Judges rank speakers on their logic, organization, and eloquence, usually on a scale from 1 to 6. After the chamber feels that debate on a particular bill has been exhausted or the time on the bill has elapsed, participants vote on the bill.^[1]

IEEE Pakistan Student Congress PSC ^[2] has emerged as an annual event to gather IEEE Student Branches from all over Pakistan. The first annual event was held in 2007 at Karachi section, the second at Lahore section in 2008, the third at Islamabad section in 2009, and the fourth at Karachi section in 2010.

Speeches

Format

Congressional Debate speeches last for up to three minutes. The first speech on each piece of legislation, known as the authorship speech, goes to a debater from the author of the legislation's school. If nobody from the author's school is present, another debater gives a sponsorship speech, which is functionally identical to an authorship. The authorship or sponsorship is followed by a mandatory two minutes of cross-examination. One three minute speech in negation follows it, with another mandatory two minutes of questioning. After these two three-minute speeches, debate continues with three minute speeches and one minute of questioning. Within this time, speakers must lay out two or three organized and logical arguments for why the chamber should vote for or against a given piece of legislation. The general format of a speech is as follows:

1. Introduction: Usually, speeches begin with some sort of attention-getting device, such as a quote or statistic. The introduction is then tied into the argument of the speech, as the speaker urges the chamber to vote one way or another. Often, the two or three main lines of argument are "foreshadowed" to give the audience an idea of where the speech is leading; however, some criticize this addition as a waste of limited time.
2. Contentions: Two or three arguments for or against the legislation. Each contention should be explained in the speaker's own words and supported by evidence from reputable and relevant sources.
3. Conclusion: The speaker often restates his 2 or 3 contentions and returns to the attention-getting device from the introduction to give the speech thematic unity. In some leagues, it is customary to end with the phrase "I am now open for cross-examinations and further points of clarification." Alternatively, conclusions can consist of merely 1 or 2 sentences, such as "For these reasons you must pass/fail this bill/resolution/legislation."

Judging Criteria

While judging a speech is clearly, to a certain extent, subjective, there are certain key standards that distinguish a good speech from a bad one:^[3]

• Eloquence: Good debaters should speak powerfully and clearly, correctly use appropriate vocabulary, and modulate their voices to emphasize certain points or to create specific moods.
• Logic: Contentions should be well-explained and should effectively sway the audience towards the speaker's beliefs on the subject.
• Organization: Speeches should have well-defined and logical structures, generally following the guidelines of the "format" section above.
• Extemporaneity: Although speakers generally bring up notes (usually on legal pads) when delivering speeches, reading speeches line-by-line is strongly discouraged. Delivering pre-written speeches (also known as canned speeches) after the authorship or sponsorship speech degrades the debate and is sometimes considered a form of cheating. Speeches after the authorship or sponsorship should refer to points that have already been made and provide clash, usually through refutation of the opposing side.
• Questioning: Speakers are judged on how well they answer questions posed by other congresspeople following their speech. Generally, judges look for confidence and effectiveness in answering questions.

Procedure

The exact procedure for Congressional Debate varies widely across the country. There is no one "standard" for correct Congressional Debate procedure. However, most Congressional Debate associations use some variation of the following outline.

Chambers and sessions

Students attending each tournament are divided up into groups of somewhere between ten to thirty (usually between fifteen to twenty). These groups are called chambers, Houses, or Senates, depending on the region and the tournament (some tournaments include both Houses and Senates).

Time-wise, a tournament is divided into several sessions, each of which are several hours long. If a tournament lasts several days, there is often one session on the first night of debate, followed by several more on the subsequent day.

In most tournaments, congressional debaters go through preliminaries, semifinals, and finals, though other tournaments break straight from prelims to finals or have no break rounds. The top ranked debaters in each chamber (usually top six or top eight) advance to the next round until they reach finals. Debaters below eighth in their chamber are usually left unranked.

Presiding Officers

Each chamber has a Presiding Officer or Chairman (informally known as "the P.O." or "Chair"). At the beginning of each session of debate, debaters in the chamber will nominate candidates for Presiding Officer for that session. Usually, each nominee will give a brief speech introducing themselves and stating their qualifications. Debaters then elect a Presiding Officer via secret ballot.

The Presiding Officer's job is essentially to run the debate for the session that they've been elected. This includes the following duties:^[4][5]

• picking speakers for each piece of legislation
• picking questioners during questioning periods
• timing individual speeches and ensuring the speaker does not exceed 3 minutes
• calling for and recognizing motions
• conducting votes on motions and pieces of legislation
• generally controlling the chamber and keeping debaters from becoming too unruly

The Presiding Officer is generally scored, usually by either the judges or the Parliamentarian (see below), on how well they fulfill those duties.^[6]

Parliamentarian

In addition to judges who score speeches, most Congress tournaments will have a Parliamentarian in the chamber. Unlike the judges, who generally rotate each session, the Parliamentarian will remain in the chamber for all the sessions of debate. The Parliamentarian's role is a fairly passive one; their main purpose in the chamber is to serve as a reference on parliamentary procedure in case there is confusion or a dispute that the Presiding Officer cannot resolve. Unless either the Presiding Officer makes (or fails to correct) a very major error in procedure or else the debate gets bogged down the Parliamentarian will generally not intervene in the proceedings unless asked by someone in the chamber.^[6]

In the NCFL and at other tournaments, the Parliamentarian will also be in charge of scoring the Presiding Officer.

In the State of Utah,^{[citation needed]} the Presiding Officer will appoint a member of the chamber to act as Parliamentarian. This student will keep the priority/recency for the Chairman and will not rank or judge the other members of the body. The Parliamentarian is considered a member of the body and will continue to participate, and because of the appointed nature of the office it will not be counted as a speech. The Parliamentarian serves at the Chairman's pleasure, and there are often occasions that the Chairman will not appoint a Parliamentarian, but rather handle the duties by himself/herself.

Debate format

Committees

Rounds usually begin with a method for selecting which bills will be debated, and in which order. In some styles of debate, (like the one used at NCFL tournaments), students break up into committees to set an agenda, or "docket," of bills. One popular arrangement of committees is to have three: one for bills related to "Public welfare", another for "Economics," and a third for "Foreign Affairs." Each committee is headed by a chairperson, usually an experienced debater.^[7]

After the docket has been set up, Presiding Officers are voted on, and once one is selected, debate begins.

In many parts of the country, committees are not used, with students instead participating in an informal caucus featuring one competitor from each school. Committees also will not be used at the 2010 NFL National Tournament in Kansas City. [1]

Parliamentary procedure

An 1876 edition of Robert's Rules of Order

Congressional Debate uses Robert's Rules of Order, a popular system of parliamentary procedure. The debate is guided by motions made by students, who rise and say "motion" to get the attention of the P.O. Motions guide the general flow of debate, but the P.O. himself is responsible for acknowledging motions, conducting votes, and generally running the chamber.

Some styles of debate require a motion "to open the chamber for debate," or a "main motion." If committees are not used to set a docket, a motion is made to choose which bill to begin with. To begin debate on a bill is to, "take a bill off the table." "The table" refers to bills which are not currently being debated. Once a student feels that debate on a bill is exhausted, he or she may motion to "lay a bill on the table," which ceases debate on that bill.

Once a bill is taken off the table, the Presiding Officer will either read the bill, or "waive the reading" of the bill in the interest of time. Debate then begins.

The authorship

The Presiding Officer then announces that a speech in authorship/representation of the bill is now in order. The representative that wrote the bill must give an introductory speech laying out the main arguments for the bill. This speech, unlike any other Congressional Debate speech, may be pre-written. If the author of the bill is not present in the chamber, someone from his or her school gives the authorship speech. If no one from that school is present, a "sponsor" gives a "sponsorship" speech instead.

Picking Subsequent speeches

After the authorship or sponsorship speech, the Presiding Officer calls for a speech in opposition to the bill. If there is no one who will speak in negation, a student will be called to affirm. However, one sided debate (negation after negation or affirmation after affirmation) is frowned upon. Whichever debaters wish to speak on the bill stand, or otherwise indicate their desire to speak. How the P.O. chooses speakers varies greatly by region and by level of competition. In general, however, these rules are observed.

When one speaker has given fewer speeches (either in that session or in the tournament as a whole) than another speaker, the former has precedence. If their speech amounts are equal, then the speaker who spoke earliest receives precedence. When everyone is making their first speech, either the P.O. chooses the speakers however he/she pleases or whoever has asked the most questions receives precedence.

Some methods used by P.O.s include:

• Tracking the number of cross-examination questions a speaker has asked
• Tracking how long the speaker has been standing to speak on the current piece of legislation
• Calling "randomly" on speakers
• Considering which speakers were the first to stand
• Considering which speakers have been standing for the most number of speeches
• Distributing speeches equally among geographic regions (considering separately the four quadrants of the chamber)
• Following a pattern based on location, for instance, by calling on speakers from front-to-back, or left-to-right, and then reversing the order in the following session

Another process that is used: In the first preliminary round, as well as the semi-final and final rounds, each speaker is issued a set of priority cards, typically one through five or one through six depending on the number of rounds and bills. Speakers wishing to speak on the side of the bill (Proponency or Opponency) currently in order hold up their lowest number priority card to indicate the desire to speak. Lower numbers have priority over higher numbers, and in case of tied numbers, priority is given to the speaker who has unsuccessfully attempted to speak the most times or asked the most questions. In cases of an absolute tie, speakers are asked to yield or to participate in a coin toss or quick game of Rock, Paper, Scissors. The speaker who wins the floor surrenders their lowest number priority card to the Presiding Officer. A speaker who has exhausted the supply of priority cards may only speak if no other speakers contest said speaker for the floor.

Questioning

Once the floor is awarded to a speaker and a three minute maximum speech is given, under current NFL rules, the speaker is required to answer questions for at least one minute. Some areas and tournaments (such as the Harvard National Congress or Deerfield National Debate), rather than using the relatively new one minute mandatory questioning period, revert to old NFL rules and use the remaining time a speech has before three minutes have elapsed for cross examination in order to allow for more speeches in a session. If, however, the speaker is giving the first speech on a piece of legislation, there is a mandatory two minutes of questioning. NFL rules also dictate that the first negative speaker receive a two minute questioning period. If the chamber feels that the content of the speech or the speaker's response to questions merit additional questioning, some tournaments allow for the suspension of the rules to extend questioning time. However, much of the time such a suspension is looked down upon and viewed as a waste of time, unless the extension is absolutely necessary.

In 2010, the Harvard National Congress (HNC) - consistently one of the most innovative tournaments thanks to its staff under the direction of inaugural champion and long-time champion coach Jason Wysong - implemented an open cross-examination format during the Super Session. This divided each cross-examination period into segments of thirty seconds each, permitting each questioner the opportunity to engage in follow-up questions and pursue concrete answers from the speaker. Following the widespread enthusiasm for this change, the Tournament of Champions adopted this format for its break rounds. As of 2011, both the HNC and the TOC utilize this format for elimination round debate.^[8]

Typically, questions will attempt to expose faults in the speech just given. Sometimes speakers planning to speak or having spoken on the same side of the bill as the Senator or Congressperson currently holding the floor will ask him or her to agree with a statement pertaining to the relevant side of the argument. This is known as a "friendly question" and in some regions is discouraged. Questions, and their respective answers, are to be short and to the point, as delays will unfairly cut into other speakers' questioning time. However, asking questions to suggest the speaker to make a point is against NFL rules.

Motions

A pair of one affirmation and one negation speech in that order is considered a cycle. In between cycles, time is given for speakers to introduce motions onto the floor. In most tournaments, the Presiding Officer has a large amount of discretion to exercise over whether or not to rule motions in order, but at some competitions, such as the CHSSA State Qualifiers, the Presiding Officer is meant to be a strict procedurist; that is, the P.O. should simply follow through with any motions introduced.

Some motions are meant to change the topic of debate. Motions falling under this category include motions to lay a bill on the table (ending debate on a bill), motions to take a bill from the table (re-starting debate on a bill), and the motion to previous question, which is a motion to vote to pass or fail a bill. Some tournaments establish a minimum time before the Previous Question can be called; others have a limit on how long debate can run. Because voting on a bill will end debate on that bill immediately, it is sometimes considered rude or in bad form to make such a motion before all participants who desire to speak on that bill have done so. A Presiding Officer might rule the motion dilatory in such a situation. If some participants wish to speak while others want to move on, a compromise might be reached in which the bill is tabled and then returned to.

Conclusion

After the Previous Question has been called and the bill or bills voted on, the Presiding Officer announces whether or not a majority vote has been reached, which is required to pass any bill. This is merely a formality, as well as in some states an explicit signal of the end of the round. The Presiding Officer will then entertain Motions to adjourn or recess, which is seconded and passed. The speakers exit.

At most Congressional Debate tournaments, awards are given to recognize the best speakers in each chamber. Often, members of the chamber itself vote for one of the awards given. The best legislation written and best all-around teams are also often recognized.

Frequently Used Parliamentary Motions

The following motions are used at almost all Congressional Debate tournaments:

Motion	Notes	Second Required	Fraction of Chamber Required
To open the floor to debate*	Also called the "main motion"	Yes	Majority
To take a bill from the table	Opens debate on tabled legislation, which may or may not have already been debated	Yes	Majority
To lay a bill on the table	Ends debate on a bill, but debate on a tabled bill must be resumed by the end of the session and voted on.	Yes	Majority
To call previous question	To call "previous question" is to end debate on a bill and vote on it	Yes	2/3
To recess	The length of the recess must be specified	Yes	Majority
To rise to a point of personal privilege	To make a personal request	No	Decision of chair
To rise to a point of order/parliamentary procedure	To correct a parliamentary error, ask a question, or clarify a procedure	No	Decision of chair
To amend	Modify a motion; filled out slip must be passed to P.O. in advance	1/3	Majority to Debate the amendment, then 2/3 to pass.
To call for orders of the day	Made at the end of a tournament	Yes	Majority

* Widely recognized to be an unnecessary motion. Most coaches and students agree that the floor is opened by the presiding officer, not by a motion coming from the chamber.

These motions are allowed at some Congressional Debate tournaments, depending on the region and the style of debate:

Motion	Notes	Second Required	Fraction of Chamber Required
To call for a roll call vote	Used to verify a voice vote. Also called "Division of the House"	Yes	1/5
To modify or withdraw a motion	To change or take back a motion that has already been recognized	Yes	2/3
To suspend the rules	To take an action against rules (such as adding an additional minute of questioning)	Yes	2/3
To appeal a decision of the chair	To force the chair to hear a motion	Yes	Majority (PO) 2/3 (Judge)
To extend questioning time*	To continue asking questions of the speaker	Yes	2/3

* While not officially disallowed by the NFL, motions to extend questioning time are typically either not heard or ignored entirely to avoid wasting time

These motions were once common but are no longer allowed by the official NFL Congressional Debate guidelines (as of the 2006-07 school year):

Motion	Notes	Second Required	Fraction of Chamber Required
For open chambers	If open chambers is passed, representatives may move freely and even leave the house in the middle of debate.	Yes	2/3
Yield to a two-part question	To ask two related questions in a row; made before questions are asked	No	Decision of speaker

Amendments

Amendments are considered very rare in Congressional Debate. However, they are an important tool to be familiar with to adequately understand parliamentary procedure.

When an amendment is made, the P.O. first determines if it is germane, if the amendment changes the original intent of the bill it is not. The P.O. personally makes this decisions. If the amendment is germane the P.O. then calls for a "1/3 second." If one-third of the house affirms the motion, the amendment is read aloud by the P.O. Then, a motion must be made to start debate on the amendment (this motion is treated as main motion). If this motion is not made or the motion fails, the amendment is immediately voted on.

Depending on the format of the congress, if the motion passes, the author of the amendment, or someone from his or her school, has the opportunity to give an authorship speech, and if none is made a sponsorship speech may be given by anyone. In the National Forensics League, authorship speeches are not guaranteed for amendments and fall to the rules of precedence and then recency. [2] Debate on the amendment follows exactly the same rules of order as debate on a bill, except all questioning is one minute. A motion to previous question may be made at any time to vote on the amendment, and an amendment may itself be amended. If the 1/3 second is not made the amendment is not read and debate continues as if the motion had not been made.

Main Motion

The term "main motion" refers to the general flow of debate. The progression of affirmative and negative speeches and cross examinations are considered to be part of the main motion. Main motion has some special rules attached to it. Most importantly, the following motions may not be made while main motion is in effect:

• Rearranging the docket.
• Taking a bill from the table.

The following motions may end main motion, but they can only be made after a negative speech, or after negative speeches are called for and none are offered:

• Previous question.
• A motion to table the current bill.

Once main motion has been made at the beginning of the session, it is assumed to remain in effect for all bills on the docket, even though it does not apply in between bills. It must be made manually if another motion, such as an amendment, is to be debated on.

Referring to a committee

When a motion to refer to a committee is made, the representative making the motion must indicate what the committee is to consider and for how long. If the motion passes, a representative from each school elects to be on the committee, and these students form the committee. The committee leaves the general area to deliberate in private and is called back when time expires. A committee member presents the conclusion to the rest of the house once all members are settled. At this point, the motion is complete; further action regarding the results must be taken with another motion.

History

Congressional Debate is a relatively new form of high school forensics. Only in the last decade has it emerged as a widespread form of debate. Yet the National Forensic League has held the National Student Congress since 1938. Many of the initial proponents of Congressional Debate saw it as an alternative to policy debate, which places a large amount of emphasis on speaking very quickly. Congressional Debate, on the other hand, emphasizes clear and persuasive communication to an audience of one's peers.

National

In the past decade, Congressional Debate has spread widely across the debate community. The first major tournament outside of NFL and NCFL nationals to host Congressional Debate was the Harvard University Tournament traditionally held near President's Day weekend in February. Other major tournaments which host congress competitions include The Barkley Forum for High Schools at Emory University, The University of Florida Blue Key, Wake Forest Early Bird, Yale, Princeton, the Villiger tournament in Philadelphia, the Glenbrooks tournament in Chicago, the Crestian Classic in Florida, Penn, Princeton, George Mason, the Minneapple Debate Tournament in Minnesota, Stanford, and the Sunvitational in Florida. In addition, Congress is now one of the official events at the debate Tournament of Champions, hosted by the University of Kentucky. Students who achieve a high level of competitive success at other national tournaments qualify to compete at the TOC, which brings together some of the best congresspersons from across the nation. [3] Students are also ranked informally throughout the season, and use this ranking to best prepare for the National tournament.

Pakistan

In the past few years, IEEE Student Branches in Pakistan organizes nationwide Student Congress since 2007.^[9] Pakistan have three IEEE Sections namely Karachi Section, ^[10] Lahore Section^[11] and Islamabad Section. ^[12] Pakistan also have IEEE Sub Section at Peshawar.^[13] IEEE NUCES, Karachi organized the First IEEE PSC 2007 on July 6–7, 2007. ^[14] Second IEEE PSC 2008 was organized at IEEE GCUF, Faisalabad on August 16–17, 2008. IEEE PSC 2009 was organized at IEEE SEECS, NUST, Islamabad during May 29–31, 2009 ^[15] and IEEE PSC 2010 was organized at IEEE UIT, Karachi on October 30-31, 2010. ^[16] On same pattern IEEE Karachi Section Student Congress 2008 was organized at IEEE PNEC, Karachi on December 26, 2008.

References

1. ^ Adam J. Jacobi (2008). "Chronology Of A Meet". http://congressionaldebate.org/tutorials/chronology-of-a-meet. Retrieved August 17, 2011. 
2. ^ http://khi.nu.edu.pk/subsites/psc2007/
3. ^ "Judging Standards". http://congressionaldebate.org/tutorials/judging-standards. Retrieved August 17, 2011. 
4. ^ National Catholic Forensic League Student Congress Manual, 1996 Edition, pg 7-8
5. ^ National Forensic League Competition Events Guide, January 26, 2010, Pg 6-8
6. ^ ^{a b} National Catholic Forensic League Student Congress Manual, 1996 Edition, pg 11
7. ^ National Catholic Forensic League Student Congress Manual, 1996 Edition, pg 6
8. ^ http://congressionaldebate.org/
9. ^ http://khi.nu.edu.pk/subsites/psc2007/
10. ^ http://www.ieeeghn.org/wiki/index.php/IEEE_Karachi_Section_History
11. ^ http://www.ieeeghn.org/wiki/index.php/IEEE_Lahore_Section_History
12. ^ http://www.ieeeghn.org/wiki/index.php/IEEE_Islamabad_Section_History
13. ^ http://www.ieeeghn.org/wiki/index.php/IEEE_Peshawar_Subsection
14. ^ http://khi.nu.edu.pk/subsites/psc2007/
15. ^ http://seecsieeepsc.webs.com/
16. ^ http://www.psc10.com/

External links

• NFL
• NFL Student Congress Manual
• NCFL
• Student congress forms
• Congressional Debate
• CongressionalDebate.org