Howard Harvest Tournament
2018 — San Jose, CA/US
Congress
Event Description:
From the NSDA website....
Congressional Debate is like a simulation of the real United States legislature. A group of 10-25 students, called a Chamber, will compete in a legislative session. Registration numbers will determine if there are one or two Chambers for the Carl Lewis Clash.
Format : The docket for the tournament will be released two weeks in advances. Students will research and prepare arguments on docket topics and be prepared to speak on the issues relevant. During the tournament, students should keep in mind that they can only be judged and given points if they speak during the session.
Students in turn will be selected by a presiding officer—a student elected to conduct the business of the round—to give speeches both advocating for and encouraging the defeat of the measure in front of them. Following each speech, competitors will be able to pose questions of the speaker. Once debate is exhausted on a particular item, the chamber will vote either to pass or fail the legislation, and debate moves on to the next item.
Legislation comes in two types—a bill and a resolution. A bill is a plan of action, detailing how a particular policy proposal will be implemented. A resolution, meanwhile, is a statement expressing the opinion of the chamber. Passing the resolution does not change anything about the world around us, it merely states the preference of the chamber. For example, let’s say a school had a dress code. The student body may pass a piece of legislation expressing their displeasure with the dress code (a resolution) or legislation modifying the colors and styles of the school uniform (a bill). At the beginning of the session, the students will elect a presiding officer, otherwise known as the PO. The PO’s job is to select speakers to give speeches, select questioners, maintain decorum in the chamber, and facilitate a fast and smooth debate for all. Typically, one session of Congress lasts about 90 mins for the University of Debate tournaments. 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. After the first pro and con speech are established, each additional speaker is subject to one minute of cross examination by the chamber. The PO selects the members of the chamber to ask the questions of the speaker.
When preparing your Congress materials, organize research by legislation. It helps to ‘tag’ your evidence by indicating what claim or arguments that evidence supports. Include a full citation in your notes so you can refer to the original source again should you need to. You can even organize responses to potential arguments that may be raised throughout the course of debate. If you encounter the same piece of legislation at multiple tournaments, it helps to keep track of the arguments made by other speakers and prepare responses to those claims in advance. Organize your research in a way that will make it easily accessible to you during the session. Be prepared to debate both sides of the legislation— some topics may encourage many advocacy speeches, so giving a speech opposing the legislation will be more advantageous. Be mindful of the balance of speeches in the chamber and adjust accordingly.
Students will be judged on presentation and argument structure and development.