River City Lights
2021 — Richmond, VA/US
Congress
Event Description:
A simulation of the U.S. legislative process, students generate a series of bills and resolutions for debate in Congressional 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. Students are assessed on their research, argumentation, and delivery skills, as well as their knowledge and use of parliamentary procedure.
FORMAT
The chamber will elect a Presiding Officer. The judges will begin judging the presiding officer with his or her opening speech and continue judging him or her throughout the round. When judging the presiding officer, the explanations on the ballot are self-explanatory. When it comes to parliamentary procedure and precedence, judges will ask the parliamentarian about the number of mistakes and types of mistakes, then score without influence from the parliamentarian.
The first piece of legislation on the docket will be debated. The author will give a speech that the judges score, then a negative speech will be given that the judges score. This cycle will go on until the chamber votes on the piece of legislation.