Hudson Halloween Invitational

2022 — NSDA Campus, NJ/US

• Invite
• Judges
• Pairings
• Results

Congressional Debate

Event Description:

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. A series of bills and resolutions will be provided to schools in advance. Students will give speeches both advocating for and encouraging the defeat of a 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.

We will be using a few of the pieces of legislation created for the NSDA's Congressional Debate September 2022 Legislation Docket for this tournament. Refer to the packet provided to know which bills and resolutions will be used.

Typically, one session of Congress lasts about 2-3 hours. 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.

3 judges, including the Parliamentarian, will be assigned to the chamber, and student results will be based on an average of the three scores. In the event of a tie, the Parliamentarian's score will serve as the tiebreaker.