Timber Creek Debate Team - Student Congress

Student Congress

Important Files & Updates

For the December 10th tournament (click on the file to upload) :

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1. All the legislation submitted: All legislation

Congress NFL Manual: Click here to view the manual

Student Congress:

Student Congress is a mock legislative session modeled after the procedure of floor debate in a legislature. It is designed to test a student's ability to speak to an issue in both an extemporaneous and impromptu manner and to reveal the individual's knowledge of parliamentary procedure. Students are assigned to "houses" of approximately fifteen to twenty-five members where they debate pre-assigned "bills" or resolutions". Bills and resolutions are submitted directly by the students competing on any topic they desire, which are then placed into random order to be debated in Congress session. The bills and resolutions to be debated have will be determined in advance (3-4 days in advance) and students will have time to research and to prepare to speak on these issues.

Each session of Congress is usually one two hours and thirty minutes long, but times may vary from competition to competition. A Presiding Officer, a student chosen to lead the Congress, will run each session. To speak or ask a question, a member will need be recognized by the Presiding Officer.

All speeches must be delivered from the front of the room and each speech is limited to three minutes. In addition, each speaker is subject to minute of cross-examination from the members, in which recognized congressmen ask questions to the speaker. 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 5. After the chamber feels that debate on a particular bill has been exhausted, participants vote on the bill.

Motions: 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.

Here provided is the list of motions most commonly used throughout Congrees Sessions:

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 may be resumed if it is later taken from the table, or if the rest of the docket is completed and time still allows	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 adjourn	Made at the end of a tournament	Yes	Majority

Many students enjoy the Congressional Debate format because:

It lets students debate material that they've written themselves, on topics that concern them.
It gives students knowledge of a wide variety of important issues.
It forces students to prepare arguments for both sides of any given topic.
It introduces students to the practices and procedures of the U.S. legislature.
It encourages students to think and speak "on their feet."