A Few Thoughts about Congress - Speak Up: Speech & …



Student Congress

Congress is individual debate in a large group setting. Congress students research and write pieces of legislation (bills and resolutions) that they feel will better the society in which we live.

Debaters will then speak on the legislation while using proper parliamentary procedure. Students are scored based on argumentation ability, speaking technique, knowledge of parliamentary procedure, and overall participation.

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What is Student Congress?

• Student Congress is modeled after the United States Congress. Bills and resolutions, which students write and research are debated in “houses” of about twenty - thirty competitors.

• Parliamentary procedure is followed, and a student chairperson known a “presiding officer” leads the proceedings. The presiding officer is address as “Mister Chairman” or “Madame Chairman.”

• Students should be addressed as “Representative,” unless they are part of a Senate chamber, then they should be addressed as “Senator”.

• After debating a bill or resolution, the members of the house will take a vote to decide if the bill or resolution should be passed.

• Each Student Congress session lasts approximately 3 hours with occasional recesses.

What is Parliamentary Procedure?

• The U.S. Congress, state legislatures, city councils, and many businesses and clubs follow parliamentary procedure or Robert’s Rules of Order to increase the efficiency of meetings.

• Speakers are required to make “motions” or recommendations to move the discussion in the meeting along.

• Parliamentary procedure helps to:

• Guarantee that the minority opinion is heard.

• Make sure that the majority opinion prevails

• Provide orderly procedures for conducting business and debate upon issues of importance.

• And, at Student Congress, parliamentary procedure helps to further the debate—it never outweighs the debate. The “parliamentarian” in the house will make sure parliamentary procedure is followed properly.

What is a Congress bill? What is a Congress resolution?

• A bill is basically the wording for a law or piece of legislation. Bills include such words as, “Be it enacted by the Student Congress that…”

• A resolution is a statement expressing a belief. Resolutions usually contain the words, “Be it resolved by the Student Congress that…” Resolutions may begin with a number of phases each of which starts with the word, “whereas”.

What happens in Student Congress?

• The first order of business is the election of the presiding officer (the student who will make sure the session follows parliamentary procedure).

• The second order of business is setting the “order of the day,” or the order in which the bill/resolutions will be debated. Once all interested students express their preferences for the order of discussion, a vote is taken to determine the order. Majority will rule.

• The third order of business is the introduction of the first bill/resolution for debate.

o Unlike most speeches made in Student Congress, the Authorship/Sponsorship speech made on a bill or resolution may be a prepared speech that is read.

������ Subsequent speeches should “clash” with the arguments presented in a previous speech or provide additional reasons to support the arguments in a previous speech.

o The first speaker reads the actual wording of the bill/resolution.

������ The time limit for all speeches in Student Congress is three minutes.

o The first speech is always an affirmative speech, in support of the bill/resolution.

o The debate proceeds in a specific pattern. The Authorship/Sponsorship speech is followed by two minutes of cross examination, in which representatives may ask the speaker to clarify points.

o Following the introductory speech on legislation, the presiding officer will alternately recognize negative and affirmative speakers, who will address the chamber for up to three minutes followed by one minute of questioning by other delegates.

o Motions may be considered after the affirmative or negative cross-examination period.

o Notes and prepared material are allowed in delivering all speeches.

Recognizing Speakers

When more than one speaker seeks the floor, the presiding officer must follow the precedence/recency method:

← First, recognize students who have not spoken during the session

← Next, recognize students who have spoken fewer times

← Then recognize students who spoke earlier (least recently)

|Order of the debate: |

| |

|• Authorship Affirmative speech - 3 minutes |

|• Cross-examination of the Author - 2 minutes |

|• Motions may be made |

|• Negative speech - 3 minutes |

|• Cross-examination - 2 minutes (only after first negative speech on a piece of legislation) |

|• Motions may be made |

|• Affirmative speech - 3 minutes |

|• Cross-examination - 1 minute |

|Motions may be made |

|• Negative speech - 3 minutes |

|• Cross-examination - 1 minute |

What is the structure of an excellent Student Congress Speech?

1. Introduction (15-20 seconds)

a. Attention-getter (usually a quote, analogy, or evidence)

b. Purpose (“I rise to the affirmative--or stand negative-- on the bill/resolution under discussion…”)

c. Preview (“…for the following reason--or reasons…”)

2. Body (2 minutes)

a. Clash

i. State the issue on the floor. (SIGNPOST)

ii. State your point in conflict. (ANSWER)

iii. Prove your point with evidence of logic. (REASON)

iv. Tell the assembly the impact of your point and how it should affect their vote. (COMPARE)

b. Present a challenge to the opposition. Challenge them to answer an issue or state what the opposition must prove in order to overwhelm your points or your perspective.

3. Conclusion (30 Seconds)

a. Summarize your key issues of clash

b. Summarize your key points

c. Come full circle

4. Open yourself up to cross-examination (“I am now open for cross-examination”)

What are my assignments for Congress?

1. Write your own piece of legislation! Get your topic approved by Ms. Miller and begin researching and writing! Follow the template (also available on the blog).

2. Prepare affirmative and negative talking points (a brainstormed list) regarding many of the bills/resolutions.

3. Prepare refutation evidence (both affirmative and negative) on bills/resolutions.

4. Prepare two speech outlines per bill/resolution—one affirmative, one negative.

5. Prepare cross-examination questions for the affirmative and negative.

6. Study and understand the “Table of the Most Frequently Used Parliamentary Procedures.”

7. Speak in the Congress session!

◦ You must present your own legislation in an authorship speech

◦ You must speak in affirmation of another piece of legislation

◦ You must speak in negation of another piece of legislation

◦ Any speeches beyond the 3 required are extra credit

▪ Your grade will reflect the quality of your speeches, questions, answers to questions, participation in the chamber (elections, motions and seconds), decorum in the chamber

Brief Look at Parliamentary Procedure

How do I make a motion?

• Motions have very specific wording. Please read the attached sheet, “Table of the Most Frequently Used Parliamentary Procedures,” which was prepared by the National Forensics League.

• Motions are made at specific points in time during Student Congress: At the beginning of the first session, following the cross-examination of an “affirmative” or “negative” speaker (more will be said about this), and at the end of a session to recess or adjourn the session. The presiding officer may ask for motions at these times, or may not. The one exception is that you may “rise to a question of privilege” at any time (even when a speaker is speaking) if you cannot hear the speaker, or if you simply must use the restroom, or have a legitimate emergency.

• To be recognized by the presiding officer to make a motion, you simply stand up. The presiding officer has the discretion to recognize you. If you are not recognized, you sit down until it is time again for a motion.

• Use this wording to make a motion: “I move that (state the motion). However, you can say, “I rise for to a question of privilege,” if you need to make a personal request, such as ask to be excused to use the restroom.

• Certain motions need to be “seconded” before they will be considered. Some are debatable and amendable. And, the required vote varies depending on the motion. You will be asked to stand when you vote.

• In our league the following motions are not permitted:

o Suspension of the rules.

o Impeachment of the presiding officer.

o Tabling of motions, including motions to lay on the table, to postpone indefinitely, and to postpone to a certain time or indefinitely.

How does the debate on a bill/resolution come to an end?

• When the debate becomes repetitive, or when there are not sufficient speakers who wish to present an opposing viewpoint on a bill/resolution, a representative should make a previous question motion. (“I move the previous question.”)

• If the motion is seconded (it is not debatable), the representatives in the house will vote on whether or not they should stop debate to vote on the bill/resolution. If 2/3 of the house votes “yes”, then the house will vote on the bill/resolution.

• Following the vote, the next bill/resolution in the list is debated.

• Refrain from moving the previous question too early in the debate, but keep in mind that a goal for Student Congress is to discuss more than one/bill resolution each session.

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