Guilford County Challenge (CANCELED)

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Congressional Debate

If you would like to submit congress legislation, please do so in the proper format by November 15th. Email your word document to bennetp@gcsnc.com. A complete legislation packet will be made available at least two weeks prior to the GCC.

General Rules

1. Precedence DOES reset each session with new seating charts each session
2. No open chamber- legislators must ask for “personal privilege” to enter and exit.

1. COMMITTEE SYSTEM:  The Clerk of Congress or an assistant will randomly draw students from each chamber to form 4 committees (A-D).  The committees will be given 3 pieces of the docket (12 total) separated beforehand by the clerk.  Pieces may be separated by topic (public welfare, economics, foreign affairs, national defense, criminal justice system,…) or may be randomly divided.  Each committee will rank its legislation in order of 1-3 based on preference.  The docket will then be set based upon these preferences and will then be locked for the day.
2. Cross-X system—Total CX time is divided into 30 second increments.  Person called on may ask as many questions as possible within 30 second period, then on to next questioner for 30 seconds.
   • 2 minutes total time for first aff and 1^st neg.  One minute total for all other speeches.
   • PO keeps separate precedence chart for questioning.  This chart has nothing to do with speeches.  It ensures that everyone has a chance to ask questions.  Precedence for this goes by number of times a person is called on to question, NOT number of questions actually asked.
   • The person who gave the speech immediately preceding the speaker being questioned DOES NOT HAVE automatic right to the first 30 seconds if he/she wants it.  We have used this method throughout the season but will not employ it at the state tournament.
   • If a person doesn’t use his/her entire 30 seconds, it is surrendered to another questioner who will consume the remaining time.   For example, first questioner uses only 15 seconds.  Second questioner still gets 30 seconds, but a third questioner will be called on to use the 15 seconds that the first questioner left unconsumed.
5. Two presiding officers will be selected for each session of congress in both novice and open chambers.
   • If two nominees are chosen, the majority vote getter wins the election and gets to choose which half of the session s/he prefers.
   • If multiple nominees are chosen, an election will take place.  If no one receives a majority, the lowest vote getter will be eliminated and another election will be held with the remaining candidates.  The process will continue until someone receives a majority of the vote.  Once a person receives the majority, another election will then place to determine the second place winner among the remaining nominees by following the same procedure as the first election.
   • Each presiding officer will preside over half of the allotted session time and receive one speech per hour (1.5 hours=1 speech)
6. Before precedence is established, the presiding officer should recognize speakers fairly and consistently. S/he may not link recognition of speakers to previous recognition of students asking questions, moving motions, or longest standing (standing time).
7. Author/sponsor:  A legislator can sponsor/author per person a piece of legislation only once in an entire session as long as it is from that person’s school.