2010_Congress_Procedures

//**All material on this page is subject to change, at the discretion of the SPDL Parliamentarian, Mr. John Mohl.**//

The Proposed Schedule:

Session I: 3:45-4:45 15 minute break Session II: 5:00 – 6:15

Session I will serve as a teaching session, in which the essentials of Congress will be taught. While I am assuming that some of the participants are Congress veterans, I will go about this as if it is brand new to everyone. I may ask those with experience to do certain things during that session, such submitting an amendment or doing something out of order, in order to teach some of the nuances of this event.

Session II will be more of a traditional round of Congress. I may intercede, more than the Parliamentarian normally would, in order to point out something here and there, but I am going to let it be as hands off as possible. The overall idea is to have something established for when it is done at New Hope.

Third, I was going to use, more or less, NCFL guidelines. They can be found here: [] Please know that congress is NOT as complicated as it looks. Ninety percent of this even can be learned easily by mere observation and participation. The remaining 10% isn’t understood by anyone and remains yet to be figured out.

Finally, for those who have students who have never done this before, they can prepare with just a few ideas. Each speaker has three minutes to speak for each speech given which includes time for questions, assuming that the speaker ***did not speak*** for a full three minutes. A typical speech runs for 1:15 to 2:30, but there is no minimum requirement. As for preparation, having a few pieces of evidence and/or points to make is sufficient for now, especially for something at this level. It is important that the student have some idea of where he or she stands on each bill/resolution and have awareness about the issues being debated.