By the Equality in Forensics Contributor Team

Learn more about Equality in Forensics and our mission.

• Table of Contents:

Introduction

In Congressional Debate, the legislation that you debate is oftentimes written by other competitors. Ahead of the tournament, usually about 4-6 weeks in advance, you are able to write bills, resolutions, and even constitutional amendments that will be debated in rounds. While writing legislation isn’t required of debaters, it comes with unique benefits, such as Authorship Rights and the potential to win “Best Legislation” awards depending on the tournament (NSDA offers a $100 scholarship to all authors of legislation at their national tournament).

Legislation is essential to any tournament being successful, and knowing how to write it well gives you a strong advantage over other debaters if utilized correctly.

Once you’ve created such legislation (as taught within this guide), email it off to your coach before the tournament deadline so that they can submit it and give you the best chance of getting authorship rights. Only coaches can submit legislation, so make sure to check the tournament website to make sure you’re sending it to them before the legislation deadline.

Bills

<aside> <img src="/icons/star-outline_red.svg" alt="/icons/star-outline_red.svg" width="40px" /> Use this template if you want to write a bill.

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Bill Template.docx.pdf

The most common form of legislation at tournaments are bills. These are direct policy actions that are implemented by agencies within the Executive Bureaucracy. Most commonly, bills in congressional debate have 5 sections, although some circuits use 4-section bills instead.

In those cases, the last 2 sections are merged into 1, with the contents of those sections explained below in this resource page. However, the format of the sections is ultimately marginal and unimportant, as the last 2 sections — which may or may not be merged into 1 — don’t significantly affect the legislation or how it’s debated.

Instead, it’s the first 3 Sections of a bill that are important when both writing one and understanding it.

Section 1

• The first section is the meat of a bill. It’s where the majority of a debate will center around, and the most important thing when writing a bill. Section 1 is the actual policy. If you’re implementing a tax, it goes in Section 1. If money from that tax is going towards a program, it goes in Section 1. If you’re changing federal law (i.e. the minimum wage), that goes in Section 1. Basically, anything important in your legislation goes in Section 1, and most strong arguments are based solely on this section.

Section 2

• The second section is all about definitions. If there were any confusing terms in Section 1, this area is where you can provide a sort of legal definition. Terms can also be defined even if they aren’t confusing. For example, “understaffed hospitals” isn’t confusing, but it may require a definition under Section 2 to determine a specific staff-patient ratio. Arguments are rarely based solely on Section 2, and if they are, they are purely defensive rather than offensive. Instead, Section 2 serves to provide additional context that can further an argument based upon one of the other sections.

Section 3

• The third section is the bill’s implementation. Every bill requires an agency within the Executive Bureaucracy to implement and enforce it, commonly known as the ‘enforcement agency.’ If the bill is a tax law, the IRS is typically that enforcement agency. If it’s environmental, the EPA is a good call. While most of your bill might just be an idea you have in your head and that you can write down in the template format, Section 3 requires research to determine the best agency based on the legislation in question.
• Typically, the arguments based on Section 3 are pretty small, but they can be good if circumstances allow. Most simplistically, Google “[agency] good,” “[agency] bad,” and “[agency] corruption” to figure out if such arguments are possible. Typically, they hinge around the idea of corrupt spending or abuses committed by the agency that might then expand to harm more people should their funding be increased. In other situations, Section 3 might include where funding comes from, such as diverting it away from the Department of Defense. If this is the case, you can make arguments as to why that agency needs that money.

<aside> <img src="/icons/star-outline_red.svg" alt="/icons/star-outline_red.svg" width="40px" /> Be careful - arguments based on minor implementational details are often too defensive and not that impactful on the debate.

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<aside> <img src="/icons/star-outline_red.svg" alt="/icons/star-outline_red.svg" width="40px" /> A finished example of a bill used in preliminary rounds of the 2022 Yale Invitational

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Sections 4 and 5

• These last 2 sections should be irrelevant if written correctly. The implementation date is given in Section 4, which is when the bill goes into effect. When writing a bill, try and keep it to within the next 2 years, typically January 1st of the next year. If it’s an economic bill, use FY (fiscal year) to determine the implementation instead of a normal date. Research to make sure the FY in question is accurate to when the bill will be debated. Section 5, which might be included at the end of Section 4 in certain tournaments, always reads “all laws in conflict with this legislation are declared null and void.” Do not make arguments based on Section 4 or 5 unless additional information is present in these sections that one might normally expect in other sections.

Resolutions

<aside> <img src="/icons/star-outline_red.svg" alt="/icons/star-outline_red.svg" width="40px" /> Use this template if you want to write a resolution.

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Resolution Template.pdf

The second most common form of legislation at tournaments are bills. These are broad policy suggestions or actions taken in areas where US laws don’t have jurisdiction, such as foreign nations. The vast majority of resolutions in congressional debate are in regards to foreign affairs, although there are occasional exceptions (such exceptions are almost always better in bill form).

Resolutions are split into two parts, the whereas and resolved clauses.

Whereas clauses can be thought of as justifications for the legislation. They are reasons why you should pass the resolution, like shortened, surface-level arguments. They often require research to come up with, just as any other argument in-round would.

Each resolution should have multiple whereas clauses, typically 3-5 depending on how in-depth you make each one. They all end in “; and” marking the end of the clause and transition to the next whereas clause.

That is, except for the final whereas clause. Since it instead transitions to a resolved clause, the conclusion at the end of the final whereas clause is “; now, therefore, be it” marking a transition after the whereas clauses.

Upon the completion of that transitory phrase, there is the resolved clause. There can be one or two resolved clauses, but avoid anything more than that. For the second resolved clause (and resolved clauses beyond that, although you should avoid these), they are titled as further resolved. The transition to these further resolved clauses is similar to that between whereas clauses: “; and, be it”

Furthermore, the choice between 1 or 2 resolved clauses isn’t random, but rather based upon your resolution. The first resolved clause should be your policy action, what you want to achieve. However, since US laws don’t have jurisdiction in foreign nations, there is no direct punishment for a foreign government not to follow a US resolution. That’s where the optional further resolved clause comes in, which serves as that punishment. Most commonly, this is in the form of tariffs, removal of aid, or sanctions, but feel free to modify if you have a unique enforcement mechanism.

All arguments for or against a resolution should come from the resolved clause(s), no exceptions. Affirmative arguments can be based off of the whereas clauses, but solvency should always be rooted in the resolved clauses.

Because of resolutions’ often-foreign nature, researching them is unique. You need to look just as much into the country at play as you do to the proposed policy. Many common countries in resolutions are enemies of the US, and our actions would likely trigger retaliation in one form or another. Alternatively, many countries across the world are corrupt, and it’s important to understand how money can impact a corrupt regime (both positive and negative, depending on the type of aid).

Above is a completed example of what a resolution might look like, taken from the docket of the 2023 NSDA National tournament in Congressional Debate.