National Debate Topics
1921-Present

1921-1922 RESOLVED: That the principle of the "closed shop" is justifiable.

1922-1923 RESOLVED: That the United States should adopt the cabinet-parliamentary form of government.

1923-1924 RESOLVED: That the United States should enter the World Court of the League of Nations as proposed by President Harding.

1924-1925 RESOLVED: That Congress should be empowered to override by two-thirds vote. decisions of the supreme court which declare acts of Congress unconstitutional.

1925-1926 RESOLVED: (Men) The constitution of the United States should be amended to give Congress power to regulate child labor.
(Women) That the United States should adopt a uniform marriage and divorce law.

1926-1927 RESOLVED: (Men) That the essential features of the McNary-Haugen bill be enacted into law. (Women) Abolishment of jury trial.

1927-1928 RESOLVED: (Men) The foreign policy of the United States in Latin America. (Women) The foreign policy of the United States.

1928-1929 RESOLVED: That a substitute for trial by jury should be adopted.

1929-1930 RESOLVED: That the nations should adopt a plan of complete disarmament. excepting such forces as are needed for police purposes.

1930-1931 RESOLVED: That the nations should adopt a policy of free trade.

1931-1932 RESOLVED: That Congress should enact legislation providing for centralized control of industry.

1932-1933 RESOLVED: That the Allied War debts should be cancelled.

1933-1934 RESOLVED: That the power of the president of the United States should be substantially increased as a settled policy.

1934-1935 RESOLVED: That the nations should agree to abolish the international shipment of arms and munitions.

1935-1936 RESOLVED: That Congress should have the power to override. by a two-thirds majority vote, decisions of the Supreme Court declaring laws passed by Congress unconstitutional.

1936-1937 RESOLVED: That Congress should be empowered to fix minimum wages and ma.ximum hours for industry.

1937-1938 RESOLVED: That the National Labor Relations Board should be empowered to enforce arbitration of all industrial disputes.

1938-1939 RESOLVED: That [he United States should cease to use public funds (including credits) for the purpose of stimulating business.

1939-1940 RESOLVED: That the United States should follow a policy of strict (economic and military) isolation toward all nations outside the Western Hemisphere engaged in armed international or civil conflict.

1940-41 RESOLVED: That the Nations of the Western Hemisphere should form a permanent Union.

1941-42 RESOLVED: That [he Federal Government should regulate by law all labor unions in the United States. Constitutionality conceded.

1942-43 RESOLVED: That the United States should establish a permanent federal union with power to tax and regulate commerce, to settle international disputes and to enforce such settlements. to maintain a police force, and to provide for the admission of other nations which accept the principles of the Union.

1943-1944 RESOLVED: That the United States should cooperate in establishing and maintaining an international police force upon the defeat of the Axis.

1944-1945 RESOLVED: That the Federal Government should enact legislation requiring compulsory arbitration of all labor disputes.

1945-1946 RESOLVED: That the policy of the United States should be directed toward the establishment of free trade among the nations of the world.

1946-1947 RESOLVED: That labor should be given a direct share in the management of industry.

1947-1948 RESOLVED: That a federal world government should be established.
1948-1949 RESOLVED: That the federal government should adopt a policy of equalizing educational opportunity in tax-supported schools by means of annual grants.
1949-1950 RESOLVED: That the United States should nationalize the basic nonagricultural industries.

1950-1951 RESOLVED: That the non-communist nations should form a new international organization.

1951-1952 RESOLVED: That the federal government should adopt a permanent program of wage and price control.

1952-1953 RESOLVED: That the Congress of the United States should enact a compulsory fair employment practices law.

1953-1954 RESOLVED: That the United States should adopt a policy of free trade.

1954-1955 RESOLVED: That the United States should extend diplomatic recognition to the communist government of China.
Click for Story on National Controversy regarding China.

1955-1956 RESOLVED: That the nonagricultural industries should guarantee their employees an annual wage.

1956-1957 RESOLVED: That the United States should discontinue direct economic aid to foreign countries

1957-1958 RESOLVED: That the requirement of membership in a labor organization as a condition of employment should be illegal.

1958-1959 RESOLVED: That the further development of nuclear weapons should be prohibited by international agreement.

1959-1960 RESOLVED: That Congress should be given the power to reverse decisions of the Supreme Court

1960-1961 RESOLVED: That the United States should adopt a program of compulsory health insurance for all citizens.

1961-1962 RESOLVED: That labor organizations should be under the jurisdiction of anti-trust legislation.

1962-1963 RESOLVED: That the non-communist nations of the world should establish an economic community.

1963-1964 RESOLVED: That the federal government should guarantee an opportunity for higher education to all qualified high school graduates.

1964-1965 RESOLVED: That the federal government should establish a national program of public work for the unemployed.

1965-1966 RESOLVED: That law enforcement agencies in the United States should be given greater freedom in the investigation and prosecution of crime.
1966-1967 RESOLVED: That the United States should substantially reduce its foreign policy commitments.

1967-1968 RESOLVED: That the federal government should guarantee a minimum annual cash income to all citizens.

1968-1969 RESOLVED: That executive control of United States foreign policy should be significantly curtailed.

1969-1970 RESOLVED: That the federal government should grant annually a specific percentage of its income tax revenue to the state governments.

1970-1971 RESOLVED: That the federal government should adopt a program of compulsory wage and price controls.

1971-1972 RESOLVED: That greater controls should be imposed on the gathering and utilization of information about United States citizens by government agencies.

1972-1973 RESOLVED: That the federal government should provide a program of comprehensive medical care for all its citizens.

1973-1974 RESOLVED: That the federal government should control the supply and utilization of energy in the United States.

1974-1975 RESOLVED: That the power of the Presidency should be significantly curtailed.

1975-1976 RESOLVED: That the federal government should adopt a comprehensive program to control land use in the United States.

1976-1977 RESOLVED: That the federal government should significantly strengthen the guarantee of consumer product safety required of manufacturers.

1977-1978 RESOLVED: That the United States law enforcement agencies should be given significantly greater freedom in the investigation and/or prosecution of felony crime.

1978-1979 RESOLVED: That the federal government should implement a program which guarantees employment opportunities for all United States citizens in the labor force.

1979-1980 RESOLVED: That the federal government should significantly strengthen the regulation of mass media communication in the United States.

1980-1981 RESOLVED: That the United States should significantly increase its foreign military commitments.

1981-1982 RESOLVED: That the federal government should significantly curtail the powers of the labor unions in the United States.

1982-1983 RESOLVED: That all United States military intervention into the internal affairs of any foreign nation or nations in the Western Hemisphere should be prohibited.

1983-1984 RESOLVED: That any and all injury resulting from the disposal of hazardous waste in the United States should be the legal responsibility of the producer of that waste.

1984-1985 RESOLVED: That the United States federal government should significantly increase exploration and/or development of space beyond the earth's mesosphere.

1985-1986 RESOLVED: That more rigorous academic standards should be established for all public elementary and/or secondary schools in the United States in one or more of the following areas: language arts, mathematics, natural sciences.

1986-1987 RESOLVED: That one or more presently existing restrictions on First Amendment freedoms of press and/or speech established in one or more federal court decisions should be curtailed or prohibited.

1987-1988 RESOLVED: That the United States should reduce substantially its military commitments to NATO member states.

1988-1989 RESOLVED: That United States foreign policy toward one or more African nations should be substantially changed.

1989-1990 RESOLVED: That the federal government should adopt an energy policy that substantially reduces nonmilitary consumption of fossil fuels in the United States.

1990-1991 RESOLVED: That the United States should substantially change its trade policy toward one or more of the following: China, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan.

1991-1992 RESOLVED: That one or more United States Supreme Court decisions recognizing a federal Constitutional right to privacy should be overruled.

1992-1993 RESOLVED: That the United States should substantially change its development and assistance policies toward one or more of the following nations: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Burma, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka.

1993-1994 RESOLVED: That the Commander-in-Chief power of the President of the United States should be substantially curtailed.

1994-1995 RESOLVED: That the federal government should substantially change rules and/or statues governing criminal procedure in federal courts in one or more of the following areas: pretrial detention, sentencing.

1995-1996 RESOLVED: That the United States government should substantially increase its security assistance to one or more of the following: Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Palestinian National Authority, Syria.

1996-1997 RESOLVED: That the United States Federal Government should increase regulations requiring industries to substantially decrease the domestic emission and/or production of environmental pollutants.

1997-1998 RESOLVED: The United States Federal Government should substantially increase its security assistance to one or more of the following Southeast Asian nations: Brunei, Burma(Myanmar), Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam.

1998-1999 RESOLVED: That the United States Federal Government should amend Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, through legislation, to create additional protections against racial and/or gender discrimination.

1999-2000 RESOLVED: That the United States Federal Government should adopt a policy of constructive engagement, including the immediate removal of all or nearly all economic sanctions, with the government(s) of one or more of the following nation-states: Cuba, Iran, Iraq, Syria, North Korea

2000-2001 RESOLVED: That the United States Federal Government should substantially increase its development assistance, including increasing government to government assistance, within the Greater Horn of Africa.

2001-2002 RESOLVED: That the United States Federal Government should substantially increase federal control throughout Indian Country in one or more of the following areas: child welfare, criminal justice, employment, environmental protection, gaming, resource management, taxation.

2002-2003 RESOLVED: That the United States Federal Government should ratify or accede to, and implement, one or more of the following:

The Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty;
The Kyoto Protocol;
The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court;
The Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights aiming at the Abolition of the Death Penalty;
The Treaty between the United States of America and the Russian Federation on Strategic Offensive Reductions, if not ratified by the United States.

2003-2004 Resolved: That the United States Federal Government should enact one or more of the following:

Withdrawal of its World Trade Organization complaint against the European Union’s restrictions on genetically modified foods;
A substantial increase in its government-to-government economic and/or conflict prevention assistance to Turkey and/or Greece;
Full withdrawal from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization;
Removal of its barriers to and encouragement of substantial European Union and/or North Atlantic Treaty Organization participation in
peacekeeping in Iraq and reconstruction in Iraq;
Removal of its tactical nuclear weapons from Europe;
Harmonization of its intellectual property law with the European Union in the area of human DNA sequences;
Rescission of all or nearly all agriculture subsidy increases in the 2002 Farm Bill.

2004-2005 Resolved: That the United Federal Government should establish an energy policy requiring a substantial reduction in the the consumption in the total non-governmental consumption of fossil fuels in the United States.

2005-2006 Resolved: The United States Federal government should substantially increase deplomatic and economic pressure on the People's Republic of China in one or more of the following areas: trade, human rights, weapons nonproliferation, Taiwan.

2006-2007 Resolved: The United States Supreme Court should overrule one or more of the following decisions: Planned Parenthood v. Casey, 505 U.S. 833 1992); Ex parte Quirin, 317 U.S. 1 (1942); U.S. v. Morrison, 529 U.S.598 (2000); Milliken v. Bradley, 418 U.S. 717 (1974).