National Debate Topics

 That the principle of the “closed shop” is justifiable.

That the United States should adopt the cabinet-parliamentary form of government.

That the United States should enter the World Court of the League of Nations as proposed by President Harding.

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

(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.

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

(Men) The foreign policy of the United States in Latin America.
(Women) The foreign policy of the United States.

That a substitute for trial by jury should be adopted.

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

That the nations should adopt a policy of free trade.

That Congress should enact legislation providing for centralized control of industry.

That the Allied War debts should be cancelled.

That the power of the president of the United States should be substantially increased as a settled policy.

That the nations should agree to abolish the international shipment of arms and munitions.

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.

That Congress should be empowered to fix minimum wages and maximum hours for industry.

That the National Labor Relations Board should be empowered to enforce arbitration of all industrial disputes.

That the United States should cease to use public funds (including credits) for the purpose of stimulating business.

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.

That the Nations of the Western Hemisphere should form a permanent Union.

That the Federal Government should regulate by law all labor unions in the United States. Constitutionality conceded.

 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.

That the United States should cooperate in establishing and maintaining an international police force upon the defeat of the Axis.

That the Federal Government should enact legislation requiring compulsory arbitration of all labor disputes.

 That the policy of the United States should be directed toward the establishment of free trade among the nations of the world.

That labor should be given a direct share in the management of industry.

That a federal world government should be established.

That the federal government should adopt a policy of equalizing educational opportunity in tax-supported schools by means of annual grants.

That the United States should nationalize the basic nonagricultural industries.

That the non-communist nations should form a new international organization.

That the federal government should adopt a permanent program of wage and price control.

That the Congress of the United States should enact a compulsory fair employment practices law.

That the United States should adopt a policy of free trade.

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

That the nonagricultural industries should guarantee their employees an annual wage.

That the United States should discontinue direct economic aid to foreign countries

That the requirement of membership in a labor organization as a condition of employment should be illegal.

That the further development of nuclear weapons should be prohibited by international agreement.

That Congress should be given the power to reverse decisions of the Supreme Court

That the United States should adopt a program of compulsory health insurance for all citizens.

That labor organizations should be under the jurisdiction of anti-trust legislation.

That the non-communist nations of the world should establish an economic community.

That the federal government should guarantee an opportunity for higher education to all qualified high school graduates.

That the federal government should establish a national program of public work for the unemployed.

That law enforcement agencies in the United States should be given greater freedom in the investigation and prosecution of crime.

That the United States should substantially reduce its foreign policy commitments.

That the federal government should guarantee a minimum annual cash income to all citizens.

That executive control of United States foreign policy should be significantly curtailed.

That the federal government should grant annually a specific percentage of its income tax revenue to the state governments.

That the federal government should adopt a program of compulsory wage and price controls.

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

That the federal government should provide a program of comprehensive medical care for all its citizens.

That the federal government should control the supply and utilization of energy in the United States.

That the power of the Presidency should be significantly curtailed.

That the federal government should adopt a comprehensive program to control land use in the United States.

That the federal government should significantly strengthen the guarantee of consumer product safety required of manufacturers.

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

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

That the federal government should significantly strengthen the regulation of mass media communication in the United States.

That the United States should significantly increase its foreign military commitments.

That the federal government should significantly curtail the powers of the labor unions in the United States.

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

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.

That the United States federal government should significantly increase exploration and/or development of space beyond the earth’s mesosphere.

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.

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.

That the United States should reduce substantially its military commitments to NATO member states.

That United States foreign policy toward one or more African nations should be substantially changed.

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

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

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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).

That the United States Federal Government should increase its constructive engagement with the government of one or more of: Afghanistan, Iran, Lebanon, the Palestinian Authority, and Syria, and it should include offering them a security guarantee(s) and/or a substantial increase in foreign assistance.

That the United States Federal Government should substantially reduce its agricultural support, at least eliminating nearly all of the domestic subsidies, for biofuels, Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations, corn, cotton, dairy, fisheries, rice, soybeans, sugar and/or wheat.

The United States Federal Government should substantially reduce the size of its nuclear weapons arsenal, and/or substantially reduce and restrict the role and/or missions of its nuclear weapons arsenal.

The United States Federal Government should substantially increase the number of and/or substantially expand beneficiary eligibility for its visas for one or more of the following: employment-based immigrant visas, nonimmigrant temporary worker visas, family-based visas, human trafficking-based visas.

The United States Federal Government should substantially increase its democracy assistance for one or more of the following: Bahrain, Egypt, Libya, Syria, Tunisia, Yemen.

The United States Federal Government should substantially reduce restrictions on and/or substantially increase financial incentives for energy production in the United States of one or more of the following: coal, crude oil, natural gas, nuclear power, solar power, wind power.