Student Congress Debate/Cross Examination

Cross examination will take place after each speech. Depending on the circumstances, there will be different lengths and regulations to cross examination depending on the rules set by the presiding officer or the tournament. For example, while some POs or tournaments will allow back and forth during cross examination, most only allow the questioners to each ask only one question of the speaker at a time. At most tournaments, the author/sponsorship and first negative speech are followed by two minutes of mandatory questioning. The affirmative following the first negative and all speeches after that have one minute of mandatory questioning. The PO keeps track of how long each questioning period is.