"Congress Debate" held at George Washington
In a debate format recognizable to academic debaters, four members of Congress held their first in a series of public encounters removed from the Capitol building. The Democratic Caucus and the Republican Conference's stated purpose is to "foster higher-quality discourse than the bombastic one-minute floor speeches that often pass for debate in the House" and "use public debate to arrive at common ground."
CQs "trail-less-traveled" blog reported the debate in depth. In an earlier post debatescoop outlined the series. Unfortunately the event received such sparse coverage that it is likely nearly everyone missed the debate. The eight congresspersons found some common grounds spurred, in part, by the venue and format.
"It's ironic that we have to leave the U.S. Capitol to give you the kind of debate the American people deserve," Putnam (FL) saidExcerpts from the GW event:Davis (NY) noted that just having an audience is an improvement.
"We're accustomed to empty chairs and nobody listening," he said.
