EXTEMPORANEOUS SPEAKING QUESTIONS CONFERENCE TOURNAMENTS 2015
I. Congress
1. Will Congressional Republicans cooperate with President Obama to pass a free-trade agreement?
2. Why do Congressional Democrats find it easier to raise funds than do their Republican counterparts?
3. Why do critics call the 113th Congress the worst Congress ever?
4. Was the final session of the 113th Congress reason to hope for progress in the 114th Congress?
5. What should Congress do about cybersecurity flaws?
6. What should Congress do about immigration legislation?
7. Should Congress legalize marijuana?
8. What issues should be at the top of the Republican Party’s agenda now that they control Congress?
9. With calls for tax reform from incoming congressional Republicans, what tax changes should Congress tackle first?
10. Should Congress repeal the Affordable Care Act?
II. Middle East
11. How will the capture of the Jordan Armed Forces pilot affect the battle against the Islamic State?
12. Will Isaac Herzog’s alliance with Tzipi Livni lead to election victory for Israel’s Labor Party?
13. Are coalition airstrikes against ISIS succeeding?
14. Are Israel and the Palestinian authority any closer to a status agreement than they were a year ago?
15. Should the United States send ground troops to Iraq and Syria?
16. Do changes in Iran offer hope of an agreement on nuclear issues?
17. Will conflict over Jerusalem’s sacred sites fuel violence between Jews and Palestinians?
18. Should the United Nations support establishment of a Palestinian state?
19. Will Bashar al-Assad’s recently enacted harsh recruitment measures lead Syrians to oust him?
20. Should nations ransom their citizens captured by ISIS?
III. United States Business
21. Is the National Football League in danger of losing public support?
22. Was Sony right to halt distribution of The Interview to theaters?
23. How will the November cyberattack affect Sony?
24. Are lower oil prices good for American business?
25. What does Twitter need to do to ensure continued growth?
26. How will cheaper gasoline affect the sales of hybrids and electric vehicles?
27. How is cheaper natural gas offering hope to the United States steel industry?
28. Twenty states have passed laws raising the minimum wage. How will this affect United States businesses?
29. Why are American corporations finding doing business in China more difficult?
30. With 87 recalls in 2014, is General Motors in trouble?
IV. Eastern Asia/Pacific Islands
1. Is Kim Jong Un more dangerous than his father?
2. Can Shinzo Abe solve Japan’s economic problems?
3. Why has Xi Jinping been able to amass so much power during his two years in office?
4. What should China do to reverse that country’s brain drain?
5. How will China’s censorship of Google and Gmail affect Chinese citizens?
6. Will sanctions change Kim Jong Un’s behavior?
7. Why were residents of the Philippines unprepared to survive December’s storm?
8. Will Joki Widodo’s recent changes to fuel subsidies allow Indonesia to improve living standards?
9. Is an end to military rule in Thailand imminent?
10. How concerned should Chinese officials be about dissatisfaction in Taiwan and in Hong Kong?
EXTEMPORANEOUS SPEAKING QUESTIONS REGIONAL TOURNAMENTS 2015
I. United States Economy
1. How would immigration reform affect the United States economy?
2. How will the drop in oil prices change the United States economy?
3. Is job growth strong enough to stabilize our economy?
4. Will 2015 be a good year to invest?
5. How does economic turbulence abroad affect the United States economy?
6. Have American consumers regained confidence in our economy?
7. Mitch McConnell says “the expectation of a new Republican Congress” has produced an improved economy. Is he correct? 8. How will the expanding on-demand economy affect businesses and jobs?
9. How would President Obama’s plan to increase taxes on investments affect our economy? 10. Why have 98% of United States counties failed to recover from the recession?
II – United States Politics
11. Will Jeb Bush be the Republican candidate for President in 2016?
12. With Republican control of Congress, can President Obama get anything done in the next two years? 13. Does Mitch McConnell represent the views of the mainstream Republican Party?
14. Are partisan political issues hampering United States progress?
15. Is Elizabeth Warren now the undisputed leader of the liberal wing of the Democratic Party? 16. Should Hillary Clinton enter the Presidential race?
17. Should Republicans give Mitt Romney another chance to be President?
18. How much will the Tea Party influence the 2016 elections?
19. Can Congress and the President find a long-tern solution to their recurring budgetary stalemate? 20. Is JuliĂĄn Castro emerging as a major contender for Democratic Party leadership?
III. Western Africa
21. Is Liberia winning its fight against ebola?
22. Should the UN intervene in Nigeria to control Boko Haram?
23. What can be done to stem the growth of piracy off West Africa’s coast?
24. How will the effects of the ebola epidemic impact the economies of West African nations? 25. Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, and Nigeria—are they facing a debt crisis?
26. What will be the result if Joseph Kabila refuses to abide by constitutional limits on his term as Congo’s president? 27. Will 2015 see more sectarian violence in Nigeria?
28. Should the United States help Nigeria deal with Boko Haram?
29. Should West African leaders create a multi-national force to fight Boko Haram?
30. How will the battle against ebola affect the cultures of West African nations?
IV. Latin America
31. How have falling oil prices affected the stability of Venezuela’s government?
32. Is there reason to hope for an end to hostilities between Colombia’s government and FARC? 33. Is President Barack Obama on the right track in seeking to eliminate sanctions on Cuba? 34. Is Brazil’s president, Dilma Rousseff, a weakened leader?
35. Has the presidency of Cristina Fernández de Kirchner helped or hurt Argentina?
36. Will President Enrique Peña Nieto’s proposed amendments satisfy the Mexican citizens now demanding an end to corruption? 37. Will the proposed deal between the Colombian government and FARC bring an end to coca production in that nation? 38. Why does Sao Paulo face a drought disaster in 2015?
39. Why are Haitians protesting in the streets? 40. What will be the benefits of loosening the Cuban embargo?
EXTEMPORANEOUS SPEAKING QUESTIONS STATE TOURNAMENT 2015 Europe 1. Why is there tension between Germany and the European Central Bank?
2. Should the United States provide more aid to Ukraine?
3. Will other nations follow Lithuania’s example in restoring compulsory military service? 4. What are the goals of Vladimir Putin’s aggressive behavior?
5. Is Britain’s traditional two-party political system in jeopardy?
6. How will the murder of Boris Nemtsov affect Vladimir Putin’s government?
7. Given that Russians have not left Ukraine, should Western nations maintain the sanctions against Russia? 8. How should European nations deal with Greece’s debt?
9. Why are fringe political parties gaining strength in Europe?
10. Should the European Union establish an army?
Executive Branch 11. With Republicans in control of Congress, can President Obama get anything done in his last two years are President? 12. Should the FCC increase its regulation of the Internet?
13. Will the American public accept President Obama’s decision to send more troops to Iraq? 14. Can American veterans have confidence that Robert McDonald can improve the operation of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs? 15. Is Ashton Carter the right choice to lead the Department of Defense?
16. Should Barack Obama receive the war powers he has requested?
17. Should Barack Obama maintain his opposition to the Keystone Pipeline expansion? 18. Should the FAA limit the commercial use of aerial drones?
19. Did the CIA act in America’s best interest when it secretly bought old Iraqi chemical weapons from an arms dealer? 20. Is the Obama administration announcement of stricter limits on fracking operations a move in the right direction?
South-Central Asia 21. Can Pakistan’s leaders control the Taliban?
22. What is the significance of the Aam Aadmi party’s victory in New Delhi elections?
23. Is Islamic State penetrating Afghanistan?
24. Will arming teachers make Pakistan’s schools safer?
25. Should the UN intervene in Myanmar?
26. Can Nepal keep its promise to improve safety for those climbing Everest?
27. Is Sri Lanka’s government taking the right steps to improve relations with the country’s Tamil population? 28. Why is Ashraf Ghani seeking to improve Afghanistan’s relations with Pakistan?
29. Will Arun Jaitley’s budget for India fulfill his promises of major reform?
30. What are the implications of recent violence in Myanmar?
Health and Safety (These questions can be used as replacements in case an emergency interrupts a round.) 31. What should the government do to keep the federal disability insurance program solvent? 32. Should states have the power to require parents to vaccinate their children?
33. How well prepared is the United States to counter a terrorist attack?
34. Why is sleep deficit so common among Americans?
35. Do flu vaccine manufacturers need to change their procedures?
36. With drug manufacturers increasing outsourcing of drug safety checks, what are the risks? 37. Are drugstore based health clinics a good idea?
38. What factors lead to human longevity?
39. Should the United States government invest more in cyber-security?
40. With government budget cuts reducing funding for medical research, can crowdfunding strategies fill the gap?