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022 POST 223 ORATORICAL CONTEST

Local High School Students,

The American Legion Sykesville Memorial Post 223 will hold its annual Oratorical Contest on Saturday, January 22, 2022 at the Post Home at 1:00 p.m. High school students under the age of 20 from Century High School, Liberty High School, private, parochial, military schools, and home-schooled students are eligible to participate. The American Legion Oratorical Contest has been sponsored since 1938 by The American Legion and is designed to instill in high school students a greater knowledge and sense of appreciation for the United States Constitution. Other objectives include the development of leadership, the ability to think and speak clearly, and preparation for acceptance of the duties, responsibilities, and privileges of American Citizenship. Locally, this is the 31st year that Post 223 will be conducting this contest. Participants give an eight to ten-minute prepared speech on some aspect of the Constitution. Additionally, each contestant will give a three to five-minute discourse on one of four assigned Amendments to the Constitution.

​PREPARED ORATION
Each contestant shall deliver a prepared oration, which must be an original effort. The oration must address some aspect of the Constitution of the United States, which emphasizes the attendant duties and obligations of a citizen to our government. Possible subjects include:
 An American Citizens Rights and Responsibilities Under The Constitution
 Our Constitution - Worth Having, Worth Defending
 The Constitution in a Changing World
 The Constitution in Our Everyday Life
 The Bill of Rights - Reciprocal Rights and Duties
 The Constitution - Guardian of the People’s Rights

ASSIGNED TOPIC DISCOURSE
In addition to a Prepared Oration, contestants must be prepared to speak on a specific article or amendment to the Constitution. The National office chooses four each year and contestants will prepare a speech for all four. However, only one is chosen at random, during a contest and all contestants will speak on the same article or amendment. Contestants are sequestered during the contest so they do not know which choice was drawn until it is their turn to speak. See below for the list of selected assigned topics for the year.

Assigned Topics for 2022

Amendment III : No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.

Amendment VIII : Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.

Amendment XIV, Section 3 : No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.
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Amendment XXV, Section 4 : Whenever the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as Acting President.
Thereafter, when the President transmits to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives his written declaration that no inability exists, he shall resume the powers and duties of his office unless the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive department or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit within four days to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office. Thereupon Congress shall decide the issue, assembling within forty-eight hours for that purpose if not in session. If the Congress, within twenty-one days after receipt of the latter written declaration, or, if Congress is not in session, within twenty-one days after Congress is required to assemble, determines by two-thirds vote of both Houses that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall continue to discharge the same as Acting President; otherwise, the President shall resume the powers and duties of his office.

Post 223 will award cash prizes of $300, $200, and $150 to the contestants who finish in first through third places respectively. The Post 223 winner will be invited to compete at the county, district, and state levels. The state winner or the March 6, 2022 contest will continue on to the national contest in Indianapolis, April 22 - 24, 2022 to compete for scholarships of $25,000, $22,500, and $20,000. Each department (state) winner who is certified into and participates in the national contest’s first round receives a $2,000 scholarship. Those who advance past the first round receive an additional $2,000 scholarship. The American Legion’s National Organization awards the scholarships, which can be used at any college or university in the United States. National winners also win a trip to the National Convention in August.

Please return submissions to Post 223 no later than January 15, 2022.

For more information and application forms see your school counselor, please call the Post 223 Oratorical Contest Chairman Zane Walker at (410) 404-5662, or email AmericanLegionPost223@gmail.com.

National Website: www.legion.org/oratorical
State Website: www.mdlegion-oratorical.org