[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 25 (Thursday, February 11, 2016)]
[Senate]
[Pages S872-S873]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           RECOGNIZING RUTGERS UNIVERSITY-NEWARK DEBATE TEAM

 Mr. BOOKER. Mr. President, today I wish to recognize the 
Rutgers University-Newark debate team for celebrating its victory at 
the National Debate Tournament at the University of Missouri Kansas 
City, UMKC.
  The Rutgers University-Newark debate team, founded in 2008, is 
sponsored by the School of Public Affairs and Administration and the 
Office of the Chancellor, Newark. They have competed in tournaments 
hosted by Harvard, the U.S. Military Academy, the U.S. Naval Academy, 
and James Madison University and outranked schools such as Boston 
College, Dartmouth, and New York University. Director of debate, 
Christopher Kozak, has led the team to 3 consecutive years as the 1st-
ranked team in the Northeast; and in the 2014-2015 year, the team was 
the 14th-ranked team nationally.

[[Page S873]]

  Since 2011, the Rutgers University-Newark debate team has hosted an 
ever-growing collegiate tournament every year and a high school 
tournament in collaboration with the Newark Debate Academy. They 
support debate from the elementary to high school level by offering 
internships as assistant coaches at many local schools. RU-N debate 
team has also participated in a series of public debates, including a 
debate I participated in about student debt hosted at Rutgers 
University-Newark.
  From September 11 to 15, the Rutgers University-Newark debate team 
sent two teams to the Baby Jo Memorial Debate Tournament at UMKC, the 
first national-level debate tournament of the season. Programs from the 
University of Texas, University of Kansas, Oklahoma University, the 
University of Iowa, and others participated in the tournament as well.
  The team of Nicole Nave and Devane Murphy won six of eight of their 
preliminary debates and were awarded 6th-place speaker and 11th-place 
speaker, respectively.
  The Rutgers University-Newark debate team entered the elimination 
rounds as the seventh-ranked team and continued to the final round to 
face the first-ranked team in the Nation, UC Berkeley. By a 2-to-1 
decision, the RU-N team defeated UC Berkeley to be crowned champion. 
Going into the 2015-2016 season, this means the Rutgers University-
Newark team will be ranked the No. 1 team in the Nation.
  I am proud to acknowledge this landmark achievement in the Rutgers 
University-Newark Debate Team's history and its efforts to support 
debate at all age levels.
  Thank you.

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