Secretary Margaret Spellings, Lillie Ouellette-Howitz and President George W. Bush. Photo by Lisa Trenary/Grant Miller Photography

Lillie Oullette-Howitz of the Minnesota Urban Debate League was crowned champion and top speaker at the second annual economic debate national championship at the George W. Bush Presidential Center held October 19-20, 2013. Debating Lillie in the final round was runner-up Hope Merens, from the Milwaukee Debate League.

In 2012, the Bush Institute launched a national presidential economic debate program for high school students. NAUDL has partnered with the Bush Institute to bring this important national level competition to urban debate leagues. Earlier this fall, the Institute underwrote four regional qualifying tournaments for urban debate leagues in Baltimore, Dallas, Milwaukee, and Minneapolis. Forty-eight qualifying urban debaters and their coaches traveled to Dallas, TX to participate in the national competition.

"We were thrilled at the friendship of coaches who brought debaters, and thrilled at the quality of the debaters," said Amity Shlaes, Director of the Institute's 4% Growth Project. "Without coaches, schools, and NAUDL, this never would have happened. The debaters themselves turned into experts within hours, mastering a difficult topic offered to them impromptu -- the privatization of Pemex. No energy attorney or finance minister could do better than they did."

In addition to winning the final round, debaters from urban debate leagues dominated the top ten speaker rankings, with six of the ten spots going to debaters from Minneapolis, Milwaukee, and Baltimore.

Debaters reaching the elimination rounds received a total of $20,000 in scholarships.

Click to read more about the tournament, and about the Bush Institute Economic Debates program.