Recognition Procedure Act of 2015 (Tabled)

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

As one of the first - possible the first - people to suggest establishing diplomatic relations with South America, I must nevertheless support this bill. Adding a second playable state to the game will fundamentally alter the structure and dynamics of Atlasia, and we should carefully consider this as a result. I'm frankly quite disappointed that the president took this step without consulting the Senate, especially since it was clear that the public leans against recognition.

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

This seems pretty blatantly unconstitutional. The power to recognise or not recognise a countries government is the presidents and the presidents alone. The senate does not have every power in this game.

According to the Constitution, the powers held by the president are as follows:

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Nowhere does the Constitution grant the president the right to unilaterally recognize countries. By contrast, the Constitution does require the president to submit treaties and other diplomatic agreements to the Senate.

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

I echo what Simfan is saying. I don't know the ins and outs of the US constitution, but everyone agrees that the president is solely responsible for recognising states, we've seen that with Truman in Israel and with Obama and Cuba, to name two.

Now there are no powers that the US president has that the atlasian president does not, so it logically follows that the atlasian president has the power to unilaterally recognise countries.

The Atlasian Constitution and other laws differs, sometimes very significantly, from the US laws.

You can't just make up a power that is nowhere to be found in our law because "Truman recognized Israel".

     I would mention that there was a Supreme Court decision very early in Atlasia's existence that determined all laws passed by the Senate were mere suggestions, because the Constitution did not enumerate powers of the Senate. That the United States and Atlasia function the same is a dangerous rule of thumb for us to be basing policy on.

Yeah, interpreting Atlasian law based on the Constitution of a country that no longer exists is a rather shaky premise. This would be like making assumptions about the U.S. Constitution based on the Articles of Confederation, or a French president arguing that he holds certain powers because of something Louis XIV did.

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

I support this amendment.

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

But this doesn't make sense. There is no way a distinction can be drawn between playable and non playable countries and even if we could there's no constitutional reason why one is fine and the other is not.

We could easily define this with another amendment. And yes, there is a Constitutional reason for this distinction: adding a second playable nation to the game significantly alters the structure of Atlasia (which insofar has been self-contained), whereas recognizing countries whose actions are simulated by the GM does not.

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

Yes, many thanks to Bacon King for your valuable insight on this issue. It's good to hear a reasonable voice in these trying times!

In this case, it appears that this bill is unnecessary, as it seeks to remedy an issue that is already provided for in existing law. I therefore motion that we table this bill.