The Office of Senator LumineVonReuental (A Farewell to the Senate)

[Lumine]

My endorsement went to Shua, both for ideological reasons and because I genuinely think he is a good force in the Senate, but you ran by far the best campaign, and you deserve a good pat on the back for that. Way to go buddy!

Congrats!

Thank you, Maxwell and Windjammer!

[Lumine]

Do you think that police departments are benefited by a K-9 unit? Do you think K-9 units must be mandatory? Why or why not?

Flo, I have to sincerely apologize here. I've been so inactive that I completely forgot about this thread and your question, and I'm sorry to have let two weeks pass without saying anything.

In regards to your question, I do support the use of K-9 units, but I wouldn't go as far as making it mandatory. The main issue here is to make it more efficient, as I believe it already is quite useful (we only have to see the numbers and the amount of cases in which the use of police dogs has been crucial, or the role they play in airports and customs). Current laws protect police dogs in many states, but I wish to see something more widespread that establishes that police dogs should be considered full-fledged police officers in order to secure their protection.

[Lumine]

Update III:
How I learned to stop worrying and love... inactivity!?

May 7th, 2014:
Right after a very inactive month (not only for the Senator, but for Atlasia itself), the updates have returned, along with the announcement of the Ukrainian aid package, renewed efforts as the Special Envoy, and speculation for the future.

I guess my performance is still too inactive as of now, despite positive polling numbers. For that, I have to apologize. That Atlasia is inactive as a whole is one thing, but it is unbecoming of a Senator to just leave or stop caring anymore, and sadly, real life events don't help right now. College, as many of you know, demands a lot of time, and after going through very negative events like my temporary blindness for a couple of days or the loss of my grandfather a few days ago, well, it has become evident that there's a lot to be done in order to be a truly efficient Senator. I will return to the proposed "two week" updates, so my voting record for the month of April should be up tomorrow, just as I try to do something new to restart my position as Special Envoy to Ukraine.

In the meantime, I have introduced a new piece of legislation, inspirated by a similar resolution in the OTL United States Congress and some of the proposals I've heard as the Senate discussed my Crimean Crisis Act. We have condemned Russia, took preventive action and help President Turnichov fight the rebels in Donetsk, but there is a lot to be done. We have to support the people of Ukraine in their troubled times, and my Act calls for a good amount of economic aid to help them fight Russia in the "energy war", to develop their remaining assets, to recover what Yanukovych's corruption took away, to help the displaced Tatars, and to help their armed forces keep their strength to stop the rebels.

I hope this Act will pass as soon as possible, an in the meantime I will continue to discuss my proposal for NATO with the Senate as well. I also apologize to the administration for my lackluster defense of the Education bill, and I hope to resume work on that as soon as possible. It should be noted, though, that as of now I have no plans to run for another term, in order to focus on my current and upcoming projects without being too complacent about the amount of time left to work on them. And, of course, I remain behind the candidates I endorsed some time ago, like SirNick and Dallasfan for President and Vice-President, and Riley for Mideast Governor. I trust that individuals like them are what Atlasia needs in order to defeat decadence and restore activity once and for all.

LumineVonReuental, At-Large Senator.

[Lumine]

Update IV:
On the party and region change:

May 21st, 2014:

Good day, ladies and gentlemen.

I have a brief announcement to make, although most of you are probably aware of what I plan to say. Today I have changed my membership from The People’s Party to the Federalist Party, a decision I took after careful consideration, weeks of meditation, and after consulting with some friends as well.  In all fairness, this was something I had been considering for far too long time, and now it’s time to finally go with what I originally had in mind many months ago. For the past months I have gone from centrist party A to centrist party B, doing my best so see what could be done. And after exhausting (from an emotional point of view) experiences in parties like the Civic Union, the Progressive Union, and the People’s Party, I have decided that there are not many things left for me do to in this ideological space and in this political party.

During this year and a half I have spent in Atlasia, I have built good working relationships with several members of the Federalist Party, they know me well, and I had the pride of counting on their support for most if not all of my political races, from Archduke to Governor to Senator to my Presidential campaign. We have our differences in some areas of policies (like Game Reform, in which I do not plan to change my mind), and it could be argued that they have some activity problems as well, but I see a bright future ahead on this party, a lot of potential to shift Atlasia from its current axis of political thinking and hopefully improve activity levels while we get a Constitutional Convention. Of course, I take full responsibility for the improper and distasteful act of changing parties while serving as an officeholder elected by another party, but it should be noted that I have always been very independent when it comes to my ideas and my performance, and without the massive support I enjoyed from the Federalists in March I wouldn’t be a Senator in the first place.

I also decided to leave the Midwest Region after spending almost an entire year here, a year in which I served as Archduke and Governor, trying to help the Midwest go forward and find resurgence. Thanks to the efforts of Maxwell, Windjammer and myself, this has been achieved to a great extent, and while the Midwest needs more activity, I feel there's not a lot to do for me in this region. On the other hand, the Pacific has faced a significant improvement as well, but it still needs more activity, and I will be happy to be a part of that process (along with good friends I have there, like Flo). It's not easy to just leave a region in which I have spent such a long time, but here I go.

With that said, I am happy to enter this new experience, and I look forward to work with my new region and my new party.

Thank you very much.

LumineVonReuental, At-Large Senator.

[Lumine]

Update V:
Some thoughts on Ukraine:

May 27th, 2014:
Shortly after his party chance, Senator Lumine suffered a strange and sudden transformation, which replaced his look (similar to one Mr. Portman) and turned him into a Michael Heseltine look alike. Viewing the former Deputy Prime Minister with sympathy and without any copyright complains from his look alike, the Senator assumed the change rather gracefully.

As many of you know, I have monitored and followed the situation in Ukraine rather closely in my role as the Special Envoy for that ongoing crises, and for the past weeks I have been in close contact with President Turnichov and his government, offering as much support as I can to help the country and prevent a Russian takeover. And now we can see Ukraine trying to stabilize, but still threatened by a complicated economical situation and the ongoing insurgency in Donetsk. To their merit, President Putin and the Russians have toned down the rhetoric, but the crisis is not over. A couple of days ago Ukraine gave us an example of good governance and civic consciousness by going to the polls to elect its new government despite the ongoing complications of this crisis, and I am proud to be the first Atlasian to formally congratulate President-Elect Petro Poroshenko for his overwhelming victory in the election. The people of Ukraine has entrusted him with the task of helping the nation move forward, and I trust President Poroshenko to establish closer ties with the European Union and Atlasia.

But that is not enough. And when I say that I mean that it's not enough for this crisis that we just sit there and do nothing. We must help Ukraine as much as we can if we truly want to see people recognizing Atlasia's prestige and standing in the world, if we truly want to have to have them as an ally and stop Russian aggression. These past months have only served for China and Russia to strengthen their position and threaten our allies, and we must find new ways to answer to the challenges of the future. I am proud to announce the passing of a bill that envisions the reform of NATO as part of those efforts, and I will be proud as well to defend my aid package to Ukraine once it gets to the Senate floor. For far too long we have neglected foreign policy and ignored Superique and Yankee's efforts, and it's time that we really take a look on what we want to do for the world. I haven't seen Former Vice-President DemPGH's take on foreign policy, but I worked with SirNick over a few ideas for foreign policy, and I support his views and his efforts on this issue a 100%. We need a government capable of caring about foreign policy, because trying to ignore foreign policy will only lead to the game being broken and unable to reach its full potential. And I hope the people of Atlasia and my fellow party members in the Federalist Party agree with me on this. With that said, I will be travelling to Kiev soon for another meeting with President Turnichov and my first meeting with President-Elect Poroshenko, which will hopefully turn into a positive page in our recent history in the world stage.

Thank you very much for your attention.

LumineVonReuental, At-Large Senator and Special Envoy to Ukraine.

[Lumine]

Update VI:
Juan Carlos I, Tiananmen and Other Challenges:

June 4th, 2014:
After an eventful week, a couple of interviews and with the elections near the Senator has taken the time to address a few issues on foreign policy, domestic policy and the future while he desperately tries to craft new bills for the Senate.

Yes, another update! I'm having a lot of trouble crafting new bills (specially since the foreign policy ones require a base and a context that has grown rather disorganized, leaving me with few immediate possibilities. In the meantime, I thought it might be a good idea to deliver a few formal statements and discuss what I've done so far and what are the challenges we face right now and the challenges we will have to face in the future.

First things first, the statements: I wish to congratulate King Juan Carlos of Spain for his years of service to his country, both from a personal and political point of view. King Juan Carlos is not a perfect man, we all know that, but he has served his country with dignity for years and he has earned his place in history as a man who could have tried to continue an authoritarian regime and yet decided to work with other figures like Adolfo Suarez to bring Democracy to Spain. That is something we should not take lightly, and speaking from an experience not so related to Atlasia I have admired many aspects of the King ever since he stood up against Former President Hugo Chavez in an international forum, and I'm sure many people in my native country feel the same. My most sincere congratulations to Prince Felipe, who will soon become King Felipe VI of Spain. On the other hand, there is a date that we are bound to celebrate, but not with joy. Twenty-five years have passed since the then government of China crushed the Tiananmen protests and drowned them with violence, but many seem to have forgotten what ensued there, only remembering when China was finally been acknowledged as one of our two global rivals (along with Russia) and started threatening our allies in Asia. The students of Tiananmen failed on their goals, but they proved that regardless of their economic prowess the Chinese government was neither open nor free, and that situation remans to this very day. It is not my wish to antagonize China, but I say once again that ignoring them is not the solution to what's going on in places like Tibet and the South China Sea.

Tomorrow will mark three months as a Senator, a milestone that seemed quite far back in March, when the possibility of running in April for reelection was not yet decided. But here I am, after three months, and while I still make the occasional mistake with the language or some rules, I think I have grown more experienced as time has passed. Writing pieces of legislation is most certainly not my strength (I'm rather incompetent on that), but so far I'm proud to announce that I have passed a resolution/act on the Crimean Crisis condemning Russia, a trade/diplomatic reform involving Asia and Latin America, a mechanism to allow the reform of NATO and a bill increasing funding to clean energy, with an aid act to Ukraine currently in discussion. Four out of four bills so far, and hopefully the next ones will be successful as well. I'm still in the process of writing and searching for further info, but I'm confident that this month I will be able to introduce legislation on the Global Treaty Organization, a resolution on Thailand (depending on the evolution of that country), and hopefully some work on adoption and perhaps a return to a mandatory State of the Forum address.

The election is getting closer and closer, and the next President, regardless of his party will have to face a growing number of crises and challenges that won't be easy to overcome. The next President will have to deal with the budget and the spending issue, he will have to deal with the need for game reform, with the healthcare and educational dilemma and with the multiple challenges Atlasia faces in the foreign stage, which require a willingness to act and a commitment to efficiency and activity to keep the Cabinet going and turn it into a true weapon to solve the problems of this nation. As I am bound to remain a Senator until early September and I have about three more months left, I will do my best to help to tackle these issues and hopefully maintain a decent level of activity. And of course, if my performance is not satisfactory, I ask of you to let me know so I can see how and where to improve.

LumineVonReuental, At-Large Senator and Special Envoy to Ukraine.

[Lumine]

Update VII:
Buccaneers, Venezuela and so on:

June 10th, 2014:
With the Senate almost lacking bills to discuss for the first time in months, the usual foreign policy endeavours continue with legislation regarding Venezuela and an amendment to the Constitution.

Well, first things first. These updates must get old and tiring after a while, but I'm trying not to become an inactive Senator, so I sincerely thank those who take the time to read these strange attempts at keeping an update on what I'm doing. Time has taught me that very few Atlasians follow the Senate, so I believe that informing Atlasians about my intentions and what I'm doing via this thread is the best way to secure transparency and the flow of information. Now, getting onto subject, I must say I'm rather shocked about this week! Somehow, the queue has been reduced so much that we barely have enough bills to discuss that don't come from Senator TNF, and I must say he does set an example with his legislative activity, an example that I want to match so the Federalist Party continues to go strong in the Senate. Writing new and original legislation is not easy, not when a nation has been writing dozens of laws since it was created. But it can be done if we take the time to research, or even if we just watch what's happening to our world so we can draw the parallels and find something that works, as I have done today.

I plan to update my voting record as well, but the most important thing to announce here is that I just introduced two pieces of legislation regarding my foreign policy efforts. The most simple one is called A Farewell to Privateers Amendment, which I believe it's a good starting point to reform both our foreign policy efforts and the Constitution itself. In short, the Third Constitution allows the Senate to grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, that is to say, to give a formal licence to a person (a Privateer) to attack and capture enemy vessels (think of pirates) or effect a reprisal. Now, this was actually used during the XVIII century in the world, but the last time Atlasia used it was in... 1812. In 1856 most European nations gave up privateering, and then they were joined by about fifty nations, but we never followed that lead. We all know we are probably not going to use this privilege, but even so, I feel we should get rid of this obsolete practice. There has been some talk in past years of using it to hunt down Somali pirates, but if there's a single place in which the free market shouldn't get involved, well, that's the military.

The second one is probably going to be polemic and might not pass, but I believe it's worth a try. After months of seeing President Nicolas Maduro crack down on dissenters and destroy democracy in Venezuela from within, I have grown tired of us doing nothing. It's time for Atlasia to stand up against this assault on human rights in our very own continent, and I want us to do so in an efficient way, without having to play "world police", as Senator TNF said before. The OTL American Senate passed a bill called Venezuela Defense of Human Rights and Civil Society Act of 2014 a couple of months ago, a bill which I read, analysed and then adapted in a simplified version to act against government officials committing human right abuses and acting against democracy while, at the same time, giving a helping hand to the opposition and their plight for a civil society. It involves a simple effort from the President and the SoEA, a reasonable amount of money, and it doesn't mean that we are going to send the CIA down there to repeat sad experiences of the Cold War. Simple.

Last, but not least, there is another challenge I have taken along with the Senate, that of helping my party in the best way I can. After collaborating with Pacific Councilor and Pacific Chair Devin for the past days and welcoming new people to the region (like outofbox/Thomas Jefferson, whom I expect to be a fantastic candidate here), Devin has been kind enough to create the position of Pacific Vice-Chair, a position which I happily accepted. It's certainly not that relevant, I know, but announcing things like this never hurts, right? xD

Well, that should be all for now, I'll release my voting record as soon as possible!

LumineVonReuental, At-Large Senator, Special Envoy to Ukraine and Federalist Pacific Vice-Chair.

[Lumine]

Voting Record

(April 1st - June 9th)

Confirmation of Cincinnatus as Vice-President (AYE)
Confirmation of Simfan as Attorney General (AYE)
Confirmation of Simfan as Game Moderator (AYE)

The Xahar Memorial 2nd repeal of useless law Act (AYE)
Senate Resolution Regarding Resignations (AYE)
Contract Moderanization and Continuity Act of 2014 (AYE)
Final Passage of the Extraterrestrial Act of 2014 (AYE)
Amendment to the Drought Mitigation Act of 2011 (AYE)
Crimean Crisis Act of 2014 (AYE)
Executive Department Amendment (AYE)
Queue Sanity OSPR Amendment (AYE)
South American/Asian Trade Reform Act (AYE)
Residential Taxation Reform Act of 2014 (AYE)
Amendment to the Paid Leave Act of 2013 (AYE)
The Save Our Sharks Act of 2014 (AYE)
The Proportional Representation Act Fix of 2014 (AYE)
The Double Jeopardy Is OK...Take Two (AYE)
Cheech and Chong Act (AYE)
The Protecting Higher-Intelligence Species Internationally Resolution (AYE)
Clean Energy Research Act of 2014 (AYE)
Long-Term Unemployment Relief Act (AYE)
The Severe Disability Savings Plan Act (AYE)
Cooperative Development Act of 2014 (AYE)
Intl Reporting Standards Adoption Act (AYE)
Shorten Lame Duck Terms amendment (AYE)
Efficient Referenda Amendment (AYE)
NATO Membership Reform Act (AYE)
The Free the Small Start-Ups Act (AYE)
Prison Pregnancy Care and Anti-Shackling Act (AYE)
Duke’s Let’s Put Atlasia to Work Program (AYE)

Job Guarantee Act of 2014 (NAY)
Give Peace a Chance Act of 2014 (NAY)
Bill of Rights Amendment (NAY)
Public Intoxication Act (NAY)
Consistency in Drug Enforcement Bill (NAY)
Job Destruction Penalty Act of 2014 (NAY)
An Actual End to Imperialism (For Real This Time) Act (NAY)

[Lumine]

Maduro is not President of Venezuela as far as I'm concerned. Atlasians forces intervened in the region few years ago :/

What? Oh, for god's sake, this is why we need a thread to inform us how much the world has changed, xD. Who is leading Venezuela then? (it seems I'll have to drop my bill then)

[Lumine]

Maduro is not President of Venezuela as far as I'm concerned. Atlasians forces intervened in the region few years ago :/

What? Oh, for god's sake, this is why we need a thread to inform us how much the world has changed, xD. Who is leading Venezuela then? (it seems I'll have to drop my bill then)

If I recall correctly Colombia invaded and overthrew Chavez during the rule of GM Purple State.

One of the many reasons we need a better way of keeping track of these things.

I was just checking his thread, and I'm surprised at those levels of activity in a GM, it's frankly astounding. Sadly, it doesn't seem like the storyline was properly resolved, and this is bound to have major butterflies by now... We really need to address this, either via Senate committee or an Institute committed to writing a full report on foreign policy changes since 2004.

[Lumine]

Update VIII:
Like it or not, Foreign Policy matters:

June 13th, 2014:
While touring several military factories near Nyman, Senator Lumine chose to deliver a lengthy speech to the press, which included his thoughts on the address of the Game Moderator, the ongoing crises in the world and the need for Atlasia to step in and stop committing mistakes in the world.

I delivered a speech yesterday in defense of my recent actions given that Senator TNF has been interested in challenging me again to a war or words, a challenge that I happily accepted. Now that Game Moderator Simfan has released a report on what's really going on in the world, I feel it's time to expand and make plans accordingly, because there is a lot to do and I have grown past the point of tolerating the isolationist position of many in this country without saying a word and failing to complain. I said before that our current legislation was ineffective and harming both our nation and our allies abroad, and this report only serves to prove that those words were right. Ladies and gentlemen, I am disappointed, and frustrated, and worried as well. Am I the only one who realizes in what a complicated situation we are? At the price of passing more and more domestic bills (some of which are either unconstitutional or just fail to make sense) and caring only for the economy and the unrealism of failed policies or ideologies, we have compromised ourselves and our world in a truly negative context. Rivals like Russia and China keep challenging our nation and they continue to take an aggressive stance against our allies, and what do we do? We withdraw from South Korea and Japan and let them fend off themselves, we withdraw from Europe and let Poland, Ukraine and the Baltic States to face the expansionism of Vladimir Putin, we leave the Middle East without caring about the consequences.

SoEA Superique scored a major foreign policy coup with his peace deal that we must defend at all costs, but by forcing our entire foreign policy apparatus to focus on Israel (as nobody wanted to speak of anything else), we now have a resurgent Iran and outright chaos in Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq, meaning that the Middle East is right out to collapse under our noses. Some of you might not be interested in what happens inside those nations, but I am, and I think we all should. The expansion of Russia and China can only mean the reduction of our influence and a defeat for our beliefs in democracy, and the collapse of the Middle East might very well hurt our economy to a significant extent, even after all the progress we have made in developing alternative energy sources for the nation. Neglect and abandon have led to foreign policy being only important for a few Atlasians like Superique, Yankee and SJoyce, and that cannot be. The report shows that when we act we have been able to obtain positive results, as Venezuela and the soon to be democratic Cuba prove, but that only came because we acted. By leaving foreign policy alone and not bothering to discuss it we have created a mess, because now we lack clear objectives and goals despite the hard work of the SoEA (seriously, how many people have noticed the Israel-Palestine peace deal or the magnificent trip to Brazil and Uruguay?).

What we need to do is to create a message, outline clear policies and give answers that are not “I don't care about the world, I only care about Atlasia”. The Cold War is over, as Senator TNF has pointed out, and that means that our approach must be swift, efficient and effective. Regardless of who wins the next Presidential election I mean to do whatever I can to send foreign policy to the center of discussion, and I plan to introduce bills before the Senate to that effect, starting with repealing the “An Actual End to Imperialism Act”, which in light of the GM’s report has become damaging and nonsensical to our foreign policy efforts. I trust President Duke and SoEA Superique to keep handling Ukraine and Iraq to the best of their ability, but the next administration will need to expand on their efforts and craft a truly long term approach by creating an actual foreign policy team, by having not only the SoEA, but a GTO Ambassador to handle the reform of that organization, and a UN Ambassador to do the same. Ladies and gentlemen, please, we don't need a discussion on nationalization or to give all the focus to installing an unpractical health care system, what we truly need is actions and speeches for those areas we have ignored long enough, and I ask SirNick and DemPGH to keep that in mind.

LumineVonReuental, At-Large Senator, Special Envoy to Ukraine and Federalist Pacific Vice-Chair.

[Lumine]

A most enlightening speech, Senator. A step in the right direction, and I say that both as GM and as a private citizen.

Sorry for the late reply, xD, thanks, Simfan!

Press release on Iraq:

15, 125 (June 15th, 2014)

Good day, ladies and gentlemen.

While on one hand I remain very concerned on the Iraq situation and the danger posed to the local government by the threat of extremists, I do feel encouraged in some ways. It's been a while since we see true interest in a foreign policy issue, and I hope Atlasia will start to discuss and rethink our role in the world with the elections so near. President Duke, SoEA Superique and GM Simfan have my praise for their quick and swift actions, and for their dedication to maintain our role in the world and defend Iraq against the forces of ISIS. Superique's peace deal has created the opening for a new Middle East, and we must defend that agreement and the stability of the region as well. During the past decades the actions of Atlasia in the region were not always the best ones, and it's far to say we often made some situations worse than they should have. But our leaders are responsible, our vision is clear and our resolve is there, and so I call for all the nation to unite behind President Duke and support the efforts to assist Iraq, just as Senator Yankee has so eloquently expressed. The administration has my full support as a Senator to pass any kind of legislation needed just as I continue my own efforts to raise the profile of foreign policy.

On another note, I decided to adopt the new calendar set by the Game Moderator as well. I will use both calendars to avoid confusion, but ignoring the GM is certainly not something that will help our nation (which is why I plan to oppose Senator Bore's "Ignore the GM Act" as soon as it reaches the floor. I welcome this opportunity to test a new change, and I am proud to point out that, unlike aliens, this is a truly interesting change for Atlasia.

Lumine.

[Lumine]

Update IX:
Iraq, SirNick and Superique!

16, 125 (June 16th, 2014)

With new legislative activity and new developments in politics, Senator Lumine delivered another speech from his main office in Utah, back in the Pacific to campaign and then back again to Nyman to resume work on the Senate.

Good day, ladies and gentlemen.

I have the pride of announcing that I've just introduced two new pieces of legislation regarding the Iraq crisis in order to support the administration in their efforts, after a continued discussion on the matter with President Duke and SoEA Superique. These are very simple, and are divided in both a resolution and an act: The Emergency Resolution to Authorize Force in Iraq serves the purpose of grating the President the power he needs to use our strenght against ISIS, in this case directed to the use of drones. Then we have the Assistance for Iraq Act, based on Superique's plans and currently envisioning about $250 million in military and economical help to Iraq. I sincerely hope this bills will reach the floor and then pass as soon as it's humanly possible, for I believe a dealy could represent a grave cost for Iraq and for us. Many in this nation are still skeptical of our role in the world, saying that it's none of our business. But allow me to disagree, we are one of the few nations who can act in a decisive and efficient way, and I don't wish to see us committing another mistake in the Middle East just for the sake of ignoring that foreign policy exists. No, ladies and gentlemen, I believe it's time to send the drones. That for now on the policy front, although I do expect to keep updating you on the outcome of these bills and the appearance of other ideas to modify the way we look and react to foreign policy.

On the political front, I wish to congratulate SirNick on his victory at the Federalist Convention. While I am very much aware that many members of my party are concerned about the future and distrustful of the current field, I say look no further, and take a second look to a man who can make the difference, to the candidate of our party. The other matter I wished to discuss here is the issue of the Pacific Senate race. After days without a candidate, it was very depressing to see all the other regions enjoying competitive races while we were looking at the unopposed reelection of our Senator... And then it happened. My good friend Superique announced that he would accept write-ins as an alternative to Tyrion (who, do not mistake me, is not at all a bad Senator, but his performance in this term has left things to be desired), and I wish to offer Superique a formal endorsement for Senate. The election is coming in a couple of days, but I would like to at least host an event or deliver a speech or two in support of him. I strongly believe Superique would do a fantastic job in the Senate as he has done as SoIA and SoEA since the Nix administration, I think he can win this race, and I am more than happy to do everything I can to help make that happen!

LumineVonReuental, At-Large Senator, Special Envoy to Ukraine and Federalist Pacific Vice-Chair.

[Lumine]

Press release on the June Election:

19, 125 (June 19th, 2014)

Good day, ladies and gentlemen.

This is a pretty straightforward one, as we have finally arrived to election day and Atlasia stands ready to make the choice and elect the President, the Vice-President and five Senators across this nation. Would I have preferred something more dynamic and enthusiastic? You bet, but the Senate elections are quite enthusiastic on their own, so I'm sure we will all be nervous for the weekend and we will all get out there to win votes for our candidates. I hope turnout will be high for now, so I expect that people feel encouraged enough to get out there and vote for their candidates. In the meantime, I'm rather pleased to see many of my friends running for office this time, and I hope I will get to serve with some of them in the Senate after June ends. To the Pacific citizens (and whoever is willing to listen to my advice), I'd like to encourage you to cast your vote for Superique in this Senate election, and give your second preference to Flo as well. Both of them are good friends of mine, and I trust that they will prove excellent Senators should any of them be elected. And to my Federalist friends, I wish to encourage you to get out there and fight for our party, fight for our Senators to defend our standing in Congress, and show Atlasia that our party is a strong as ever!

Lumine.

[Lumine]

Running for Reelection! (Again)

June 26th, 2014:
After the end of the Presidential election and with Clarence, Polnut and Dr. Cynic already running for At-Large Senate, Senator Lumine chose to become the first of the incumbents to announce his bid for reelection and unveil his new campaign banner.

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen.

Since I was elected back in the special election in March by such a narrow and competitive margin, I have served in the Senate for fourth months already (soon to be five), quite an interesting period of time. After being used to regional legislatures and being Midwest Governor, going to the Senate proved an interesting challenge as I had little confidence in abilities as a lawmaker. Of course, I had my share of mistakes (I still make them from time to time), but so far I think it could be argued that my one and a half terms have been rather sucessful. So far my focus has been and shall be for the forseeable future foreign policy and environmental issues, and during this time I have passed bills to reform NATO, to open our relationships in Latin America and Asia, to replace outdated parts of the Constitution, to help and defend Ukraine against Russia, to increase the funding for green energy research, to support Iraq in light of the internal instability and a short-lived attempt at helping the opposition against Nicolas Maduro (until I discovered he was thankfully gone). It's a demanding job, but I've grown rather fond of being a Senator of Atlasia, and as a result I have the intention of remaning one. Since we already have three announced candidates, let me be the first of my fellow colleages in the Senate to announce that I shall indeed seek reelection to a third term (or a second full term).

Last election was competitive enough with seven candidates, and I'm sure we will see another amusing election with the candidates that have already declared. I hope our party will be able to increase it's number of seats, and Clarence has of course my full support to get into the Senate, just like Goldwater if he chose to run again. I want to continue the fight for foreign policy issues, for a better handling of the environment, for sound economic policies and some badly needed fiscal responsiblity (even if some of my projects have proved expensive) and for the free market and it's values, currently under some attacks that I find not suited to the demands of our actual economic system. I have also prepared a new banner for the occasion, I grew tired of the blue and the eagle, an so I have taken the color of my Party and a tribute to my current efforts in college (as I have been stuyding History of Greece for the past weeks), and I am particulary proud of this one, even more than I was with my banner to fight TNF in the February Election. Well, that's should be all, we have more than half a month for having an active campaign, so let the games begin!

Nothing else to say here, thanks for your attention!

LumineVonReuental, At-Large Senator.

[Lumine]

Endorsed-would...be...a...pleasure...to...serve...together.......sorry...my...space...bar...is...jammed...........

Obviously endorsed, I'm happy to see you serve another term

Oh and before I forget,

Endorsed.

Thank you, Flo and Clarence! And thanks to you as well, Yankee, I completely forgot about that part of the by-laws... (but I recall the election, a shame SJoyce couldn't overcome Xahar) But well, there are few things as invigorating as and old fashioned primary, so that would be a very interesting situation for all of us.

[Lumine]

Endorsed.

1, 2, 3... to the E, to the N, to the D, O, R, to the E, to the S, to the E and D. Woohoo!

Endorsed.

Thank you very much, gentlemen, glad to count on your support!

[Lumine]

Update X:
A Health Care triumph for Duke and the Senate!

June 27th, 2014:
In his first campaign stop for August, Senator Lumine has returned to his headquarters in Salt Lake City to deliver a speech on the recent triumph of the Duke administration on Health Care policy.

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen.

I come back to my home state to start my reelection bid, as I plan to tour the entire country giving speeches of some of the issues the Senate is discussing. Just yesterday an achievement of great magnitude and importance for country was accomplished thanks to the Administration and several Senators, and I want to join the voice of those of us who praise this key development. After months of discussion and debate, the President, the Federalist Senators and Shua on behalf of the Democratic-Republicans have joined forces to finally pass a bill regarding health care reform to introduce a new system that will replace the bloated mess the had before, a bill that passed with six votes in the affirmative (with Senator Tyrion joining us) and most of Labor not even bothering to vote, thus passing the Reforming Atlasian Public Health Act and changing forever the landscape of the Health system in our country. Since my intervention in this was fairly minor, all credit naturally goes to President Duke, Senator Shua and Senator Yankee, with an honorary mention to Yankee for his hard work and for being the man who truly got this done and passed.

Thanks to this reform, we will finally be able to count with a system that is economically sound, responsible and effective, a system that upholds economic freedom with the necessary concern for the well-being of Atlasians by introducing free market elements and savings accounts plus the new CIEP system, all while ensuring proper coverage for our military veterans and those who live with high risk situations. A successful combination of human dignity with economic responsibility and efficiency born from compromise, this is of course not necessarily perfect and it will require further adjustments, as Yankee pointed out. And yet, I call this a true success in terms of policy, a show that Atlasia can and will continue to progress with hard work, a proof that single-payer is not the only solution to the health care problem. You may think I overreact, but this is an historic day, and I can't stress enough how happy I am that the Senate has passed his bill. As your At-Large Senator I plan to defend this act, and if possible, help to improve the parts that will require some work in the following months.

Thank you very much for your attention.

LumineVonReuental, At-Large Senator.

[Lumine]

Endorsed of course. Loving the campaign logo

Thank you, Cassius!

[Lumine]

After months of discussion and debate, the President, the Federalist Senators and Shua on behalf of the Democratic-Republicans have joined forces to finally pass a bill regarding health care reform to introduce a new system that will replace the bloated mess the had before, a bill that passed with six votes in the affirmative (with Senator Tyrion joining us) and most of Labor not even bothering to vote, thus passing the Reforming Atlasian Public Health Act and changing forever the landscape of the Health system in our country.

I don't like everything about the Duke-Yankee healthcare reform package, but both deserve our applause for developing a law that resolves many of the problems that I brought to the Senate's attention a couple of months ago. I am incredibly embarrassed that most of the Labor delegation missed this vote. And if I were completely opposed to these reforms, I would be even more upset.

It surprised me as well, I must say. I figured at least TNF would be very vocally opposed to it in light of his earlier push for single payer. I do appreciate Tyrion voting for it, it allowed for an outright majority and it made the result a believable compromise.

[Lumine]

Update XI:
The Order of the Star and a farewell to Duke:

July 2nd, 2014:
Shortly after the President's announcement on the Order of the Star of Atlasia awards, Senator Lumine delivered a speech thanking the administration for both the award and their efforts for the past months, giving his best wishes to President Duke once he leaves office.

Good night, ladies and gentlemen.

As I checked the threads in Atlasia a couple of hours ago, I discovered to my complete surprise that President Duke decided to use his prerogative regarding the Order of the Star of Atlasia once again to reward a few select citizens that the White House believes to have been individuals who have made major contributions to Atlasia. The ranks of this Order in (Silver and Gold degrees) have such capable and famous Atlasians like SoFE Homelycooking, Senator North Carolina Yankee, Former Senator Clarence, RG Fritz, Former Emperor PiT and the the President himself, and I had the honor of being awarded with the Order of the Silver Star along with Senator Shua for our efforts regarding Health Care and the bill the Senate passed recently. Of course, I stand by my earlier words of Senator Yankee and Senator Shua as those who deserve most of the credit for their own hard work, consistency and efforts, but nonetheless I thank the administration for his honor, and I shall happily join the ranks of the Silver Star along with the hardworking Pacific Council and Former President Nix.

President Duke will leave the White House on Friday and welcome the next administration into office. It's said that time passes quickly in Atlasia, and that is certainly true in this case. Eight months that are now gone, and the October election seems both far away and very close. I had the opportunity of running against Duke as a Presidential candidate and I almost got to fight him in the final round, and yet, despite that campaign, I could never consider Duke as a rival, but as a man who was both respectful and deserving of respect. I had my disagreements with the administration in some issues, that's true, but I was sincerely happy to work with the President when I could while being in the Progressive Union, the People's Party and more recently the Federalist Party, as a Senator and as a politician in general. This administration has seen major and efficient changes to domestic policy, some very remarkable cabinet officers (like SoEA Superique and VP Cincinnatus), and a brave push for game reform that was sadly unfinished. Duke entered the White House with honor, he served with honor, and he will leave with honor, and he will join the ranks of our former Presidents ranked very highly, just like his predecessor. It's an early farewell considering the administration has two days left and we can never tell what's in store for the future, but this seemed like a good moment, and let's face it,  friends or foes, from the left or the right, Duke deserves a warm goodbye from all of us.

Thank you very much for your attention.

LumineVonReuental, OSAS, At-Large Senator.

[Lumine]

Update XII:
A New Administration and New Efforts:

July 19th, 2014:
Right after returning from a vacation, Senator Lumine talked about the future of Atlasia and his plans for the remaining month until the August At-Large Senate Election, including the Federalist Primary and his praise for the performance of Vice-President Windjammer.

Well, I’m back!

After one spends day after day in Atlasia it’s easy to lose perspective, and so I have to tell you that there are few things more invigorating (in regards to the game) than taking a small break to relax, think and meditate about the future. The past months have consisted in running three campaigns for Senate, serving as a Senator and working in some media efforts, and with the future getting more and more interesting as we speak I think maintaining these efforts will not be a problem. I do have to solve an issue regarding the potential conflict of interest in being a Senator and running the Political Tracker, but there’s more than enough time to think about that and make a potential choice.

As of now the next administration has gone on for two to three weeks, and after six months of the Duke Presidency I find myself in a situation in which I am bound to engage in quite a few disagreements with the administration. Trying not to seem to ambitious or too vindictive, I really enjoy this chance to speak up my mind and defend my beliefs while working in the Senate and in my reelection campaign for August, now that we have a month left until the election and a primary set for my party between Former Senator Clarence and Former Assemblyman JCL, both of them good friends of mine. So, moving onto the point, I will resume my efforts to help Ukraine and develop our foreign policy again (especially in regards to a potential War Powers Act), and since Senator TNF has been kind enough to launch once again a swirl of attacks against our economic system, I will be happy to defend our successful free market system as well. I am terribly disappointed at President DemPGH’s apparent lack of interest in foreign affairs and his veto of my effort to get rid of the unnecessary and unpractical regulations set by an earlier Senate session, but at the same time I believe congratulations should be delivered to Vice-President Windjammer for his hard and efficient work at the Senate, and for proving all of us that he is a man of integrity and capable of objectivity. I sincerely thank him for taking a stand and voting for Senator Yankee to continue as our PPT (even if the Supreme Court has put a temporary halt to that), and I offer him my full support in both the lawsuits he is facing right now.

Sad as I am in regards to the current situation of the Pacific and the departure of Flo to the IDS, I remain convinced that the region can indeed be saved, and I hope the Pacific Council will find a new member soon enough to resume its work for the region. I do not believe a Pacific-Midwest merge is the sole and magical solution of this, but I do wish both Governors good luck in their efforts to increase activity. As a former Governor I know that it can be hard, but past examples show that it can be done. Thus, I plan to spend the next weeks up to the election taking a couple of trips to Ukraine, Japan and Palestine to put an emphasis on some policies I’d like to put before the Senate, delivering a few speeches from across our nation and resuming my work to create the new War Powers Act and hopefully start some efforts in Education, the Environment and a small project I’ve been thinking of to address the Abortion issue without causing a storm of controversy as earlier efforts have faced.

I guess that’s all for now, time to get to work!

LumineVonReuental, OSAS, At-Large Senator.

[Lumine]

Press release on the Ukrainian Tragedy:

July 21st, 2014:

Good night, ladies and gentlemen.

For the past six months we have seen a rather complicated situation evolving in Ukraine, a complicated period of time that brought the fall of a pro-Russian government in a revolution brought by the citizens of Ukraine and its replacement for a temporary government that sought to correct some pasts mistakes while helping the country move forward. Vladimir Putin showed us once again his style of leadership by committing open acts of aggression against Ukraine and forcing the virtual annexation of Crimea to the Russian Federation, violating previous agreements and the very own territorial integrity and sovereignity of its neighbor, all while also supporting a rebel movement in Donetsk that led to something that we could very well describe as similar to a civil war. President Poroshenko and the Ukrainian government have led the fight against these rebels and while some Atlasians have tried to help them, like Vice-President Windjammer and Senator Alfred, apathy has been the reaction that we have seen lately across the nation. Sadly, yesterday we were reminded of the consecuences this war we have chosen to ignore can bring to us. A commercial plane was shot down, killing more than 300 people, including some of our citizens, and my prayers are with them and with their families and friends for this horrible tragedy.

Not for one second I buy the version of President Putin regarding this to be the action of the Ukrainian military, and as a Senator and a private citizen I believe this is the action of the pro-Russian separatists. Unlike what some people in Atlasia would like to think, I am not here to advocate for war. But I do want to advocate for action, I want to ask the Senate to pass the aid package to Ukraine as soon as possible, and I want to ask the SoEA and the President to act on this issue, as they have the tools to do so in a more effective way than the Senate itself. Atlasians died yesterday, and I don't think it's far to say Ukraine is not something that we should care about. We need to act, we need to support Ukraine in this issue and show Vladimir Putin that Atlasia will not ignore what's going on and allow him to do as he pleases in Eastern Europe.

Lumine.

[Lumine]

Update XIII:
War Powers Act and more strange Senate Bills:

July 29th, 2014:
With August looking very exciting with two Senate elections, Senator Lumine introduced four pieces of legislation today hoping to spark some discussing into a couple of neglected issues, all while campaigning for his reelection in the election that comes three weeks from now. The announcement was made in a campaign stop in Seattle in the Pacific Region, related to an earlier tour of the region by the Senator.

Good day, my fellow Atlasians!

It's a real pleasure to be back in the Pacific Region, campaigning in the three weeks left until the people of Atlasia go to the polls to elect a new Senate. Most of the attention will now go to the Special Election, I know, but we need more active races and if we can have two active ones instead of one I'll be happy to contribute to that. Senators Shua, Griffin and Goldwater have already announced their retirements from the Senate, and I can speak for many when I say that, regardless of the ideology one believes in, they will be missed for what they brought to the Senate and for their performances during the months. With only Alfred and me as the remaining incumbents seeking reelection we are bound to have a very different Senate next month (with four new members out of ten), and I look forward to working with the new Senators as well. Now, there's a few issues that I wish to discuss with you tonight, and one of them is the passage of two pieces of legislation that I'm particularly proud of: First comes the Duke-Scott Educating the People Reform, which will improve the quality and the tools of our Education thanks to the hard work of the Former President and the IDS Emperor, who deserve praise for their efforts and their push to get this bill passed. Then comes my Ukrainian Technical, Economical and Military Aid Act, which is close to becoming law after a long debate. I finally managed to keep with promise in regards to helping Ukraine and President Poroshenko, and I'm proud that we will finally intervene in a measured way in a key foreign issue that deserves our attention.

I know that many of you believe I'm going full-hawk after these months in the Senate, but I do have some sort of justification. I've always loved foreign affairs, but being an Assemblyman, Archduke and Governor means that foreign issues cannot be discussed and have to be replaced by domestic ones. You will have to imagine my joy when I finally managed to talk about the world, and given the reaction I've seen so far (both positive and negative), I am very encouraged to continue to work in this front. Because of that, and since the Senate is about to run out of bills, I decided to imitate the example of TNF (who regardless of our disagreements is a very prolific legislator) and send four bills to the Senate to debate them hopefully during August. First comes my promised reform of the war mechanisms of the nation, which includes the War Powers Amendment and the Repeal of War Powers Resolution Act. I encourage Atlasians to follow the debate in the Senate, but long story short, the first one creates two mechanisms for war, a Declaration of War for significant armed conflict and a Resolution of Force in cases like the proposed intervention against ISIS. Drawing a few elements from the OTL proposed War Powers Consultation Act of 2009, this regulates the process and it involves the President, SoEA and the Senate for better coordination, responsibility and transparency. Of course, the second one will repeal the current War Powers Act to avoid ambiguity on this front. Then comes a rather simplistic and not so serious effort of mine, the State of the Union Amendment, which seeks to get the President of Atlasia more involved with events across the nation by making the State of the Union address mandatory. It's an idea I had the other day and I wanted to at least discuss it, it might be good or bad, but I feel it's worth the effort.

Finally, I decided to get out of the box for a moment and stop taking about foreign affairs so much (although I will be taking a foreign trip this week to visit some countries) and address an issue that I find very important. Like many of you know, I am one of the few politicians in Atlasia to hold a pro-life position in the issue of abortion (like Senator DC or Assemblymen JCL and Cassius), which I've held ever since I came here. I understand most of Atlasia is pro-choice, and I do not wish to repeat the old debate that will lead us nowhere, so I recalled a bill my friend Cris introduced before the Althing when I was Governor, a bill that sought to reduce abortions by encouraging adoptions and at the same time protecting the right to the child to know about his origins. I have made a few modifications to that bill and I've introduced it before the name with the name Adoption is an Alternative Act, the second in a series of proposals I've had for domestic policy ever since I ran for the Midwest regional Senate seat. These four proposals mean that so far I have introduced eleven bills before the Senate since I took office, and while the number is low and some of them have not passed, it is certainly better than my earlier attempts at law making, so I am rather pleased to see progress of my behalf on that front.

Well, I don't know what else to say. Thanks for paying attention!

LumineVonReuental, OSAS, At-Large Senator.

[Lumine]

Update XIV:
Mideast Tour:

August 7th, 2014:
As the At-Large election gains steam, Senator Lumine is currently participating with the other candidates in the debate while he is also taking tours for the upcoming primary and general election. After touring the Pacific in the past weeks, the Senator is now taking a tour of his first region, the Mideast, where he hopes to gain the support of the large population (including many Federalists) living there.

Good night, my fellow Atlasians!

With the election now being contested by many competitive candidates it is imperative for all of us to get out there and talk to out constituents. In my case, and as an At-Large Senator I am bound to represent Atlasians from all regions, which is why I have returned to the region in which I lived my first months in this nation. The Mideast is the place in where I served as Mideast Assemblyman and here was where I managed to win my first election in an upset as an independent, so you will understand if touring these states makes me a bit nostalgic. It's been a long road for me since I joined the game in December 2012, and after countless elections one is bound to had a good amount of success and a long list of mistakes as well. All in all, I think that most of my time here has been rather positive and despite having trouble with a couple of issues I think I have been able to accomplish quite a lot. As time goes by I feel more and more comfortable in the Federalist Party, and with the upcoming primary I wish to take the time to appeal to the members of our party to go out there in full force to support our future candidates for Senate. We have two seats to hold, and I am confident that we will replicate our success in April! The polls are indeed encouraging for the primary, but I know that taking votes for granted is the best way to failure in politics, which is why I am asking for your support once again.

I'll be frank with you, I had my share of failures recently over Iraq and the recent controversy with Vice-President Windjammer. Needless to say, there seems to be a conflict between my role as a Senator and my other role as the Director of the Political Tracker, and since I don't want to jeopardize my political life by having such a conflict, I am currently taking a decision on the matter, which I should announce very soon. Leaving that aside, I wish to ask for all Atlasians to follow the current debate (and the campaign as a whole) and comment on it, this is truly a perfect opportunity for all candidates to discuss the issues and show the differences that we have among ourselves. I wish to have another term on the Senate because I feel the efforts in foreign policy have to be consolidated and expanded, because we need more voices advocating for us to have a clear role in the world (like Clarence, or Alfred, and so forth), more voices addressing important issues like the environment or the debate on a bicameral parliament) more voices that will stand up against proposals to introduce guillotines throughout this nation and will oppose ideas like the proposed legalization of cocaine and heroin or policies that could be dangerous for our economy or the stability of Atlasia itself. After ten years we have a country that has several challenges to meet, and now more than ever we need to have a good grasp on what's really going on right now to both progress and maintain current progress.

I am pleased with most of the candidates we have running for Senate right now, and I don't doubt for a moment that most of them would make great Senators. All of them bring something to the table, and I feel that the voters have a challenge themselves in this election, the challenge of asking questions, of reading the platforms of the speeches, of carefully consdering each candidate and what's best for the Senate and for Atlasia itself. Hopefully I will be able to be one of the two Federalists nominated for the general election and then secure another term, but in the meantime, it's time to speak and debate, it's time to tour the nation, this is the time to campaign!

LumineVonReuental, OSAS, At-Large Senator.