Office of Senator Blair (Lets Get Wired Act)

[Blair]

Office of Senator Blair

As promised in my election campaign as Lincoln's Senator I'll run an active office which will keep the good folks of Lincoln up to date with my work in the Senate & the work I'm doing on behalf of our great region.

More news to come!

[Blair]

Office of Senator Blair: Fighting for Lincoln


Senator Blair introduces Legislation to protect Artic Wilderness

I have introduced a landmark piece of legislation- the Protect Our Beautiful Arctic (POBA) Act which will ensure that our artic region is protected from harmful and damaging practices such as oil drilling.

This bill will further protect the existing safeguards for the Artic Refuge while also expanding the amount of protected lands and rivers.

This is a much needed bill to protect the communities and animals who rely and thrive from our beautiful and magnificent artic region in Alaska.

I hope this bill passes the Senate and I hope that the House will pass it too. We need to show our commitment to protecting our natural environment and this is the first step.

Check out the full bill below!

Protecting Our Beautiful Artic (POBA)

An Act to protect the Artic National Wildlife Refuge

Drilling

1.) No Federal leases shall be granted for the extraction or drilling of Hydro-carbons (such as but not limted to oil, crude oil and tar) from the Artic National Wildlife Refuge.

Expansion.

1.) An additional 12.28 million acres of protected land shall be added as protected Wilderness in the Artic Refuge, extending from the coastal plain to the Canadian border.

2.) The Atigun, Hulahula, Kongakut, and Marsh Fork Canning rivers are also granted protections under this act.

[Blair]

Office of Senator Blair: Fighting for Lincoln


Senator Blair introduces Landmark Legislation to Protect Human Rights and Democracy

It was nearly 100 years since Franklin Roosevelt proclaimed that we must be that Arsenal of Democracy and today I have introduced a landmark piece of legislation that would translate this Arsenal into one fit for the 21st century: The Arsenal of Democracy Act.

For too long we have seen our foreign policy and our arms policy of being one that is simply based on our narrow & short terms interests; who acts as a regional power, who checks another regime and who supports our short term goals. But we know this is a deeply flawed & damaging approach; the examples throughout history are endless.

That's why we need to put our core values and our core principles at the centre of our foreign policy; this will not only allow us to be a stronger voice around the world for these values but will allow us to influence and improve human rights around the world.

The 5 central criteria of this bill are around the core values of justice.

1.) A respect for democracy and the rule of law.

2.) Equalities Protections for women, religious groups, LGBT+ groups.

3.) The freedom of the press

4.) Environmental justice.

Thils bill will ensure that these important issues are debated by Congress while also ensuring that there is adequate activity on foreign affairs in both houses of congress. We should not ignore this extremely important issue.

I look forward to this bill being debated in the Senate and I look forward to working across the aisle to get this important bill passed.

Arsenal of Democracy Act.

This Congress recognises the outsized and important role that Atlasia plays on events around the world and recognises the importance of promoting democracy, human rights and equality through all aspects of our foreign policy.

1.) This Act hereby requires that before the authoristian and transfer of either 1.) Non-Lethal arms and ammunition 2.) Lethal arms and ammunition 3.) Policing and anti-terror training from the Government of Atlasia that the Secretary of State sends to congress a resolution certifying that the following conditions have been met.

The criteria

A respect for democracy and the rule of law.

Protections and Equality for but not limited to the following groups and individuals: religious groups and faiths, LGBT+ individuals, gender, those with disabilities and those from indingeous backgrounds.

Protections for the natural environment and a proactive plan to reduce carbon emissions.

The freedom of the press and the right to peacefully protest and assemble.

2.) In light of the above criteria the following countries are hereby barred from purchasing either non-lethal or lethal arms from Atlasia or from receiving military or policing training; either in their own country or in Atlasia.

2A.)  Azerbaijan
2B.) Central African Republic
2C.) China
2D.) Brunei
2E.) Belarus
2F.) Egypt
2G.) Iran
2H.) Syria
2I.) Mynamar
2J.) Venezuala
2K.) Zimbabwe

3.) For the above restrictions to be lifted the Secretary of State shall under the terms of this act certify that substantial progress has been made under the provisions in the Criteria and this shall be ratified by both Houses of Congress.

4.) The certification of the provisions in this act shall be reviewed by the Secretary of State every 12 months, with an emergency provision enabling changes, providing that both houses of congress are notified within 10 days.

[Blair]

Office of Senator Blair: Fighting for Lincoln


Senator Blair praises passage of Protecting Our Beautiful Arctic (POBA)

''I'm delighted that my bipartisan bill to expand the environmental protections for our arctic region has passed both the Senate and the House and has now been signed into law by President MB.

I'd like to thank the President for signing this bill into law and to all my colleagues who supported the passage of this landmark bill. After decades of debate and arguments over drilling in the arctic this bill takes firm steps to stop the harmful practice of oil drilling in one of the most beautiful natural environments in the world.

This is a huge step forward for our natural environment and our public lands and I'd like to thank everyone who supported this.''

[Blair]

Office of Senator Blair: Fighting for Lincoln

I was delighted to be appointed as Deputy PTT of the Senate by PTT Yankee and to help assist with the work in getting the Senate to work as smoothly as possible. We've got a lot of good items of business being debated on the floor of the Senate- on issues ranging from workers rights, to our foreign policy in China.

I'm looking forward to the Senate continuing to work hard for all our regions and for Lincoln.

I also had the joy of having my glorious January & February Senate update getting deleted- but rest assured it will be posted shortly so everyone can see the work we've been doing.

[YE]

Office of Senator Blair: Fighting for Lincoln

I was delighted to be appointed as Deputy PTT of the Senate by PTT Yankee and to help assist with the work in getting the Senate to work as smoothly as possible. We've got a lot of good items of business being debated on the floor of the Senate- on issues ranging from workers rights, to our foreign policy in China.

I'm looking forward to the Senate continuing to work hard for all our regions and for Lincoln.

I also had the joy of having my glorious January & February Senate update getting deleted- but rest assured it will be posted shortly so everyone can see the work we've been doing.

If you self-deleted I can restore.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

Office of Senator Blair: Fighting for Lincoln

I was delighted to be appointed as Deputy PTT of the Senate by PTT Yankee and to help assist with the work in getting the Senate to work as smoothly as possible. We've got a lot of good items of business being debated on the floor of the Senate- on issues ranging from workers rights, to our foreign policy in China.

I'm looking forward to the Senate continuing to work hard for all our regions and for Lincoln.

I also had the joy of having my glorious January & February Senate update getting deleted- but rest assured it will be posted shortly so everyone can see the work we've been doing.

If you self-deleted I can restore.

Virginia can make dreams become a reality when it comes to some of the more annoying parts of this forum.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

Just curious what does PTT stand for? Is that an intentional stand in acronym for PPT to reference something in Britain?

[Blair]

Office of Senator Blair: Fighting for Lincoln

I was delighted to be appointed as Deputy PTT of the Senate by PTT Yankee and to help assist with the work in getting the Senate to work as smoothly as possible. We've got a lot of good items of business being debated on the floor of the Senate- on issues ranging from workers rights, to our foreign policy in China.

I'm looking forward to the Senate continuing to work hard for all our regions and for Lincoln.

I also had the joy of having my glorious January & February Senate update getting deleted- but rest assured it will be posted shortly so everyone can see the work we've been doing.

If you self-deleted I can restore.

A kind offer but funnily enough I knew Atlas crashes a lot of my old laptop so I wrote it up on notes and then deleted by accident- I feel like one of the geriatric senators in the facebook hearings.

Just curious what does PTT stand for? Is that an intentional stand in acronym for PPT to reference something in Britain?

I was going to make a PT-109 joke but sadly its just my mild dyslexia!

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

A kind offer but funnily enough I knew Atlas crashes a lot of my old laptop

I am running Firefox 52 ESR on Windows XP with a 15 year old Emachine powered by a single core AMD Sempron processor, a single channel (DDR1) memory controller and an IDE interface, and Atlas doesn't crash for me. What's your laptop's excuse?

Also how old is this laptop in years?

[Blair]

A kind offer but funnily enough I knew Atlas crashes a lot of my old laptop

I am running Firefox 52 ESR on Windows XP with a 15 year old Emachine powered by a single core AMD Sempron processor, a single channel (DDR1) memory controller and an IDE interface, and Atlas doesn't crash for me. What's your laptop's excuse?

Also how old is this laptop in years?

18 months! I think it has a problem connecting to our awful wifi; so multiple pages crash and so on. Is all fixed now luckily!

[Blair]

Office of Senator Blair: Fighting for Lincoln

I am delighted to announce that I've introduced new legislation in the Senate today that would codify President MBs Executive Order into law- which offered asylum to those in Hong Kong.  

This bill will also add a number of elements- in addition to signalling the support of both the Senate & the House in support of the people of Hong Kong who stood up and continue to stand up for their democratic rights.

The struggle across the world against Authoritarianism is one where we always needs to show our support, and in this case we can make a huge difference by offering asylum to those who've bravely stood up for democracy.  

An Act.

Hong Kong Solidarity & Safe Harbour Act

1.) This act hereby pays tribute to the brave and fearless acts of protest against the Hong Kong Executive and the Chinese Government, and the national security laws introduced.

1B) The congress recognises that the 'one-party two-systems' model has hereby been disbanded by the actions of the Chinese Government and the Hong Kong Executive.

1C.) The congress hereby recognises that action is hereby needed to support the people of Hong Kong.

2. Safe Harbour

2A. All citizens of Hong-Kong, and their spouses & dependents have suffered persecution, or have a well-founded fear of persecution, on account of their peaceful expression of political opinions or peaceful participation in political activities or associations shall hereby be eligible for asylum.

2B.)  Individuals who have been formally charged, detained, or convicted on account of their peaceful actions shall not face any penalty in their application process.

2C.) The Attorney General shall have the power to restrict the Asylum application of any-one found to have contributed or acted to the arrest, detention or restriction of the democratic rights of Hong Kong.

2D.) No Numerical limit shall be imposed on the number of refugees allowed to enter under this act.

2E.) This section shall expire on the 31st December 2025.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

Is the center font intentional or a broken code box?

[Blair]

Office of Senator Blair: Fighting for Lincoln


Statement on Nominations

This week in the Senate I've been proud to vote for two extremely qualified nominees, who I'm sure will be tireless and effective in their roles.

Firstly I voted for Devout Centrist to become Secretary of State, a role that I know he is suited for. In the nomination hearing I was able to question DC about his views on the role, how he'll make it a more active position and what positions the administration have on issues ranging from Saudi Arabia, to LGBT rights around the world.

I was pleased to vote to confirm him and look forward to working with him on the important issues facing Atlasia around the world.

Secondly I was also proud to vote to confirm Peanut- who I'm pleased is back in the saddle.

 I know that he has rather large shoes to fill with the departure of Lumine but equally I know that he'll be an active, creative and engaged GM- it's one of the most important roles in the game, and I know that Peanut will give the job the justice that it deserves. I look forward to working with him on making the game a more engaging & active place for all players.

[Blair]

Office of Senator Blair: Fighting for Lincoln


Lets Get Wired!

''I'm proud to have today released one of the boldest and most ambitious bills of this term in the Senate- the Lets Get Wired Act.

This is an act that would put much needed investment into our broadband infrastructure across the country. We all know how important broadband access is- whether it's for small businesses trying to make sales, kids trying to do out their homework or people working from home it plays a huge role.

Much like the electrification of rural areas in the 1930s I believe that this is both an economic issue and also a fundamental issue of equality- many rural areas have poor or non-existent broadband, and my bill has specific funding programs to support rural areas.

It also ensures that schools, libraries and small businesses can improve their internet access.

At this difficult economic time the bill also commits much needed funding for a jobs program to help train workers to ensure that we have people with the right skills to carry out this infrastructure project.''

You can read my full bill below

Lets Get Wired (LGW) Act

1.) This Act hereby recognises the importance of broadband and data access for communities across Atlasia, and recognises that too many communities still lack reliable, affordable and high quality broadband. This act takes the following steps to remedy this inequality.

2.) The Lets Get Wired Task-Force is hereby created, with an NPC chairman and 5 other representatives appointed by the President, along with one representative from each of Atlasia's region. This taskforce is hereby empowered to expand, improve and introduce high-speed broadband across Atlasia and its regions.

3.) $20 billion shall hereby be appropriated over the next 5 years to aims and objectives of the LGW Act. The $20 billion is hereby broken down in the following areas.  

3A.) $10 billion of this funding is for the up-front cost of installing new broadband route in areas currently not receiving an connection of least 25 megabits per second, an upload speed of at least 3 megabits per second.

3B.) $5 billion is hereby granted to the regions of Atlasia to spend on the improving and expanding broadband access.

3C.) $2 billion is hereby allocated for the installation of broadband for rural areas and areas under the oversight of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA)

3D.) $1 billion is hereby allocated for a federal jobs training and apprenticeship scheme designed to train employees for the skills needed in the installation of broadband infrastructure.

3E.) $1 billion is hereby allocated for public schools and libraries to improve and expand broadband access.

3F.) $500 million is hereby allocated for hospitals and other medical facilities to invest, expand and improve tele-health programs for patients, with the funding designated for improving services for patients with historic difficulty in accessing broadband connections.

3EG) $500 million is hereby allocated to be granted to small business (those with less than 10 employees) to improve internet accessibility for the business, and for employees working from home. The maximum grant amount shall be capped at $5,000 per company.  

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

My biggest concern here is that there might be previous bills dealing with this. I seem to recall Pericles or Devout Centrist doing something on this at one point.