Congressional Question Time Thread

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

As I campaigned on and mentioned in the interviews last week, this is something I wanted to extend to the members of Congress as well.


The basic premise is this, I will open a 48 hour period of time and the members of the House and Senate can ask the President or a member of the cabinet a question about current policy, world events or our reaction/response to GM generated events and stories.

[White Trash]

I would like to ask a question that is especially paramount for my community, my family, and my constituents. For far too long, our government has ignored the people of rural Atlasia and continues to serve the needs of others while leaving the backwaters of this nation forgotten and forlorn.

Opioids and prescription painkillers are killing my people. At a exponentially growing rate, opioids are ensnaring our young people, eviscerating our families, and turning thriving communities into living ghost towns in which throngs of addicts aimlessly roam the streets in a half-lucid state. I know far too many good young men and women who are on the road to drug fueled oblivion. Young men and women who could've been the future of this nation and of the South, are instead turning to the mind numbing effects of these legal, prescription drugs.

Mr. President, my question for you is simple. What are you and your administration doing to end this drug crisis, save the good people of rural Atlasia, and support our most vulnerable communities?

[The world will shine with light in our nightmare]

First I'd like to say I'm very happy to see what I hope will be a precedent-setting move on behalf of the administration that will spur activity in this and future Congressional sessions.

I'm interested to know what the administration is currently working on with regard to foreign policy.  Several weeks ago we were finally able to pass the Foreign Policy Review Act and my hope is that this would embolden the State Department's role in the game and bring these issues to the spotlight.  My question for the president is is the review being drafted, and if it isn't, will it be eventually so that Congress has the opportunity to formally examine our relationships with other nations?

My second question is on the same topic.  Does Atlasia provide its input on resolutions currently being debated by the UN?  If not, do you wish for Atlasia to have a more active role at the UN especially with regard to controversial subjects such as that of Israeli settlements?  And speaking of Israeli settlements, what is this administration's official position toward them?

[Blair]

I'd like to thank the President for doing this; as he may know from across the pond in the UK question time can always prove interesting.

Does the President have any thoughts or plans  about how best to combat the spread of HIV/AIDs, something that can go hand in hand with the Drug epidemic mentioned by Representative Gothic?

[Clyde1998]

It's great to see this up and running. It's a great idea that you had Mr President.

Can the President explain his position on Palestinian statehood? I understand that there have been attempts to clarify the situation in the past, but I feel that this is a subject that comes and goes away and needs a solution.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

It's great to see this up and running. It's a great idea that you had Mr President.

Can the President explain his position on Palestinian statehood? I understand that there have been attempts to clarify the situation in the past, but I feel that this is a subject that comes and goes away and needs a solution.

Well like I said, it was an idea first attempted by President Afleitch, and again by bore. My hope is to build on their attempts and get Congress more interested then the Senate was either of those times.

I have always supported a two-state solution, the problem is that there is a situation where one side either never wants to negotiate or is never able to negotiate because of the power of terrorist groups and the other side tends to be driven to react and the way they react sometimes is counterproductive if that makes sense.

That is the very reason why reaching a solution is too difficult because it is hard to get both sides to agree to anything and the last decades the politics on both sides has driven them further and further away from the negotiating table.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

I'd like to thank the President for doing this; as he may know from across the pond in the UK question time can always prove interesting.

Does the President have any thoughts or plans  about how best to combat the spread of HIV/AIDs, something that can go hand in hand with the Drug epidemic mentioned by Representative Gothic?

More so I think now that you have May and Corbyn constantly going for each others throats.

I think you need several layers of approach to dealing with the spread of HIV/AIDs

1. Access to healthcare, especially for those who have no income is essential. I think we might disagree on how best to do this, but I think we all agree on how to do it and do it better than current policy.

2. Free Clinics is also something that is of great importance, though not necessarily as much if people have healthcare to begin with. This can go hand in with needle exchanges and other programs.

3. Encouraging Safe Sex practices/Sex Education

4. Education and awareness

5. Research I think is the most important long term thing, as understanding it more and finding away to develop more effective prevention, treatment and hopefully one day a cure.

As you know I am working with you guys on healthcare, and I would be interested in doing likewise on the research. I think we can also together, collaborate with the regions on 2, 3, and 4, providing resources and support. This is something that all levels of gov't need to be involved in to have success obviously.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

First I'd like to say I'm very happy to see what I hope will be a precedent-setting move on behalf of the administration that will spur activity in this and future Congressional sessions.

I'm interested to know what the administration is currently working on with regard to foreign policy.  Several weeks ago we were finally able to pass the Foreign Policy Review Act and my hope is that this would embolden the State Department's role in the game and bring these issues to the spotlight.  My question for the president is is the review being drafted, and if it isn't, will it be eventually so that Congress has the opportunity to formally examine our relationships with other nations?

My second question is on the same topic.  Does Atlasia provide its input on resolutions currently being debated by the UN?  If not, do you wish for Atlasia to have a more active role at the UN especially with regard to controversial subjects such as that of Israeli settlements?  And speaking of Israeli settlements, what is this administration's official position toward them?

I hope so as well. The biggest difficulty I think will be that people lose interest and quit asking questions. That is one of the reasons why I think there needs to be a set period each week to ask questions as opposed to a permanent thread like Senate Discussion that sits for months with no posts.

This has been probably the thing that we have spent the most time on, and I can say that we are pretty close to done. My hope is to have it to Congress early next week. I realize that people have not been able to attend each meeting, and I am in the boat for the last one on Wednesday as well, but the NSC has worked hard as have the former Presidents. I am also thankful to outside input on places that don't get all the headlines, but are nonetheless important to the global community.

Also I will note that you guys did not name it Foreign Policy Review Act but Foreign Relations Review Act, which has only serve to lead those like you and me to repeatedly call it the FPR to the bewilderment of newer Atlasians.

That is an area of opportunity on the UN that I think the GM could explore with us. Like he says x resolution is pending, what is your administration's UN Ambassador's vote on it? But of course that would be up to the Game Moderator in a lot of ways. It would help further my goal of bringing foreign policy more front and center in the game.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

I would like to ask a question that is especially paramount for my community, my family, and my constituents. For far too long, our government has ignored the people of rural Atlasia and continues to serve the needs of others while leaving the backwaters of this nation forgotten and forlorn.

Opioids and prescription painkillers are killing my people. At a exponentially growing rate, opioids are ensnaring our young people, eviscerating our families, and turning thriving communities into living ghost towns in which throngs of addicts aimlessly roam the streets in a half-lucid state. I know far too many good young men and women who are on the road to drug fueled oblivion. Young men and women who could've been the future of this nation and of the South, are instead turning to the mind numbing effects of these legal, prescription drugs.

Mr. President, my question for you is simple. What are you and your administration doing to end this drug crisis, save the good people of rural Atlasia, and support our most vulnerable communities?

Well Representative SouthernGothic, like with Fmr. President Blair, I would say that it is a multi-layered strategy that is necessary to combat this.

1. We need to change the practices of how doctors prescribe drugs and set some standards to limit the use of prescription pain medication. There has been action over the past several years within the Veteran Affairs bureau to accomplish just that, and I would extend that to other aspects of health providers but we would need action from congress to say mandate it or set it as a stipulation to receive medicaid/medicare reimbursements.

2. We need to take care of those who are addicted. I think we need more facilities for treatment of addiction and once again healthcare coverage that covers this and is accessible. Current programs cover snippets of the population but aren't perfect and other whole groups are still not able to access healthcare. My hope is that the final product of Scott's bill ends up addressing that problem, but it is something that could be looked at, especially in making sure the full range of care needed is covered by the Atlascare public option (I think that was his name for it, I keep wanting to call it Fritzcare, but different time )

3. We have to significantly reduce the flow of opiates across the southern border and other ports of entry. I plan to put to use the full range of resources in the Come Out of the Shadows bill to increase security, finish authorized fencing and use technology to target and locate vehicles that could transporting drugs, so that it can be stopped and removed from the market. At the very least we should be able to drive up the street price of the drug.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

Any More Questions? Follow ups?

[Blair]

Any More Questions? Follow ups?

Are any actions being taken against ISIS in either Iraq or Syria, as begun in my executive order?

[The world will shine with light in our nightmare]

Does the TSA or its equivalent exist in this game?  If so, how much money is it draining from the federal budget?

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

Any More Questions? Follow ups?

Are any actions being taken against ISIS in either Iraq or Syria, as begun in my executive order?

Are inquiries for the past week and some change to the GM have been met with with complete silence unfortunately.

Does the TSA or its equivalent exist in this game?  If so, how much money is it draining from the federal budget?

I would imagine that the TSA does exist and that it is drawing about the same amount in RL as no budget has yet been passed altering it and while such was on my agenda of desired items, the healthcare bill meant that it was impossible to proceed with a budget until that was completed.