SB 2017-105: Draft Restriction Amendment (Final Vote)

[Associate Justice PiT]

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Sponsor: PiT

     I hereby open the floor for debate.

[Associate Justice PiT]

     The amendment we had sent back to the House to abolish the draft failed in the vote on the amended version. I re-wrote and re-introduced it, taking into account the criticisms levelled by Speaker Yankee and Prime Minister Truman. Hopefully we can get the amendment through Congress this time.

[Associate Justice PiT]

     To get the ball rolling, I have shown this to a couple of my constituents in the Southern region. One suggested weighting the votes of Senators and Representatives, as is done in the Amendment concerning impeachment that is also before our chamber at this time. The other suggested bringing it to a referendum before the public rather than a vote before Congress.

     As both of these change the basic form a little more than I am immediately comfortable with, I wanted to submit them to the Senate floor as proposals for how to proceed with this Amendment.

[Anna Komnene]

Among those options, I'm partial to the public referendum.  If the argument against abolishing the draft is that sometimes it's necessary, I feel like the voters should get to decide if that's the case since they'd be the ones going off to war.

[The world will shine with light in our nightmare]

I would also favor a public referendum, but on principle I will support anything that makes it more difficult for the government to force its citizens to take up arms against any person or country.

[Grumpier Than Thou]

I would also favor a public referendum, but on principle I will support anything that makes it more difficult for the government to force its citizens to take up arms against any person or country.

I second this.

[Anna Komnene]

I think we all prefer the straight up constitutional ban, but unfortunately it didn't get enough votes in the House.  I suppose we could always send it to them again hoping for better results next congress too.

[Associate Justice PiT]

I think we all prefer the straight up constitutional ban, but unfortunately it didn't get enough votes in the House.  I suppose we could always send it to them again hoping for better results next congress too.

     This is a good point. I prefer to get something done here, so I will try and test the waters on this issue before amending it in a fashion that may reduce the odds of it passing the House.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

Another issue of Yankee+Truman v. the Senate.

[Associate Justice PiT]

Another issue of Yankee+Truman v. the Senate.

     I am happy to get a version of this passed. If amending it in the manner outlined will not pass the House, then I am not going to support doing so. This issue should be Yankee+Truman & the Senate.

[Anna Komnene]

So what sort of public referendum would be best?  These are some versions I can think of:

50%+1 of the popular vote 
60% of the popular vote
2/3 of the popular vote 
A majority in 2 of the 3 regions 
60% in 2 of the 3 regions 
A majority in all three regions 
60% in all 3 regions

[Leinad]

So what sort of public referendum would be best?  These are some versions I can think of:

50%+1 of the popular vote 
60% of the popular vote
2/3 of the popular vote 
A majority in 2 of the 3 regions 
60% in 2 of the 3 regions 
A majority in all three regions 
60% in all 3 regions

WI: 2/3rds in all 3 regions.

Again, though, leaving it in in any way makes no sense, and it's kind of confusing to me why Yankee and Truman insist that there's a possibility we'd ever need it.

[The world will shine with light in our nightmare]

Ideally I'd support 2/3 in all 3 regions, but that could be too strict for some people's taste...

[Anna Komnene]

It would definitely be a high threshold.  I'm not sure how it would go over, but we should shoot for the closest to our ideal policy.  The House can always propose amendments if they don't like it, but we shouldn't let concerns about what they might do dictate our policy.

[Mike Thick]

Ideally I'd support 2/3 in all 3 regions, but that could be too strict for some people's taste...

How about two thirds in two of the three regions?

[Anna Komnene]

I think I'd actually rather have the resolution pass in all three regions than have a higher threshold in 2 of the 3.  Maybe 60% in all three.  Or is that still too much?

[The world will shine with light in our nightmare]

I like 60% in all three.

[Associate Justice PiT]

     There has been a lot of brainstorming here, but if anyone is going to propose an amendment then it should probably happen. Otherwise we ought to get going with this.

[Anna Komnene]

I don't know if I'm still a Senator but if I am, I'll submit this amendment.  I realized that we didn't discuss who would have the authority to call the referendum so I went with the President for now.

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[Associate Justice PiT]

I don't know if I'm still a Senator but if I am, I'll submit this amendment.  I realized that we didn't discuss who would have the authority to call the referendum so I went with the President for now.

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     Based on the timing of previous Congresses I suspect your term may have lapsed, but this information is surprisingly hard to track down. If it is the case that it has lapsed, we should go ahead and get ready for the 7th Congress.

[Barnes]

As set out in the below Act of the Fremont House of Commons, Senator Siren's term ends on Friday, July 7.

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[Associate Justice PiT]

     Okay, wonderful. Senators have 24 hours to object to the amendment by Senator Siren.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

I would lean towards finding it acceptable but I would like to here Truman's thoughts as well.

[Associate Justice PiT]

     The amendment is adopted.

[Associate Justice PiT]

     Likewise, are there any more comments here? I can proceed to a final vote in 24 hours if not, but this is an important amendment and one that we should not mess up through haste (as we did in its previous incarnation).