I speak today to respectfully submit before you, on behalf of my colleagues, our nomination of @ProfessorHenn to the Council on Regional Security.
We have found ProfessorHenn a citizen in good standing, compliant with all the requirements set out in Article IX, Section 2 of the Charter, and we believe that their experience and skills would contribute significantly to the upholding of regional security and the protection of all citizens.
I yield the floor and submit myself to questioning from this body.
Kris Kringle On behalf of the Council on Regional Security
I don't know that I would describe the CSS as a body with a "wide set of responsibilities" nor an institution where one would be expected to be "involved in" specific areas.
My view, and here each of my colleagues will have their own thinking, is that ProfessorHenn has certain relevant qualifications:
A long history of trusted service to the region dating back to a decade ago that show a clear dedication to the Coalition and its ideals.
Experience in a variety of positions over the years, both domestic and foreign oriented, that afford them a comprehensive view of how our government works and who they key players are both at home and abroad.
Recent experience in foreign and military affairs that can prove valuable in case of a security event.
A clear expressed interest in being active in security affairs and working with others to ensure things get done.
I did not approach this nomination as a “this is what Henn will do” kind of thing, rather as a “this is what Henn brings to the table”. In that sense, I think Henn brings a lot of good experiences and skills to the table.
Does Henn plan to resign their position on the CG if confirmed to the CRS?
More generally, does the CRS have a position on whether dual service in those two bodies is appropriate? It does not seem to be prohibited by the Charter, but I am curious if there is policy or practice one way or the other.
I’d add to what Kris said that they were intended as two separate roles with related but distinct responsibilities. The CRS does the oversight, supervision, and decision-making necessary to maintain regional security. The Coral Guard holds the endorsements for the event of a crisis. Some people will be both, some will be only one or the other. Amerion and Tsunamy are examples of players who have been both since the inception of the Coral Guard in its modern form and anjo is an example of a player who was a member of the Coral Guard and then was later confirmed to the CRS.
Since joining the Coral Guard, you have consistently been at the bottom of the ranks regarding endorsement counts, which has impeded the ability of non-CG nations to endotart (and even caused several nations to go over the cap). While a high number of endorsements is not strictly a requirement of the CRS, they can hold endorsements above even the Coral Guard endorsement cap.
How do you intend to enforce the existing general endorsement cap while your endotarting and nation are arguably responsible for not allowing the cap to grow?
Do you intend to maintain dual membership in the CRS and CG? If so, do you intend to grow your endorsements beyond the bottom rank?
You have previously been a critic of the CRS’ slow-to-act nature and have previously been frustrated by their lack of action or transparency. How do you ensure and intend to keep the CRS focused and prompt in engaging with the government and public?
To the CRS:
When did your body receive Henn’s application, and how long did it take to reach a consensus on accepting it?
Was there any internal dissent among members (outvoted or otherwise)?
Did Glen provide any departing thoughts on the application before his resignation announcement?
The CRS should act proactively, where the Assembly allows it to, in conducting intelligence operations, inquiring about suspicious characters attempting to join South Pacifican institutions, including key ones like the Assembly and the SPSF, but it also exists as a body of highly-trusted individuals that the region should trust in order to restore the Coalition to power in the event of a coup d’etat. Right now, I think the region lacks some of that trust, since the only person sending out anything close to regular communications is the one who is best positioned to conduct a coup d’etat, but this is a resolvable issue.
The CRS, the body charged with oversight of the Coral Guard, have never once spoken to me about their displeasure in my endotarting or in my endorsement count. I would appreciate their input on these statements before answering your two questions involving the Coral Guard.
The CRS has to sacrifice a measure of their internal security in the interests of public trust. That involves disclosing who is communicating on discussions such as Curlyhoward and the endorsement cap and Impersonation Preparedness, and the timelines of such discussions as well, as the Assembly tried to receive during the discussion on the Line of Succession. Not only that, but as mentioned above, more members of the CRS should be communicating with the region more frequently, as a means of introducing and keeping in the region’s short term memory the nations who would be responsible for both regional comms in the event of a crisis and who is trying to restore the government they reside under and (hopefully) would want to see returned to power.
I am not comfortable disclosing the nature of our internal deliberations. We nominated ProfessorHenn because we believe that they are qualified for membership, anything beyond that is irrelevant to the discussion.
There are ways through which the Coral Guard can communicate to the CSS its concerns over the state of the endorsement cap and the endorsement practices of its members. I cannot say more about whether such concerns have been communicated and if so what decision the CSS reached.
Due to increased workloads in RL, I intend to discuss my future in the Coral Guard with the CRS to determine if I should resign from it and instead push for other highly trusted folks to join it. The earliest timeline for that would be next week, though.
I am confused… do you not have access to the same channel on Discord that the Coral Guard does?
I also recall doing monthly checks (as recently as this past weekend) and issuing my recommendations (as the Delegate) for all Coral Guard members to perform in the upcoming month, and the CRS is always free to correct or otherwise order differently.
The absence of a counterorder suggested that you were, at the very least, okay with my recommendations to the Coral Guard, including increasing endorsement counts across the board, including Henn’s.
I went out of my way not to disclose anything about the nature of security-related discussions held in private settings. I’m urging you to do the same.
I highly disagree. The CRS is a highly-trusted institution ultimately responsible to the Assembly, and if the CRS does not want to answer questions that really shouldn’t be security-sensitive toward the institution it has to answer to is extremely worrying.
