Anti-Space Weaponry Act of 2020
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I'd like to start by saying that every instance of the word 'whereas' should be removed from this bill, and if necessary, I'll submit amendments to clean up the language of the bill to that effect. I also believe the preamble should be amended since, quite frankly, I do not believe that this bill will preserve civilisation from extinction.
Otherwise, I agree with Cllr Falk in that the principles behind this bill are sound; and I agree with both herself and Cllr Barrington in that this bill needs extensive rewording to make it effective and prevent any serious unintended consequences.
Cllr Tupac Shakur
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I very much appreciate to hear the opinions of my colleagues and I am pleased to see how they agree with the idea of preserving space as a common heritage of all mankind. I agree that I have noticed some mishaps in my proposals and I hope it would be amended accordingly.
Now, the honorable gentleman from Inimicus had mentioned the oddity of this act and I suppose that I have also realized such. He had also mentioned that S-II.VI is broad but I'd like to explain the purpose of this clause.
The use of nuclear material as fuel based on studies conducted by the KRSA is very dangerous and harmful due to the massive release of nuclear waste. And in case of an explosion during flight, the spacecraft would be something like a nuclear bomb exploding in mid-air or in space. Though, I agree that the phrase 'highly explosive' should be removed since all fuel used for spacecraft as of now are really explosive.
Certainly, I also have a reason for the wordings in S-II.V. I'd like to point out that military reconnaissance vehicles or satellites are not illegal under that clause. That being said, the phrases there shows that the moon or any other celestial body is free to be explored by any nation with peace and harmony.
Moving on to the clarification he asked for S-II.IV, this just explains that all men whether a member of an armed force shall not be barred from conducting researches in space. It also shows that space is not owned by anyone and is neutral grounds. But, the purpose of these military personnel being sent to space shall only remain for peaceful purposes such as scientific research and meteorological observations.
Lastly, I also would like to tell everyone that I have also realized that the phrases in S-III.II is not properly worded and that I agree that the word 'detonate' shall be removed. I hope those would be included in the amendments.
Friedrich van Allen
Councilor, Kingdom of Reitzmag -
Councillor van Allen, I think you are a bit mistaken on this subject. There is no release of nuclear waste from the usage of nuclear material as fuel; only some radiation, which is entirely contained to the onboard reactor and used to create heat as to generate power. At the same time, the type of nuclear material used for these purposes is not terribly reactive when compared to that of nuclear bombs. Such a thing is necessary, to ensure that it can generate power for an extended period of time rather than releasing it all in an instant, as is with nuclear bombs. In the case that the reaction does go out of control, which sometimes but rarely - very, very, very rarely - happens, there are controls to mitigate it. Despite this, there is no risk of there being a nuclear-bomb like effect in the case of an explosion; none at all.
On the rest, I generally concur with my colleagues.
Martin Bourgaize
Councillor for the People's Confederation of Eastern Haane -
I am sorry but I disagree to the honorable gentleman from Eastern Haane. There are numerous reasons why no nation uses nuclear energy to propel spacecrafts. First, radiation is dangerous and if there is any leak in the spacecraft it would kill the astronauts on board and release radiation in the atmosphere. Secondly, all rockets are not 100% successful and reliable and it would really act like a nuclear bomb. Third, nuclear reactors board in rockets are really heavy and would not help propel the rockets further into space. And finally, launches involving nuclear material as fuel would be very costly and thus ineffective. Though, as the honorable lady from Vayinaod suggests,the propulsion system used by the space probes of Vayinaod and Fremet uses a battery called 'Radioisotope thermoelectric generators' which contains nuclear material. These batteries are safe is properly contained since as far as I know, it uses Plutonium which is dangerous if inhaled while powered. And as far as I know, it cannot explode like a nuclear weapon. So, I hope that it would be amended so that use of these RTGs would be allowed but must require approval from the authorities such as the ESA or the ENAA.
Friedrich van Allen
Councilor, Kingdom of Reitzmag -
Debate on this legislation shall remain open until 10:00 GMT on August 9th, 2020.
There's not much that I can add to this debate that hasn't already been stated by either Councillor Barrington or Councillor Falk. At this point, I don't want to dog pile on this piece of legislation either.
Some of my fellow Councillors have given some good advice that should be taken into consideration for the future. Moving forward, decision-makers and legislators from Reitzmag should be encouraged to drop the usage of "whereas" in their texts, as it's both an unnecessary and strange turn of phrase.
In Section I, I'm not sure why the defined words have periods after them. They've now become incomplete sentences.
Both the language and the content of this legislation need to be re-worked in my opinion. Inquista opposes the militarization of space in any form, so I welcome any legislation on the matter... if it is to be re-written.
Edward Firoux
Council Speaker and Councillor for Inquista -
Here are the amendments I would like to propose that I see could satisfy this estimable body:
Amendment I:
SECTION I. DEFINITIONS
I. Weapons are defined as any element or object that can harm or cause destruction.
II. Celestial Body is defined as any natural body outside of the Earth's atmosphere.
III. Spacecraft is defined as any man-made body capable and meant to reach space and escape the earth's gravity.SECTION II. REGULATIONS
I.
Whereas, anyAny nation with or without a space program may not install any armed spacecraft or weaponry in orbit around Earth, the moon, or any other celestial body.
II.Whereas, theThemoon and other celestial bodies shall be used by all member-states exclusively for peaceful purposes.
III.Whereas, theTheestablishment of military bases, installations and fortifications, the testing of any type of weapons and the conduct of military manoeuvres on celestial bodies shall be forbidden.
IV.Whereas, theThe use of military personnel for scientific research or for any other peaceful purposes shall not be prohibited.
V.Whereas, theThe use of any equipment or facility necessary for peaceful exploration of the moon and other celestial bodies shall also not be prohibited.
VI.Whereas, anyAny object or substance containing highly explosiveornuclear material are prohibited from being sent to space.SECTION III. ENFORCEMENT
I. All member states of the European Union are required to harmonize their national law(s) with this Act in 5 months of time from its approval by the European Council.
II.Whereas, allAll member-states of the European Union with a currently deployed armed spacecraft or weaponry in space are required to ~~detonate/return ~~ disarm themto earthwithin 3 months after this act is passed in the European Council.
III. Breaches of this Act shall be considered a punishable offense in member states. Failure of member states to enforce this Act may be tried in the European Court of Justice.
Amendment II:
SECTION I. DEFINITIONS
I. Weapons are defined as any element or object that can harm or cause destruction.
II. Celestial Body is defined as any natural body outside of the Earth's atmosphere.
III. Spacecraft is defined as any man-made body capable and meant to reach space and escape the earth's gravity.SECTION II. REGULATIONS
I.
Whereas, anyAny nation with or without a space program may not install any armed spacecraft or weaponry in orbit around Earth, the moon, or any other celestial body.
II.Whereas, theThemoon and other celestial bodies shall be used by all member-states exclusively for peaceful purposes.
III.Whereas, theTheestablishment of military bases, installations and fortifications, the testing of any type of weapons and the conduct of military manoeuvres on celestial bodies shall be forbidden.
IV.Whereas, theThe use of military personnel for scientific research or for any other peaceful purposes shall not be prohibited.
V.Whereas, theThe use of any equipment or facility necessary for peaceful exploration of the moon and other celestial bodies shall also not be prohibited.
VI. Whereas, any object or substance containing highly explosive or nuclear material are prohibited from being sent to space.SECTION III. ENFORCEMENT
I. All member states of the European Union are required to harmonize their national law(s) with this Act in 5 months of time from its approval by the European Council.
II. Whereas, all member-states of the European Union with a deployed armed spacecraft or weaponry in space are required to detonate/return them to earth within 3 months after this act is passed in the European Council.
III.II. Breaches of this Act shall be considered a punishable offense in member states. Failure of member states to enforce this Act may be tried in the European Court of Justice.Friedrich van Allen
Councilor, Kingdom of Reitzmag -
I would like to request to Mr. Speaker an extension for the debates.
Friedrich van Allen
Councilor, Kingdom of Reitzmag -
Debate shall be extended until 07:00 GMT on August 12th, 2020.
Edward Firoux
Council Speaker and Councillor for Inquista -
Thank you Mr. Speaker, now I hope that the debate extension would help give time to my colleagues to submit their own amendments that I think could be better.
Friedrich van Allen
Councilor, Kingdom of Reitzmag -
I have a few amendments, so I thank the Speaker for the time extension.
Amendment 1:
SECTION I. DEFINITIONS
I. Weapons.are defined as any element or object that is intentionally designed to, and with the express purpose tocanharm or cause destruction to either persons or property.
II. Celestial Body.is defined as any natural body outside of the Earth's atmosphere.
III. Spacecraft.is definedas any man-made body capable and meant to reach space and escape the earth's gravity.a man-made body, which may be manned or unmanned, designed to operate past an attitulde of 100 kilometres above Earth.Amendment 2:
SECTION II. REGULATIONS
I.
Whereas, anyAny nation with or without a space program may not install any armed spacecraft or weaponry in orbit around Earth, the moon, or any other celestial body.
II.Whereas, theThe moon and other celestial bodies shall be used by all member-states exclusively for peaceful purposes.
III.Whereas, theThe establishment of military bases, installations and fortifications, the testing of any type of weapons , except as allowed by European law, and the conduct of military manoeuvres on celestial bodies shall be forbidden.
IV.Whereas, theThe use of military personnel for scientific research or for any other peaceful purposes shall not be prohibited.
V.Whereas, theThe use of any equipment or facility necessary for peaceful exploration of the moon and other celestial bodies shall also not be prohibited.
VI. Whereas, any object or substance containing highly explosive or nuclear material are prohibited from being sent to space.Amendment 3
Section III: Enforcement
I. All member states of the European Union are required to harmonize their national law(s) with this Act in
512 months of time from its approval by the European Council.
II.Whereas, allMember-states of the European Union with a deployed armed spacecraft or weaponry in space are required todetonate/return them to earth within 3 months after this act is passed is approved in the European Council.develop a plan to either dearm, safely orbit, or decommission in some capacity all spacecraft prhobited by this act within twelve months. This plan shall be submitted to the Director of the ESA, but shall not require the explicit approval of the ESA Director. European Union member-states shall have five years to comply with the removal of all prohibited spacecraft, the use of any prohibited spacecraft in the meantime shall be considered a punishable offense.
III. Breaches of this Act shall be considered a punishable offense in member states. Failure of member states to enforce this Act may be tried in the European Court of Justice. -
As I believe that Coun. Falk had proposed better Amendments than mine, I hereby ask to withdraw my amendments.
Friedrich van Allen
Councilor, Kingdom of Reitzmag -
Again another hypocrite move from Reitzmag, as we are used to see in this Council coming from Councillor van Allen. Councillor Barrington said that in another way, but yeah, absolutely he used the right words for this. When you see Reitzmag saying peace is the only solution to this, they could be developing a new treaty with the UNSR or other unrecognised countries that were stablished by Coup d'Etats or revolutions. But I find, as always, some victimhood in Reitzmag and even I'm very used to these kind of attitudes, so, it doesn't surprise me.
This remembers me to the last Commission campaign where Atty. Winston wanted to intervene all of our armies to remove nuclear stuff and things like that, as also doing joint exercises because, as we all know, joint military exercises are the most important priority for the European Union, we don't have any other challenges but the military! I think that if somes really believe this, they have been isolated from the EU during these months. Military is an important thing, of course. But please, let's moderate ourselves on this, we have lots of much important challenges.
I would like to clarify that I'm against any type of space battle, but I can't stand this. Again, if we don't want to be forced of free movement, why would we force countries to de-weaponize the space or just have none of Space Weaponary? I kind of know why this Act has appeared: Because the UNSR launched a missile to a Reitzmic Space Station, so then, we all need to avoid Space Weaponary. But suddenly, we all see how the Reitzmic Government returns money to the UNSR, and we et to know all the hidden steps of the matter, what really made us reach this point.
I will possibly vote against this, just because it will not stop those nations that do not accomplish the European Union regulation, and I see it just another attempt to regulate something Reitzmag suffered because if Reitzmag suffers, we all need to do exactly the same what Reitzmag says, or that is what Councillor van Allen might think.
Donald D. Tusk
Councillor for Spain -
Mr. Tusk, are you telling me that you want to destroy the EU? You want to develop space-borne weapons to do what? Attack or scare anyone you hate? Do you really not want peace and unity and spare the lives of the future Europeans who would cherish our successes in Space? The illegitimate government in Icholasen is the biggest threat to us all. If they had done it to us in Reitzmag, they can do it to all of the member-states! And we can prevent that if we pass this act Mr. Tusk.
Friedrich van Allen
Councilor, Kingdom of Reitzmag -
Do you really think I'm aiming to destroy the European Union? My god, this is harder than I first thought Cllr. van Allen, and your arguments are just 2 if we don't want to support your proposals: "Do you want to deprieve my country?" or "Do you want to destroy the EU?" It seems that if someone goes against one of your proposals, then "he has to go to hell, there's no way someone can go against me, technically impossible."
And about the Union of Nicoleizian Soviet Republic, mostly known as UNSR, I'm going to say something that has been proven in the past and will always be like that: Rogue states never accomplish the law, and they will never do that. So, passing this to avoid rogue nations to attack us is as silly as saying that we are controlled by someone and we are jailed on a videogame. I'm going against this act, and even if I'm against war, I see this as a silly thing, because it changes nothing. At least, Cllr. Falk has proposed some amendments that make this much better, but still, I'm opposed to this.
Donald D. Tusk
Councillor for Spain -
Debate has now closed. It is time to vote on amendments. Voting on amendments begins NOW and will last until 09:00 GMT on August 16th, 2020.
There are three amendments, all of which are authored by Councillor Falk:
Amendment I
SECTION I. DEFINITIONS
I. Weapons.are defined as any element or object that is intentionally designed to, and with the express purpose tocanharm or cause destruction to either persons or property.
II. Celestial Body.is defined as any natural body outside of the Earth's atmosphere.
III. Spacecraft.is definedas any man-made body capable and meant to reach space and escape the earth's gravity.a man-made body, which may be manned or unmanned, designed to operate past an altitude of 100 kilometres above Earth.Amendment II
SECTION II. REGULATIONS
I.Whereas, anyAny nation with or without a space program may not install any armed spacecraft or weaponry in orbit around Earth, the moon, or any other celestial body.
II.Whereas, theThe moon and other celestial bodies shall be used by all member-states exclusively for peaceful purposes.
III.Whereas, theThe establishment of military bases, installations and fortifications, the testing of any type of weapons , except as allowed by European law, and the conduct of military manoeuvres on celestial bodies shall be forbidden.
IV.Whereas, theThe use of military personnel for scientific research or for any other peaceful purposes shall not be prohibited.
V.Whereas, theThe use of any equipment or facility necessary for peaceful exploration of the moon and other celestial bodies shall also not be prohibited.
VI. Whereas, any object or substance containing highly explosive or nuclear material are prohibited from being sent to space.Amendment III
Section III: Enforcement
I. All member states of the European Union are required to harmonize their national law(s) with this Act in512 months of time from its approval by the European Council.
II.Whereas, allMember-states of the European Union with a deployed armed spacecraft or weaponry in space are required todetonate/return them to earth within 3 months after this act is passed is approved in the European Council.develop a plan to either dearm, safely orbit, or decommission in some capacity all spacecraft prhobited by this act within twelve months. This plan shall be submitted to the Director of the ESA, but shall not require the explicit approval of the ESA Director. European Union member-states shall have five years to comply with the removal of all prohibited spacecraft, the use of any prohibited spacecraft in the meantime shall be considered a punishable offense.
III. Breaches of this Act shall be considered a punishable offense in member states. Failure of member states to enforce this Act may be tried in the European Court of Justice.
I vote FOR all amendments.
Edward Firoux
Council Speaker and Councillor for Inquista -
I vote FOR all amendments.
Friedrich van Allen
Councilor, Kingdom of Reitzmag -
On behalf of the Kingdom of Spain, I vote FOR all amendments.
Donald D. Tusk
Councillor for Spain -
I vote FOR all amendments.
Charles Michel
Councillor for the Kingdom of Fremet -
On behalf of the Kingdom of Montenbourg, I vote FOR all amendments.
Emma Granger
Councillor for Montenbourg -
On behalf of the Republic of Nofoaga, I ABSTAIN for all amendments.
Mrs. Azaya Dubecq
EU Councilor for the Republic of Nofoaga
The Kingdom of Spain
