Re: Katrina response, private and public -- call/fax/email specific congress-critters (please)

[Eric Brunner-Williams <brunner () nic-naa net>]

Folks,

I'm trying to keep the competent engineer count at the Boutilliers NAP 
from decrementing to zero in the very proximal future. One of several 
problems being worked by several groups of people.

Specifically, I want to get the paperwork done so that Dominique 
Theodore Guerrier, wife of Reynold Guerrier, Karl Nikolas Guerrier, 
age 3 and Hann Aurelie Guerrier, age 1, may exit Haiti and travel to 
Deerfield Beach, Florida, where Reynold's sister lives. If the wife 
and kids are safe, Reynold will stay on site until relieved.

Dominique holds a valid passport, the young children do not.

I want some of the NANOG list to do something -- a "write your 
congress critter" exercise. See below for instructions.

Eric

====
There are three avenues to take: tourist visa from State, humanitarian 
parole from Homeland Security, and a private request by a member of 
Congress. Of these, the third is the most successful, so that is what 
I'm asking NANOG contributors to do.

Here are the three primary targets:

1. Representative Ron Klein (D-FL), who represents the district in 
which Reynold's sister lives (Deerfield Beach)

2. Representative Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), who's staff agreed to "look 
into" the situation.

3. Senators Cantwell and Murray (D-WA) were both forwarded the 
information on Reynold, but have yet to commit.

Ordered by effectiveness, there is calling the member's district 
office, calling the member's Washington office (particularly if you 
provide service in or near the Congressional District or State), 
followed by fax, followed by email (or ugly webform).

When communicating with the staffers of members of Congress, please 
make the point that this is a key human technical resource for the 
basic function of government. There's not a lot of point in 
entertaining legislation to certify operators if we are indifferent to 
whether there is anyone technically competent left to run what remains 
after a network compromising event of the first magnitude.

Feel free to use Reynold's mail to NANOG of the 19th:

> To any of you who wants to help:
>
> We would like to provide to the haitian government a UC systems with several branches:
>
>     * President office:                                                10 Endpoints
>     * PM office:                                                         10 endpoints
>     * 12 mayor city hall offices:   3 for each :               36 endpoints
>     * Ministries    (9 differents locations 3 for each)       27
>     * Communications Center                                     20
>     * emergency Clusters                                          14
>
> Total                                                                       117 endpoints
>
> Redundant communications.
>
> So if someone can provide recommendations, equipment, skilled technician for that it would be fine.
>
>
> Reynold

If, after your message across to the initial contact, usually a 
staffer simply doing phones, you get to an immigration interest, 
either in the initial staffer, or better, the staffer who handles 
either immigration requests or technology (see below), and you want me 
to follow-up, send me email with the contact details and either I or a 
Cornell Law student will follow-up on the wonk details.

In addition to the its-the-right-thing reason, there is a 
self-interest motivation I want you all to be aware of. The three 
members (above) and one more, Rep. Chellie Pingree of Maine's 1st CD, 
are targets because they responded to the Cornell Law effort on MLK 
Day and yesterday. There is another, larger class of Members to be 
informed -- the Members who currently sit on the House Committee on 
Science and Technology and the House Committee on Commerce and Energy.

Our collective self-interest in informing these Members is that we, as 
operators, big and small, are capable of issue advocacy. They already 
know that our employers, particularly the big ones, are capable of 
issue advocacy ;-)

Committee on Science and Technology:
http://science.house.gov/about/members.shtml

Commerce and Energy:
http://energycommerce.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=160&Itemid=61

Having completed this exercise, please drop me a line at 
brunner () nic-naa net so I can keep count of how many inputs went into 
the system, and where, and possibly infer a causal relation between 
outputs, if any, and inputs, and routing within the system.
====