PNC 08/23/2026

PNC Meeting Minutes: August 23rd, 2026

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Pirate National Committee — All national committees

The August 23rd 2026 PNC Meeting was one of the weekly meetings of the Pirate National Committee (PNC).

Agenda

Discussion

Old Business

Appointing Members for Vetting Committee

For the Vetting Commmittee, the PNC needs to select

• 2 representatives from state parties and
• 1 Captain Emeritus

New Business

Foreign Policy Plank Update

• At the Platform Committee 2026-08-19 meeting the following was approved to be sent to PNC as a replacement for the current Foreign Policy and Pan-Americanism planks.

Foreign Policy

We advocate for the right to free association and self-determination. We believe people living in a political entity should have the right to maintain, alter or conclude their relationship to larger entities, or join in union, if it is the will of the people. We affirm the right to free movement. The foreign policy of the United States has not reflected those values.

International Law

To hold ourselves accountable to the standards we expect of other countries, we believe the United States should

• Ratify the Rome Statute and repeal the Hague Invasion Act.
• Join the Ottawa Treaty and the CCM treaty
• Ratify the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea and join the High Seas Treaty.
• Ratify Protocol I and II to the Geneva Conventions.
• Make all international treaties self-executing, and engage with the system of international law without substantive carve-outs.
• Pay UN dues in full and on time.

The same standard applies to what we fund abroad. We should give no military aid to any undemocratic country including the genocidal apartheid state of Israel.

Pan-Americanism

In our own hemisphere, decades of embargo and sanction have punished populations without changing the governments they were aimed at. The United States has not been a good neighbor. We believe that through the OAS or other Pan-American organizations we should foster genuine collaboration and friendship. We should end the Cuban embargo, close Guantanamo Bay, lift sanctions on Nicaragua and end the occupation of Venezuela. Legislation should be passed explicitly preventing the US government and its intelligence agencies from covertly interfering with elections anywhere. This is only a start to what needs to be done to repair relations in the Americas.

Trade and Sanctions

We strive for free trade and free movement of peoples, as it will lead to a higher quality of life for everyone. Unfortunately, sanctions and tariffs will remain a tool of policy for the foreseeable future. They should be bounded in time and should be targeted at governments like those of Russia and China which continually infringe upon their citizens human rights. There should be permanent humanitarian exemptions in sanctions for food and medicine. Sunset clauses and mandatory congressional reauthorization should be attached to any sanctions or tariff regime.

Military Spending

Our force structure should be sized to the missions we actually intend to carry out. The US military is by far the most powerful in the world, it is an unjustifiable level of over-preparedness. With the goal of reducing US military spending to 50% of its current level over the next 15 years, we should reevaluate our defense spending priorities. Savings should first come from contractors. We should restore competitive bidding as the default. We should require certified cost and pricing data on every part a military contractor sells us. The Pentagon budget should be cut every year it fails an audit, and most overseas bases should be closed. We should pair this drawdown with a doubling of the peace corps.

Nuclear Weapons

While nuclear weapons will certainly remain an essential part of US military capability for the foreseeable future, our nuclear strategy should be aimed at the eventual goal of a world without them. To that end:

• We should negotiate an expanded New START successor treaty to govern a mutual drawdown in nuclear weapons, within a framework that can include all nuclear powers.
• We should adopt a legally binding no-first-use policy for nuclear weapons.
• We should ratify the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty.

War Powers

Congress must also reclaim its constitutional authority over the use of force. The 2001 AUMF should be repealed, and the War Powers Act should be amended to close loopholes and strengthen enforcement.

The War Powers Act should be updated to require congressional authorization before introducing US forces into any hostilities, except to repel an actual armed attack on the United States. Any such emergency use of force should terminate automatically, with appropriations cut off, absent congressional authorization within 30 days.  

The definition of hostilities should be expanded to explicitly include drone strikes, standoff strikes, special operations raids, offensive cyber operations, direct support to belligerents, and any other comparable use of force that successive presidents have used to avoid congressional oversight and conduct illegal wars. Individual members of Congress should be granted standing to sue for unauthorized uses of force, with expedited review and political-question dismissal barred.

Minutes

Attending State Representatives

• AZ - Maggie Carswell
• FL - Wanda Ward, Swarmcare manager
• IN - Eric
• MD - Joel Lightfoot, Auditor
• MA - Eli McGee, Treasurer
• OH - Mars Bale, Webmaster
• PA - Drew Bingaman

Absent States

• Illinois

Non Voting

• Ewa Kruzel - AZ
• Lily Boyt - AL, Scribe
• David Hall - FL
• Jolly Mitch - IL, Captain
• Ashley Melody - IN
• Joesph Onoroski - MA, Lookout
• James Nguyen - NC

Reports

IT Committee

• Wiki is down at the moment for updates.

Maryland

• The First official Maryland meeting was held. They will work on officer elections, bylaws, and platform at the next meeting. They plan to hold meetings every two weeks.

Treasurer

• James O'Keefe is being added as a deputy treasurer

Arizona

AZPP ICYMI: 8/19/2026 meeting:

We decided to cancel the in person meeting and meet regular time on discord since anyone who could make it couldn't but could meet later so we meet later.

Outreach & Committee Updates: No updates to report besides continuing to work on PayloadCMS.

Tucson Itinerary for PNC Conference: We went over the needed Itinerary requirements for hosting PNC Conference, such as location, traveling, venues, etc and how we need to research each requirement necessary for Tucson, along with researching venues on Native land that we can host the conference at.

Pooling Donations: We reasserted that we need to start pooling donations for the better financial health of the party and the campaign.

Write In Campaign/Yard Sign/Video ads update: We went over the write in campaign again. Devon went to the Gloo Factory and that the Factory will edit the signs a little bit to make the sign look better and more effective. We will have the 10 signs next week. To that end, we strategized on the places to put the 10 signs since we have a limited number of them, such as near the library, campuses, busy intersections on Tangerine & Oracle Road, and near a busy intersection near Tanque Verde. Video ad is also going good with no issues as of late.

First Game Night Recap: We recapped Game Night on previous Tuesday. The technical difficulties with Xbox One, needing to pivot to EU4 after 30 minutes, live streamed playing EU4 for an hour and a half.

Phoenix Event/Idea/something Update: We brought up needing to be at a Phoenix Event again and we looked over a lot of potential events we can be at in the next few weeks. A decision will be made within the next two meetings.

Illinois

• ILPP held a meeting earlier today. A write in candidate from the American Solidarity Party running for IL governor was present at the meeting.

Discussion

Old Business

Appointing Members for Vetting Committee

Lightfoot nominated Liz for the vetting committee for the Captain Emeritus position, Bale Seconded.

State	Vote
Arizona	Aye
Florida	Present
Indiana	Aye
Maryland	Aye
Massachusetts	Aye
Ohio	Aye
Pennsylvania	Aye

Motion passed 6-0 with 1 abstention.

Carswell nominated Kruzel as one of the two reps for the vetting committee, Lightfoot seconded. Onoroski nominated Bingaman as the other rep, Lightfoot seconded.

State	Vote
Arizona	Aye
Florida	Nay
Indiana	Present
Maryland	Aye
Massachusetts	Aye
Ohio	Abstain
Pennsylvania	Abstain

Motion passed 3-1 with 3 abstentions.

Upcoming PR Director Vacancy

• On September 1st Rowan Tipping will be resigning as PR director. He stated that he intends to remain a part of the party, but he does not have time for the role.

Lightfoot moved to form an election committee tonight for an eleciton for tippings replacement on august 30th

State	Vote
Arizona	Aye
Florida	Aye
Indiana	Nay
Maryland	Aye
Massachusetts	Aye
Ohio	Aye
Pennsylvania	Aye

Motion passed 6-1.

• Ward nominated Onoroski for the election committee
• Bale nominated Boyt for the election committee
• Lightfoot nominated Mitch for the election committee
• Lightfoot moved for all three candidates to makeup the election committee, Bingaman seconded.
• All three candidates were voted on individually and each passed 7-0.
• Election committee will be Mitch, Onoroski, and Boyt.
• Ward motioned to use Instant Runoff Voting (IRV) for this election Bingaman seconded

State	Vote
Arizona	Aye
Florida	Aye
Indiana	Aye
Maryland	Abstain
Massachusetts	Aye
Ohio	Aye
Pennsylvania	Aye

Motion passed 6-0 with 1 abstention

• Ward motioned to select the location for the 2027 conference on sept 13th, Onoroski seconded.

Passed with no objection

New Business

Foreign Policy Plank Update

• It was asked for platform committee to discuss native relations.
• Ward moved to adopt the plank as written, bale seconded.

Motion passed 7=0

• Ward Motioned to adjourn
• Kruzel mentioned that cicadas wanted in on the business.
• Meeting was Adjourned.

Meeting Recording

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqNFqW0eOKY