Hello everybody, Some of the unknowns facing this group going forward are as much political in nature as they are substantive or procedural. Do we take the opinion and perspective of Senator Ted Cruz seriously? Is it a threat to the transition? Is there something that we can do to be responsive to the genuine concerns of Senator Cruz? Are his concerns genuine? What about the NTIA? The deference shown to Secretary Strickling among some of us here is almost Papal in nature. What did Larry say, how did Larry say it, what did he really mean when he said it but really didn't say it. It's a bit ridiculous. I admire Secretary Strickling. He's a fine civil servant. His published salary, though, is less than that of a first year associate from a decent law school at a mid sized corporate law firm. He is not the all mighty. Commerce and the NTIA are complex places. Larry has absolute control of neither. I've read here today a legal analysis of the Senator's Constitutional challenge by someone I know to be neither an American nor a lawyer. I can click both boxes and I have my views but am I sure I'm right? No. It seems everyone here has an opinion as to what the NTIA will or will not accept from us. Do any of us really know? No. Prior to the Los Angeles meeting it was suggested that we might want to hear from ICANN's lobbyists, that they could explain to us their version of political reality. We properly rejected that offer. I think we've reached the point, though, where we do need to call upon the expertise of some Washington political professionals to help guide us through this part of the process. No more guesswork by amateurs or implied threats by those with some self-interest in the matter. We're talking about who is going to run a vital part of the most powerful communications technology in human history. We need to do this right. Fortunately, we've already retained two such individuals who, if we wish, have the expertise and ability to assist us in this area. Back in the early days of this project when we were all young, innocent and hopeful :) we retained not one but two law firms to help guide us. In retrospect that decision and two firms we chose to hire were amongst the best decisions we've made in this CCWG. I have complete faith in our lawyers and that is a rarity for me. I note that one of the specific reasons we hired Sidley was for their Washington ties and expertise. During our interviews with the firm we were able to meet two of their professionals with the greatest knowledge of DC and government operations : Cam Kerry ( http://www.sidley.com/people/cameron-f-kerry) and Rick Boucher ( http://www.sidley.com/people/rick-boucher ). Both men were extremely impressive. It is time to tap their talents. We need serious advice in these areas from serious professionals. I would respectfully ask our Chairs and the full CCWG to consider inviting either Rick or Cam to Dublin to meet with the CCWG early in the week, preferably during the initial F2F. I think it's important that everyone has a chance to question them. We need this type of policy expertise from a politically astute professional who owes a duty of care to us, no one else, and whose rolodex allows him or her to reach out to those whose decisions will most impact our work. We need to know what political reality is if we are to maximise our potential as a very special and unique group dedicated to helping create a truly open and accountable governance mechanism for this small part of the networked world. Thanks for considering. Best, Ed Morris