[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 82 (Thursday, June 5, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1137]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 LET'S KEEP ALL REPRESENTATIVES ELECTED

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. RON PAUL

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, June 4, 2003

  Mr. PAUL. Mr. Speaker, the privately funded and privately constituted 
``Continuity of Government Commission'' has recently proposed that, for 
the first time in our Nation's history, we should allow the appointment 
of members of the U.S. House of Representatives. Not only does this 
proposal fail to comport with the intention of the founders of this 
nation, but, even worse, it advocates a solution that has been 
repeatedly rejected by this body.
  The report of this so-called ``Commission'' makes clear that while 
the Senate has, from time to time, voted to pass constitutional 
amendments allowing for the appointment of House members, this body has 
always jealously guarded its status as ``the people's House'' by 
failing to pass such amendments. A brief history review may be in order 
at this point. First, our Nation has been under attack from foreign 
powers in the past, such as in its nascent years when the British were 
constantly ``coming.'' In our own century, we faced an attack on Pearl 
Harbor as well as the very real threat of nuclear annihilation. Now, 
because we have learned that our Capitol was a potential target in a 
terror plot, there is an outcry from some corners regarding our 
vulnerability. Our government leaders are no more vulnerable today to 
mass extinction than they were 20 years ago. Our top-flight military 
makes us, in many ways, less vulnerable to attack and the assassination 
of our leaders than we were 200 years ago.
  Even if we were to sustain such a devastating attack, the nightmare 
scenario painted in the first report of the ``commission'' is not only 
far-fetched, but also admits of a plethora of potential solutions 
already existent in our current constitutional structure. Though the 
report endeavors to cast doubt on the legitimacy of those structures, 
it is unsuccessful. Moreover, what could be more offensive to our 
republican form of government and of more questionable legitimacy, than 
to have a slew of un-elected ``representatives'' outvote elected people 
on the floor of our U.S. House?
  Let's face it: we can scare people and doom-say anytime we wish, but 
it would only be in the case of a nearly complete annihilation that our 
government would fail to function. In such an instance there is no 
``system'' that will preserve our government. On the other hand, if we 
surrender the right to elect people to the U.S. House of 
Representatives, under any circumstances, we will get on a slippery 
slope away from the few remaining vestiges and most precious principles 
of the government left to us by our founders.
  In the event that this ``proposal'' gets more serious and is given 
long-term attention, I will place in the record more detailed 
statements defending the notion of an all-elected House of 
Representatives, and explaining the fallacies and illogic found in this 
report. For now Mr. Speaker, I simply wish to go on record as among 
those who would fight to the last to preserve the principle of a House 
of Representatives consisting entirely of members elected by the 
people.

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