[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 13]
[House]
[Pages 19115-19116]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                    POTENTIAL CONSTITUTIONAL CRISIS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Washington (Mr. Baird) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. BAIRD. Mr. Speaker, colleagues, on September 11 our Nation was 
forced to begin to think of the unthinkable. As we watched the World 
Trade Center collapse and the attack on the Pentagon, our world was 
changed. It is not a pleasant thing to begin to ponder such 
consequences and situations, but ponder them I am afraid we must.
  Had the fourth airplane succeeded in striking this great building 
while we were in session or were a terrorist organization to detonate a 
nuclear weapon during a joint session of the Congress, I am concerned 
that we could precipitate not only great loss of life but a 
constitutional crisis.
  Under the United States Constitution which we are all sworn to uphold 
and

[[Page 19116]]

defend, House Members can only be replaced by direct election. In the 
event of a national crisis, we would be faced with a situation where 
our government would lack the counsel and wisdom of this, of this very 
body until we could be replaced by direct and special elections which 
could take weeks and possibly even months. Mr. Speaker, this is not a 
condition we want to exist under.
  Though it is difficult to contemplate that scenario, we must 
contemplate it, which is why I am proposing and will introduce this 
week an amendment, an amendment to the Constitution which provides for 
the following scenario: in the event that one quarter or more of the 
Members of this body should be unable to fulfill their duties due to 
death or disability or disappearance and presumed death, under that 
circumstance the Governors of the States from which the Members were 
absent would be empowered to appoint replacements within 7 days of the 
loss of the initial Member and to serve until such time as a special 
election within 90 days will provide for replacement under direct 
election conducted by the States.
  It is important that we do this. It is important that we do this so 
our own citizenry has confidence that even if we were to perish as 
individuals and even if this building were to be lost, our government 
and our Constitution would be preserved.
  It is important that we do this so our adversaries know that even if 
they succeed in taking all our lives, the torch of liberty that we hold 
so dear, the Constitution that we are sworn to defend and uphold will 
persevere.
  This is not a mere thing to contemplate, but I consider it comparable 
to an unlocked door on the cabinet of the Constitution. We cannot 
continue to leave that door unlocked. I urge this body, difficult 
though it may be, complex though it may be, to act with the greatest 
prudence and expedition in this regard.
  Every day that we go without closing this potential gap is a day of 
vulnerability to our Constitution and to our form of government. I 
encourage this body to consider my amendment, to join together in 
reviewing the issues it raises, and to pass as expeditiously as 
possible some form, be it my amendment or some alternative, that will 
correct this problem.
  Further, I urge this body to address potential ambiguities in the 
25th amendment which addresses the line of succession for the line of 
Presidency and, furthermore, to address questions relating to where the 
Congress would convene and how it would convene in the events that 
catastrophic circumstances were to take the lives of our membership.
  Finally, I hope State legislatures will contemplate a similar 
potential scenario within their own structures and implement measures 
to rapidly replace the governors should that be necessary and to 
reconstruct their own State legislatures.
  I will vigorously pursue this as I think frankly it is one of the 
single most important things this body can occupy itself with in the 
coming weeks. I want to thank the Office of the Parliamentarian of the 
House of Representatives who have provided outstanding counsel on this 
issue, along with representatives from the Congressional Research 
Service, from the Committee on the Judiciary, and my own staff member, 
Ryan Hedgepath.

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