[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 8]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 10896]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




  COMMEMORATING THE PASSAGE OF THE PRESIDENTIAL SUCCESSION ACT OF 1947

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. SHEILA JACKSON LEE

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, July 7, 2015

  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to commemorate the passage 
of the ``Presidential Succession Act of 1947.''
  Passed by the 80th Congress, the ``Presidential Succession Act'' was 
signed into law by President Harry S. Truman on July 18, 1947, in 
response to the sudden death of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the 32nd 
President of the United States.
  The death of President Roosevelt was felt throughout the country, 
because FDR had held the office for over twelve years and seen the 
country through the Great Depression, the surprise attack by Japan on 
Pearl Harbor, and World War II.
  When President Roosevelt died, Vice President Harry Truman was 
immediately sworn in as President; the position of Vice President 
remained vacant for the duration of the term, from April 1945 to 
January 1949.
  President Truman prevailed upon the Congress to pass legislation that 
would correct the issue of a vacant Constitutional position within the 
Executive Branch.
  The Presidential Succession Act established the line of succession to 
the office of President of the United States in the event that neither 
a President nor Vice President is able to discharge the powers and 
duties of the office.
  The Presidential Succession Act places the Speaker of the House first 
and the President pro tempore second in the line of constitutional 
succession for our Chief Executive after the Vice President of the 
United States.
  By creating this clear line of Constitutional succession for the 
Office of the President, Congress provided a mechanism to maintain 
continuity of executive branch operation through horrific national 
tragedies, like the one occurring on November 22, 1963 in Dallas, 
Texas, when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated, elevating at 
that moment Vice President Lyndon Johnson to the Office of the 
Presidency.
  Another moment in our nation's history that exemplifies the wisdom of 
the Presidential Succession Act is the attempted assassination on March 
30, 1981, of our 40th President, Ronald Reagan.
  The aftermath of this attempted assassination of a sitting U.S. 
President was eased by the well-known defined transition of duties set 
forth in the Presidential Succession Act.
  Mr. Speaker, I am proud to commemorate the ``Presidential Succession 
Act'' of 1947 as an example of Congressional foresight in protecting 
the continuity of the Office of the Presidency during a national 
crisis.

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