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Congress Considering Ways to Replace Members After Possible Catastrophe By Paul Olend and Mark Wegner Congress Daily WASHINGTON — On the steps of a U.S. House office building facing the Capitol, members of a working group on congressional continuity announced plans yesterday to introduce a proposed constitutional amendment that would outline policy on how the government would function in the wake of a terrorist attack (see GSN, June 4). Members of the group, including Representives Brian Baird (D-Wash.), Martin Frost (D-Texas), Christopher Cox (R-Calif.), and Jim Langevin (D-R.I.), spoke somberly about the possibility of congressional incapacitation and called on Congress to move discussions forward on the subject. The amendment, which will follow a yet-to-be-drafted resolution to open the floor to debate on the topic, would provide guidelines for congressional succession. Baird, who plans to introduce the proposed amendment by the end of the year, said it would provide for interim congressional appointments, which would remain in place until special elections could take place. The appointments would be predetermined from a slate of congressional nominees. The group cited evidence from a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing earlier this week, in which officials said it could take up to two months to re-elect lawmakers and replenish the three branches of government following a terrorist attack — a problem Baird said could be resolved by legislation allowing preappointed leadership. Although two years have passed since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Baird said Congress still refuses to acknowledge the importance of updating government continuity legislation, and communication gaps and poor emergency measures following the attacks are evidence that “worst-case-scenario” policies should be revised. Baird said if the resolution to formally discuss the amendment is rejected by House leadership, the group will pursue a discharge petition. A spokesman for House Speaker Hastert said yesterday that Hastert favors an approach taken in legislation by Rules Chairman Dreier and Judiciary Chairman Sensenbrenner that would call on states to hold expedited special elections in case of a catastrophe. He opposes a proposal that would suspend the direct election of any House member seated in Congress. “The speaker doesn’t like the idea of getting away from the direct election of members,” Hastert’s spokesman said.
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