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Below is a cache of http://www.continuityofgovernment.org/pdfs/060603DenverPost.pdf. It's a snapshot of the page taken as our search engine crawled the Web.
The web site itself may have changed. You can check the current page or check for previous versions at the Internet Archive. Yahoo! is not affiliated with the authors of this page or responsible for its content. Editorial The Denver Post June 6, 2003 We strongly endorse a bipartisan, blue- ribbon commissions recommendation that the Constitution be amended so government can continue if Congress is wiped out in a terrorist attack or other catastrophe. The commission was co-chaired by Lloyd Cutler, former White House counsel to President Bill Clinton, and Sen. Alan Simpson, R-Wyo., and included such members as former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, R- Ga.; former Cabinet officers Lynn Martin, a Republican, and Donna Shalala, a Democrat. When U.S. leaders pondered the possibility of nuclear war in the 1950s and '60s, government continuity was a concern, but no serious action ever was taken. The Sept. 11 attack on the Pentagon and the possibility that the terrorists also wanted to obliterate the White House and the Capitol sparked renewed interest in the subject. The Continuity of Government Commission, a joint project of the American Enterprise Institute and the Brookings Institution, studied how Congress could function if many of its members were killed or incapacitated in a devastating attack on Washington. Among problems explored were: How could deceased House members P REPARING FOR THE UNTHINKABLE Editorial
The Denver Post
June 6, 2003
We strongly endorse a bipartisan, blue-
ribbon commissions recommendation
that the Constitution be amended so
government can continue if Congress is
wiped out in a terrorist attack or
other catastrophe.
The commission was co-chaired by
Lloyd Cutler, former White
House counsel to President Bill Clinton,
and Sen. Alan Simpson, R-Wyo., and
included such members as former
Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, R-
Ga.; former Cabinet officers Lynn
Martin, a Republican, and Donna
Shalala, a Democrat.
When U.S. leaders pondered the
possibility of nuclear war in the 1950s
and '60s, government continuity was a
concern, but no serious action ever was
taken. The Sept. 11 attack on the
Pentagon and the possibility that the
terrorists also wanted to obliterate the
White House and the Capitol sparked
renewed interest in the subject.
The Continuity of Government
Commission, a joint project of
the American Enterprise Institute and the
Brookings Institution, studied how
Congress could function if many of its
members were killed or incapacitated in
a devastating attack on Washington.
Among problems explored were: How
could deceased House members be replaced quickly? What would be
done about incapacitated members
of Congress? And where would
Congress meet if Washington
became uninhabitable?
Currently, governors of states can
appoint successors to senators who die in
office, but not those who are
incapacitated. Also, governors can't fill
vacancies in the House of
Representatives - those seats currently
are filled after special elections. In
a national emergency, that could be too
late.
'The consensus now is that we need a
constitutional amendment, and it should
be a simple one, not one that tries to
spell out in detail all the circumstances
and problems,' said former Speaker
of the House Tom Foley, D-Wash.
Such an amendment would authorize
Congress to enact legislation dealing
with specific problems. That sounds like
a sensible approach to us.
Congress will have to be careful,
though, to include restrictions so that
governors can't pack the House with
members of their own political parties.
Appointed members should serve only
until the next regular election.
Succession in the executive branch
already is covered by other
constitutional provisions, and we see no
need for changing those procedures.
However, our system of government
has three branches, and Congress also
would do well to consider what should
be done in case all members of the
Supreme Court were killed.
Justices normally are appointed by the
president, and we wonder if any chief
executive could resist the temptation to
fill all nine seats with justices who share
his or her political philosophy. One way
to prevent that would be to pick- by lot -
justices from among the chief judges of
the federal circuit courts of appear
to temporarily sit on the Supreme Court
bench.
Before Sept. 11, 2001, such issues may
have seemed theoretical, but reality now
dictates that the nation consider and act
so that it will be ready if the unthinkable
occurs.
The web site itself may have changed. You can check the current page or check for previous versions at the Internet Archive. Yahoo! is not affiliated with the authors of this page or responsible for its content. Editorial The Denver Post June 6, 2003 We strongly endorse a bipartisan, blue- ribbon commissions recommendation that the Constitution be amended so government can continue if Congress is wiped out in a terrorist attack or other catastrophe. The commission was co-chaired by Lloyd Cutler, former White House counsel to President Bill Clinton, and Sen. Alan Simpson, R-Wyo., and included such members as former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, R- Ga.; former Cabinet officers Lynn Martin, a Republican, and Donna Shalala, a Democrat. When U.S. leaders pondered the possibility of nuclear war in the 1950s and '60s, government continuity was a concern, but no serious action ever was taken. The Sept. 11 attack on the Pentagon and the possibility that the terrorists also wanted to obliterate the White House and the Capitol sparked renewed interest in the subject. The Continuity of Government Commission, a joint project of the American Enterprise Institute and the Brookings Institution, studied how Congress could function if many of its members were killed or incapacitated in a devastating attack on Washington. Among problems explored were: How could deceased House members P REPARING FOR THE UNTHINKABLE Editorial
The Denver Post
June 6, 2003
We strongly endorse a bipartisan, blue-
ribbon commissions recommendation
that the Constitution be amended so
government can continue if Congress is
wiped out in a terrorist attack or
other catastrophe.
The commission was co-chaired by
Lloyd Cutler, former White
House counsel to President Bill Clinton,
and Sen. Alan Simpson, R-Wyo., and
included such members as former
Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, R-
Ga.; former Cabinet officers Lynn
Martin, a Republican, and Donna
Shalala, a Democrat.
When U.S. leaders pondered the
possibility of nuclear war in the 1950s
and '60s, government continuity was a
concern, but no serious action ever was
taken. The Sept. 11 attack on the
Pentagon and the possibility that the
terrorists also wanted to obliterate the
White House and the Capitol sparked
renewed interest in the subject.
The Continuity of Government
Commission, a joint project of
the American Enterprise Institute and the
Brookings Institution, studied how
Congress could function if many of its
members were killed or incapacitated in
a devastating attack on Washington.
Among problems explored were: How
could deceased House members be replaced quickly? What would be
done about incapacitated members
of Congress? And where would
Congress meet if Washington
became uninhabitable?
Currently, governors of states can
appoint successors to senators who die in
office, but not those who are
incapacitated. Also, governors can't fill
vacancies in the House of
Representatives - those seats currently
are filled after special elections. In
a national emergency, that could be too
late.
'The consensus now is that we need a
constitutional amendment, and it should
be a simple one, not one that tries to
spell out in detail all the circumstances
and problems,' said former Speaker
of the House Tom Foley, D-Wash.
Such an amendment would authorize
Congress to enact legislation dealing
with specific problems. That sounds like
a sensible approach to us.
Congress will have to be careful,
though, to include restrictions so that
governors can't pack the House with
members of their own political parties.
Appointed members should serve only
until the next regular election.
Succession in the executive branch
already is covered by other
constitutional provisions, and we see no
need for changing those procedures.
However, our system of government
has three branches, and Congress also
would do well to consider what should
be done in case all members of the
Supreme Court were killed.
Justices normally are appointed by the
president, and we wonder if any chief
executive could resist the temptation to
fill all nine seats with justices who share
his or her political philosophy. One way
to prevent that would be to pick- by lot -
justices from among the chief judges of
the federal circuit courts of appear
to temporarily sit on the Supreme Court
bench.
Before Sept. 11, 2001, such issues may
have seemed theoretical, but reality now
dictates that the nation consider and act
so that it will be ready if the unthinkable
occurs.
download Editorial The Denver Post June 6, 2003 We strongly endorse a bipartisan ...
