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[1] (April 12, 2004)

handle is hein.crs/crsuomaaaaw0001 and id is 1 raw text is: EBTER201 Updated April 12, 2004 A.Congressiona! Research Service Continuity of Congress: Proposals and Issues Paul S. Rundquist Issue Definition 107th Coqgress Action 108th Conqress Action -- Constitutional Amendments -- Legislative Proposals -- Related Proposals Current Situation Policy Analysis Leg islation -- 107th Congress -- 108th Congress Additional Reading CRS Products issue Definition The September 2001 terrorist attacks have again raised concerns about Congress's ability to act in the event of a catastrophic loss of membership. During the height of the Cold War, Congress considered, but did not approve, constitutional amendments to permit, pending special elections, temporary appointments of House Members to fill vacancies resulting from a disaster. As most state governors are permitted to appoint a Senator to fill a vacancy until the next regular election, the continuity of Senate operations has generally received less attention. There has also been interest in assuring Congress's ability to meet elsewhere than in the Capitol or by electronic means, if assembly in person were unsafe. Action was taken in the 107th Congress after the terrorist attacks to address some of these issues, and rules and practices have been modified at the start of the 108th Congress, but agreement on a comprehensive solution has yet to be reached. 107th Congress Action On October 10, 2001, Representative Baird introduced H.J.Res. 67, a proposed constitutional amendment to permit state governors to make temporary appointments to the House if one-fourth of House Members were deceased or incapacitated. Similar, but not identical, proposals, were offered by Representative Lofgren (H.J.Res. 77, introduced December 5, 2001) and Senator Specter (S.JRes. 30, introduced December 20, 2001) On February 28, 2002, the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution held hearings on the Baird proposal, but took no further action. On December 13, 2001, Representative Langevin introduced H.R. 3481, to require the National Institutes of Standards and Technology to study the

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