A "hole in the constitution"? (The Last Word).(Continuity of Government Commission proprosal)

Now comes a commission of the great and the good with a proposed constitutional reform to save us in our hour of need.

At a June 4th Washington, D.C., press conference, the Continuity of Government Commission (CGC) darkly warned that a catastrophic terrorist attack on Congress could jeopardize our very survival as a nation by paralyzing the federal government. The Constitution allows for state governors to appoint replacements for Senate vacancies. House members, however, must be elected. In the event that a substantial number of Representatives were killed in an attack, it might take too long for the states to hold special elections to fill the vacancies, worry commission members.

"We have a hole in the Constitution that the framers never could have anticipated," says Norman J. Ornstein, a congressional scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, who served as a counselor to the CGC. A constitutional amendment is needed, members of this prestigious "blue ribbon" panel unanimously agree.

So, how do the CGC luminaries plan to plug this alleged hole? Here is their proposed amendment: "Congress shall have the power to regulate by law the filling of vacancies that may occur in the House of Representatives and Senate in the event a substantial number of members are killed or incapacitated."

Under this scheme, a simple majority of Congress could pass legislation radically altering the constitutional prescription for House and Senate succession. Congress could adopt the CGC's proposal that governors appoint the replacements, selecting people of their choice or picking from a list of candidates that individual congressmen compile. Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) proposes that surviving members of Congress make the appointments. Almost certainly, some congressman will propose an "independent, bipartisan" panel to make the appointments. Of course, since the proposed amendment leaves this up to Congress, we might possibly see any number of these options passed, creating hopeless confusion, as the law mutates with each political wind change.

There are 435 House members. How many of them must be killed or incapacitated to reach the undefined "substantial number" triggering the amendment? Who will determine if and when a living House member is "incapacitated"? Not to worry, say the CGC members; this vagueness is good, allowing for the flexibility needed in times of crisis.

The commission's report has been greeted with a chorus of huzzahs in major media reports and editorials. Typical was a Christian Science Monitor editorial, which proclaimed that "the Commission is on target. Congress ...