Maxwell Frost: “Given that no Member in the history of this body has ever taken the oath of office without first having been elected by…”

“Given that no Member in the history of this body has ever taken the oath of office without first having been elected by the people, the group focused on what might have been done within the law or with statutory amendments to replenish the House in the event of a catastrophe. We had on a bipartisan basis serious and thoughtful discussions. We made modest but important changes to the rules of House that aid the Speaker in the event of a catastrophe. We passed a resolution that called on the States to put into place procedures by which expedited elections might be conducted in the event that a large number of Members are killed. But the members of the working group grappled with much larger issues, that of incapacitation, if it would be possible to skirt the constitutional requirements for election through statutory changes, the judicial review of decisions made by a House composed of only a few Members. We soon realized that those Members as well as many others needed to be addressed by the committees of jurisdiction. We had high hopes of a thoughtful, serious, nonpartisan debate and serious issues. What we got instead was a poorly thought out and wholly inadequate response to the questions we raised 2 years ago.”