Jim Baird: “colleagues, on September 11 our Nation was forced to begin to think of the unthinkable. As we watched the World Trade…”

“colleagues, on September 11 our Nation was forced to begin to think of the unthinkable. As we watched the World Trade Center collapse and the attack on the Pentagon, our world was changed. It is not a pleasant thing to begin to ponder such consequences and situations, but ponder them I am afraid we must. Had the fourth airplane succeeded in striking this great building while we were in session or were a terrorist organization to detonate a nuclear weapon during a joint session of the Congress, I am concerned that we could precipitate not only great loss of life but a constitutional crisis. Under the United States Constitution which we are all sworn to uphold and defend, House Members can only be replaced by direct election. In the event of a national crisis, we would be faced with a situation where our government would lack the counsel and wisdom of this, of this very body until we could be replaced by direct and special elections which could take weeks and possibly even months. Mr. Speaker, this is not a condition we want to exist under.…”