Ron Paul Quotes.com 2003 Ron Paul Chapter 62 Ron Paul Quotes.com: Continuity Of Government — Part 1 5 June 2003 Home Page   Contents Congressional Record (Page H5008)   Cached Not linked on Ron Paul’s Congressional website.

Continuity Of Government — Part 1 5 June 2003 Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 41/2 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. PAUL). (Mr. PAUL asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.) 2003 Ron Paul 62:1 Mr. PAUL. Mr. Speaker, I rise to express a few concerns that I have regarding both the commission and the trend toward a constitutional amendment that might solve some of the problems that people anticipate. 2003 Ron Paul 62:2 I certainly agree with the gentleman from Washington (Mr. BAIRD) that this is a very serious issue; and this is to me not just a casual appointment of a commission, but we are dealing with something that is, in a constitutional sense, rather profound because we are talking about amendments that are suggesting that our governors will appoint Members of Congress for the first time in our history. That should be done with a great deal of caution and clear understanding of what we are doing. 2003 Ron Paul 62:3 My concern, of course, with the commission is that we are moving rather rapidly in that direction. Hopefully, that is not the case. We had the commission report of the Continuity of Government Commission yesterday, and that was released, and then we had a unanimous consent agreement to bring this up, like we need to do this in a hurry. 2003 Ron Paul 62:4 Ordinarily, if we deal with constitutional amendments, quite frequently we will have a constitutional amendment proposed, and then we will hold hearings on that particular amendment. I think we could handle it that way. 2003 Ron Paul 62:5 But I have another concern about the urgent need and the assumption that the world ends if we are not here for a few days. There are times when we are not here like in August and a few months we take off at Christmas. Of course, we can be recalled, but the world does not end because we’re not here. In a way this need for a constitutional amendment to appoint congressmen is assuming that life cannot go on without us writing laws. 2003 Ron Paul 62:6 I would suggest that maybe the urgency is not quite as much as one thinks. I want to quote Michael Barone who was trying to justify a constitutional amendment that allows governors to appoint moc in a time of crisis. He said, “think of all the emergency legislation that Congress passed in the weeks and months after September 11 authorizing expanded police powers. None of this could have happened”. But now as we look back at those emergency conditions, a lot of questions are being asked about the PATRIOT Act and the attack on our fourth amendment and civil liberties. I suggest there could be a slower approach no harm will come of it. Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield? 2003 Ron Paul 62:7 Mr. PAUL. I yield to the gentleman from California.

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