mr. chairman , i rise in opposition to the amendment , and i yield myself such time as i may consume . 
mr. chairman , the amendment proposed by the gentlewoman from california , while certainly a very well-intentioned amendment , is completely unnecessary and , i believe , would severely weaken this bill . 
while this amendment would only increase the time limit in which to conduct the special election by 11 days , more than the limit provided for in h.r. 841 , it would weaken the power of congress in a significant way . 
according to the war powers act , when the president has put our armed forces into action , congress must act within 60 days to either approve or to disapprove the use of those troops . 
following an attack in which over 100 members of congress have been killed , it is quite likely that a military response would be required . 
if congress is not reconstituted within this 60-day period , it would lose its ability to either affirm or disapprove of the executive 's use of military actions and , thus , the power of the legislative branch would be diminished . 
the amendment by the gentlewoman would prevent congress from acting in this situation . 
h.r. 841 , as it stands , would allow for congress to reconstitute and to act on such an important matter . 
another argument against this amendment , mr. chairman , is that while it is not only dangerous , again it is completely unnecessary . 
a survey of election officials , as i mentioned earlier , shows that 49 days is a reasonable period of time in which to conduct a special election . 
and as a former chief elections officer of the state of michigan , i agree with that assessment . 
as the legislation currently stands , states would have the option , and let me reiterate again , the states have the option of eliminating the primary election and permitting political parties recognized by state law to choose those candidates . 
in turn , this would eliminate the petition requirements , and the verification process that accompanies it . 
additionally , it is again very important to remember that the u.s. representative position would really be the only race on the ballot . 
again , dramatically easy printing , programming , and testing . 
furthermore , mr. chairman , the passage of the help america vote act of 2002 , hava , as it is commonly called , has helped prepare election officials more than ever to conduct such a special election . 
hava is granting federal dollars to the states in historic proportions , dollars that are being used to eliminate antiquated election equipment , and the states are purchasing new state-of-the-art equipment . 
states have either constructed or are moving towards construction of statewide , computerized voter registration files , similar , as i mentioned , to the one we built in michigan several years ago . 
technology is allowing these lists to be updated literally daily , so that a clean up-to-date file can be printed out any date of the year and provided to every polling site . 
again , a fantastic election tool for any election , but particularly so in this case for an expedited election . 
also , states are rapidly moving towards a uniform system of voting machines . 
uniformity of election equipment in a state will enable vendors to always have a camera-ready template on the ballot , and then all they have to do is just fill in the name of the nominees for u.s. representative and go to print . 
having a uniform system will eliminate confusion amongst poll workers and further ease election preparation . 
finally , mr. chairman , some states already prescribe that special elections be conducted in a period of time even shorter than this . 
the gentleman from wisconsin ( mr. sensenbrenner ) xz4003650 mentioned the virginia experience ; minnesota , i believe , requires a 30- or 35-day limit as well . 
all of this goes to prove that the amendment is completely unnecessary . 
the only thing that this amendment would effectively do is extend the time period for which some parts of the nation would not be represented in this body , in the united states house of representatives . 
and there is never a good reason to do that , mr. chairman . 
while it is true that state and local officials must have sufficient time to conduct elections , it is imperative that they be completed as quickly as possible so that there is some semblance of continuity in representation . 
there should not be any unnecessary delay to this process . 
mr. chairman , i reserve the balance of my time . 
ms. millender-mcdonald . 
mr. chairman , i yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from rhode island ( mr. langevin ) xz4002300 , a former secretary of state . 
