mr. chairman , i rise in opposition to h.r. 841 , and i regret the partisan flavor that seems to have become part of this debate . 
mr. chairman , this bill offers a solution to a crisis , to a problem that we face , to a challenge that we face , but it is a solution that will not work . 
i plead with my fellow republicans to listen to the arguments that have just been made and to determine for themselves whether or not this legislation will do the job that it claims it is intended to do . 
i looked at it with an open heart and an open mind and find that i agree with the gentleman from washington ( mr. baird ) xz4000110 that at a time when we need it the most , this bill will leave us in limbo , without leadership , and it will make america vulnerable at a time when we need leadership the most . 
i oppose this legislation . 
this bill focuses on the continuity of the election process rather than the continuity of congress . 
the people who wrote this bill got their priorities all mixed up as to what the purpose of this was supposed to be . 
mr. chairman , the time frame in this bill of 45 days is both too long and too short . 
forty-five days is too long to reconstruct the house of representatives in a time of crisis when decisions need to be made immediately , so in that 45 days , when we are the most vulnerable , this legislation would leave america the most vulnerable . 
but 45 days is also too short a period to preserve the democratic representation that we have heard about , because , yes , you could have elections , but it does not allow time for primary elections . 
so who are those elections going to be all about ? 
under this law , party bosses rather than party voters will choose the candidates ; thus , they will choose the representatives . 
this is hollow , a very hollow approach to democracy , suggesting that this would permit people to be elected , when in fact it will be the party bosses that will be deciding who the voters will have a chance to vote on . 
the gentleman from washington ( mr. baird ) xz4000110 and i have introduced a bipartisan constitutional amendment that solves the problems that h.r. 841 attempts to address , and it does this without the inevitable limitations of trying to fix a constitutional problem with a simple statute . 
house joint resolution 26 provides for the immediate replacement of both deceased and incapacitated members by alternates , who become acting representatives only until a new representative is elected . 
just as the vice president of the united states is elected as part of a ticket with the president , alternate representatives would go on the ballot and be elected as a ticket with their representative so that in times of crisis , there would be immediate representation for the united states congress and for the people throughout our country . 
h. j. res. 26 thus solves the constitutional problem that a statute such as h.r. 841 can not . 
it provides for both the continuity of congress and for the continuity of representation for every district in the country , even if only one representative dies or is in incapacitated . 
under our alternative , thus no district would ever be without representation . 
h.r. 841 , on the other hand , does nothing to address incapacity , and in the case of death , allows as many as 99 districts at a time to go without representation for months . 
under h. j. res. 26 , acting representatives would be every bit as much elected officials as the vice president is , yet would serve only until a new representative is elected under the fully democratic procedures used by states today . 
thus the rohrabacher-baird amendment not only solves all the continuity problems , but also preserves the principle that only elected officials may cast a vote in the house of representatives . 
mr. chairman , although i oppose the bill before us , the rohrabacher-baird amendment is something that can be supported even by those who vote for the bill . 
i ask my colleagues for their support and co-sponsorship of h. j. res. 26 . 
on 9/11 we lived through a crisis that at times seemed bizarre and even surreal . 
many otherwise competent leaders were in a state of shock and at one moment when we gathered on the capitol steps to send a message to the american people , representative baird and i realized more was needed and began singing god bless america . 
all our colleagues joined in . 
that was the message the american people needed . 
today let 's do what is needed for the american people at a time of maximum crisis . 
mr. chairman , i would ask my fellow republicans , please give this serious consideration . 
this is too important an issue to think about in terms of party politics . 
this is a time of crisis , when american people will be counting on us to do our best and to set up something that will work in a time of crisis . 
