mr. speaker , i realize that september 11 was a tragic day in america , certainly a wake-up call within the states . 
i also remind the members of this body that in the war of 1812 this building was occupied by a foreign army . 
so for the gentleman from california ( mr. dreier ) xz4001150 to say that they could not have foreseen these circumstances taking place , what in the heck is he talking about ? 
this building was occupied and set on fire by a foreign army . 
and yet the congress at that time did not try to change the rules so that a minority within a minority could govern . 
if we are going to amend the constitution , the gentleman from washington ( mr. baird ) xz4000110 is exactly right : someone should offer a constitutional amendment . 
if we are going to change the law , then someone should offer a change to the law ; but let us not through the house rules try to rewrite the constitution of this nation . 
this nation has been around for a long time . 
it is going to be around for a long time , but only if we continue to do things as the founding fathers would have wanted us to do them and not some backdoor-approach like this . 
