Suggested 28th Amendment Focuses on a Terror Attack

The Constitution has been amended 27 times, and a proposed 28th one has a sobering theme: A bipartisan group in Congress wants the nation to be better prepared for a mass casualty event in DC. The four have proposed what they call a "continuity amendment" that would allow members of Congress to be quickly replaced should at least 100 seats suddenly become vacant, reports the Washington Post.

• Current rules: Under ordinary circumstances, an open House seat must be filed by special election, a process that can take months. In the wake of 9/11, a new law stipulates that seats must be filled within 49 days of a mass casualty event resulting in at least 100 vacancies, per Roll Call.

• The problem: Even the expedited timeline of 49 days is too long in a time of national crisis, says Rep. Derek Kilmer, a Democrat from Washington state. And many states won't be able to meet the deadline anyway, he previously argued in an essay at the Hill. Kilmer has worked with fellow Democratic Rep. Emanuel Cleaver II of Missouri and GOP Reps. Brad Wenstrup of Ohio and William Timmons of South Carolina on an alternative.
• Proposed remedy: Under the suggested amendment, lawmakers would submit a list of five names of people from their own party to the governor as potential replacements in the event of a mass casualty event. The governor would then choose a name from that list as an immediate interim appointment. The remedy, though, faces long odds: Getting an amendment passed requires a two-thirds vote of both the House and Senate, then ratification by three-fourths of state legislatures.

(More constitutional amendment stories.)