Constitution?”
“So it can’t be declared unconstitutional,” Ben said quietly. “No matter what it contains.”
“I’m sure there will be some who will oppose this new amendment,” the president continued. “To them, I can only say: if it had been your wife, or your brother, or your little girl who was taken by an act of unreasoning violence on April nineteenth, you would feel differently. I continue to stand firmly in support of our basic American civil rights-but not at the cost of our most essential freedom, the right to live unmolested by acts of terrorism and violence. Therefore, I ask Congress to move this bill to the top of their agenda and to pass it in both houses before the end of the month. After that, it can be ratified by the states and the new law could conceivably come into effect in a matter of weeks. Some may argue that this is undue speed, that we should be more deliberate. To them I simply say: every day this nation continues without the protection of these new rigid security measures, we risk another 9/11, another April nineteenth. So for once, Congress, in the memory of Emily Blake and all the others who fell on that tragic day, I ask you to reach across the aisle and join me in a bipartisan effort to make this nation a safer place. There is no room for delay. Time is of the essence. Members of Congress-this nation is depending on you.”
The president fell silent, and after a moment, the crowd realized that he had said all he intended to say. The applause began slowly, then gained speed and force with almost breathtaking alacrity. Ben noted that the support came from both sides of the aisle, both parties. Even at the front of the room, people were rising to their feet, some even cheering. Traditionally the joint chiefs did not applaud statements relating to domestic policy, since the military was theoretically supposed to be uninvolved in matters not relating to military or foreign policy. But in truth, no one was sure what this bill was, domestic or foreign, military or not. They simply knew that the nation had been bruised, wounded, and something needed to be done to begin the healing. Traditionally, the nine members of the Supreme Court did not applaud at all during the delivery of the president’s speeches, since they were also supposed to be impartial and nonpartisan. Nonetheless, Ben spotted several members of the Court rising to their feet, applauding enthusiastically.
“My God,” Christina said, shouting to be heard over the growing tumult, “is that possible? Could he really get a new amendment to the Constitution passed in a few weeks?”
Ben carefully viewed the faces of the people standing all around him. “In this climate? Anything is possible.”
“Is that a good thing?”
Ben took a deep breath, then slowly released it. “Let’s go read the bill.”
6
“Can you believe this?” Christina exclaimed. “He wants to repeal the Bill of Rights!”
“Not all of it,” Ben said quietly. “Just the inconvenient parts.”
“But isn’t that the whole point of the Bill of Rights? The Founding Fathers added it to make sure that no law could ever remove them.”
“You know what the president’s response to that suggestion will be. The Founding Fathers thought the worst threat imaginable was Hessian mercenaries with muskets that took a minute and a half to load and fire. They never envisioned snipers with MI-50s. Or ricinlaced letters. Or entire regions of the world wielding weapons of mass destruction aimed within our borders.”
“But this is the Bill of Rights! When I took Constitutional Law from Professor Tepker, he taught us that the Bill of Rights was inviolable.”
“It has been, in theory. But you know as well as I do that in reality, we restrict those rights all the time.” Ben dropped his copy of the bill on top of his desk. “There are many restrictions on the freedom of speech-you can’t shout ‘Fire!’ in a crowded theater. You can’t post bills on private property. We have gun legislation that restricts the right to bear arms. There are more restrictions on the right of assembly than I can count.”
“Yes, there have been reasonable, commonsense abridgements of rights here and there. But not wholesale suspensions.” She pointed at the bill that lay between them. “This is something else entirely.”
“Yes,” he agreed solemnly. “This is something else entirely.”
He quickly scanned the bill one more time, just to make sure he understood it properly:
RESOLVED by the Senate and the House of Representatives of the United States of America, two-thirds of each House proposing that an amendment to the Constitution of the United States be adopted which shall become law and a full and effective part of the Constitution of the United States when said proposed amendment is ratified by three-fourths of the state legislatures of the fifty states. The proposed amendment shall read as follows: Section 1. Effective immediately, upon the declaration by the president of the United States that a clear and present danger to the safety of the United States and the peoples therein exists, an Emergency Security Council, headed by the director of Homeland Security and consisting of the leaders of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Central Intelligence Agency, the National Security Agency, and three other members appointed by the President of the United States, shall be convened. Section 2. After due and deliberate consideration, if the Emergency Security Council declares that a state of national emergency exists, the council may assume any and all necessary plenipotentiary powers. Section 3. These plenipotentiary powers assumed by the Emergency Security Council include the power to supersede the First, Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, and Eighth Amendments to the Constitution, overriding said constitutional authority. Section 4. These plenipotentiary powers shall exist only until such time as the Council declares that the state of national emergency no longer exists. At the time of said proclamation, the suspension of the enumerated amendments shall cease, and they shall regain all prior full force and effect. Section 5. During any such period of national emergency, all other rights and privileges of the citizens of the United States not specifically suspended herein shall remain in full force and effect.
“I think it’s frightening,” Christina said. “This Emergency Security Council could wipe away every important civil right on the books.”
“In times of national crisis,” Ben noted.
“As defined by the president and his Emergency Council.”
“Would you rather leave it to Congress? Then it would never happen. We could have bombs dropping like snowflakes and they’d still be arguing over parliamentary procedure.”
“I’m surprised the president even bothered with Congress. He obviously wants to ram this right down the throats of the states.”
“He didn’t have any choice.” Ben pulled out a copy of the Constitution he always kept in the top drawer of his desk. “Technically, the president has no power to propose amendments-only Congress does. The Constitution also allows state legislatures to propose amendments, but it has never been done that way. Congress must propose the amendment by resolution. The resolution then goes to the Rules Committee in the House and the Judiciary Committee in the Senate. If they pass it, the amendment goes to the floor for a vote by the full membership of both bodies. If they both pass it, then copies are sent to the governors of each state, who then pass it along to the state legislatures for consideration. It takes three-fourths of them-thirty-eight of the fifty.” Ben sighed. “It’s a complicated process. The Founding Fathers meant it to be. They recognized there might be need for change in the future. But they wanted it to be well-considered and deliberate-not something that could be accomplished easily in a rash reactionary moment.”
“Which is exactly what the president is doing here. Why do you think he urged everyone to move so quickly? He knows he needs momentum to keep this thing alive. If it gets bogged down anywhere along the way, the chances of passage will drop significantly. He’s trying to steamroller this through before people have a chance to think clearly about it. Exactly what the prudent Founding Fathers didn’t want.”
“You know,” Ben said, “the Founding Fathers were not a bunch of old fogey conservatives. They were
