IV 
108TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. RES. 728 
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the actions of 
terrorists will never cause the date of any Presidential election to be 
postponed and that no single individual or agency should be given the 
authority to postpone the date of a Presidential election. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 20, 2004 
Mr. NEY (for himself, Mr. LARSON of Connecticut, Mr. DELAY, Mr. BLUNT, 
Mr. SWEENEY, Mr. BUYER, Mr. RENZI, Mr. POMBO, Mr. HOBSON, Mr. 
ISTOOK, Mrs. KELLY, Mr. BASS, Mr. HERGER, Mr. NEUGEBAUER, Mr. 
MICA, Mr. JONES of North Carolina, Mr. MCCRERY, Mr. LATOURETTE, 
Mr. BOEHNER, Mr. CHABOT, Mr. SESSIONS, Mr. TIAHRT, Mr. COBLE, 
Mrs. CUBIN, Mr. OXLEY, Ms. HART, Mr. COLE, Mr. DOOLITTLE, Mr. 
LUCAS of Oklahoma, Mr. MCKEON, Mr. HOSTETTLER, Mr. BACHUS, Mr. 
CRENSHAW, Mr. OSE, Mr. WALDEN of Oregon, Mr. HUNTER, Mr. 
SHIMKUS, Mr. HYDE, Ms. PRYCE of Ohio, Mr. ROGERS of Alabama, Mr. 
GARRETT of New Jersey, Mr. FOLEY, Mr. GOSS, Mr. PAUL, Mr. BART-
LETT of Maryland, Mr. THOMAS, Mr. LEWIS of Kentucky, Mr. PORTMAN, 
Mr. SHUSTER, Mr. GARY G. MILLER of California, Mr. CALVERT, Mr. 
AKIN, Mr. WILSON of South Carolina, Mr. WHITFIELD, Mr. OTTER, Mr. 
SCHROCK, Mr. VITTER, Mr. LAHOOD, Mr. WALSH, Mr. SIMPSON, Mr. 
REHBERG, Mr. BOOZMAN, Mr. REGULA, Mr. BEAUPREZ, Mr. REYNOLDS, 
Mr. CARTER, Mr. HENSARLING, Mr. TIBERI, Mr. NUNES, Mr. EHLERS, 
Ms. LORETTA SANCHEZ of California, Mr. DEFAZIO, Ms. WOOLSEY, Mr. 
BISHOP of New York, Mr. RAMSTAD, Mr. GINGREY, Mr. SANDLIN, Mr. 
GALLEGLY, Mr. KENNEDY of Minnesota, Mr. GREEN of Texas, Mrs. 
MALONEY, and Mrs. MILLER of Michigan) submitted the following resolu-
tion; which was referred to the Committee on House Administration 
RESOLUTION 
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that 
the actions of terrorists will never cause the date of
•HRES 728 IH 
any Presidential election to be postponed and that no 
single individual or agency should be given the authority 
to postpone the date of a Presidential election. 
Whereas no regularly scheduled national election for Federal 
office has ever been postponed for any reason; 
Whereas regularly scheduled Federal elections took place as 
scheduled during the Civil War, World War I, and World 
War II; 
Whereas after having been re-elected in an election that took 
place while the Civil War continued to rage, Abraham 
Lincoln said ‘‘We can not have free government without 
elections; and if the rebellion could force us to forego, or 
postpone a national election it might fairly claim to have 
already conquered and ruined us. . . . [T]he election, 
along with its incidental and undesirable strife, has done 
good too. It has demonstrated that a people’s government 
can sustain a national election, in the midst of a great 
civil war. Until now it has not been known to the world 
that this was a possibility.’’; 
Whereas the terrorist bombings that took place in Spain on 
the eve of the Spanish elections in March 2004 were al-
most certainly perceived by Al Qaeda as having contrib-
uted to the defeat of the government that had stood with 
the United States in the Global War on Terror; 
Whereas terrorists may attempt to strike again against the 
United States in the months leading up to the November 
2004 Presidential election in an attempt to alter or affect 
the election’s outcome; 
Whereas in the event that such a horrific attack were to 
occur, the actions of millions of Americans across the Na-
•HRES 728 IH 
tion casting their ballots would demonstrate powerfully 
the strength and resilience of our democracy; 
Whereas there is no reason to believe that the men and 
women who administer elections in jurisdictions across 
the Nation would be incapable of determining how to 
react to a terrorist attack; 
Whereas postponing an election in the aftermath of a ter-
rorist attack would demonstrate weakness, not strength, 
and would be interpreted as a victory for the terrorists; 
and 
Whereas under section 4 of article II of the Constitution, 
Congress has the authority to determine the date on 
which a Presidential election shall take place: Now, there-
fore, be it 
Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Rep-
resentatives that— 
(1) the actions of terrorists will never cause the 
date of any Presidential election to be postponed; 
and 
(2) no single individual or agency should be 
given the authority to postpone the date of a Presi-
dential election. 
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