Kenyon Democracy Center Chief Will Testify Before Congress on Terrorism

GAMBIER, Ohio (July 17, 2009)

John C. Fortier, director of the Kenyon College Center for the Study of American Democracy, will testify on Thursday, July 23, before the U.S. House of Representatives on the subject of the continuity of Congress in the wake of a catastrophic attack.

Fortier will discuss the work of the Continuity of Government Commission, created jointly by the American Enterprise Institute and Brookings Institution in 2002. Fortier, a research fellow at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, D.C., is the executive director of the commission, which was created to recommend reforms to ensure the continuity of U.S. governmental institutions in the event of a catastrophic attack.

His testimony is before the Committee on the Judiciary's Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security. The subcommittee is chaired by U.S. Rep. Bobby Scott, D-Virginia. Testimony is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. in the Rayburn House Office Building.

The Continuity of Government Commission released its second report, "Preserving Our Institutions—Presidential Succession," on July 2, with recommendations for how flaws in the current Presidential succession process may be improved. The commission's first report, "Preserving Our Institutions—The First Report of the Continuity of Government Commission," recommended a constitutional amendment to ensure that the Congress could reconstitute quickly in the aftermath of a terrorist attack.

Fortier became the first director of the Center for the Study of American Democracy in 2008. The center, established through a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, stimulates nonpartisan civic and political discourse through conferences, lectureships and seminars. Fortier teaches at Kenyon during one semester of each academic year.