Lawmakers and legal scholars bounced ideas around yesterday on the kind of legislation needed to prevent the country from being paralyzed should a terrorist attack strike the White House or Congress. The fact that all members of the executive branch live and work in the Washington area was considered by some members of the Continuity of Government Commission to be a key issue. Participants at the commission’s hearing yesterday also found existing laws inadequate to ensure that the government would continue to operate in the case of a mass incapacitation of members of the executive branch or Congress. “It’s more through luck and providence that we escaped a catastrophe, rather than through solid planning,” said Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Calif.), referring to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the Pentagon and World Trade Center. Full Story