There is little doubt that the Congress of the United States is in turmoil.
Polls continually show how ineffective citizens feel both the Senate and House are. Approval ratings, which have been dropping for the past many years, are at an all-time low.
There are several reasons for this situation. First, members of both political parties in Congress no longer work together for the good of the country or the constituents they represent. Second, most are mainly interested in being continually re-elected and wielding power they obtain from the length of time in their positions. Third, many put their emphasis on accumulating money for themselves. If these members weren’t millionaires coming into Congress, they are when leaving. And fourth, the caliber of those in both houses – integrity, intelligence and selflessness – has dropped considerably over the past several years.
We need not cite examples to support these statements. It is the feeling nationwide.
What is the solution? We feel that term limits is the answer.
Fifteen states, including Ohio, have already enacted laws limiting the number of terms for those elected to their legislatures, and others are considering doing it. Limits have also been imposed on governors in some states. The 22nd Amendment to the Constitution provides that no person shall be elected President more than twice.
So why not place the same restriction on those elected to Congress? Senators could have no more than two six-year terms, and representatives could be limited to four or five two-year terms.
National polls clearly demonstrate that a majority of Americans – women, men, blacks, whites, Democrats and Republicans – are in favor of congressional term limits. Overall, more than two-thirds of those polled want them. Some polls were as high as 75 percent.
If their terms were limited, members of Congress would hopefully be more attuned to passing legislation for the benefit of the people, rather than for themselves. To do that they would need to work together with those in the opposite party, instead of bickering all the time and spewing epithets and messages of hatred. There would no doubt still be some bad eggs in the bunch, but they wouldn’t be there that long.
One drawback would be a decrease in experience among members, but that hasn’t been a problem in state legislatures with term limits. The main groups that oppose the limits are incumbents, lobbyists and special interest groups, for obvious reasons.
To bring this change about, the Constitution must be amended. There are two ways to do this. First, both the Senate and House must pass the proper legislation by two-thirds votes and then send the measure to the states where three-fourths of them must ratify it. All 27 amendments have been approved in this manner. The other way is for two-thirds of the state legislatures to vote to call a Constitutional Convention. If the term limit measure is approved at the convention, it then must be ratified by three-fourths of the states.
Obviously, enacting term limits for Congress is not an easy task, but we see it as the only salvation for a nation in turmoil. The swamp must be drained.