Realistically, most people believe that those serving in the U.S. Congress would not vote for any amendment or legislation which would limit their own time served as congressmen. However, the reality is that we do not, in fact, need those congressmen to vote against their own power as the founding fathers and authors of our United States Constitution predicted that there might come a time in which the citizens of the United States desired laws or constitutional amendments which those sitting in congress would not pursue and therefore added a means by which the states themselves could bypass a vote by the U.S. Congress in order to amend the Constitution. The mechanism by which this could be achieved is outlined in Article V of the U.S. Constitution. Therefore, it is only through the support of everyday Americans that the abuses of power by U.S. Congressmen may be curtailed through amending the U.S. Constitution so as to impose term limits on those serving in the U.S. Congress.
A 2013 Gallup Poll indicates that 75% of adults polled would vote for "a law that would limit the number of terms which members of Congress and the U.S. Senate can serve". Despite party breakdown and age differences, a majority of American adults appear to favor limiting the time a person may serve in either the U.S. House of Representatives or the U.S. Senate. During the 1990s, 21 States passed legislation that would prevent representatives from serving as that state's congressman or senator beyond a certain length of time or number of terms. However, in 1995, a Supreme Court decision on U.S. Term Limits, Inc. v. Thornton found that states did not have the legal power to block long-serving congressional incumbents from appearing on their ballots and any state legislation which limited the number of terms a congressmen may serve in that state was overturned and any other states in the process of preparing similar legislation was put to an end. The resulting decision was that in order for congressional term limits to be imposed, an amendment to the United States Constitution needed to be passed as was done in 1951 with the 22nd Amendment which limited the President of the United States from serving no more than 2 terms.
All amendments to the United States Constitution, up until now, have been proposed, discussed and voted on in the United States Congress by U.S. Congressmen. Predictably, the American Public is led to believe that it is only through a vote of Congress that an amendment to the Constitution may be enacted. Article V of the U.S. Constitution, however, states that if two thirds of the States petition Congress for an Article V Constitutional Convention, then Congress MUST call such a convention. Once that Constitutional Convention is held and the terms of the proposed constitutional amendment are agreed upon, the amendment must be ratified either by three fourths of the members of the Constitutional Convention, or alternatively be approved by three fourths of the legislatures of the States. It is through this means that we can bypass the need to have congressmen vote against their own power and enact an amendment to the U.S. Constitution that would limit the time any person may serve in the U.S. Congress.
In order for an Article V Constitutional Convention to be called by Congress on behalf of the states, thirty four of the fifty states must petition Congress for such a convention and that is where the American public comes in. Only two states, South Dakota and Nevada, appear to have ever petitioned for an Article V amendment convention in regards to congressional term limits according to the Congressional Record. Prior to the Supreme Court overturning states limiting the terms of their own Congressmen in 1995 there were 21 states which could most likely be counted on to support an Article V term limits convention and a number of states that had similar legislation in progress. Fifteen states currently have term limits on their own state level legislators, thirty-six states have some form of term limitation on their state Governor and hundreds of local and municipal government offices are subject to some form of term limit. This leads one to believe that it need only take education and awareness for an Article V Constitutional Amendment Convention regarding term limits to be called and for a congressional term limit amendment to be enacted.
This is where YOU come in. We at the Responsible Representation Committee have, in just two months made great strides in educating Americans concerning Article V of the Constitution and why and how congressional term limits may be imposed, however, in order to continue to increase awareness and stimulate the citizenry to the extent that enough states will call for an Article V Constitutional Convention, we need YOUR help! It takes every single person who knows about the potential to achieve Congressional term limits to tell everyone THEY know. Word of mouth is a powerful grassroots tool, but it is not enough. We have been flooding social media with the information necessary to spread the word regarding Congressional term limits, but in order to reach enough people to get the States to act, we need to step up the game. Radio appearances, Podcast appearances, letter writing campaigns, telephone marketing campaigns, public appearances at political, sports and entertainment events and a variety of advertising campaigns are the means by which we can make Americans aware of their own power to limit the power of career politicians. All of these tools require financial support in order to occur, much less be successful.
The Responsible Representation Committee is in desperate need of donations in order to continue its work to return political power to the citizens and away from career politicians. We have just begun this fight on behalf of you, the American citizen, and can only continue with your support. As a federal non-connected political action committee, we are limited by the Federal Elections Commission to accepting donations only from individuals and not from corporations, businesses, trade associations, labor unions or other political committees. We are also limited to accepting donations of no more than $1000 per individual per year. We accept donations of any size up to $1000 per individual, but it takes many, many individuals to reach the number of people necessary to enact the changes that will return politics to the hands of the citizens. Please read all the blog posts on this blog site for more information about term limits, PACs and how we will achieve our goals. Visit our website for more information concerning the term limits movement. Most importantly, please visit our Get Involved page to find out how to make a contribution today. We accept most major credit cards through a secure Paypal service and also provide the address if you wish to send a check or money order. It is ONLY through the support of those who wish to take back power from the career politicians that this movement can succeed!
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