Glenn Jacobs: Tennessee becomes state number seven, boom. Hey everyone, this is Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs, and I am pumped. Our state senate just passed House Joint Resolution five, making Tennessee the latest state to propose a congressional term limits amendment to the United States Constitution. This is a big step in taking power away from career politicians, Washington insiders and lobbyists, and returning it to where it belongs to us. We, the people, thank you to our State House and Senate and everyone who worked so hard to move this effort forward. It’s a great day to be an American and an even better day to be a Tennessean.
Philip Blumel: Hi, I’m Philip Blumel. Welcome to No Uncertain Terms, the official podcast of the Term Limits Movement. This is episode number 236, published on April 18th, 2024. Well, you’ve heard it from the horse’s mouth. Knoxville County Mayor Glenn Jacobs, who played a huge role in it, announcing the official application for the Turn Limits convention by the state of Tennessee, as well as Knoxville County Mayor Jacobs is also the Tennessee Chair of US Term limits. He worked with the amendment sponsors, state rep, Chris Todd, and Senator Richard Briggs and many others in persuading the legislature to make this move. Another hero in this effort is US Tournament’s Central regional director Aaron Dukette, who has been working Tennessee for years, planting the seeds for this victory. Specifically, what happened was the Tennessee Senate passed HJR 5, A resolution applying for a National amendment writing convention limited to the subject of Congressional term limits with a vote of 18 yays and 11 nays. The house passed resolution in 2023 in the first half of Tennessee’s two year legislative session. So with this year’s Senate approval, the Tennessee call is now official under Article V of the US Constitution, if two thirds of the states apply for such a convention, it shall be held. Congress cannot stop it.
Richard Briggs: I’m Tennessee State Senator Richard Briggs talking to you from our capital in Nashville, Tennessee. I’m very proud to announce that last Thursday, April the 11th, 2024, the Tennessee legislature passed a resolution making application to Congress for an Article V convention for term limits on Congress. This was not an easy resolution to get passed, and in the end my colleagues realized that unless we break up the power structure in Washington and send citizen lawmakers with practical life experiences to Congress, we were not gonna be able to address the serious issues affecting our country. I want to thank US Term Limits and particularly Aaron Dukette for his diligent efforts in helping me get this resolution passed. And finally, I want to invite all the states that have not passed a resolution for term limits to join Tennessee and the other six states in this very important effort. I wish you good luck and thank you very much.
Glenn Jacobs: And we aren’t done yet. Recall the Louisiana Senate passed the resolution a couple weeks ago. It has passed the LA House multiple times in the past, so house leaders told us they wouldn’t even do it again until the Senate passes it. Well, the Senate passed it and the gears are now starting to move in the House. Also, the North Carolina House passed the resolution in the first year of their two year session and is also gearing up for consideration in the North Carolina Senate this year. Between these three states, it was sort of a race to see which state would be number seven and Tennessee won.
Chris Todd: This is representative Chris Todd in the great state of Tennessee. I’m proud to be the house sponsor for the Congressional Term Limits resolution that we passed last year, and we got it across the finish line this year in the Senate. And I’m looking forward to having Congress call for an Article V convention so that the states can decide what term limits we put on Congress.
Philip Blumel: Along with North Carolina and Louisiana. We’re still alive and kicking in several other states too. Let’s get an update from Holly Robichaud from her YouTube program, Breaking News on Term Limits.
Holly Robichaud: We have great news coming in from the last frontier state. The Alaska House State Affairs Committee has passed House Joint Resolution 13 for term limits on Congress, and now we have scheduled a hearing in front of the Judiciary Committee. It’s no surprise, polling in Alaska shows that 84% of Alaskans support congressional term limits. Hi, this is Holly Robichaud with Breaking News on Term limits.
[music]Holly Robichaud: Alaska isn’t the only state we’re seeing movement in Over the past two weeks. Not only did we file SCR 2 in Louisiana, but it’s been assigned to a committee. In Idaho we passed SCR 114 in the Senate Judiciary Committee, and it’s now headed to the floor for a vote. In Georgia HR 1043 has been assigned to the rules committee. We have exciting news coming out of Kansas. The Senate Committee on Federal and State Affairs passed Senate Concurrent Resolution 1609, sponsored by Senator JR Claeys. This legislation has bipartisan support and the support of more than 50. That’s right, 50 legislators who have signed the US Term limits pledge promising to support congressional term limits effort. Now, for the bad news, in Nebraska, legislative resolution 282 failed. But given our success in other states, this doesn’t negate the impact of our successes we are having, and we’ll be back in Nebraska.
Holly Robichaud: Now for some really big news. Legislative candidates across the nation are getting the message on the overwhelming support congressional term limits has with voters. An additional 51. That’s right, 51, 2024 legislative candidates have signed our pledge in the past two weeks. This is a huge number and we are seeing such great growth in pledge signers. I can’t be more pleased. Why is this happening? Because people like you who support term limits and that the power of your vote at the ballots box has. And a special thanks, goes out to our pledge team who is making this happen. You’re probably wondering, Holly, how many Congressional candidates have signed over the past two weeks? While I’m pleased to report that eight congressional candidates have signed our US term limits pledge with record numbers of candidates signing the pledge for the 2024 election cycle, we are sure to see our biggest number ever by election day.
Philip Blumel: If you live in any of these states, please go to termlimits.com/takeaction, find your state and press the take action button. This will send a message to the relevant decision makers in your state legislature. Don’t underestimate the power of these messages. They know their constituents regardless of party supports this reform, but what stirs them to action is the knowledge that the citizens are watching. Let them know. Next, speaking in South Florida with Republican donors in 2018, president Donald Trump praised Chinese President Xi Jinping, who had recently ditched China’s term limits. He’s now President for life, trump said to applause and laughter, I think it’s great. Maybe we’ll give that a shot someday. Of course he was kidding. I mean, he must’ve been kidding, right? Apparently, many people don’t think so.
Philip Blumel: In a new Daily Mail poll, 55% of Americans say Trump will try to stay in power past four years if he wins in November. About a third say he’ll abide by the legal limit, eight years total as required by the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution, and about 10% say they’re not sure. Now, the China quip was not the only time Trump seemingly joked about keeping power past the constitutional limit. Referring to FDRs four terms in office before the passage of the 22nd Amendment, Trump asked at one of his rallies, “Should we go back to 16 years? Should we do that? Hey, Congressman, can we do that?” Of course, candidate Trump also famously called for congressional turn limits in 2016, echoing then President Barack Obama’s support of congressional turn limits. Obama has also publicly supported presidential term limits as well. Trump as president brought the issue up again on the campaign trail in 2020. So what do you think? Would Trump try to stay in office more than four additional years? Let me know. Send me an email at podcast@termlimits.org. If you make a good case for your position or at least a funny one, I can highlight it on an upcoming podcast.
[music]Stacey Selleck: Like the show, you can help by subscribing and leaving a five star review on both Apple and Spotify. It’s free.
Philip Blumel: Thanks for joining us for another episode of No Uncertain Terms. The Term Limits Convention bills are moving through the state legislatures. This could be a breakthrough year for the Term Limits movement. To check on the status of the Term Limits convention resolution in your state, go to termlimits.com/take action. There you will see if it has been introduced and where it stands in the committee process on its way to the floor vote. If there’s action to take, you’ll see a take action button by your state. Click it. This will give you the opportunity to send a message to the most relevant legislators, urging them to support the legislation. They have to know you are watching.
Philip Blumel: That’s termlimits.com/take action. If your state has already passed the Term Limits, convention resolution, or the bill’s not been introduced in your state, you can still help. Please consider making a contribution to US Term Limits. It’s our aim to hit the reset button on the US Congress, and you can help. Go to termlimits.com/donate, termlimits.com/donate. Thanks. We’ll be back next week.
Stacey Selleck: Find us on most social media at USTermLimits like us on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, and now LinkedIn.
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